If Carr can't play, either Vinny Testaverde or
Matt Moore will get the start.
Moore was two years old when Testaverde won
the Heisman Trophy in 1986. That pretty much says it all.
SUPER BOWL XLI-I/II LIVE
BLOG COMING
Don't forget to tune in to PFT
at 4:15 p.m. EDT on Sunday for the Live Blog of the showdown between the
Patriots and the Cowboys.
It is the game of the year to
date, with not just a playoff atmosphere but a Super Bowl atmosphere in
Dallas.
So we're officially calling
the game Super Bowl XLI-I/II. And we hope it's a great one.
POSTED 11:15 p.m. EDT,
October 13, 2007
LEWIS OUT FOR BROWNS
Cleveland running back Jamal Lewis, enjoying a
resurgent season in his first year out of Baltimore,
will miss Sunday's game against the Dolphins due to a sprained foot.
Lewis has been listed as questionable on
Friday. The team announced on Saturday that the guy who set the
single-game rushing record against the Browns won't play.
The Washington, D.C. television station
WUSA is reporting that Redskins
offensive lineman Kili Lefotu was arrested last night after an incident at
an Ashburn, Virginia restaurant.
Per WUSA, Lefotu is being held in Loudoun
County jail and has been charged with being drunk in public, simple assault,
and destruction of property.
Lefotu is a practice squad player who went to
college at Arizona. The Associated Press reports that the Redskins
said Lefotu, as a member of the practice squad,
would not travel to
Sunday's game in Green Bay under any circumstances.
Lefotu is a marginal player who has never appeared in a regular-season game,
which means that if the Redskins are in the mood to
send a message that they won't tolerate players who get into off-field
trouble, Lefotu would be a likely candidate to get cut.
We're going to need to re-set
the "days without an arrest" counter after it reached the whopping total of
two days.
POSTED 4:32 p.m. EDT,
October 13, 2007
VRABEL FINED FOR SPIKE PLAY FRACAS
Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel has been
slapped with a $5,000 fine for unnecessary roughness on a late play in
last Sunday's 34-17 win over the Browns.
On the play in question, the Browns were
trying to kill the clock late in the fourth quarter, and Vrabel bull-rushed
Browns left tackle Joe Thomas. Though Browns guard Eric "The Skipper"
Steinbach alleges that Vrabel ultimately dove intentionally at the knees of
Thomas, we think that Vrabel tripped, possibly over the leg or foot of
Steinbach.
The surprising aspect of the incident is that
neither Thomas nor Steinbach were fined for retaliating against Vrabel.
With all that said, the broader question is
whether any "roughness" displayed by Vrabel was "unnecessary." In
hindsight, it was, because Browns quarterback Derek Anderson spiked the ball
to conserve the waning seconds (while coach Romeo Crennel presumably scoured
the playbook for the page with the 17-point plays).
But what if Anderson had pulled the old fake
spike play, pumping it into the ground and then throwing it into the end
zone against a lollygagging defense?
As we see it, a live play is a live play.
And pushing a guy who, for whatever reason, isn't pushing back should never
be regarded as "unnecessary roughness."
Vrabel reportedly plans to appeal the fine.
And we think it should be reversed.
In July, NFL senior V.P. of sales and
marketing Mark Waller said that he hopes that the
NFL will have franchises based in London, Mexico, and Toronto within the
next ten years.
And there is now a report that the owners of
the CFL's Toronto Argonauts want to be the ones to bring the NFL to town.
David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski are
interested in any NFL team that might be available for relocation,
according to the Globe and Mail.
Per the report, the Argos owners "have decided
to take the offensive" in this regard, despite concerns that the
infiltration of the NFL into Canada could kill the CFL. Still, Cynamon
and Sokolowski plan to retain ownership of the Argos, even if they land an
NFL team.
The potential candidates for relocation
include, in our view, the Bills, the Jaguars, the Vikings, and the Saints.
BERRIAN DUMPS PARKER
Bears receiver Bernard Berrian
has a bad habit of dropping passes. Now, he apparently has dropped his
agent.
Multiple league sources tell
us that Berrian has parted ways with agent Eugene Parker.
As we understand it, the
five-day waiting period after termination has not yet expired, which means
that Berrian cannot hire a replacement.
Berrian, who is due to become
an unrestricted free agent after the 2007 season, is earning a base salary
of $850,000 in 2007.
POSTED 2:46 p.m. EDT,
October 13, 2006
CLARIFICATION OF THE "K" BALL PROCEDURES
A reader who used to work for one of the NFL
teams has advised us, in response to Saturday's "slick ball" story, that the
specific procedure for the "K" balls is to use one of them repeatedly until
it no longer is available.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that this
is indeed the protocol.
"Use it 'til you lose it," Aiello said via
e-mail.
If that's the case, we're confused about what
happened with the ball used on the field goal attempt that was nullified by
the time out taken by Bills coach Dick Jauron. In theory,
it should have been sent back to the center for use in the second attempt.
But, apparently, an unused "K" ball was introduced into the game for the
second try.
In our view, the better approach would be to
use one "K" ball after another. Then, by the end of the game, each of
the "K" balls will have been used at least one, possibly twice.
And how about using less than 12 "K" balls?
Do they really need a dozen of them?
We suggest using only three "K" balls, and
instructing the officials to make their best efforts to ensure that the "K"
ball is retrieved after every kick. Then, once the three "K" balls are
gone, a regular ball would be used.
The broader purpose of the "K" ball rule was
to prevent kickers and punters from doctoring footballs. There's got
to be a way to prevent these balls from being microwaved or filled with
flubber gas without incurring a risk that games will be decided by the
insertion of a slick ball at the worst possible moment.
POSTED 11:29 a.m. EDT,
October 13, 2006
MATT'S BROTHER HEADS TO SAME DIVISION
With the Cardinals losing "starting"
quarterback Matt Leinart for the rest of the season with a broken clavicle,
the Cards are turning to the brother of Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
Tim Hasselbeck, according to Adam Schefter of
NFL Network, intends to sign with the Cardinals in the near future.
Both teams currently are tied for first place in the NFC West.
The younger Hasselbeck has played for the
Panthers, Eagles, Giants, and Redskins. He started five games in 2003
for Washington.
His wife, Elisabeth, is one of the cohosts of
The View. Per Schefter, she'll take early maternity leave from
the show and head to Arizona with her husband.
Maybe Barry Manilow will take her place while
she's gone.
There's talk in league circles that former
Chargers, Redskins, Chiefs, and Browns head coach Marty Schottenheimer wants
to return to the NFL. But not as a head coach.
The scuttlebutt is that Marty wants to come
back as a General Manager.
It wouldn't be the first time that a former
coach looked to move upstairs, and Schottenheimer (if the rumors are true)
wouldn't be the only former chef who's currently looking to only be the guy
who buys the groceries. Bill Parcells is believed to be interested in
coming back to the NFL in a G.M.-only role.
Openings for 2008 could arise (and we're
sweeping broadly here) in Miami, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh (if Bill
Cowher returns and hires away Kevin Colbert and/or Omar Khan), Tennessee (if
Mike Reinfeldt becomes the Green Bay president or otherwise leaves),
Jacksonville, San Diego (where Schottenheimer likely wouldn't be a
candidate), Washington, Minnesota, Detroit (hey, it could happen),
Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Atlanta, Carolina, San Francisco, and St. Louis.
TRADES SHOULD HAPPEN, BUT
WON'T
Some Internet hack
offers
up five trades that should happen by Tuesday's deadline for swapping
players.
But they won't.
The problem? The early
trade deadline makes it harder for teams to justify giving up a good player
and creating the impression to its paying customers that the team has given
up.
Though Cowboys owner Jerry
Jones said on Friday that he'd prefer the trading deadline
to be pushed deeper into the season, Jones is in the minority. The
prevailing thought in league circles is that the NFL wants to eliminate the
temptation for weak teams to engage in late-season fire sales and contending
teams to mortgage their futures in the hopes of winning it all now.
Thus, as said Internet hack
points out, trades after the start of the regular season are rare.
This year, there have been only two (quarterback Charlie Frye from Cleveland
to Seattle and defensive end Bryce Fisher from Seattle to Tennessee).
POSTED 9:04 a.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 9:36 a.m. EDT, October 13, 2007
SLICK BALL USED ON MONDAY NIGHT?
The Cowboys exited the 2006 playoffs -- and
ended (for now) Bill Parcells' NFL career -- when quarterback Tony Romo
bobbled the snap on a late-game field goal in Seattle. Complaints were
made regarding the condition of the "K" ball that was sent into the game for
the play. Apparently, it was too slick.
There is now a claim by the Cowboys that the
ball that was used for the second last-second field goal attempt by Cowboys
kicker Nick Folk on Monday night was also slick. This time around,
however, the new holder (Brad Johnson) was able to control it, and the field
goal attempt was successful.
Said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in a Friday
press conference: "I know the spirit is to have good, conditioned
balls in the game. That's the spirit of the rule. There were
enough balls flying around out there to have a solid ball in the game --
solid being one that isn't slicked up.
But I have heard the second ball was slick, yes."
Jones explained that the matter has been
raised with the league office. "When you win then it's a good time if
you've got some things that you'd like to point out or like to improve on,
it's a good time to do it," Jones said. "You're more objective and
your points should be taken more objectively than when you've lost.
There's no reason, there's no conceivable reason, I don't care if they lost
them both, not to have a conditioned ball in the game. The spirit of
the rule is to always have a conditioned ball to kick rather than a slick
ball. And it's my understanding that they lost one of the conditioned
balls and the other one we had just kicked."
After the Romo muff in the postseason,
the owners changed the procedures for handling "K" balls.
Previously, the 12 balls to be used on kicking plays were marked with a "K"
and placed in a bag. The ball boy/girl assigned to produce a "K" ball
was hired by the home team, and could have fished out of the bottom of the
bag the slickest ball he/she could find when a critical kick was going to be
attempted by the road team.
Now, the officials have more time prior to the
game to "rub down" the balls (insert sophomoric snickering here), the "K"
balls are numbered sequentially for use in the game, and an official now
monitors the selection of the "K" balls for use.
Jones' point is that, with only 12 "K" balls,
there should have been enough kicking plays in the game to ensure that a
brand-new ball wouldn't be inserted into the game with only a couple of
ticks remaining on the clock.
He's right. Based on the official
play-by-play -- and accounting for the field goal try that was killed by a
time out that doesn't appear on the official play-by-play -- the "K" balls
were used 30 times during the game. This means that the "K" ball used
for the second last-second Folk field goal, if the sequence had properly
been followed, would have been used twice before in the game.
NO REGRETS FOR PASSING ON
MOSS?
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
touched on several other topics in his Friday conference, and
the transcript merits a read by any Cowboys fan (and by any of the folks
out there who don't like the Cowboys).
As to one of the many subplots
to Sunday's historic showdown with the Patriots, Jones tried hard not to
give New England's newest weapon any extra motivation.
The issue is the decision of
Jones not to select Randy Moss with the No. 8 overall pick in the 1998
draft. Moss claimed at the time that he'd been told that the Cowboys
were going to pick him, and Moss had a boulder on his shoulder for his
entire time in Minnesota as to the teams who wrote someone else's name on
the first 20 cards.
For the Cowboys, the grudge
always seemed to be a little bigger. (And here's a great item
from way back in April 1998 regarding the situation.)
And while it widely has been
presumed that
Jones regrets not drafting Moss, Jones tried hard on Friday not to
concede the essentially obvious -- while at the same time not adding any
fuel to the inferno that has carried Moss to five touchdowns in two career
games at Texas Stadium.
Here's the excerpt from the
presser:
Did you still regret not
taking Moss?
Jones: I didn't say that
I've ever regretted it . . . I don't know that I ever said that. Now I
basically understand why we didn't go that route but -- and I stand
corrected if you can show where I said that -- but don't think I said that.
Do you think Moss has
forgiven you for not taking him?
Jones: I know that he
[was] wanting to come to the Cowboys. We personally visited with him
and so I think that apart from the fact that you want to be drafted as high
as you can and you don't like this business of dropping down, I don't care
who you are, Randy Moss or not -- I know that's there too. If in fact
that helped his game against us then I'm never going to talk to anybody else
and not draft him because he's worn us out.
Knowing what you know now,
would you do it differently?
Jones: I wouldn't
speculate on that. We've at least shown one thing that I value a real
talented playmaker that could subject you to some criticism if you bring him
on the team. I've at least shown that. I didn't show it then.
SENECA DIDN'T GIVE THE
MIDDLE FINGER
There's a
video on YouTube
that appears to show Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace making an obscene
gesture after a fourth-quarter play during Sunday's loss to the Steelers.
We received a few e-mails
during the week on this one, but never had a chance to check our own DVR
version of the game to see what was going on.
Alas, Seneca wasn't shooting
the bird.
He was merely motioning to his
own bench, gesturing with his middle finger and ring finger, presumably for
certain personnel to enter the game.
POSTED 11:05 p.m. EDT,
October 12, 2007
QUINCY CARTER ARRESTED
NBC 5 in Dallas reports that former Cowboys
quarterback Quincy Carter
was arrested on
Friday for alleged possession of marijuana.
Carter, the one-time starting quarterback in
Dallas, was cut by the team after being suspended in 2004 for violation of
the substance-abuse policy. He later spent some time with the Jets,
and was in camp in the CFL.
Most recently, he played for one of the teams
in af2, the junior version of the Arena Football League.
Earlier this year, a report from ESPN.com's
Len Pasquarelli that Carter
was getting consideration for another chance in the NFL was roundly met
with scoffs and guffaws by league insiders.
POSTED 4:20 p.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 5:49 p.m. EDT, October 12, 2007
NOT THE FIRST FIGHT FOR TAYLOR
In response to news of a brouhaha in Minnesota
between running back Chester Taylor and defensive end Erasmus James, with
some collateral damage to left tackle Bryant McKinnie, a league source tells
us that this wasn't the first fight between Taylor and a teammate.
Per the source, Taylor and former Ravens
tackle Orlando "Zeus" Brown got into a scrum the night before a game in
2004.
Taylor, we're told, was bragging about his
relationship with one of Brown's friends. Brown suggested that Taylor
knock it off, and Taylor opted to run his mouth at the oversized lineman.
The jawing between the two of them continued,
and a fight broke loose.
And the chair seems to be Taylor's weapon of
choice. Just as he reportedly threw a chair at James earlier this
week, the source says that Taylor threw a chair at Brown.
Taylor had a reputation for being erratic and
unpredictable in Baltimore, and it's apparently one of the reasons that the
team didn't try to re-sign him when he qualified for unrestricted free
agency.
"Taylor's crazy," said the source. "He's
a talented guy, but he's . . . real mouthy."
CHILDRESS READS PFT
Though his former boss in
Philly, Andy Reid, claims not to be "blog efficient," Vikings coach Brad
Childress is a closet member of PFT Planet.
Well, he's no longer in the
closet. He outed himself on Friday.
Per our pal Sean Jensen of the
St. Paul Pioneer Press, whose cheating complaint against yours truly
in the PFT Media Fantasy Challenge is still pending, Childress mentioned the
site when discussing reports of a fight between running back Chester Taylor
and defensive end Erasmus James.
"I am always amazed today that
it's the age that we live in that we go from a 6:08 blog to a 7:39 blog to a
10:00 news to a morning newspaper to -- excuse me I forgot one --
Pro Football Talk. Excuse me, that's a blog," Childress said.
"What time was that, 7:39? Nightly news, morning paper, AP, ESPN, at
10:17."
UPDATE:
Says a reader in response to this one: "That's great news. Can
you pass along a message to Childress from Vikings fans everywhere?
PLEASE F--KING QUIT!"
FRIDAY INJURY REPORT IS UP
You've waited all week for it.
Friday. And that means . . . it's the Friday injury report.
This is the one with all of
the labels. And, as the New England Patriots have learned, the best
way to keep the other team in the dark is to designate all of the injured
guys as being limited participants in practice -- and then to list most of
them as questionable for Sunday.
POSTED 3:57 p.m. EDT,
October 12, 2007
YOUNG EXPOSES EMMITT AS A HOMER
In a weekly radio spot on KNBR in San
Francisco, ESPN's Steve Young disclosed that on-air partner Emmitt Smith was
openly rooting for the Cowboys during Monday night's come-from-behind win
against the Bills.
"He's sitting next to me," Young said, "and
we're watching the end of the game, and he's like -- he's like dying.
You know, they lose the two-point conversion that got knocked down and he's
like, 'Oh! Oh! What now?' And I'm like, 'Dude, you know you
played for the Cardinals in between? It's okay, you'll be all right.'
"When they kicked that field goal [to win the
game]," Young added. "He went running out on the field."
So much for objectivity.
But, in fairness to Young, he wasn't
complaining about Emmitt.
"It didn't bother me," Young said. "I
chuckled."
And, in our view, Young uses "chuckle" in the
condescending sense. As in "poor, pitiful, misguided Emmitt, who still
thinks he's on the team even though they ran him out of town when they
decided that he no longer had it."
POSTED 3:32 p.m. EDT, October 12, 2007
VIKINGS LOCKER ROOM TURNS
INTO JERRY SPRINGER SHOW
by Michael David Smith
More details have emerged
regarding the fight that took place after Wednesday's Vikings practice, and
it sounds like something out of Jerry Springer or pro wrestling.
Judd Zulgad of the Star
Tribune reports that the fight broke out in the Vikings' locker room
following Wednesday's practice. No one is saying what started it, but Zulgad
reports that defensive end Erasmus James threw a punch that landed around
running back Chester Taylor's right eye.
Taylor retaliated by throwing
a chair, but he showed about as much accuracy as Vikings quarterback Kelly
Holcomb has shown throwing footballs. Instead of hitting James with the
chair, Taylor accidentally hit left tackle Bryant McKinnie, Zulgad reports.
Taylor and McKinnie are good friends, and apparently the fight ended after
that.
Zulgad reports that when Taylor appeared in the Vikings' locker room
Thursday, he had a shiner underneath the eye. James has been added to the
Vikings' injury report with a shoulder injury.
A Vikings spokesman said Thursday night the team would have no comment
publicly, but seeing as coach Brad Childress and owner Zygi Wilf have
stressed the need for personal accountability ever since the Vikings'
infamous sex boat, it's safe to assume the coach and the owner have had
quite a bit to say privately.
NFL DOLES OUT FRIDAY FINES
by Michael David Smith
Adam Schefter of NFL Network
is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys' secondary was hit hard by NFL fines on
Friday.
Schefter reports that the
league has fined Cowboys safety Roy Williams $15,000 for a horse collar
tackle during Monday night's victory over the Buffalo Bills. Considering
that the rule against horse-collar tackles is often called the "Roy Williams
Rule," and considering that this is Williams' second offense of the season,
he should probably be pretty happy that he came out of the week only $15,000
lighter in the wallet.
Schefter also reports that
Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman was fined $5,000 for impermissible use of
his helmet in the game against Buffalo.
And elsewhere in the league,
Schefter reported that Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew has been
fined $7,500 for using the goal post as a prop in a celebration.
POSTED 12:55 p.m. EDT, October 12, 2007
HENRY TO CLAIM HE INHALED
SECOND-HAND SMOKE? by
Michael David Smith
Bill Williamson of the
Denver Post reports that the lawsuit filed by Broncos running back
Travis Henry is expected to revolve around his claim that he
inhaled second-hand
marijuana smoke.
The logical question, then, is
if Henry can just claim that he had marijuana in his system because he
inhaled second-hand smoke, and if a court rules that the NFL can't suspend
him because of that, how could anyone, ever, be suspended for a positive
marijuana test? And why would Henry, who knew he was one positive test away
from a one-year ban, put himself in a situation where he might inhale
someone else's marijuana smoke?
There may be more to Henry's
lawsuit than just claiming he inhaled second-hand smoke, though. He
apparently will argue that the combination of low levels of THC in his urine
sample and his willingness to submit to a lie detector test and give hair
samples should entitle him not to be suspended.
Henry seems unlikely to win
this challenge, but if he does, it could have a major impact on the NFL's
drug-testing policies.
Note: Williamson also writes
that there's no merit to the reports out of Detroit saying running back
Tatum Bell could be traded to the Broncos.
PACMAN FACES ANOTHER SUIT;
FISHER DOESN'T MISS HIM
by Michael David Smith
Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean
has two reports today about Pacman Jones, and neither is good news for the
suspended Titans cornerback.
First, Wyatt reports that
Jones will
face his third civil suit in connection with the melee at the Minxx
Gentleman's Club in Las Vegas, this one filed by club employee Tom Urbanski,
who was paralyzed in a shooting outside the club.
Jones, who has already been
sued by two other people in connection with the same incident, is also
facing felony coercion charges.
And although Jones told the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution over the weekend -- presumably with a
straight face -- that he thinks he did enough to get reinstated by NFL
Commissioner Roger Goodell, his coach doesn't sound like he wants him back.
Wyatt reports that Titans
coach Jeff Fisher said on ESPN, "As far as we're concerned
we've moved on. We've got returners, we've got corners, we have a real
healthy locker room and the decision will be left up to the commissioner.''
When pressed on whether he would want Jones back if given the opportunity,
Fisher said, "It would be a real hard choice right now. I like the way
things are going. But we are going to wait and see what happens at the
league office level and then we'll revisit things and make a decision.''
Fisher isn't going to come
right out and say he doesn't want Jones back because that would reduce the
Titans' leverage if Jones does get reinstated (which might happen next year
but will almost certainly not happen this year) and they try to trade him.
But it's pretty clear that as far as Fisher is concerned, the Titans are
better off without Pacman.
FRIDAY MORNING ONE-PER-CLUB ONE-LINERS
by Michael David Smith
Says Patriots coach Bill
Belichick of Cowboys LB DeMarcus Ware, "We saw a lot of him in college when
he came out in the draft. I thought he was probably
the best player in that draft."
Says Bills RB Anthony Thomas
after visiting TE Kevin Everett, "He's doing good.
He's
moving better."
Dolphins LB Zach Thomas has
switched helmets to help reduce the risk of concussion.
Says Colts QB Peyton Manning
of the offensive line, "We knew we were going to call on them in the run
game and the protection was going to play a big role in it, and
those guys really answered the bell."
Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew is
likely to be fined for a celebration in which he pretended the goal post
was an ATM.
Titans DT Albert Haynesworth
appears ready to get more money than the $16 million guarantee that
Lions DT Cory Redding got this year.
Many in the Broncos
organization think
the three rookies are the team's three best defensive linemen.
Hall of Fame Bears running
back Gale Sayers offers this assessment of his old team: "They can't win
with Brian Griese and Rex Grossman throwing the ball 50 times a game because
they're not that good."
Says Panthers QB David Carr of
testing his injured back in practice Thursday, "It felt good, a little tight
in the release, but I think
it will
definitely clear up by Sunday."
Saints RB Reggie Bush
says he isn't
worried about the reports that he was taking cash on the side in
college.
Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin
explains why he's taking his time rehabbing from a hip injury: "I feel we
will be in the playoffs.
I will be [expletive]
off if I'm sitting out for a playoff game."
QB Alex Smith and TE Vernon
Davis are expected to
return for the 49ers' next game, October 21 against the Giants.
Seahawks special teams coach
Bruce DeHaven says the long snapper is
the most important player on the special teams.
POSTED 7:30 a.m. EDT;
LAST UPDATED 10:12 a.m. EDT, October 12, 2007
WINSLOW WINNING BATTLE OF WORDS WITH PORTER
After a couple of years of fighting injuries,
Browns tight end Kellen Winslow is developing into one of the top tight ends
in the league.
And he's also figuring out how to play the
game off of the field.
On Sunday, Winslow's Cleveland team gets
together with the Dolphins, who currently have linebacker Joey Porter on the
roster. Last year, Porter was fined for
calling Winslow a "fag" in post-game remarks.
This time around, Porter popped off on
Wednesday. "He's a receiver, really," Porter said. "He's not a
tight end, because he's not going to block anybody. If you ask me
who's going to win the Joey Porter-Kellen Winslow battle: Me."
Said Winslow on Thursday, "I think Joey Porter
needs a hug. He's so angry, man."
Winslow's retort seemed to have put Porter in
his place.
"He is saying all the right things," Porter
said. "Unlike me. I'm going to say how I feel."
Um, that's only partly true, Joey. We
have a feeling that you would have liked to have said, in response to
Kellen's suggestion that you need a hug, something like this: "Like I
said last year, that's what fags do."
So you've learned how to hold your tongue when
it might cost you money. You might now want to try working on
exercising discretion when your comments will potentially make you look
stupid.
Of course, if that were the case, Porter might
never open his mouth at all.
And few would complain.
STILL HOOKED ON THE TRĒO
It's been more than a week,
and I yet still feel like a kid on Christmas morning with my new Palm Trēo
755p from Sprint. Having the ability to quickly and easily check
e-mail messages from multiple accounts is the best feature, but everything
about this phone is a positive.
From the easy-to-navigate
touch screen to the SprintTV feature (that streams NFL Network live at no
additional charge for subscribers with the Power Vision plan) to features
like Google maps, I can't imagine a better handheld device.
The built-in camera is also a
great performer, as evidenced by the crisp, clean image that it captured --
from a non-HD television screen -- during Monday night's Cowboys-Bills game.
Originally, we thought the "Aaaaag"
was a typo. But maybe the guy who made that graphic had Tony Romo as
his fantasy quarterback.
So buy the Trēo 755p from
Sprint, and support the exclusive telecommunications partner of
ProFootballTalk.
(Or, if you find the Trēo to
be on the high end of your phone budget,
check out the brand new Palm Centro, which is available exclusively from
Sprint and is priced at under $100.)
FREE FANTASY ADVICE
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little more substantive than, "Start Tom Brady -- he's a good player"?
Then check out Matt Pitzer's Start/Sit
column for Week Six.
Matt is a nationally-known
fantasy expert whose work appears in a major daily publication that I've
been buying from more than 20 years, back when it cost only a quarter.
I pay a little bit more for Pitzer's two weekly PFT articles than 25
cents, but for you it's all free.
Of course, since I'm the one
writing the check, I incorporate Pitzer's advice into my own fleet of
fantasy teams (all two of them) before editing the column and posting it.
In my family league this
weekend, I square off against my 16-year-old nephew who lost interest three
weeks ago and doesn't change his lineup to account for byes or injuries.
He'll probably beat me by 40 points, but the margin would be at least 70
points if I hadn't followed Pitzer's advice.
POSTED 11:12 p.m. EDT,
October 11, 2007
SHARPER TRADES BARBS WITH CHICAGO TIGHT
ENDS
Vikings safety Darren Sharper didn't learn his
lesson after guaranteeing victory against the Packers a couple of weeks ago.
This time around, Sharper is taking shots at
the Bears' tight ends.
In response, Bears tight end Desmond Clark
said that Sharper needs "to worry about his job security."
Added rookie tight end Greg Olsen, who caught
four passes for 57 yards and a touchdown against the Packers: "I'm
sure at one time a tight end caught the ball on him. He's been in the
league. I'll go out on a limb and say a tight end has caught the ball
at least one time."
Olsen is right. Tight ends have caught
the ball against the Vikings in 2007. Alge Crumpler of the Falcons
snared four passes for 40 yards. Tony Gonzalez of the Chiefs caught
seven for 96 yards. Donald Lee of the Packers hauled in four passes
for 66 yards.
Sharper's comments make even less sense when
considering that the team's base defensive package -- the Cover 2 -- makes
it easier for tight ends to catch passes due to the soft spots in the
two-deep zone.
POSTED 8:27 p.m. EDT,
October 11, 2007
DOOKIE GETS CHARGED
Despite prior reports that the man who once
dropped a warm tamale in a clothes hamper wasn't in hot water over a
domestic incident involving the mother of his child, Steelers running back
Najeh Davenport now faces three misdemeanor charges.
According to Fox 8 in Cleveland,
Davenport faces charges of domestic violence, endangering children, and
unlawful restraint.
Davenport has not yet been taken into custody,
and will be given an opportunity to turn himself in.
The Steelers are idle in Week Six, and return
to action on October 21 at Denver.
And, most importantly, the incident results in
nine points for the Steelers in the Turd Watch "game," and it re-sets the
"days without an arrest" counter, only two days after it ventured back into
double digits.
POSTED 7:39 p.m. EDT,
October 11, 2007
VIKINGS SHOW SOME FIGHT, IN PRACTICE
Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press
reports that Vikings running back Chester Taylor and defensive end
Erasmus James got into a scuffle
after practice on Wednesday.
James landed at least one punch before the two
players were separated. And James shows up on the Thursday injury
report with a shoulder injury.
Still, one member of the team told Jensen, "It
was no big deal."
The 1-3 Vikings are coming off of their bye
week, and they face the Bears in Chicago.
POSTED 7:25 p.m. EDT,
October 11, 2007
CROUCH WORKING FOR THE AAFL P.R. MACHINE
So I received an e-mail today. From Eric
Crouch.
And unlike other e-mails I've received from
players or execs telling me how stoopid I am (get in line, guys), Crouch's
message read like a press release disguised as a "hey, how ya doin'?" type
of a message.
The subject line gave it away. "For Mike
Florio from Eric Crouch, Heisman Trophy Winner."
I'm glad he added that last part.
Otherwise, I might have confused him with "Eric Crouch, Guy who Quit the
NFL." Or "Eric Crouch, Washed-Up CFL Quarterback."
Oh, wait. They're all the same dude.
So here's what my new pal, Eric, had to say:
"About a month ago I received a phone call:
Marcus Katz, founder and CEO of the new the All American Football League
invited me to play in the new league.
"I had heard about Katz's idea of putting new pro teams in college towns and
re-creating great rivalries. I believe the New York Times called it
'Professional Football with College Spirit.'
"So I went to Detroit last month for an AAFL workout to check it out.
And I liked what I saw. And so did all the other players who attended
the workout.
"The league is starting with six teams in Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas,
Tennessee and Michigan. The players need degrees to play. Games
will be played in the Spring beginning in '08. And there are lots of
great college football people involved, like Ced Dempsey, the former
President of the NCAA and Gene Corrigan, the former ACC Commissioner.
"So I signed up.
"Nebraska won't even have a team 'till [sic] 2009, but, let me tell you, I
have been stunned at how many people in Nebraska are really excited about
this new league.
"A couple of weeks ago, I was at the Florida-Auburn game and could hardly
believe how long the Florida fans were willing to wait in line to get their
name on the AAFL's Florida team's ticket list.
"And besides excited fans, the league has some good players (like Fred
Weary, Travis McGriff, Clint Stoerner, Tai Streets and many others with NFL
experience), all of which is contributing to the League getting lots of
local and national
attention.
"Just this week, Time Magazine, in comparing the AAFL with the UFL, which
plans on playing head to head against the NFL next fall, said:
"'The AAFL is certainly the more innovative concept of the two new leagues .
. . Since there aren't enough NFL spots for all the talented University of
Florida football players, the thinking goes, why not have some of them come
to Gainesville, suit
up in Gator blue, and play for the Florida AAFL team? They'd face off
against teams from Tennessee and Alabama, just like the good old days.'
"Today, I learned that Alabama Crimson Tide legend, Kenny Stabler, was named
to the AAFL's Alabama board of directors and Arkansas legend Joe Ferguson
was named to the Arkansas team board. And they're just the latest in a
string of former
NFL greats to get involved in the League's management.
"One thing I know for sure is that I am ready to play some ball.
"If how players and fans are flocking to this new league sounds like a
story, I'd be happy to help any way I can."
So thanks, Eric. Next time, though, why
don't you simply offer me 40 percent of the $15 million that you're trying
to wire to the country from Portugal?
David Carr, the replacement for No. 1
quarterback Jake Delhomme, has a back injury and has missed practice on
Wednesday and Thursday. That increases the likelihood of Testaverde
taking the reins.
WEEK SIX THURSDAY INJURY
REPORT
The info is in.
The guys who practiced, who
didn't practice, and who kind of practiced on Thursday is available.
Right here.
Friday's information is coming
on, um, Friday.
POSTED 4:29 p.m. EDT,
October 11, 2007
PATS-COWBOYS FEATURES RARE MATCHUP OF
UNBEATENS
I'll admit it. I was kind of hoping that the
Cowboys would pull off the improbable Monday night comeback against the Bills
because I wanted both the Cowboys and Patriots to be unbeaten when they meet
at Texas Stadium on Sunday.
Per the NFL, Sunday's game is only the fifth
time in league history that two teams with records of at least 5-0 will
meet.
In the history of the league.
And it's only the third time since the AFL-NFL
merger that teams with 5-0 records or better will get together.
The first occasion came on November 13, 1921,
when the 7-0 Akron Pros and the 6-0 Buffalo All-Americans fought to a 0-0
tie. Nearly two years later, on November 4, 1923, the 5-0 Canton
Bulldogs bested the 5-0 Chicago Cardinals, 7-3.
Nearly fifty years later, the 6-0
Vikings squeaked by the 6-0 Los Angeles Rams, 10-9.
Finally, the 5-0 Pats beat the 5-0 Jets in
2004, 13-7.
Bottom line? We've got to do a special
edition of the weekly Live Blog. And for those of you inclined to put
some of your hard-earned money at risk, the scores of those past matchups of
unbeatens seem to suggest taking the under.
Meanwhile, let's take a look at what PFTV has
to say about the game. Given the outcome of that Akron-Buffalo tilt
from 85-plus years ago, maybe my prediction isn't so crazy after all.
With 43-year-old quarterbacks still getting
work in the NFL, Miami signal-caller Trent Green isn't ready to pack it in
just yet.
According to the Miami Herald, Green
told coach Cam Cameron recently that initial tests on Trent's tool box have
created optimism.
"He
told me it was very encouraging,'' Cameron said. "He's really
upbeat. You could imagine, that's what makes those guys who they are
and what they are. They're competitors, and they think a little
differently than the rest of us sometimes. They can't imagine not
playing.''
Green suffered a Grade 3 concussion when his
helmet encountered the knee of Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson.
Grade 3 is the worst kind of bump to the brain, since it results in
unconsciousness.
We've heard rumblings, however, that Green
really is better than advertised, and that he is recovering nicely.
Still, after missing eight games in 2006 following a vicious shot to the
noggin, Green could miss at least a few this time around.
But even if he can come back, should he?
Though he apparently has emerged from two serious concussions with no ill
effects, what happens if there's a third one?
A guy needs to know when to cash in his chips.
For Green, the smart move might be to get out while he still has the ability
to lead a normal life. With all of the controlled chaos that occurs
during a game of pro football, the chances of taking another shot to the
skull are too high.
And the fact that he'll surely be thinking
about it will potentially reduce his effectiveness.
With that said, playing pro football pays
pretty well. It's got to be very hard, then, for a guy who still feels
like he can physically do the job to walk away.
POLIAN SUGGESTS PATRIOTS
CHEATING DIDN'T WORK
We've had an opportunity to
take a closer look at the entire text of the column in which MDS found on
Wednesday the comments from Colts G.M. Bill Polian constituting criticism of
game officials.
Presumably unintentionally,
Polian said something that, in our view, tends to lead to the conclusion
that any alleged cheating by the Patriots via the videotaping of defensive
signals doesn't work.
Responding to a question
regarding the intentions of former Colts linebacker Cato June to educate his
Tampa teammates on the pre-snap histrionics of quarterback Peyton Manning,
Polian said the following:
"[A]ll
the intelligence in the world pre-game isn't going to do you any good,
because Peyton knows people are trying to figure that out. We change
it week to week and sometimes quarter to quarter, depending upon what we
think is appropriate, so it's very difficult for somebody to pick that up.
Now, we run certain plays and everybody knows we run them. The problem
is stopping them and knowing when they're going to be run. That's why we've
done a good job of disguising that and executing them. . . . It really
isn't the nomenclature that's important. What's important is the execution."
Though
Polian wasn't talking about the value to the Pats of building a database of
defensive signals used by the coaches that they face, the message is that
smart teams will change everything, week in and week out, because it's
obvious that foes are trying to crack the code.
Of
course, none of this changes our presumption that the activities in which
the Pats were engaged must have had some value or the Pats wouldn't
have been doing them. The Patriots got caught, and paid the price.
But the lesson here is that every team needs to protect itself from that
kind of stuff.
Just
like the Colts apparently do.
POSTED 11:50 a.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 1:34 p.m. EDT,
October 11, 2007
AKILI IS AVAILABLE
Hey, NFL teams. With all of the
43-year-old veteran quarterbacks off of the market, there's another option
to which you can turn if your starter's ACL goes snap, crackle, and/or pop.
Akili Smith.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 1999 draft
has been released by the CFL's Calgary Stampeders after completing 22 of
47 passes for 219 yards, no touchdowns, and five interceptions during his
career with the team.
Smith's departure results from the return of
Henry Burris, who at one time tried to migrate to the NFL from the Canadian
version of the sport but couldn't make the transition.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON
ONE-PER-CLUB ONE-LINERS
by Michael David Smith
Says Dolphins LB Joey Porter
of Trent Green's block on Travis Johnson, "Trent really wasn't trying to
take his knee out, but the reality of it is
he could have."
Patriots RB Kevin Faulk
worried that he suffered a serious injury Sunday, but
he checked out fine.
Injuries are forcing the
Ravens to play such a young offensive line that none of Steve McNair's
blockers
were even in high school when he started his NFL career.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis
brought in a motivational speaker to visit the team. [Editor's
note: The travel expenses were minimal, since the guy lives .
. . in a van down by the river.]
Broncos DE Simeon Rice says
his first four games with the team have been, "A farce. It was a
faulty me. You haven't seen the real Simeon Rice.
That hasn't been me
out there."
Cowboys CB Anthony Henry is
expected to
miss Sunday's game with a high ankle sprain.
Says Giants RB Brandon Jacobs
of returning last week after missing three games to injury, "At some point
in the game
I knew I was going to fumble because I wasn't used to carrying the
ball."
Bears RB Adrian Peterson was
asked whether he's better than his namesake in Minnesota, and he gave an
honest answer: "He's got probably about 100 more carries than I have.
So I would
imagine he is."
Lions LB Ernie Sims says, "I
have the NFL [Sunday] Ticket, but
I don't ever get a chance to watch it." (Uh, Ernie, did you not know
you'd be working on Sundays?)
Packers coach Mike McCarthy
has no problem
with coaches calling timeout just before a field goal.
Falcons RT Todd Weiner will
miss two to six weeks with a knee injury; with LT Wayne Gandy also out,
the Falcons will now start an undrafted rookie and a second-year player.
Panthers coach John Fox says
of QB David Carr, "We anticipate we've got a shot at him
playing on
Sunday."
Says 49ers coach Mike Nolan of
what he heard in one-on-one meetings he had with the players: "Everything
from 'Get rid of the
head coach' all the way down to 'Why aren't I starting?'"
They're 2-2, in sole
possession of first place in the AFC West.
So are the Oakland Raiders,
the recent butt of virtually every NFL-related joke, for real?
Let's see what Brocato and
Florio think about that one.
VALVANO SPEECH GETTING LOTS
OF PLAY
We've received a bunch of
e-mails from readers who watched, and who were touched by, the YouTube clip
of Jim Valvano's March 1993 speech at the ESPY awards.
And some of you were moved to
make contributions to The V Foundation
for cancer research.
Said one reader: "You're
costing me money, but not with picks. You get me all teary-eyed with
the Valvano link, next thing you know I'm pulling out the Visa and spending
a couple hundred. Hey, it's more than Mike Vick would have given.
So you got me me crying, you go soft on ESPN so now I'm laughing, I gonna do
some thinking and then call it a day."
I watched it three times
yesterday. Florio Jr., with the gnat-like attention span of an
11-year-old, managed to sit through the whole thing. And if he
incorporates only one percent of it into his life, I can call it a day, too.
PFT PICK CHALLENGE
CHALLENGES YOU
We've made it through five
weeks of the PFT Pick Challenge. Last week, we fixed our glitch, so
the picks were saved.
Unfortunately.
I only got eight of 14 right.
So that means that there were plenty of entries in the "Meathead or
Fathead?" contest.
The winner of the drawing with
all of the folks who did better than eight of 14 was the player with the
user name "jeckert." He/she gets a Fathead product.
The winner of the drawing with
the folks who got the most right was the user with the name "schue3325."
He/she gets a free one-year subscription to Sporting News.
The winner of the "Refer a
Friend" (and, no, it's not "Reefer a Friend," Ricky) drawing was "Eric."
And of all of the folks who
correctly picked the outcome of the Steelers-Seahawks game, the winner of
the drawing (vtx1800r) gets a free copy of
The Bus: My Life In And Out Of A Helmet,
which has been made available to us at no charge by
Jerome Bettis
and by Doubleday Books.
And everyone's number of
correct picks for the week will be added to their total entries into the
end-of-season drawing for two tickets a certain game to be played at a certain date at a certain stadium in a
certain state that is hosting a certain game widely known via certain Roman
numerals. The tickets to
the certain game are provided to us at face value by our friends at
NFL.com.
So click this link,
and make your picks for Week Six. My picks are the Chiefs, Jags,
Browns, Packers, Ravens, Vikings, Eagles, Titans, Cardinals, Pats, Chargers,
Seahawks, Giants.
POSTED 9:00 a.m. EDT,
October 11, 2007
MANGINI SAYS PENNINGTON IS STILL THE
STARTER
Jets coach Eric Mangini declared on Wednesday
that quarterback Chad Pennington is still the starter, despite lingering
issues with injury and ineffectiveness.
Meanwhile, Pennington admits that he's
pressing, and that it could be affecting his performance.
"I can't try to be a superhero," Pennington
said.
But the reality is that Pennington will
continue to press because he knows that, with 21 interceptions in 20 starts
under Mangini and a second-round pick devoted to Kellen Clemens in 2006,
Mangini is waiting for the right time to make the switch.
And given that Pennington is a human being who
faces the possibility of losing something that he considers to be his
property, common sense suggests that the looming threat of a benching is
driving him to do too much.
If you don't buy that, consider Derek
Anderson's performance in Cleveland. He knows that he's merely holding
the spot for Brady Quinn, so Anderson isn't worried about losing it.
As a result, he's loose and he's relaxed and he's able to play his best
football.
Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle practiced with
the team for the first time since September 20, and
plans to play
on Sunday after a three-game absence.
Rolle missed time due to an illness that
required at one point a hospital stay. Everyone involved has been
tight-lipped about the condition, whatever it is/was, from which Rolle
suffered.
At some point along the way, a medication that
he was taking did anything but help him get better.
"To wake up one morning and think you're going
to work and end up in the hospital, it's scary," Rolle said on Wednesday.
"The medication put me back a whole week because I didn't feel good and it
made me feel worse."
Rolle's return will shore up a Ravens defense
that has been uncharacteristically porous of late, despite holding the 49ers
to only seven points in Week Five.
A QUICK RADIO PROGRAMMING
REMINDER
For those of you who enjoy the
crap we make up and post in this space, you can listen to yours truly talk
about the crap we make up and post in this space on anywhere from 15 to 25
radio spots per week.
The rest of the weekly spots
are available right here. Regular
stops currently include KFAN in Minneapolis (with P.A. and Dubay), WDAE in
Tampa (with Steve Duemig), Sporting News Radio (with Todd Wright), WFNZ in
Charlotte (with Chris McClain of "move on or move out"
fame), WBAL in Baltimore (with Steve Davis), WIP in Philly (with Glen Macnow),
1010 XL in Jacksonville (with Frank Frangie and Mike Dempsey), ESPN Radio
Atlantic City (with Mike Gill), 1570 The Zone in Louisville (with Dave
Ragone and a co-host whose name we can't remember), WNST in Baltimore (with
Drew Forrester), KMBE in Houston, Team 1200 in Ottawa, and The Brady
Ackerman Show on several stations in Florida.
POSTED 11:39 p.m. EDT,
October 10, 2007
SHOULD POLIAN BE FINED FOR OFFICIATING
REMARKS?
In response
to one of the Wednesday Morning One-Liners capably harvested by our own MDS,
a league source has raised the question of whether Colts G.M. Bill Polian should
be fined by the NFL for making comments critical of game officials.
Addressing a perceived reduction in roughing
the passer penalties this season in a weekly Q&A session on the team's web
site, Polian had this to say about the refs:
"Peyton [Manning] got
drilled in the head earlier in the year and they let it go. The
officiating department said, 'No, we don't want that called.' We
didn't get the memo on that apparently. In any event, that has been
liberalized a little bit, although that was not the case in the Monday Night
game last week. There was a little love tap on the quarterback's
shoulder and it was called. You've heard me say before that
consistency is the hobgoblin we have to deal with in officiating. That
was never more clear than Sunday [against the Buccaneers], by the way.
You had two teams that preach and coach penalty avoidance and a crew of
officials that was on top of every play. You had a great game and a
quick game. The question you ask yourself is, 'Why
can't you have that every week?’ It's puzzling. In any
event, my impression is it's a little more liberal now. We'll know at
the end of the year. Sometimes, your impression when you see snippets
of games here and there is not true when you research the data."
By saying "Why can't
you have that every week?" in connection with his team's most recent game,
Polian essentially was denigrating the officiating from one or more of the
team's prior four games.
Since any criticism of
the officials by a team official should be met with a fine, our source
believes that Polian should be fined.
And if the same
consistency that Polian wants to see in officiating applies to the
imposition of fines, he should be getting a letter from the league office
advising him of a certain salary deduction that will be reflected on his
next pay stub.
It remains to be seen,
however, whether Polian actually will be fined.
By the way, Polian
inadvertently gave the Patriots some extra motivation (as if they needed
any) for the upcoming game between the Colts and the Pats in Indianapolis.
Asked why there aren't more Colts home games in prime time, Polian said,
"NBC told us they don’t like us at home, because we tend to win by rather
large scores and that doesn't make for good TV."
New England might have
something to say about that on November 4. (As well as the Jags on
December 2, and the Titans on December 30.)
POSTED 10:47 p.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 11:09 p.m. EDT, October 10, 2007
REID REITERATES THAT HE'S STAYING
Eagles coach Andy Reid expanded on his recent
comments to Jay Glazer of FOX, explaining on Wednesday that the long-time
coach of the team has no plans to leave.
"I'm
here, I'm here." said Reid. "As long as the Philadelphia Eagles
want me here, I'm here."
Last week, we wrote that rumors were running
rampant of Reid's potential departure. Our pal A.J. Daulerio of
PhillyMag.com has a similar report that same day.
Reid says that any such talk is off the mark.
"It came up during the season here and I just
wanted to make sure we ended it and that the players understood that and you
folks understood that," Reid said. "It's pretty cut and dry that that
information didn't come from me. I don't know where the information
came from, but it was false.
"I'm not blog efficient, but it sounds like people can be very creative
there. That has nothing to do with me. I just wanted to make
sure people understood that."
Fine. Good. Works for us.
And, folks, we ask that you remember this one nugget of wisdom from our old
friend Nick Saban.
"I'm not going to be the Alabama coach."
I'm not saying that Reid is lying. I'm
only saying that I've learned through more than seven years in this business
(and nearly six with this site) that the things a coach says never should be
taken at face value.
If Reid were contemplating a
resignation/retirement, why would he admit to it now? Nothing good
could come of it.
So Reid's comments shouldn't put to rest any
speculation about his future with the team. Reid's comments are merely
Reid's comments. And we wouldn't expect Reid's comments to be any
different than what they were.
WEEK SIX WEDNESDAY INJURY
REPORT
Another Wednesday, another
Wednesday injury report.
Here are a few of the
notables: Panthers QB David Carr missed practice with a back injury;
Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin (hip) and WR Bryant Johnson (knee) missed
practice; Bengals RB Rudi Johnson (hamstring) missed practice; Chiefs QB
Damon Huard (shoulder) fully participated; Browns RB Jamal Lewis did not
practice due to a foot injury; Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson was a limited
participant in practice with a groin injury.
Pats RB Laurence Maroney, who
has missed the last two games with a groin injury, continues to participate
in practice on a limited basis; Eagles RB Brian Westbrook (abdomen) fully
participated in pratice; Rams RB Steven Jackson (groin) is out again.
Titans DT Albert Haynesworth
(ankle) did not participate in practice.
Redskins WR Antwaan Randle El
missed practice with a hamstring injury.
CAMPBELL WINS FIRST PLAYER
OF THE WEEK AWARD
Redskins quarterback Jason
Campbell was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week Award for Week Five,
giving the third-year pro from Auburn the first such award of his career.
Elsewhere in the NFC,
Cardinals cornerback Rod Hood won the Defensive Player of the Week honor,
and Cowboys kicker Nick Folk was named the Special Teams Player of the Week.
In the AFC, the Offensive
Player of the Week recipient was Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
Cornerback Ike Taylor of the Steelers was the Defensive Player of the Week,
and Texans kicker Kris Brown snared the Special Teams Player of the Week
prize.
POSTED 10:03 p.m. EDT,
October 10, 2007
BRIGGS WANTS TO STAY PUT
Though he previously said that he fully
intends to leave the team after 2007, Bears linebacker Lance Briggs now says
that he'd like to remain in Chicago.
Briggs loudly complained about the team's
failure to sign him to a long-term deal after he was slapped with the
franchise tag, which paid him a $7.2 million salary for the present season.
When Briggs finally signed the tender, he received a guarantee that the team
will not use the tag on him again if certain conditions are met.
Briggs plays weakside linebacker in the Tampa
2 defense, which funnels plenty of action in his direction, allowing him to
make a lot of plays. The question that some league insiders have about
Briggs is whether his production is a result of the system -- and/or the
proximity of middle linebacker Brian Urlacher.
Of course, questions regarding Briggs'
off-field potential for problems persist, especially after he crashed a
brand new Lamborghini, ran from the scene, and then reported the thing as
stolen.
POSTED 9:37 p.m. EDT,
October 10, 2007
OWENS VOWS SILENCE
The good news for the day is that Cowboys
receiver Terrell Owens isn't talking.
The bad news is that he plans to talk again
after Sunday's game against the Patriots.
Owens left a note for reporters on Wednesday
regarding his Kramer-esque vow of silence. Wrote Owens:
Though Owens'
comments could give some extra motivation to
"the other 81" (i.e., Pats receiver Randy
Moss), Moss already has plenty of reasons to
bring his best game to Big D.
First and
foremost, he's having his greatest season to
date on a team that is positioned to deliver his
first Super Bowl ring.
Second, he's still
playing for the huge contract that goes along
with having a tremendous 2007 season.
Third, Moss surely
still has a chip on his shoulder about the 1998
draft, when Dallas owner Jerry Jones supposedly
told Moss that he'd be selecting the former
Marshall wideout with the eighth overall pick.
But the 'Boys instead took defensive end Greg
Ellis, and the Moss free-fall continued, all the
way to No. 21.
Jones also has had
two other chances to gather Moss -- in 2005 and
earlier this year. And while it's easy to
conclude that Jones didn't want the headaches
that come with a big-name receiver with a
reputation for being trouble, Jones signed "the
Original 81" in 2006.
So Moss will be as
pumped for this game as any game he's ever
played. And just like his past trips
to Texas Stadium, the popcorn will be flying
once Randy starts doing his thing.
Though some believed that the Chiefs might be
making a quarterback change from Damon Huard to Brodie Croyle,
Huard apparently will keep the job, despite a shoulder injury that
knocked him out of Sunday's 17-7 loss to the Jaguars, during which K.C.
avoided an embarrassing home shutout via a last-play touchdown pass from
Croyle.
Huard underwent an MRI on his shoulder, which
revealed no structural damage.
"We'll go through practice [on Wednesday] and
see what he can do," coach Herm Edwards said on Tuesday. "He feels a
lot better. He's worked out the last two days."
Croyle was the top guy on the depth chart
during the preseason, but blew the job with some poor performances.
MORE FUN WITH EMMITT
We haven't said much about
ESPN's Emmitt Smith over the past few days. (Actually, we have.
But most of it was in the latest Monday night Live Blog.)
