POSTED 9:03 p.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 9:20 p.m. EDT, October 5, 2007
MARVIN WANTS A G.M.
Plagued for years by the inadequate devotion
of resources to the personnel department, the Cincinnati Bengals have no G.M.
and not enough scouts.
A league source now tells us that coach Marvin
Lewis is lobbying internally for the hiring of a General Manager who would
assume responsibility for shaping the team's personnel. Though we
assume that Lewis would want to maintain final say over the 53-man roster,
Lewis apparently realizes that not enough time, money, and/or effort has
been devoted to ensuring that the right players are added to the team.
The Bengals have developed a reputation for
drafting guys whom other teams take off of their boards. The problem,
as it's been explained to us, is that when players like Frostee Rucker and
Chris Henry and A.J. Nicholson are available in lower rounds than their
talent might otherwise dictate, the Bengals go for the talent not because
they don't care about bad character, but because they lack the confidence to
identify the best of the players who haven't slid down the board.
REID NOT GOING ANYWHERE
While watching NFL Network's
Total Access on my new Palm Trēo 755p on Friday morning, I heard Adam
Schefter explain that Eagles coach Andy Reid won't be stepping aside to
spend more time with his family.
Pointing out that Reid's
troubled sons are already grown, Schefter explained that "the die is cast"
regarding their development, and that Reid spending more time parenting his
twentysomething children would be the equivalent of the mothers of Britney
Spears and/or Lindsay Lohan devoting their full attention to making their
daughters something other than the train wrecks they have become.
Still, we doubt that this will
be enough to squelch rampant rumors that Reid will resign at the end of the
season or sooner. As we see it, the issue isn't taking time off to get
his kids right. It's a matter of burnout and overall effectiveness;
clearly, something is different in Philly this year, and it could be that
Reid's personal travails have changed him in a fundamental way.
We think that Reid's ultimate
fate will be driven by whether, moving forward, we see more of the Eagles
that dominated the Lions in Week Three -- or the team that was stifled by
the Giants in Week Four. If it's the latter, we suspect that Reid very
well could decide that he has had enough. If it's the former, enough
of the fire might come back to carry Reid into a ninth season as the head
coach of the team.
PFTV PREVIEWS
SEAHAWKS-STEELERS
One of the five new PFTV
segments focuses on the rematch of Super Bowl XL, which was played in the
Steelers' home away from home at Ford Field. This time around, the
Seahawks and Steelers meet in Pittsburgh.
For the PFTV preview of the
Week Five interconference battle, click on the box below.
And for exclusive video
previews of every single Week Five game, click on the NFL.com ads on this
site and follow your nose.
TURD WATCH UPDATE
Though we initially were not
inclined to treat leaving the scene of a single-car accident as a
turd-watchable offense, the fact that linebacker Lance Briggs was sentenced
to one year of Court supervision and, as NFL spokesman Greg Aiello has
confirmed, is now subject to potential sanction under the Personal
Conduct Policy, we've decided to dispense points for the charges in this
regard filed against Briggs and, more recently, Jags tackle Khalif Barnes.
It also requires us to re-set
the "days without an arrest" counter to September 29.
The
end result? Four points to the Bears for the charge and the recent
guilty plea. Three points, for now, to the Jags.
And those three points for
Jacksonville are enough to put the Jags back in second place, one point
ahead of the Falcons.
Miami still leads the parade
with 68. The game ends as of the morning after Super Bowl Sunday.
A league source tells us that the NFL has
determined the identity of the person whom the NFL believes leaked to FOX's
Jay Glazer the tape that was confiscated from Pats video assistant Matt
Estrella on September 9 at the Meadowlands.
But another source tells us that the name
that's currently on the grapevine isn't the person who leaked the tape to
Glazer.
The only fact we're consistently hearing in
this regard is that the NFL wanted very much to figure out how the tape
ended up in Glazer's hands, and that there's a real concern that the league
might end up blaming the wrong person.
The story regarding the NFL's desire in
detecting the leak was, for folks in the media, almost as big as the story
of the Patriots cheating scandal. It threatened to overshadow the fact
that Glazer's scored a major coup by landing the tape.
As to the person whose name is making the
rounds as the alleged leaker, we're not prepared to disclose his/her name.
Our decision in this regard is influenced in large part by the fact that
we're hearing from other sources that the person who has been supposedly
fingered as the leaker isn't the actual leaker.
Stay tuned. Maybe.
FRIDAY INJURY REPORT IS
DOUBTFUL -- I MEAN, OUT
It's Friday, the day that all
of that information about who practiced and who didn't and who sort of did
gets distilled into one of the time-tested (but at times incomprehensible)
labels regarding player availability for the weekend.
The most notable:
Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme (elbow) is doubtful, Cards receiver
Anquan Boldin (hip) is doubtful, Rams receiver Isaac Bruce is out, Rams
running back Steven Jackson is out, Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall (ankle)
is questionable, Ravens tight end Todd Heap (thigh) is questionable, Ravens
receiver Derrick Mason (knee) is questionable, Pats running back Laurence
Maroney (groin) is questionable, Lions receiver Calvin Johnson (back) is
questionable, Redskins receiver Santana Moss (groin) is doubtful.
POSTED 5:01 p.m. EDT,
October 5, 2007
HENRY SAYS POSITIVE WAS A MISTAKE
It's become popular for athletes to explain
away chronic lifestyle choices that blow up in their faces as mistakes.
Another NFL player is now using the "M" word, but this time it really
applies.
If, of course, there really was a mistake.
Specifically, Broncos running back Travis
Henry denies that he had marijuana or evidence of any other prohibited
compound in his body. "There is no
valid reason why any unlawful substance would be in my urine," Henry said
Friday, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post."This
must be a mistake."
And while it appears that Henry
took the unusual step of filing suit to force the league to allow a
Henry-hired expert to monitor the testing of the "B" sample of his pee in
order to buy time before he's jettisoned from the game for a year with no
guarantee that he'll be able to return, it could be that Henry genuinely
believes that he's clean.
In discussing Henry's case with several league
insiders, we've detected a strong belief in some circles that there are
problems with the testing procedure. Whether those beliefs are valid
is a different issue; from a perception standpoint, the reality is that some
players and agents are concerned.
There also is a concern held by some that the
NFL Players Association doesn't do enough to help players fight back against
erroneous test results. But, again, these concerns don't mean that the
testing is erroneous in any way.
The testing protocol and procedure is the
result of collective bargaining between the league and the union. If
the union is serious about representing the interests of all players, the
union would be wise to listen to the ones who think that they're getting a
raw deal from the current testing program.
POSTED 4:49 p.m. EDT,
October 5, 2007
PETERSON, OKOYE NAMED ROOKIES OF THE MONTH
So much for those rumors that Texans defensive
tackle Amobi Okoye was destined to be a bust. Instead, he's the NFL's
rookie of the month for September.
Okoye notched 4.0 sacks and forced a fumble in
his first four NFL games, and also made 10 tackles. At only 20 years
of age, he was the No. 10 overall selection in the draft.
On the other side of the ball, Vikings running
back Adrian Peterson won the offensive rookie of the month award, thanks to
383 rushing yards and 549 total yards from scrimmage in his first quartet of
games. He was the No. 7 overall pick in the draft.
The other nominees for the offensive version
of the prize were Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe, Bills running back Marshawn
Lynch, Packers receiver James Jones, and Bucs guard Arron Sears.
Other nominees for the defensive prize were
Lions safety Gerald Alexander, Bucs safety Tanard Jackson, Bucs defensive
tackle Greg Peterson, and 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis.
POSTED 3:45 p.m. EDT,
October 5, 2007
PRICE GOES DOWN FOR BILLS
The rash of injuries suffered by the Buffalo
Bills continues.
Price is the ninth member of the Bills who
will be lost for the rest of the year.
The situation started as stiffness in his neck
on Wednesday. An MRI on Thursday revealed that there is a disc problem
in Price's neck.
Price became a star in the Buffalo offense as
the No. 2 option to Eric Moulds. Price was traded to the Falcons as a
franchise player after his rookie contract expired, and he later was cut by
Atlanta. Following a season with the Cowboys, he returned to Buffalo.
Price had been the No. 2 receiver across from Lee Evans.
POSTED 1:12 p.m. EDT,
October 5, 2007
VICK RULING EXPECTED BY OCTOBER 12
A decision on the legal battle between the
Falcons and quarterback Mike Vick regarding the question of whether Vick
will have to pay back upwards of $20 million is
expected to be issued by October 12.
The ruling will be made by special master
Stephen Burbank, who handles questions involving the interpretation of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement. Unlike typical grievance
arbitrations, which are final and binding, Burbank's rulings are subject to
appeal.
Regardless, we think that the Falcons and the
league won't win this argument. The bulk of the money that the team
seeks was paid out as a roster bonus, and the precedent set by the Ashley
Lelie grievance regarding his option bonus from the Broncos most likely
controls.
With that said, Vick will likely be required
to pay roughly $3.5 million in prorated signing bonus amounts.
The Thursday hearing was attended by Falcons
owner Arthur Blank but not by NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw. A
league source tells us that Upshaw was in Kansas City for one of his annual
team-by-team meetings with the players.
POSTED 10:26 a.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 11:16 a.m. EDT, October 5, 2007
KOREN EXPECTS ANSWER ON REINSTATEMENT
WITHIN THE WEEK
A league source tells us that Packers receiver
Koren Robinson expects to hear within the week whether he'll be reinstated
after a one-year suspension for multiple violations of the league's
substance-abuse policy.
Though many of the guys who run afoul of the
policy do so because of marijuana, Robinson's primary vice was alcohol.
His suspension arose from a DUI arrest that followed a high-speed car chase
while Robinson was with the Vikings.
Per the source, Robinson is eligible to return
as of October 17.
The addition of Robinson can't hurt the
Packers, who are one of the surprise teams in the league at 4-0. It
would be even better, however, if Robinson played tailback -- especially
since the Packers are sporting some impressive wideouts right now with the
trio of Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and rookie James Jones.
Robinson was the ninth overall selection in
the 2001 draft. The Seahawks gave up on him due to his off-field
problems and an inability to catch passes on a consistent basis. He
made it to the Pro Bowl in 2005 as a kick returner with the Vikings, and was
expected to become their No. 1 wideout in 2006.
The Vikings cut Robinson after his arrest in
August 2006, and the Packers thereafter signed him. At the press
conference regarding the move, a reporter raised with Green Bay G.M. Ted
Thompson the
possibility that Robinson might kill a local resident while driving
drunk or racing from cops.
FLORĒO GETS A TRĒO
Several weeks back, I declared
in this space my intention to purchase the MotoQ. I must now confess
that I never bought it.
Before I could close the deal,
I got my hands on a Palm Trēo 755p.
So I bought that one instead.
It . . . is . . . incredible.
As I type this, the device is propped up against the bottom of my monitor,
and it's displaying a live stream of NFL Network. (There's plenty of
other SprintTV content available, too.)
The features include full and
easy e-mail access (which is a must when 500-plus e-mails are popping up
each day), web browsing, Word and Excel document capabilities, and a phone
with a clear and easy to use speaker system.
It's also incredibly fast,
thanks to the Sprint network, which brings the heat even here in a
semi-rural area of West Virginia.
Though a little thicker than
other so-called smartphones, the Trēo is narrower and it feels compact and
solid. It is, without question, the best wireless device I've ever
encountered.
And, yeah, we say good stuff
every week about Sprint and/or products available through Sprint because
Sprint Nextel is the official telecommunications partner of ProFootballTalk.
But we couldn't do it if we didn't mean it. Devices like the Trēo on a
fast, consistent network like Sprint's make it very easy.
FRIDAY MORNING ONE-PER-CLUB
ONE-LINERS by Michael
David Smith
Jaguars S Sammy Knight
knows what to expect in taking on his former team, the Chiefs.
The Titans are expecting to
have a hard time blocking Falcons DE John Abraham.
Says Broncos WR Javon Walker
of his injured knee, "I was
taking needles and pills the first three weeks. But now it's
something where time has to heal it."
The Chiefs have
narrowly
avoided the first local TV blackout since 1990.
The Elias Sports Bureau
credited Packers DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila with another sack, meaning he has
now passed Reggie White as the team's all-time leader.
Saints K Olindo Mare has a
strained groin, which could force P Steve Weatherford to
pull double duty.
Says Buccaneers coach Jon
Gruden of Sunday's opponent, Colts QB Peyton Manning: "He's
the best. What he does on game day at the line of scrimmage --
from the films I've seen and the games I've been in -- is unprecedented."
Rams WR Isaac Bruce
offered to buy a chunk of tickets to prevent a local TV blackout, but
the number unsold -- 3,500 -- was too high for him to manage.
LT Jonas Jennings
won't play for the 49ers Sunday, and coach Mike Nolan would only say,
"He's got a personal matter he's dealing with."
Says Steelers QB Ben
Roethlisberger of Seahawks LB Lofa Tatupu, "If you had a kid who was going
to play linebacker,
that's
who you want him to watch."
Steelers running back Najeh Davenport, who
will forever be remembered as the guy who pooped in a dorm room closet, has
a new domestic disturbance on his plate.
Per KDKA in Pittsburgh, Davenport recently was
involved in
a child custody situation in Cleveland. The mother of Davenport's
child pulled Davenport's son from his car and ran away after Davenport told
the woman that he plans to file for full custody.
It's unclear when the incident occurred, since
Davenport plays in Pittsburgh, not in Cleveland.
Witnesses said that there was a "physical
scuffle and assault." Davenport faces no charges, and there are no
reports of any bodily functions occurring during the altercation.
PFTV WONDERS IF THE BROWNS
ARE FOR REAL
We've got a fresh crop of PFTV
clips, and we'll be pasting them into the Rumor Mill one-by-one over the
next day or so.
First up, we look at whether
the Cleveland Browns are for real.
The rest of the clips for this
week are right here.
We've got some more details on the stunning
news that Broncos running back Travis Henry has tested positive for
marijuana and faces a one-year suspension.
First, Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports
that the lawsuit Henry filed in New York state court was intended to block
the league from testing the "B" sample, which is used to confirm the
positive result. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reports that Henry wanted
to have his own expert present to monitor the testing of the "B" sample.
Per Schefter, a temporary restraining order
was granted at the trial court level, but the order was overturned on
appeal. The NFL filed a federal action against Henry based on the
notion that any gripes or disputes are superseded by the Collective
Bargaining Agreement.
It was, in our view, a last gasp effort by
Henry to avoid the inevitable. He'll be suspended for a year if the
"B" sample confirms the preliminary positive result.
Second, the 2006 CBA contains a specific
procedure for the forfeiture of signing bonus money. Per published
reports, Henry received a $1 million signing bonus from the Broncos in March
as part of a five-year deal. If he misses a year, he will forfeit
$200,000. Also, his contract will be tolled.
But Henry can earn the money back, if he later
performs in the year that was tolled. In other words, his deal
currently runs through 2011. It will now be pushed until 2012.
If he plays for the team in 2012, he'll be entitled to recover the $200,000
that he'll soon forfeit.
In Henry's case, however, it's unlikely that
he will still be with the Broncos in 2012, at which time he'd be turning 34.
Henry's forfeiture amount will increase if he
isn't promptly reinstated next year at this time. And since
reinstatement is by all appearances a decision that falls within the
discretion of the powers-that-be on Park Avenue, it probably wasn't too wise
for Henry to antagonize the league by filing suit against it. If/when
Henry's application for reinstatement gets the Onterrio Smith and/or Ricky
Williams treatment, it really shouldn't be all that surprising to anyone.
Meanwhile, several readers have re-raised with
us the issue of why the NFL even cares about players smoking marijuana.
Sure, it's illegal to do so. But it's not a performance-enhancing
drug. If anything, it potentially undermines performance by putting a
chronic user in a constant state of mild impairment.
In the end, the motivations don't matter.
The rules are collectively bargained between the union and the NFL.
The players need to follow the rules, or face the consequences. For
Henry, the stakes were incredibly high -- if the "B" sample comes back
positive, he only has one person to blame.
There was no mention in the
ESPN.com story that the item was first reported by KDVR in Denver, or that
Newsday had broken the news regarding the lawsuit Henry filed.
Instead, Len's story reads as if he's the first one to tell the football
world about the entire situation.
Here's a shot of the first
paragraph from the story, which likely will be "updated" before too long:
It's wrong, and Len and his
editors should be ashamed.
But not everyone at ESPN bears
blame for this one. The network crawl, which is usually quick to
credit its own people for breaking news, properly attributes the report to
KDVR.
POSTED 8:56 p.m. EDT,
October 4, 2007
HENRY SUING TO BLOCK SUSPENSION
In a novel legal strategy that, for now, isn't
completely clear, Broncos running back Travis Henry
has been fighting in court since September 20 to keep the NFL from using
against him a urine sample that presumably tested positive for marijuana.
Per Newsday, Henry sought a restraining
order last month in Suffolk County, New York to prevent the NFL from using
the specimen against him.
The skirmish also has spawned a federal court
action -- possibly filed by the NFL to compel Henry to rely upon the
arbitration procedures set forth in the collective bargaining agreement.
Absent further details, the effort seems to be
a proactive Hail Mary pass from Henry aimed at preventing the league from
taking the inevitable step of suspending him. And with nine mouths to
feed and no other obvious marketable skills, we can't say we blame him for
trying.
The development subjects Henry to a one-year
banishment from the NFL, given that he was suspended for four games within
the past two years for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
Henry has the right to appeal the positive
test. If the outcome is upheld, he'll be gone for at least a year.
He signed a five-year, $22 million contract
with the Broncos, including $12 million in guaranteed money, after the
Titans released him prior to the due date of a large roster bonus. The
substance abuse policy now controls the extent to which Henry will have to
pay signing bonus money back to the team.
Henry most recently drew headlines when it was
reported that he has fathered nine children with nine different women.
Once suspended, his ability to make those child-support payments will become
slightly impaired.
POSTED 8:08 p.m. EDT,
October 4, 2007
EXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE TAG FOR ROMO WILL COST
$14 MILLION
If the Cowboys can't work out a long-term deal
with quarterback Tony Romo, and if owner Jerry Jones chooses to restrict
completely Romo's ability to shop himself as a free agent, the one-year
tender will cost $14 million, according to Adam Schefter of NFL Network.
That's the anticipated average value of the
five highest-paid quarterbacks in 2008, based on their 2008 cap numbers.
And, if Romo is going to be franchised, it's
very likely that the Cowboys will need to use the exclusive franchise tag.
Otherwise, the non-exclusive tender of $10.7 million will allow Romo to sign
an offer sheet with another team in exchange for two first-round draft
picks.
Sure, two first-round draft picks would be a
stiff price to pay. But when one first-round pick gives a team a 50-50
shot at best at finding a quarterback who can become a decent starter, two
first-rounders for a franchise quarterback is a no-brainer.
Under the rules of the franchise tag, Romo's
tender would shoot to $16.8 million if the Cowboys were to franchise him for
a second season. That's $30.8 million for two years.
Suddenly, $30 million in guaranteed money
doesn't sound too bad.
It's a good thing for the Cowboys that Romo
claims he doesn't want that much.
The Broncos are 2-2, stuck in a three-way tie
for first place in the AFC West. The Chargers, at 1-3, can climb back
into the race in a big way by knocking off the Broncos.
THURSDAY INJURY REPORT
The Week Five injury report is
updated to reflect the Thursday practices.
Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme
missed practice again on Thursday, which means that David Carr is likely
to get the start on Sunday against the Saints.
Carr was unimpressive as Delhomme's
replacement in a 20-7 loss to the Bucs at home in Week Four.
Though Delhomme has been described by the team
as day-to-day with an elbow injury, Adam Schefter of NFL Network reported
earlier in the week that Delhomme's condition if more accurately described
as week-to-week or, perhaps, month-to-month.
And that's very bad news for a Panthers team
that otherwise has the talent to be competitive in the NFC.
WELCOME, NFL.COM
From time to time, people ask what the
National Football League thinks of PFT. Though we're still not
completely sure about the answer to that one (and perhaps the NFL feels the
same way), we're genuinely humbled to introduce NFL.com as the newest
sponsor of ProFootballTalk.
Folks, this operation is, was, and always will
be a couple of guys with a couple of computers. In nearly six years
(the anniversary is coming on November 1), we've somehow grown into a
quasi-legitimate source of NFL news and information, despite our periodic
efforts to destroy any credibility that we might have developed floating
rumors of the "Bradshaw is dead" variety.
So just as Sprint Nextel is the official
telecommunications partner of PFT, we suppose that the NFL is now our
official professional sports league partner. (Chew on that,
WNBA.)
And we're making an official call to every
member of PFT Planet to show your appreciation of the NFL's sponsorship of
the site by visiting NFL.com every time you visit PFT. Every single
time.
To do so, click on the ads on the side of the
page, the top of the page, or embedded between some of the Rumor Mill
stories.
We'll be telling you more about the impressive
features of the new NFL.com over the next couple of weeks, and we're hoping
to hear the jaws at Park Avenue dropping as they see how much traffic we can
push through to the NFL.com site via our loyal base of readers.
So help us out by checking out NFL.com.
Now. And later. And every day.
POSTED 11:48 a.m. EDT,
October 4, 2007
BLANK PRESENT, UPSHAW ABSENT FOR VICK
HEARING
Sal Paolantonio of ESPN reports that Falcons
owner Arthur Blank is present for a special master hearing regarding the
question of whether and to what extent the Falcons can recover million of
dollars in previously paid bonus money.
Paolantonio also reports that NFLPA executive
director Gene Upshaw is not present, which possibly suggests that the union
regards the issue to be a slam dunk.
On the question of whether the Falcons can
recover roster bonus money that was converted to guaranteed payments, we
agree. If the Broncos couldn't recover option bonus money from Ashley
Lelie, the same reasoning that prevented that maneuver will likely block the
Falcons. At best, then, the Falcons can expect to recover the portion
of the initial $7.5 million signing bonus that had not yet been charged to
the salary cap.
We're far more intrigued by the fraud argument
that the Falcons are pursuing through a separate litigation track.
Basically, the content is that Vick should have to repay money because at
the time he signed his December 2004 contract extension he failed to
disclose that he was engaged in illegal activities.
Though we don't know what Vick's contract
specifically said on this point, fraud would arise only if Vick made an
affirmative misrepresentation of no involvement in criminal conduct.
Thus, it would be very wise for teams to include in player contracts the
following language: "Player represents and warrants that he is not
currently engaged in any conduct, and that he has not been engaged in any
conduct, that violates any state, federal, or local laws. Player also
acknowledges that Club is entering into this agreement in reliance upon the
fact that Player is not currently engaged in any conduct, and has not been
engaged in any conduct, that violates any state, federal, or local laws."
Though it's not impossible to prove fraud
without such language in the contract, having it makes proving fraud a lot
easier.
THURSDAY MORNING
ONE-PER-CLUB ONE-LINERS
by Michael David Smith
Coach Dick Jauron seems to be
the only person in Buffalo not talking about the Bills' quarterbacks: "There's
not a whole lot to say about that position right now because J.P.
[Losman] isn't able to practice," Jauron said.
The Dolphins expect to get LB
Zach Thomas and LB Channing Crowder
back from
injuries.
Says Giants WR Plaxico Burress
of his quarterback, "Eli's
doing a phenomenal job. It's up to us to catch the balls. We
just have to help him out a little bit more."
Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden
says Cadillac Williams will eventually
get back on the field and says his surgery was "a success."
It's
still not clear whether Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin and RT Levi Brown
will play on Sunday; if they can't go, Bryant Johnson and Elton Brown will
start.
The Rams' game Sunday will be
blacked out on local TV for just the second time since the team moved to
St. Louis.
Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, who missed
three games with an MCL injury, is ready to roll. And he's willing to
share the load with Derrick Ward, who has performed well in Jacobs' absence.
"Just
look around the league," Jacobs said on Wednesday, according to the
New York Daily News. "Every team has two backs. D-Ward is a
very good back. We're going to utilize both of us when things are right.
[The coaches] see that D-Ward is capable of being very productive.
They know that I can go out and do the same thing. Why waste talent?
Why waste the talent we have?"
If that's what happens, Ward surely won't
complain.
"Brandon was the starter coming in," Ward
said. "It's an unwritten rule that you don't lose your spot to an
injury. But, you know, I showed the coaches what I could do, that they
could rely on me if the situation were to happen again. They know they
have another back they can rely on."
Jacobs was supposed to become the every-down
guy in the wake of the retirement of Tiki Barber. But there were
concerns regarding whether Jacobs could carry the load on his own without
breaking down. The fact that he didn't even make it through a single
game tends to confirm those worries.
Still, Jacobs has the ability to be very
effective. He was a touchdown machine last season as the Giants'
short-yardage option. If sharing reps keeps him healthy, it makes
sense to conserve him.
PFT PICK CHALLENGE IS
PICKING UP STEAM
The PFT Pick Challenge is
moving forward, with improvements every week.
But as we take two steps
forward, we took two steps back Week Four. As many of you advised us
via e-mail (and as we insisted was not accurate), the picks were not saved
last week.
We apologize for this glitch.
With that said, everyone will
be entered into the drawings for the four weekly prizes, and everyone will
give 14 additional "tickets" for the end-of-season drawing for the two seats
at 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 good news is that the
problem is fixed, and that the game is improving each week. So get in
there and play. Prizes are based on each week's performance, so it
doesn't matter if you haven't signed up yet. And you can enter as late
as Week Seventeen and still win the grand prize.
Every correct pick that you
make results in an entry into the grand-prize drawing. The tickets to
the certain game are provided to us at face value by our friends at
NFL.com.
Weekly prizes are awarded based on three categories. First,
it's the "Meathead of Fathead?" game, where everyone who gets more total
game picks correct than yours truly is eligible for a random drawing. The
winner of the drawing gets a free Fathead product.
Next, the folks with the highest total number of correct
picks per week will be entered into a separate drawing, the winner of which
will receive a free one-year subscription to Sporting News.
Under our "Refer A Friend" program, every reader who (duh)
refers a friend who plays in Week Five is entered into a drawing for a free
online 2008 fantasy draft guide and season pass package from our friends at
Rotoworld.com.
Also, every contestant who correctly predicts the outcome of
the Steelers game (this week, it's the Steelers hosting the Seahawks) will
be entered into an additional drawing, and the winner will get a free copy
of the
The Bus: My Life In And Out Of A Helmet.
The books have been made available to us at no charge by
Jerome Bettis
and by Doubleday Books.
So click this link,
and make your picks for Week Five. I'll be posting my picks soon.
POSTED 9:32 a.m. EDT,
October 4, 2007
VICK COULD ESCAPE VIRGINIA CHARGES
The knee-jerk reaction by many to the notion
that Falcons quarterback Mike Vick is being prosecuted under Virginia law
for dog fighting is that the state-level charges violate the constitutional
ban against double jeopardy. But double jeopardy does not apply in
this case, since Vick was prosecuted under different statutes by different
sovereign bodies.
At the federal level Vick was charged only
with conspiracy to violate federal gambling and federal dog fighting laws,
and not with actually violating those gambling and dog fighting laws.
At the state level, Vick is charged with violating Virginia dog fighting
laws.
We've done a little research, and we've found
the law in question. It's Section 19.2-294 of the Virginia Code, and
it reads as follows:
"If the same act be a
violation of two or more statutes, or of two or more ordinances, or
of one or more statutes and also one or more ordinances, conviction
under one of such statutes or ordinances shall be a bar to a
prosecution or proceeding under the other or others.
Furthermore, if the same act be a violation of both a state and a
federal statute, a prosecution under the federal statute shall be a
bar to a prosecution under the state statute. The provisions
of this section shall not apply to any offense involving an act of
terrorism as defined in § 18.2.46.4. For purposes of this
section, a prosecution under a federal statute shall be deemed to be
commenced once jeopardy has attached."
In the case of Slade v. Commonwealth, the Court of Appeals of Virginia
reversed a conviction for animal cruelty because the defendant
previously had been convicted of discharging a firearm in city
limits. Because the animal cruelty charge arose from the fact
that the gun was shot at a dog (the dog wasn't killed), the Court of
Appeals found that later prosecution on animal cruelty charges was
prohibited.
Said the Court:
"[T]he Commonwealth could successfully prosecute Slade for cruelty
to an animal only by proving, as charged in the indictment, that
Slade shot an animal. This same act of shooting was the basis
for the earlier discharging a firearm conviction. Accordingly,
the conviction for cruelty to an animal violates Code [Section]
19.2-294 and cannot stand."
In this case, Vick has
been convicted under federal law for conspiracy to engage in dog
fighting. The indictment against him listed in exhaustive
detail his involvement in dog fighting. Thus, if Anthony Davon
Slade couldn't be convicted for animal cruelty for shooting a dog
because he'd already been convicted separately for illegally firing
the gun with which he shot the dog, Vick has a strong argument that
he previously has been prosecuted for establishing and maintaining a
dog fighting operation, and therefore can't be charged now with
fighting dogs.
It's a decision that
ultimately will be made by a trial court judge, and then likely
reviewed by appellate judges. Though there was much discussion
in the media about the judge who presided over the federal case, we
can't even find the name of the judge who'll handle the Virginia
prosecution. In that person's hands will rest the initial
outcome as to the application of Section 19.2-294 -- and it makes
sense for the media to start getting some information about that
judge's reputation in criminal matters.
We're not saying that
this one is a slam dunk for Vick, but it's pretty close to it.
We can come up with a technical argument to navigate the specific
language of Section 19.2-294, but we don't want to bore you any more
than we already are. The key for now is that there's a clear
and strong Virginia law on the books that supports Vick's position,
and that a judge will have to decide as a preliminary matter whether
to throw the charges out.
POSTED 8:51 a.m. EDT,
October 4, 2007
BANNER SAYS FAMILY ISSUES DON'T AFFECT
REID'S PERFORMANCE
Possibly in response to rampant rumors that
Eagles coach Andy Reid could be stepping down at the end of the current
season if not sooner, Eagles president Joe Banner said on Wednesday that
Reid's family issues have not affected his performance.
"There's two
separate questions from where I sit," Banner told the
Philadelphia Daily News. "The first is whether it has
affected him. The obvious answer is, how could you not be
affected by it? But the separate question is what impact
is it having on the other thing you're doing in your life.
And I don't think it's having any.
"There are really
strong people out there -- CEOs of massive companies, doctors,
lawyers, coaches, players, cabdrivers -- who are able to both
deal with the challenges they face in their life and still
continue to be excellent at what they do. Working with him
every day, seeing him every day, that's the category he's in for
me.
"It would be
foolish to try to say it isn't on his mind and doesn't weigh on
his mind. The same is true of all the other categories of
people I mentioned. Some of those people do get to a point
where the weight is too heavy and starts to trickle down to the
other parts of their lives. But that's not been the case
with Andy.
"I respect
people's right to have that perspective [that Reid's family
issues are affecting his job performance]. But drawing
that as an explanation [for the 1-3 start], I think, is going in
the wrong direction."
Still, at a time
when NFL head coaches are fully consumed by their jobs --
especially when some of said coaches also have full control over
the personnel functions of the operation -- any distraction
arising from their personal lives is necessarily going to affect
their performance in some way.
It could be
problems with children, the illness of a spouse, a tax audit,
anything. If it prevents the coach from staying in that
every-waking-moment zone of work and preparation, then it's
going to have an impact. It will generally be difficult if
not impossible to trace the impact back to the distraction, but
sooner or later there will be some type of a consequence.
The only way to
avoid such an outcome is for the coach to truly delegate a
portion of his authority to others in the organization who can
and will step up and perform -- without fear that, when the boss
re-focuses, he'll chew on someone's butt for doing something
differently than the way the boss would have done it.
And when things go
wrong and the head coach hasn't been able to focus as much on
his team as the other 31 NFL head coaches are focusing on their
teams, the absence of total focus becomes the most obvious
explanation for the lapse.
As to the 2007
Eagles, misadventures with punt returners caused one loss, and
the outright failure to provide left tackle Winston Justice with
any meaningful help against the Giants contributed to another
one. Banner addressed the punt miscues on Wednesday.
"If
you want to call that a mistake, we're certainly not
the first team that's had a less experienced guy or
rookie who wasn't secure with the ball and ended up
making a mistake that cost his team a game," Banner
said. "It wasn't an unprecedented error.
"In
Tom [Heckert] and Andy, we have the benefit of what,
for most teams, is the caliber of two general
managers. I don't think we've missed anything
[because of Reid's family issues]. That's not
to say we don't ever make mistakes. We
obviously don't get everything right and have never
pretended that we do.
"But
when we do get something wrong, it's not because of
a lack of time or attention. It's just the
nature of what we do. You're going to be wrong a
certain percentage of the time even if you're really
good at it."
Again,
the obvious, superficial connection between these
two apparent failures of personnel evaluation and
coaching is that the person with the ultimate
authority over personnel and coaching is trying to
balance serious family issues with his work.
Though we agree with Banner's suggestion that many
other workers can and do successfully juggle such
concerns, the fact remains that Reid is plying his
trade in the ultimate fish bowl, against 31 others
who as far as anyone knows is able to fully focus on
the task at hand.
Right
or wrong, fair or unfair, folks are going to assume
that mistakes on the field flow from Reid's
inability to devote his full and complete attention
to the job.
POSTED 10:48 p.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
COLTS TO BE WITHOUT THREE KEY PLAYERS?
The 4-0 Colts face on Sunday the franchise
that fired Indy coach Tony Dungy -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But
Dungy might have to pursue a measure of revenge without three of his key
players.
Potentially absent for the Colts could be
receiver Marvin Harrison, running back Joseph Addai, and safety Bob Sanders.
Though Harrison and Addai are key parts of
that high-powered offense, the Colts' defense routinely was shredded against
the run when Sanders was out with injury in 2006. His return helped to
galvanize the unit, and propelled the team to its first Super Bowl win since
leaving Baltimore.
POSTED 10:01 p.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 10:18 p.m. EDT, October 3, 2007
PETRINO TO AUBURN?
A year after one NFL head coach bolted to
Alabama, could another one be bolting to Auburn?
Per our new guy who'll soon be unveiled as the
dude to carry the flag for CollegeFootballTalk.com, there are rumors that
Falcons coach Bobby Petrino is very dissatisfied with his NFL gig and that
he could be eyeing the Tigers job if coach Tommy Tuberville is gone after
the 2007 season.
Let's be clear -- this is pure rumor.
But so was talk last year that the Nicktator was unhappy with the Fins, and
possibly planning an exit back to the NCAA.
Saban was able to bolt without consequence
because his contract with the Dolphins allowed him to do so. It's
unknown whether Petrino has the ability to flee the Falcons absent any
limitations.
MORE ON THE REID RUMORS
Our pal A.J. Daulerio of
PhillyMag.com has some details as to the rampant rumors that Eagles coach
Andy Reid might pack it in with the team after eight-plus years on the job.
Here's what Daulerio has to
say: "It's been a constant rumor all year, but after Sunday night's
loss to the Giants, sources close to Andy
Reid and the team say there's a strong possibility Reid may get off
the sidelines sooner than expected. All year, Reid's family troubles
have been taking a noticeable toll, and many of his players are biding their
time until Big Red makes an announcement. With
Marty Mornhinweg already assuming
much of the offense, Reid's a lame-duck coach at this point, just poking
around on the sidelines to keep his mind off of his woes. The likely
scenario is inserting Mornhinweg in the coach's seat so Reid can ride out
the rest of his contract as Executive Vice President of Football Operations,
leaving him more time with his fractured family."
Daulerio's article suggests
that the move could come as soon as this week, since the Eagles are on a
Week Five bye.
Though we haven't heard that
anything immediate could happen, the pervasive talk in league circles is
that Reid's return for 2008 is, at best, a toss-up.
WEEK FIVE WEDNESDAY INJURY
REPORT
It's Wednesday. So that
means it's time to take a look at the first injury report of the week.
Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa
Press-Democrat reports that the San Francisco 49ers formally have
disputed the ESPN report that quarterback Alex Smith will get a second
opinion from Dr. James Andrews, which could result in season-ending surgery
on his injured shoulder.
As one reader pointed out to us, it's been a
bad month for shoulders at ESPN. After Week One, Chris Mortensen
reported that Giants quarterback Eli Manning would miss a month with a
shoulder injury. Manning started the next game, and has played in
every game since then.
POSTED 4:00 p.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
ESPN REPORT ON SMITH IS DISPUTED
Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee
writes that, contrary to a report from ESPN, 49ers quarterback
Alex Smith is not expected to need surgery to repair a shoulder injury
suffered on Sunday against the Seahawks.
Barrows also reports that Smith isn't getting
a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews.
Here's the full text of Barrow's post:
"Don't panic about
that ESPN report regarding Alex Smith's shoulder. Smith is not
seeking a second opinion from noted orthopedic surgeon James Andrews
at Stanford as ESPN reported last night. Instead, the team's
head trainer, Jeff Ferguson, is friendly with Andrews and has sent
Andrews a copy of Smith's MRI results, which were taken Monday.
It's standard procedure at this level.
"I thought the ESPN
piece seemed funny when it mentioned the serious tendon damage Smith
had suffered. Instead, Smith suffered torn ligaments, which
are expected to scar over and heal on their own. Smith
certainlly suffered a serious injury and his collarbone is detached
from his shoulder. But the collarbone is essentially in the
right spot -- if it weren't, there would be a need for surgery --
and Smith is expected to make a full recovery."
POSTED 3:50 p.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
LANG, COUCH SUSPENSIONS EXPIRE AFTER WEEK
EIGHT
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello has confirmed that
defensive end Kenard Lang and quarterback Tim Couch have been suspended for
six weeks for violation of the policy against anabolic steroids and related
substances.
Aiello explained via e-mail that the
suspensions are effect from Week Three through Week Eight of the 2007
regular season.
With that said, Lang (as we hear it) is
retired, and Couch has no real prospects.
POSTED 2:54 p.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
SILVER STANDS BY LEINART QUOTES
On Monday, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports!
reported that Cardinals "starting" quarterback Matt Leinart questioned the
manner in which he was being removed from and reinserted into games.
"I
just want them to ride or die with me," Silver said Leinart said. "If I'm the franchise quarterback,
play me and let me stumble, because I'll fight through it, and that will
help me and our team in the long run. I know coaches want to win now,
and I guess they have their reasons. But I don't understand it, and
this switching back and forth is almost worse than getting benched."
So we asked Silver about the situation (we
know him from when he told us to that he was "too much of a big shot now" to
participate in the PFT Media Fantasy Challenge -- am I taking that out of
context?), and here's what he said via e-mail on Wednesday:
"Obviously,
I did a pretty lousy job of communicating with Matt, because I thought it
was clear that I'd be using his quotes in the column. I like Matt, and
it bums me out that he's upset. I also think it's amusing that he got
so much grief about the quotes in the first place -- as if a quarterback
wouldn't be mad about getting pulled . . . or that his bosses or fans would
want someone who WOULDN'T get mad as their future franchise QB."
Very diplomatic, Mr. Silver.
(Unfortunately.)
But while Silver has taken the high road, the
more we think about Leinart's effort to back away from the comments, the
more it bothers us. In one breath, he says he didn't say it.
Then he says his quote was taken out of context. Well, which is it?
And if the quotes were taken out of context,
what was the proper context? Was he reminiscing about getting benched
in Pee Wee football as a lumpy, cross-eyed kid? It makes no sense to
us, and it's not the kind of maturity that a guy who hopes to be a franchise
quarterback needs to have.
POSTED 12:09 p.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
FALCONS SEEK $16 MILLION
FROM VICK
by Michael David Smith
Sal Paolantonio of ESPN is reporting that the
Atlanta Falcons have asked Michael Vick to
return more
than $16 million in bonus money, saying his guilty plea to federal
conspiracy charges put him in violation of his 10-year, $130 million
contract with the team.
Per Paolantonio, a hearing before the NFL's
special master, Stephen Burbank, will take place Thursday. At that hearing,
the Falcons will argue that Vick owes them a refund of money paid in
bonuses. But the NFL Players Association will say the money was paid to Vick
as roster bonuses, and that the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement
with the players does not permit teams to get back money already earned.
Complicating matters in this case is that Vick
signed his contract before the current CBA went
into effect.
Burbank ruled last year that Broncos wide
receiver Ashley Lelie's option bonus fell under the "salary escalators
already earned" category of payment, and therefore ruled for Lelie, who also
won an appeal.
The Falcons have also filed a grievance to be
heard by the league's non-injury grievance arbitrator, and in that grievance
the Falcons are seeking damages in excess of $22 million. Paolantonio
reports that part of the Falcons' case will be an argument that Vick knew at
the time that he signed the contract that he was in violation of it, and
therefore he defrauded the Falcons. That grievance will not be heard until
after the case that begins with Thursday's hearing has reached a conclusion.
The Falcons have paid Vick a total of $37
million in bonuses.
POSTED 11:24 a.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
VICK'S NEXT COURT DATE:
NOV. 27
by Michael David Smith
D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reports that a trial date in Michael Vick's
Virginia dog fighting case will be set at
a Nov. 27 court appearance.
The Nov. 27 date was set at a hearing today in
Sussex County, Virginia. Vick was represented by attorney Lawrence Woodward
and did not attend the hearing, but he did turn himself in for pretrial
processing in Surry County and have
his mug shot taken last week. (Today's hearing was in Sussex because the
Surry County courthouse is closed for renovations)
Vick faces two felony counts
in Virginia, one for beating or killing a dog and one for engaging in or
promoting dog fighting. He has already admitted, when he pleaded guilty to
federal conspiracy charges, that he and his co-defendants killed dogs and
engaged in dog fights.
Vick is due for sentencing in
federal court on December 10. If convicted on the state charges, he could face
an additional 10 years in prison.
POSTED 10:54 a.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
WILFORK UNHAPPY WITH FINE
by Michael David Smith
Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork says
he is appealing the $12,500 fine the league slapped him with for a low hit
that put Bills quarterback J.P. Losman out of commission.
On the play, Wilfork was rushing Losman, was
blocked to the ground, and appeared to stick his elbow out directly into
Losman's knee after Losman released his throw.
"I've sent it back to the league and I'm going
to appeal it, hands down,
I'm going to appeal it," the Boston Herald quotes Wilfork saying
during a radio interview on WEEI. "The only thing people have against me is
they question my arm. A lot of people want to question why my arm went out. I tell them the same thing. If I sit here and push you from behind, see what
your arms do?"
Most people who have viewed the replay of the
hit think a better description than "my arm went out" would be "I gave
Losman a forearm shiver to the knee."
Wilfork said he's being unjustly labeled a dirty player and that the fine
was too severe. He might not be a dirty player, but it was a dirty play, and
when a dirty play causes another player to miss significant playing time,
the player who commits the dirty play should be happy he got off with a
$12,500 fine.
UPDATE: Maybe Wilfork
should argue that he has a condition that causes his elbow to jerk
uncontrollably.
WEDNESDAY MORNING ONE-PER-CLUB ONE-LINERS
by Michael David Smith
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf has plans to ask the state legislature for money for
a new stadium, but he insists that the idea that he'll get rich off public funds
is "a fallacy."
Dolphins DT Keith Traylor's message to his teammates who have had to fill in
for injured starters: "If you're in there, you ought to be able to step up and
play to the level of a starter.
This is called professional football, not semi-professional football."
Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson will
face the Broncos Sunday for the first time since breaking the NFL
single-season touchdown record against them last year.
POSTED 9:36 a.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
BULGER GETTING BENCHED
Welcome to another average, normal, routine
Wednesday morning in the NFL.
Oh, by the way, a league source tells us that
Rams quarterback Marc Bulger is getting benched.
Bulger signed a mammoth contract extension at
the outset of training camp, but has been playing poorly with two broken
ribs. (But he played with broken ribs last season, and did very well.
We think Jay Glazer of FOX reported that over the weekend.)
Veteran Gus Frerotte will take over the
starting job for the 0-4 Rams, who host the Cardinals on Sunday.
We're also told that offensive coordinator
Greg Olson is being demoted. Presumably, head coach Scott Linehan will
take over the duties.
Other than that, it's just a normal, routine,
average Wednesday morning in the NFL.
POSTED 9:20 a.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
RUMORS FLY THAT REID IS ON HIS WAY OUT
After a tumultuous personal offseason
involving legal troubles for two of his sons and a disappointing 1-3 start
to the 2007 campaign, it should surprise no one that rumors are circulating
that Eagles coach Andy Reid will step down after the season, if not sooner.
The fact that these events are unfolding in
Philadelphia will only make the storm more intense. The unexpected
qualification of the Phillies for the baseball playoffs could stave off the
bulk of the scrutiny for as long as a month, but eventually the Phils will
be done -- and the focus will shift back to the Eagles.
And the name to watch in this regard is Jon
Gruden.
Gruden's star is back on the rise as he leads
the Bucs out of last season's disaster to a 3-1 start. If he can find
a way to beat the Colts on Sunday without tailback Cadillac Williams and
left tackle Luke Petitgout, Gruden will shoot straight to the top of the "A"
list. Though that might prompt some to conclude that the Glazers will
decide that they don't want to let Gruden go if he can propel the Buccaneers
back to the postseason, the talk in league and media circles is that
ownership is ready to make a change, regardless of how this season plays
out.
With that said, we wouldn't be surprised to
see Tampa try to recover some of the draft picks and/or cash that was sent
to Oakland when Gruden was hired in 2002.
KEEP AN EYE ON TENNESSEE, TOO
One of our friends in the media advises us
that SEC guru Scott Moore said on Steve Czaban's FOX Sports Radio show this
morning that, if Tennessee loses to Georgia this weekend, Phil Fulmer won't
be back in 2008 as coach of the Volunteers.
If that happens, Moore said emphatically that
the two primary candidates to replace him will be Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher.
Though Gruden is most often linked at the
college level to Notre Dame, his wife was a Tennessee cheerleader. And
with the money being paid to college coaches skyrocketing, it might not be
much of a hit, if any, to the change purse for Gruden, if he leaves the NFL.
POSTED 8:59 a.m. EDT,
October 3, 2007
LEINART PLAYS THE "OUT OF CONTEXT" CARD
On Sunday, Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart
told Michael! Silver of Yahoo! Sports that the second-year signal-caller is
getting weary of the back-and-forth routine to which he's being subjected by
coach Ken Whisenhunt.
"I
just want them to ride or die with me," Leinart said on Sunday,
according to Silver. "If I'm the franchise quarterback,
play me and let me stumble, because I'll fight through it, and that will
help me and our team in the long run. I know coaches want to win now,
and I guess they have their reasons. But I don't understand it, and
this switching back and forth is almost worse than getting benched."
"I've
never once said I'd rather not play," Leinart said. "Like I said, I'd
be lying if I said I was happy with the way things were going, but at the
same time, it's pushing me to become a better football player."
Matt,
Matt, Matt. If you're going to talk to the media, you need to realize
that the things you say might show up in print. Unless you begin the
discussion with the abra-cadabra of the journalism profession -- "off the
record."
And we'd
have a lot more respect for you, Matt, if you'd take responsibility for the
things that you say. There's a way to spin it later without throwing
the reporter under the bus. Because you're now basically saying that
Silver made it all up. And we've got a very hard time believing that.
Meanwhile,
we've finally figured out what we think Whisenhunt should do about this
situation. Clearly, he needs to get Leinart to fully and completely
buy in. So Whiz needs to take Leinart aside and have a heart-to-heart
with him about the importance of reversing the culture of losing.
The coach
needs to explain that the franchise has won only one playoff game since the
Truman administration. (Whisenhunt also might have to explain to
Leinart what "the Truman administration" is, since there's a chance that
Leinart will think it some kind of a car.) The coach must persuade
Leinart that, the better the team performs in 2007, the more quality free
agents they'll be able to attract in 2008 and beyond. And that this
will allow Leinart to perform better, like he did when he was surrounded by
superstars at USC.
So while
we initially had concerns about Whisenhunt's bait-and-switch routine at
quarterback, we like what the coach is doing. As long as he can
persuade Leinart that the reason for winning now is to help the team
position itself, and Leinart, to win later.
POSTED 8:15 a.m. EDT,
October 2, 2007
ANOTHER KNEE INJURY FOR PORTIS
Redskins running back Clinton Portis has been
dealing with knee tendonitis for the past several months. To make
matters worse, he suffered what is being described as a sprain of the same
knee against the Giants on September 23.
The Redskins did not play in Week Four and had
no obligation to disclose the injury status of any player.
"In the first quarter of the game, he fell on
his knee and bruised the inside of his knee, and that's what we're
treating," trainer Bubba Tyer said, according to the Washington Times.
"He's got
a contusion-slash-sprain that if you have to classify it would be a
Grade I. We're taking it day to day, and our hope is that he'll be
ready to play on Sunday."
The Redskins host the 3-1 Lions on Sunday.
Portis is expected to play.
Ed Werder of ESPN reports that 49ers
quarterback
Alex Smith is seeking a second opinion on a shoulder injury that, based
on MRI results, apparently will require season-ending surgery.
Smith will visit with Dr. James Andrews of
Birmingham, Alabama in the wake of evidence that surgery is needed. If
Dr. Andrews confirms the diagnosis, Smith would likely have surgery
immediately, but would nevertheless miss the rest of the season.
Until Smith returns, the quarterback for the
2-2 Niners will be veteran Trent Dilfer.
Smith was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005
draft. He progressed well in 2006 under offensive coordinator Norv
Turner. With a passer rating of 66.6 and only one touchdown pass
through three-plus games in 2007, Smith had been regressing.
He suffered the injury while being sacked by
Seattle defensive tackle Rocky Bernard.
Dilfer fared even worse in relief of Smith
against the Seahawks on Sunday, throwing two interceptions and generating a
23.3 passer rating.
In the hectic run-up to the Monday night game
and the Live Blog, we missed this one from Adam Schefter of NFL Network.
Schefter reports that Panthers quarterback
Jake Delhomme could miss significant time with an elbow injury. The
injury, Schefter said, isn't "day to day" but "week to week." And
possibly "month to month."
Schefter also hints that Delhomme's injury
could prematurely end his career.
As a result, David Carr will continue to be
the starter. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft was a
woeful 19 for 41 for 155 yards with one touchdown and one interception in
his Carolina debut. It was good (or bad) enough for a 54.4 passer
rating.
Maybe Mike Vick took a PETA
class on "Developing
Empathy for Animals" because he thought that "empathy" was some type of
dog sport that isn't, you know, illegal.
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf has
given coach Brad Childress
the dreaded vote of confidence; but since starting 2006 with a 4-2
record, the Vikings are a Steckelesque 3-11.
RUSSELL'S FAMILY WAS COURTED BY RIVAL
AGENTS DURING HOLDOUT
Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal
reports that, during the holdout of Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell,
another agency tried to swipe the No. 1 overall pick from the firm of Lock,
Metz & Malinovic.
"I had an episode where people called me and
said, 'Hey, if they can't do the job, we can get the job done,'" Zina
Russell-Anderson told Mullen in a telephone interview.
"If we had switched agents in the middle of
the negotiations, [the new agents] wouldn't have known what we were up
against from the start," Russell-Anderson said. "Once they got in
there, they would have hurried up and done the contract so they could say,
'They couldn’t get the contract done, but we did.'"
Russell-Anderson wouldn't name the agency.
But we've got a feeling that the NFLPA might be looking into the question,
since such efforts violate the agent regulations.
Unless, of course, the agency in question was
CAA.
A league source tells us
that defensive end Kenard Lang and quarterback Tim Couch have been
suspended for six games by the NFL. The suspensions apparently
arise from the policy against anabolic steroids and related substances.
In August, Couch admitted
to using HGH to aid in his comeback from chronic shoulder problems.
As to Lang, a league source tells us that Lang admitted
to purchasing HGH from the same online pharmacy in Orlando that ensnared
Pats safety Rodney Harrison and Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson.
Both Lang and Couch
currently are not with any NFL team. Though most league observers
presumed until recently that a suspension ran only if a player is on a
roster from which he can be suspended, we've since learned that a player
gets credit for his suspension even if he is unattached.
As a result, both Lang and
Couch will be eligible to sign and play after Week Ten. If they sign
with a team that has a bye between Week Five and Week Ten, they'll be
able to return after Week Eleven.
The chances of it
happening are slim, but injuries to defensive ends could make Lang
attractive. (With that said, it's our understanding that he plans
to retire.) As to Couch, it's theoretically possible that all current
NFL quarterbacks lose their throwing arms in bye week farm accidents.
WEEK FOUR USED FOOD
We're dusting off a PFT feature from yesteryear to allow
us to take a quick look at a variety of things that happened over the
weekend, but that we didn't get a chance to address.
In no particular order, and with no particular
objective, here we go.
Peter King wasn't in the studio for NBC's Football
Night in America. Instead, he was at the Packers-Vikings game,
and his interview of Brett Favre aired during the show. It's
unknown whether King's forays from 30 Rock will occur regularly.
Charley Casserly of CBS insisted that, if Cards
quarterback Matt Leinart is removed again for Kurt Warner, the job will
be Warner's. (Um, we can't wait for James Brown to ask Casserly
about that one next week.)
Chris Mortensen reported on ESPN that running back Ricky
Williams spent four months in treatment in the Boston area in the hopes
of being reinstated to the NFL.
Jay Glazer of FOX explained that Russ Grimm technically
was the coach of the Steelers for a brief period of time before the
organization reversed course and hired Mike Tomlin.
As our fantasy guy Matt Pitzer (who also writes for a
much larger publication than PFT) pointed out in his Week Four Fantasy
Ten-Pack, Daunte Culpepper's five-touchdown Festivus against the Fins
resulted in only 103 total yards passing and rushing.
That fake punt in the Packers-Vikings game brought back
memories of Mike Vick's epic jaunt through the Keystone Cops defense
from 2002. In very slow motion.
Replays suggest that the touchdown return by Chiefs
cornerback Tyron Brackenridge technically was a fumble recovered in the
end zone by Jared Allen; it looks like Brackenridge threw the ball down
before crossing the goal line.
The Vikings' throwback uniforms were considerably more
fetching than their "regular" uniforms, even if the Vikings never had a
uniform that was configured exactly like the outfits they wore on
Sunday.
LaDainian Tomlinson crying at his postgame press
conference will haunt him for the rest of his career.
Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" works; the
"Worst Person or Persons in the NFL" doesn't. Even without that
lame Batphone, which has been scuttled without comment.
With a fourth of the season in the books (for 28 of the
teams), here's who we see making the playoffs. In the AFC:
the Pats, Steelers, Colts, Broncos, Browns, and Titans. In the NFC,
the Cowboys, Packers, Bucs, Seahawks, Lions, and Cardinals.
POSTED 8:06 p.m. EDT,
October 2, 2007
MORE MEDIA CALLING OUT OCHO CINCO
The media is making the connection between the
Monday night tirade from coach Marvin Lewis and the narcissistic behavior of
receiver Chad Johnson, whose persona has been enabled by reporters who find
his shtick more entertaining than troubling.
"It's silly to lay the Monday disaster at the
feet of one of the best players on the team. Chad Johnson was hardly
the reason the Bengals lost by 3 TDs at home. But it is disappointing,
after all these years, to see that Chad has not grown up. What was
with the head-holding after he nearly scored? He helped the team with
a great effort on that play. Shouldnt [sic] that be enough? Not
for 85. He didnt [sic] score on national TV.
"Come on.
"Then the end of the 1st half. He and [Carson Palmer] get crossed up
on a crucial interception. Chad gives it to Carson coming off the
field, on the bench and heading off the field at halftime. Had to be
at least 5 minutes. ESPN caught it all. Cameraman follows the
pair off the field. A. Whitworth tries to block the cameraman's view.
Chad keeps jawing.
"What's the word here? Unprofessional? Immature? Selfish?
Embarrassing? Yes, four times."
Daugherty also addressed the blow up with
Palmer in an item in the fish wrap version of the Enquirer:
Also, one of my new colleagues at
SportingNews.com, Mike DeCourcy, summed it up thusly:
"Johnson
placing his own stardom above the team's success has defined the Bengals
during Lewis' tenure, much more so than the string of arrests that made
them a national punchline. Lewis has had several opportunities to
contain that affliction: upon his introduction as head coach;
following Johnson's reported halftime altercation with his receivers coach
during the franchise's one recent playoff game; or during last season's
collapse out of playoff contention. Monday night, Lewis whiffed
again."
Amen.
But good luck getting the
many fans of Stinko to see the light. As DeCourcy writes:
"Around Cincinnati, they so love Chad Johnson. They wear his No. 85
jersey as though it is the Shroud of Turin. They believe he is an
incredibly gifted wide receiver. (They're right). They believe
he is extremely funny. (They're wrong). They look forward
to his ridiculous performance art pieces following most every touchdown.
They chortle at his public challenges to opposing defenders."
And they defend him in
defiance of reason or common sense on the rare occasion that someone in the
media speaks ill of him. We know this to be true, because we've been
getting the e-mails. All day.
Folks, here's what it comes
down to. Either you want to win football games, or you want to be
entertained. If it's the latter, go to a movie on Sunday afternoons.
If it's the former, then realize that any player who places greater emphasis
on his plans for self-glorification than he does on whether his team scores
more points than the other team is going to keep the goal from being
reached.
POSTED 5:51 p.m. EDT,
October 2, 2007
JERRAMY STEVENS GETS 12 DAYS
Bucs tight end Jerramy Stevens was
sentenced in Arizona to 12 days in jail for "extreme" DUI. The
sentence has been stayed pending Stevens' appeal of his September
conviction.
The judge suspended 18 days of a possible
30-day sentence, due to Stevens' participation in rehab efforts sponsored by
the NFL.
Stevens was unsigned when arrested in March.
He later joined the Buccaneers.
He has appeared in each of the team's four
regular-season games, but has had no receptions.
POSTED 5:39 p.m. EDT,
October 2, 2007
BARNES CITED FOR LEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT,
PROBATION VIOLATION
Though Barnes claims he was on his way for
"mandatory treatment" for an injured ankle, police also charged him with
violating the terms of his probation arising from a 2006 DUI arrest, which
limit his ability to drive only to situations where he is traveling to and
from work.
Barnes says that he dozed off while driving
from his house to the treatment session. When police found the car and
then arrived at Barnes' home, he was not there. His lawyer says he was
keeping his appointment with the physical therapist.
"He
returned home, borrowed a car from a relative and went straight to mandatory
treatment," attorney Hank Coxe said. "After treatment, he went
straight to the Sheriff's Office to get all these issues resolved."
Sorry, but we're skeptical. And we'll
remain skeptical unless and until there's objective evidence to support
Barnes' claim that he had "mandatory treatment" on his ankle at 7:00 a.m. on
a Saturday morning.
We're also going to do a little research into
Florida law in order to determine whether any of this should secure some
Turd Watch points for the Jags, who "enjoyed" second place until Mike Vick
was indicted last week.
POSTED 4:04 p.m. EDT,
October 2, 2007
BUCS REJECT MEWELDE OFFER
Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press
reports that the Vikings and the Buccaneers
have engaged in trade talks
regarding Minnesota running back Mewelde Moore.
The Bucs, per Jensen, inquired about Moore,
who has been a healthy scratch in two of four 2007 regular-season games.
But when the Vikings asked for a first-day draft pick, the Bucs declined.
We can't say we blame them. Moore, 25,
was a fourth-round pick out of Tulane in 2004, and he is signed through the
current season. His salary is $510,000. Given that he has been
rendered expendable in Minnesota with the presence of Chester Taylor and
Adrian Peterson, anything that the Vikings could get for Moore would be a
bonus at this point.
Moore primarily has been a backup for the
Vikings, and has returned punts. In 2005, he started eight games and
rushed for 662 yards on 155 carries, for an average-per-carry of 4.3 yards.
Regarding talk the Bucs and the Vikings have
had discussions about running back Chester Taylor and Bryant McKinnie, a
league source tells us that there is no truth to those rumors.
POSTED 2:25 p.m. EDT,
October 2, 2007
VIKES-BUCS TRADE RUMOR MAKES SENSE FOR ONLY
ONE TEAM
Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune
reports that the Vikings and the Buccaneers are
rumored to be involved in trade talks that would send running back
Chester Taylor and left tackle Bryant McKinnie to Tampa.
As the report/rumor goes, Bucs G.M. Bruce
Allen is trying to make it happen. But we can't imagine the Vikes
biting on this one.
If Taylor goes, who backs up Adrian Peterson?
More importantly, who replaces "All Day" if his patellar tendon goes bye
bye?
If McKinnie moves, who plays left tackle?
Ryan Cook? Chase Johnson?
As Sunday night's game between the Eagles and
Giants proved, it's critical to have a left tackle who has, at a minimum,
the ability to put a hand on the right defensive end. (And, by the
way, the Vikes eventually play the Giants.) Also, McKinnie was signed
to a long-term deal in 2006. Though trading him now wouldn't create
any additional cap burden for 2007, a lot of that $13 million carryover from
the Pat Williams extension will likely be devoured if McKinnie is dealt.
Besides, the Vikings privately defended the
decision to give up a bunch of money to McKinnie based on the reality that
solid left tackles can be found in one place -- the top ten of the draft.
When you have one, you never let him go. And while McKinnie won't soon
be confused with Walter Jones or Orlando Pace, McKinnie is good enough to
keep around.
So while such a trade makes great sense for
the Bucs, it makes zero sense for the Vikings.
Unless Tampa is offering Jeff Garcia.
And if the Vikes can lure Willie Roaf or Tarik Glenn out of retirement.
POSTED 10:12 a.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 11:52 a.m. EDT, October 2, 2007
IT'S TOO LATE TO CONTROL STINKO
Though the harsh post-game comments of Bengals
coach Marvin Lewis to his team have been reported via ESPN, no one (to our
knowledge) has made the obvious connection between the coach's remarks and
the ongoing antics of Chad Johnson a/k/a Ocho Cinco a/k/a Mucho Stinko.
Stinko has become a media darling over the
years. He's entertaining and engaging. He projects the receiver
primadonna mentality in a way that, generally speaking, is neither offensive
nor threatening. When he postures, it's funny. When he pouts,
it's cute. When he argues with his quarterback, it's inspiring.
But, for a couple of years now, the media's
decision to fuel Stinko's uncontrolled ego has undermined the Bengals.
So has the failure of coach Marvin Lewis to bring Johnson under control.
In January 2006, a source spoke out to us
about Stinko's halftime meltdown during a playoff loss to the Steelers
primarily because the source (and others) were sick of the head coach's
failure to take care of the problem.
Since then, the situation hasn't improved
much. The Bengals missed the playoffs in 2006, and the team's goals in
2007 have been overshadowed by Stinko's desire to showboat.
There are signs that Lewis has had enough.
As ESPN is reporting in its current endless SportsCenter loop, Lewis
lashed out after Monday night's 34-13 loss to the Patriots. Calling
the team "selfish," Lewis said, "nowhere in the NFL do guys act like this"
and "if you don't want to be on this team, don't show up tomorrow."
The message likely was intended for Stinko,
whose mini-tantrum at the end of the first half after he zigged while
quarterback Carson Palmer thought he would zag was captured by the ESPN
cameras. (As several readers pointed out during Monday night's Live
Blog of the game, the sock puppets would have declared a national emergency
if Randy Moss had been acting that way toward Tom Brady.)
Leaving the field, Palmer can plainly be seen
saying to Stinko, "Chad, you f--ked up." But Palmer might want to say
the same thing to his head coach.
The blame for all of this goes to Lewis, in
our view. He's the one who ignored Stinko's antics, allowing Stinko to
place his own interests over the goals of the team.
And so much for locker room leadership.
With one Lewis-drafted turd after another getting arrested, keeping Stinko
from acting like a spoiled brat was the least of the concerns of the truly
good guys like Palmer and defensive tackle John Thornton.
Though it's encouraging that Lewis apparently
isn't ignoring the effect that a me-first wideout is having on the fate of
the team, we think Lewis waited far too long to address the situation.
And calling out the entire locker room for fear of making the delicate
genius feel bad isn't the way to go, either.
In our view, Lewis needs to lay down the law
with Stinko, in plain view of the other players. That will send the
message that there are no sacred cows in Cincinnati -- and it will let the
players realize that the days of double standards are over.
Or maybe Stinko will simply take Lewis up on
his offer and not show up today. After all, maybe the Pats are looking
for another wideout.
THE PATS ARE A GREAT NINE
IRON
We missed it last night when
ESPN's Emmitt Smith called the Patriots a better golf club than the Bengals.
Emmit, why do you continue to
subject yourself to something that you simply can't do? Is it the
money? Or do you simply not realize how bad you are?
The problem is that, if Emmitt
continues on television, an entire generation of kids won't know him as the
all-time NFL leading rusher, but as that guy from ESPN who can't talk.
TUESDAY MORNING
ONE-PER-CLUB ONE-LINERS
by Michael David Smith
With Mike Vrabel getting
passes thrown his way in the end zone, Patriots TE Ben Watson describes
himself as "a
little jealous."
Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh
caught 10 passes against the Pats, but that didn't make him happy after
Monday night's loss.
No one seems to know for sure
whether J.P. Losman will
get the starting quarterback job back from Trent Edwards once Losman is
cleared to play.
The Steelers
had no updates
on the injuries suffered by DT Casey Hampton, S Troy Polamalu, and WR Hines
Ward.
Texans QB Matt Schaub had an
MRI Monday; he says it's just "a
little thigh bruise." (We're still waiting for that Robert Barone
look-a-like to be gored in the ass by a bull.)
After missing the Week Three
game against the Saints with a back injury, Titans P Craig Hentrich was
cleared to practice.
Broncos WR Javon Walker isn't
sure if he'll play Sunday against San Diego, but he says of his knee injury,
"It is not long term.
I've done long-term before, and this is not it."
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin
still won't say whether Daunte Culpepper is his starting quarterback.
Says General Manager A.J.
Smith of the Chargers' 1-3 start, "We're
all looking for answers in the building -- the coaches, the players."
(Maybe the answer is the coach who's no longer in the building.)
With each passing loss, Chargers coach Norv
Turner is looking more and more like Stanley Roper, the creepy landlord from
Three's Company.
And rumors are now circulating that Norv might
end up having plenty of time to watch that and other shows, if the Chargers
don't turn things around soon.
But the rumor of Norv's potential demise is
tempered by the reality that G.M. A.J. Smith doesn't want to further
highlight the ill-advised decision to fire Marty Schottenheimer, whose name
was chanted by fans during Sunday's embarrassing home loss to the Chiefs.
Still, Smith's best bet might be to shake
things up in the hopes of turning things around. If the team tanks
with Turner, Smith could be the one who gets the shoe.
It's still not time to panic, however.
As pointed out by some Internet hack in
his
latest item on SportingNews.com, the Chargers are only a game behind the
clusterfudge of franchises atop the AFC West.
That said, a loss to Denver this weekend could
be enough to push this thing over the edge. If that happens, who
replaces Norv? Ted Cottrell, whose defense in San Diego is every bit
the sieve that it was in Minnesota? Ron Rivera, who was passed over
for several head-coaching gigs before being essentially fired by the Bears?
Receivers coach James Lofton, who has done little if anything to develop the
team's current crop of receivers?
Frankly, we don't see a suitable mid-season
replacement for Turner. So that means that Smith's best bet is to ride
this thing out and hope that Mr. Roper can finally start collecting the
rent.
CARROLL TALK ALREADY COMMENCES
Our approach to the return of Pete Carroll to
the NFL is identical to our approach to Joe Gibbs' retirement from the
Redskins -- we'll continue to predict that the move is coming, and we
eventually will be right.
As to Carroll, ESPN's Chris Mortensen is the
first national media figure to mention the name of the USC coach in
connection with the Chargers job. The key is Smith, since Carroll
wants full control over the football operation. If Smith goes, then
the time could be right for Carroll to come back to the pro game without
leaving Southern California.
In this regard, there are two factors to keep
in mind.
First, when offensive coordinator Steve
Sarkisian opted to pull his name from the search for the Raiders'
head-coaching job, it was widely speculated that Sarkisian had been informed
that Carroll wouldn't be in Troy for much longer, and that Sarkisian would
get the nod to replace him.
Second, the impressive performance of former
Carroll assistant Lane Kiffin in that Raiders gig will only enhance
Carroll's reputation at the NFL level. At a time when so many college
coaches flop at the next level, the rapid rise to respectability from a guy
who was merely an assistant in the NCAA reflects very favorably on his boss.
POSTED 10:01 p.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
CAR BELONGING TO JAGS'
BARNES FOUND CRASHED by
Michael David Smith
Fox 30 in Jacksonville is
reporting that a Mercedes registered to Jaguars offensive tackle Khalif
Barnes was
found crashed into a tree about a mile from his home.
Per Fox 30, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office police report says the car was
found at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday. The driver was gone and there were no
witnesses. A key to the car was found in the grass nearby. Barnes could not
be reached for comment.
In November of 2006, Barnes
was arrested for drunk driving. Video of the arrest later surfaced, and in
the video Barnes could be heard calling the police officer who arrested him
a "KKK
devil" and referring to Jacksonville as a "hick town." The Jaguars
suspended Barnes for one game following his arrest, and he later apologized
to the arresting officer and to the people of Jacksonville.
Barnes has started all three
of the Jaguars' games this year. Last year he started 15 games, missing only
the one when the Jaguars benched him after his arrest.
POSTED 7:16 p.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
MARONEY OUT FOR MONDAY NIGHT
ESPN reports that Pats running back Laurence
Maroney is inactive for Monday night's game against the Bengals.
As a result, both teams will be without their
starting tailbacks. Rudi Johnson is out for Cincy with a hamstring
injury.
Sammy Morris likely will start in place of
Maroney. Kenny Watson replaces Johnson.
POSTED 6:40 p.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 6:56 p.m. EDT, October 1, 2007
HARRISON TO MISS WEEK FIVE?
John Clayton of ESPN reports that Colts
receiver Marvin Harrison has a sprained knee, and that it could keep him out
of Sunday's game against the upstart Bucs.
But Clayton wisely goes wishy-washy on this
one, possibly due to Sunday's colossal swing-and-miss regarding the
availability of Giants running back Derrick Ward.
It's hard for us -- and everyone else who
dumped a guy to pick up Reuben Droughns -- to take Clayton's injury reports
seriously after he erred so badly on Sunday. It's even harder when
he's playing lip tennis with a loogie the size of a sparrow egg, as he was
on the air on Monday night's SportsCenter.
FEAR OF STRAHAN SET OSI
FREE
Knowledgeable observers of the
sport of football were scratching their heads on Sunday night regarding the
inexplicable failure of the Eagles to give any help to left tackle Winston
Justice in his wasted efforts to stop Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora.
So were some of the players.
"That
poor kid that they had over there," Giants defensive end Michael Strahan
said. "Why didn't they help him? I felt, in an odd way, you
could ruin the guy. It's his first start and that's what he gets.
It's not a good thing."
Still, there had to be a way
to shore up each end of the line. Sure, it would have meant less
players running pass patterns. But does it matter if a receiver is
open if the quarterback has a lineman's butt in his face?
ANY TENSION TONIGHT ON THE
COUNTDOWN SET?
As we prepare to make the
switcheroo over to the Live Blog set, we're reminded of remarks from Tom
Jackson of Sunday NFL Countdown regarding the question of whether the
Cowboys are playing well now because of or in spite of former coach Bill
Parcells.
Though the Tuna surely would
love to claim as much credit as possible for the 2007 Cowboys, Jackson
thinks they're flourishing in part because Parcells is gone.
"A lot of those guys," Jackson
said to the camera, "[it] just seems like they didn't like you."
Tonight, he'll get a chance to
repeat his remarks, since Parcells is sitting right next to him on the
Countdown set.
POSTED 6:26 p.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
HALL SITUATION HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR TOUGHER
TAMPERING RULES
The cat is out of the bag regarding the desire
of Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall to be traded. And the fact that, as Chris
Mortensen of ESPN mentioned on Sunday, Hall keeps in touch with former
Falcons coach Jim Mora Jr. naturally raises eyebrows as to the content of
their discussions.
As one league insider explained it on Monday
afternoon, there's no rule against a coach from one team talking to a player
from another team. But, given that there's no way of ensuring that the
conversation doesn't include topics that are off limits, the rule against
tampering easily could be broken.
So why not prohibit any communications by
phone or otherwise between coaches and management from one team and a player
under contract with another -- unless they're related in some way?
It's the only way to take the honor system out of the equation.
POSTED 4:47 p.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
LEINART DOESN'T LIKE GETTING YANKED
Last week, Cardinals starting/sitting/playing
again quarterback Matt Leinart said he had no problem with the decision to
remove him from a game against the Ravens when the Cards were down by 17
points.
"I'm not worried about what anyone else is
saying," Leinart said.
"I
know that this is my team. I know I'm the quarterback of this
team. I'm competitive. I'm not just going to throw in the towel
and give in to what everyone is saying. I'm going to go out there,
work harder."
After Sunday's game, during which he was
yanked when the Cardinals were down by seven and re-inserted when they were
ahead by seven, Leinart was singing a slightly different tune.
"I
just want them to ride or die with me," Leinart told Michael Silver of
Yahoo! Sports after Sunday's win. "If I'm the franchise quarterback,
play me and let me stumble, because I'll fight through it, and that will
help me and our team in the long run. I know coaches want to win now,
and I guess they have their reasons. But I don't understand it, and
this switching back and forth is almost worse than getting benched."
And that's the ultimate dilemma for Whisenhunt.
The more he uses backup Kurt Warner, the more games the team is likely to
win in 2007. But the more he yanks Leinart, the less confidence
Leinart will have in 2007 and beyond. And the less ready he'll be to
be "the guy" when Warner is gone.
So Whisenhunt, as we see it, is trying to have
it both ways. He wants to win now with minimal damage to his ability
to win later.
On one hand, some might argue that Whisenhunt
would be wiser to use his grace period to develop the quarterback on whose
back the coach will be riding when the stakes are higher. On the other
hand, the creation of a culture of winning could be even more beneficial
when Leinart is the only option.
Either way, one of Whisenhunt's first
decisions on the job could be setting the tone for the rest of his tenure,
however long or short it might be.
POSTED 3:19 p.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
NELSON'S AGENT SAYS HE WASN'T AT SCENE OF
SHOOTING
Agent Hadley Englehard says that his client,
Jags safety Reggie Nelson,
was not present at the scene of a Sunday morning shooting in
Gainesville.
"Reggie wasn't even there," Englehard said,
according to the Florida Times-Union. "He was at that club
earlier in the night, but he left hours before anything happened.
Somebody said they saw Reggie there. He wasn't there. This is
much ado about nothing."
Hold on a minute, Hadley. The shooting
occurred at roughly 2:30 a.m., three hours after the game between Auburn and
Florida ended. If Nelson stayed for all of the game and then went to
the club in question after the game, there's no way he could have left
the club "hours" before anything happened.
And, besides, does anyone think that the agent
would say anything that might not reflect well on his client?
Nelson was interviewed by police on Sunday
morning, and reportedly is not a suspect in the incident.
POSTED 3:07 p.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
HALL WANTS OUT
Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reports that
Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall
asked for a trade in the wake of last week's blowup with coach Bobby
Petrino.
"He's going to play out the season and see
what happens," a source close to Hall told Cole. "He's not happy, but
he'll calm down and see how things are . . . I would expect some teams will
be asking about him, but the Falcons said they won't trade him."
On Sunday, Jay Glazer of FOX reported that G.M.
Rich McKay said that Hall won't be traded this season. "We're trying
to get better, not worse," McKay told Glazer.
Hall was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2004
draft, and is signed through 2008. He was benched for a portion of
Sunday's game against the Texans. His replacement, rookie Chris
Houston, was beaten for a touchdown pass.
McCardell was a 12th round pick of the
Redskins in 1991. Two years later, the draft was reduced to seven
rounds.
He went on to play for the Browns, Jags, Bucs,
and Chargers. Released by San Diego after the 2006 season, McCardell
signed with the Texans, but was cut before the start of the regular season.
McCardell joins a crowded teepee at the
receiver position, which includes Antwaan Randle El, Santana Moss, Reche
Caldwell, Brandon Lloyd, and James Thrash. Three more receivers are on
IR.
POSTED 1:25 p.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
PETITGOUT TO IR
The conflicting reports regarding the
condition of Bucs left tackle Luke Petitgout have been resolved. But
not in the team's favor.
The St. Petersburg Times initially
reported that Petitgout would be gone for the year with an ACL tear.
Then, other reports, fueled by words directly from Petitgout, indicated that
the injury was not severe.
But there never was any confusion regarding
Bucs running back Cadillac Williams; Williams will also have surgery this
week to repair a torn patellar tendon in his knee, and he also will land on
IR.
Coach Jon Gruden realizes that the going could
get tough for the surprisingly 3-1 Buccaneers. "You lose a lot of
skill," Gruden said on Monday in comments posted on the team's official web
site. "Watching Philadelphia yesterday play without their left tackle
and their running back, you know it’s not an easy thing to overcome."
Absent left tackle William Thomas, the Eagles
saw a Giants' record six sacks on Sunday night from defensive end Osi
Umenyiora, who regularly manhandled replacement Winston Justice.
POSTED 10:06 a.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 11:45 a.m. EDT, October 1, 2007
REPORT: REGGIE NELSON AT SCENE OF
GAINESVILLE SHOOTING
Per the report, 28-year-old Corey Smith and
19-year-old Justin Glass were sitting in traffic on University Avenue in
Gainesville when a man approached the car and shot both of them. Glass
was shot in the arm, and Smith is in critical condition with a gunshot wound
to the head.
Nelson apparently was in town for the
Auburn-Florida game, which ended roughly three hours before the incident.
His NFL team was off on Sunday.
Nelson was the Jaguars' first-round pick in
the 2007 draft.
To be as clear as our in-house legal
department (i.e., me) wants us to be, there is no evidence linking
Nelson to any crime. The report from WCJB is only that Nelson "was at
the scene and may have witnessed" the incident. But this is the Ray
Lewis-style incident that we mentioned earlier in the day, since Lewis was
"at the scene and may have witnessed" a double-murder in January 2000.
NEW PROOFREADER NEEDED
We had a guy for about a year
or so who would proofread these posts after we made them. But, alas,
the guy got a "real" job. You know, one that pays.
We've tried this once before
and ended up with more than 500 e-mails. So we're inclined to simply
tolerate the periodic typomograffikal error. But, despite our
concerns, we'll give this another try.
If interested in the
non-paying intern gig, please send an e-mail pointing out all typos on the
site since 12:00 a.m. on October 1 to
profootballtalk@aol.com.
I don't want a "please give me
the job" or "why I love PFT" or "you are an idiot" intro. Just get
down to business, if you want to be in business.
Also, please continue to
review all posts and send in e-mails with any typos that you see.
Eventually (hopefully), someone will emerge as the best one of the bunch.
Until then, keep sending in the e-mails pointing out the typos.
MONDAY MORNING
ONE-PER-CLUB ONE-LINERS
by Michael David Smith
Patriots WR Kelley Washington
(hamstring) and G Stephen Neal (shoulder) are
out for tonight's game.
Bengals DE Robert Geathers
says of the Patriots, "They don't have many weaknesses, but
they can be beaten."
At least one Dolphin is
playing well: RB Ronnie Brown had
200 yards from
scrimmage for the second consecutive week.
Ravens CB Chris McAlister gave
the Browns a second chance on a missed field goal after he was called for
lining up in the neutral zone; McAlister says
he wasn't even rushing on the play.
Two dozen Steelers hugged
ex-offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt before they played Whisenhunt's
Cardinals; QB Ben Roethlisberger
was not one of
them.
His team won, but Chiefs RB
Larry Johnson is
still
frustrated with his role in the offense.
Chargers QB Philip Rivers
describes the home crowd booing the team as "somewhat
disappointing." (The home crowd would describe the team's 1-3
start as "more than somewhat disappointing.")
Packers RB Ryan Grant says of
his late fumble Sunday, "When I saw that ball on the ground,
it didn't seem
real."
Vikings LT Bryant McKinnie
vomited
several times on the sideline Sunday as a result of food poisoning.
(Fans in the stands vomited several times as a result of McKinnie's
performance on the field.)
Starting in place of DeAngelo
Hall, Falcons rookie CB Chris Houston was
burned by Andre Davis for the Texans' only touchdown Sunday.
Despite a smattering of rumors that the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers will pursue Tiki Barber to fill the void created by the
season-ending injury suffered by running back Cadillac Williams, indications
are that any such talk is premature.
The apparent plan, for now, is that the Bucs
will go with Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham. Pittman, after all,
was the starter during the team's 2002 Super Bowl season.
And even if there would be any interest in
bringing Tiki to Tampa to team with his twin brother Ronde, we doubt that
Tiki would walk away from his mini media empire at NBC. Besides, it's
one thing for Tiki to stay in shape for the camera. It's quite another
thing for him to maintain "football shape."
The other impediment is that the Giants still
hold his rights, and have no incentive to let him join another team that is
in the driver's seat for a playoff berth. Also, if the Giants were to
release his rights after the October 16 trade deadline, Tiki would have to
pass through waivers. And we could envision one of the other NFC South
teams putting in a claim for him, if for no reason other than to block the
Bucs from getting him.
WHISENHUNT IS THE "MASTER
OF HIS DOMAIN"
We never figured Dan Dierdorf
to be a Seinfeld aficionado. But, apparently, he is. Or
maybe Dierdorf simply once heard one of the classic phrases from the best
show in television history and it crept into his subconscious.
Regardless, Dierdorf exclaimed
during Sunday's Steelers-Cardinals game that Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt is
the "master of his domain." Seriously.
I addressed the issue as
item
No. 7 in this week's Ten-Pack for SportingNews.com. Along with
Dierdorf's reason for uttering it. (You've got to click the link to
read it. We'll still be here when you get back.)
Meanwhile, we're trying to
figure out who else was in the contest with Whisenhunt and Dierdorf.
On-air partner Greg Gumbel? Bryant Gumbel? Terry
Bradshaw?
We can imagine Bradshaw
bemoaning his fate: "Yeah, I was in that dang contest. I
finished last and next to last."
POSTED 9:13 a.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
WILLIAMS INJURY CALLED "CAREER-THREATENING"
Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports describes the torn
patellar tendon suffered on Sunday by Bucs running back Cadillac Williams "career-threatening."
Technically, any serious injury is
"career-threatening," since the player's ability to resume his career
depends upon the full and complete recovery from the injury.
But Cole makes a great point regarding the
specific nature of Williams' injury. A torn patellar tendon can cause
problems even after it is "healed." We can't think of many players who
have come back from such an injury to perform at a high level.
Meanwhile, there is conflicting information
regarding the injury suffered by Tampa left tackle Luke Petitgout.
Though some Sunday night reports indicated that he had torn his ACL,
Petitgout said, "I
shouldn't be out long."
POSTED 6:58 a.m. EDT,
October 1, 2007
ANOTHER RAY LEWIS-STYLE SITUATION?
Keep your eyes and ears open, folks, for news
of another ugly incident involving an NFL player.
The news, when it breaks, will conjure
memories of the Ray Lewis incident from January 2000, although it's
currently our understanding that neither of the two victims of a weekend
shooting have died, but that one of the victims has potentially
life-threatening injuries.
It's also not clear whether the NFL player was
the person who pulled the trigger. We're hearing that the NFL player
in question was merely present.
Details could be released soon on this one.
For now, we'll only say that the player in question is not Ray Lewis.
Lewis was part of a group that was suspected
of killing two men during an altercation in Atlanta after Super Bowl XXXIV.
Lewis initially was charged with murder, but later pleaded guilty to
obstruction of justice. No one was ever convicted for the double
homicide.
POSTED 10:03 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
JENKINS CALLS OUT TEAMMATES
Panthers defensive tackle Kris Jenkins called
out on Sunday his Carolina teammates after a 20-7 home loss to the Bucs
dropped the Panthers to 2-2.
"You all
ready? All right, I’m going to be honest. I
think the players owe the fans an apology. I would
be as upset as they are if I had to sit in the stands
for four hours and look at that garbage. I'm going
to be honest with you. That's what it was,
garbage.
"I
apologize to you Pat [Yasinskas] because I didn't put
everything out as far as the issue [in a Charlotte
Observer story last week, where Jenkins challenged
his teammates to handle prosperity better]. This
is our issue as a team. As a team collectively, we
have no heart. We have no energy. We have no
drive. Football is about pride and passion.
I'm going to repeat that again. Football is about
pride and passion. The pride and the passion that
you have for this game makes you want to win. It's
not about the money. It's not about looking the
part. It's not about standing on the field so
everybody can see you on TV and that you look good.
It's about pride and heart. If you have those two,
if you win or lose, you're going to look like a football
team.
"That's
why we have issues with prosperity. That's why we
have issues when things look good. That's why we
can’t get enough together to look and act like a
football team. This is not a 9-to-5 job.
This is a game. It is a street fight. It is
a gladiator sport and I apologize that sometimes I don't
look the part for what people want me to be. I'm
not the weight that everybody wants me to be. But
when I step on that field, what you are going to see is
pride and heart because I value this game. I love
it and that is what is frustrating me. We don't
have that.
"We went
out there and I felt embarrassed. I walked out the
little line or whatever you come through to go play and
I walked out and basically, in certain way, I challenged
their team. And I challenged my team, because when
you step out there like that and you do something like
that, you better back it up and we didn't. We got
broke off. We really got broke off and I'm
embarrassed to say so.
"Right
now, my heart hurts. It really does. It's
hard to sit there week after week and go through this.
This is what's not being addressed. Week in and
week out, we might say this and we might say that or we
need to change this. It's not that you can't pay
for pride and heart. It might good when you look
at the stats or when you look at someone's 40 time or
you look at everything else. But it doesn't matter
how many skills you have. It doesn't matter how
good you look when you catch a pass or when you run the
ball or when you tackle somebody or cover somebody.
"It's not
going to matter if you don't have those two things,
because this is the NFL. It is the National
Football League. It is a professional sport and
you have people out here, such as myself, who love this
game enough that they’re going to put it all out on the
field.
"Tampa Bay
came and they did that and they royally broke their foot
off in our butt. I have nothing else to say. I'm
upset about this, but I wanted to say that."
Unintended translation: The coaching
staff isn't doing its job, and should be fired.
POSTED 9:41 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
WILLIAMS, PETITGOUT GONE FOR YEAR
Sunday's stirring 20-7 victory by the
Buccaneers over the Panthers came at a stiff cost. Starting tailback
Cadillac Williams and starting left tackle Luke Petitgout
are
out for the year.
It's believed that Williams tore the patellar
tendon in his right knee. Petitgout is believed to have a torn ACL.
Williams was injured in the first quarter, at
the end of an 18-yard run. Petitgout's injury came one series later.
POSTED 9:05 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
ESPN BLOWS WARD REPORT
Earlier on Sunday, John Clayton of ESPN
reported that Giants running back Derrick Ward wouldn't start on Sunday
night, and that he might not play.
It's Sunday night, and Ward is playing.
And he started.
But, hey, it's not Clayton's fault. His
source genuinely believed the information that was conveyed to Clayton was
accurate.
So Clayton wasn't wrong. His source was
wrong.
POSTED 7:24 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
WESTBROOK INACTIVE FOR SUNDAY NIGHT
Earlier today, we reported that Eagles running
back Brian Westbrook would be a game-time decision for Sunday night's game
against the Giants.
The game is still an hour away, and a decision
has been made. Westbrook is inactive due to a stomach problem.
So if the Eagles plan to avoid going to 1-3,
they'll need to do it without a guy who put up more than 220 yards from
scrimmage in Week Three.
POSTED 6:12 p.m. EDT,
September 30 ,2007
WARNER STAKES CLAIM TO STARTING JOB
With a touchdown pass on the first drive of
the second half, which pulled the Cardinals even with the Steelers at 7-7,
grizzled veteran Kurt Warner is looking more and more like the new starting
quarterback of the Cardinals.
If the Cards can pull off the upset of the 3-0
Steelers, the former employer of Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, how can
Warner not get the starting job?
The challenge, however, will be placating
Leinart. After getting pulled from the Week Three game at Baltimore
while trailing by 17 points, Leinart didn't complain. After being
supplanted while down by seven in the first half, Leinart might feel
differently.
POSTED 5:15 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
LEINART YANKED, AGAIN
Coach Ken Whisenhunt of the Arizona Cardinals
has pulled starting quarterback Matt Leinart, inserting backup Kurt Warner.
Whisenhunt used both quarterbacks a week ago
against the Ravens, with Warner coming off of the bench and leading the
Cardinals back from a 17-point deficit. Warner's speciality is the
no-huddle offense.
Whisenhunt has said that he intends to use
both quarterbacks, and Leinart hasn't bitched too much about it, yet.
The first drive under Warner got off to a good
start, but a fumble from Larry Fitzgerald after a first-down reception gave
the Steelers the ball back.
POSTED 4:41 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
CADILLAC BLOWS OUT A WHEEL
Tampa Bay running back Carnell "Cadillac"
Williams was carted off of the field in Carolina after suffering what
appears to be a serious knee injury.
The injury occurred near the Panthers'
sideline, and at one point the entire Tampa Bay team ran across the field to
check on Williams' condition.
It doesn't look good, and it likely is a torn
ACL of his right knee.
Williams carried six times for 41 yards prior
to the injury. The game can be tracked on NFL.com
right here.
POSTED 4:24 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
ALEX SMITH OUT FOR NINERS
San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith has been
knocked out of the game between the 49ers and the Seahawks.
Smith was sacked by Seattle defensive tackle
Rocky Bernard and carted off of the field with a shoulder injury.
The third-year signal-caller was replaced by
veteran Trent Dilfer, who spent four years in Seattle as part of his lengthy
NFL itinerary.
With the franchise in disarray and the
prospects of winning any games shrinking, the Buffalo Bills pulled it
together on Sunday and got their first win of the year.
They did so at the expense of the New York
Jets, who have fallen to 1-3 after unexpectedly qualifying for the playoffs
a year ago.
With starting quarterback J.P. Losman out due
to a knee injury, third-round rookie Trent Edwards made the most of his
first start, completing
22 of 28 passes for 234 yards. Edwards threw one interception and
one touchdown pass.
Fellow rookie Marshawn Lynch added 79 yards
rushing and a touchdown.
In what could be a make-or-break year for
Losman, Edwards could end up showing enough to make the decision an easy
one.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre set on Sunday
the all-time record for career touchdowns passes, a week after he pulled
even with Dan Marino at 420.
Favre's 421st touchdown pass came in the first
quarter, on a third down from the Minnesota 16. Favre spotted receiver
Greg Jennings in single coverage, and changed the play. He hit
Jennings on a slant from the right to the left for the score.
As reported by ESPN's Rachel Nichols, the game
was momentarily stopped and a video message from Marino was played at the
Metrodome. One member of PFT Planet described the Marino clip as
Orwellian.
Said another reader: "It was obvious
that Favre wasn't paying attention to Marino at all, making him just like
the rest of America, who doesn't give a damn what Marino has to say about
anything."
Favre also broke during the first-half the
all-time pass attempt record, which had been held by Marino as well.
Favre needs two interceptions to tie George Blanda's all-time mark.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS FROM
THE EARLY GAMES
Every week at or about this
time, we offer up a list of some of the things we've noticed during the
first half of the early games.
The start of the Raiders-Fins
game was delayed by lightning, and players were instructed to leave the
field for safety reasons. Meanwhile, cameras captured images of a
family sitting in the storm wearing plastic ponchos. (The extent to
which the average American is oblivious to the dangers of lightning is
almost as frightening as what lightning can do to an otherwise healthy
person.)
No CBS HD for the
Ravens-Browns or the Texans-Falcons.
When does an 0-3 team draw the
No. 1 FOX announcing team? When they're playing the 3-0 Cowboys.
We're getting multiple
complaints of bad officiating in the Rams-Cowboys game.
We didn't see this one, but
apparently Tatum Bell showed a big chunk of his butt after his pants were
ripped.
Curt Menefee made a lame-o
reference to Milli Vanilli regarding the rain delay in Miami.
Discussing the plan to rotate
tailbacks Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson in Minnesota after the rookie
from Oklahoma tore off a 55-yard run, JC Pearson of FOX said, "They should
rotate them. Whenever Peterson gets tired."
Joey Harrington is outplaying
Matt Schaub, so far.
Chad Pennington completed 16
of 18 passes for the Jets in the first half, but they're losing to the
Bills.
The Browns are sticking it to
the Ravens, and former Baltimore tailback Jamal Lewis has scored a touchdown
against his old team.
The Rams offense looks
horrible against the Cowboys; Marc Bulger has passed for 71 yards and rookie
Brian Leonard has run for 31.
The Trent Green era might not
last much longer in Miami, and linebacker Joey Porter could end up looking
like an even bigger idiot that he already did if/when the Fins don't make
good on his guarantee that Miami will be Oakland.
POSTED 12:55 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
VIKES PLAN TO HONOR FAVRE
Rachel Nichols of ESPN reports that the
Minnesota Vikings plan to temporarily stop Sunday's home game against the
Packers if/when quarterback Brett Favre breaks the all-time touchdown record
that he shares with Dan Marino.
The Vikes also plan to play a video message
from Marino on the stadium Jumbotron.
But, per Nichols, it will be done only if the
record is broken early enough in the game so that it does not feel disloyal
to the home fans.
Um, guys, doesn't any effort to honor
the Vikings' long-time nemesis represent disloyalty to the fans?
"We'll honor our foes when they're dead," some
great man might have said at some point in human history. (And if no
great man from the past has said it, some great man of the future should.)
POSTED 12:39 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
RAIDERS WILLING TO MOVE GUYS ON, MOVE GUYS
OUT
Jay Glazer of FOX reports that the Oakland
Raiders have been calling teams and offering up any of their defensive
players for trade -- with only four of them off of the block.
The guys who won't be traded included
defensive end Derrick Burgess, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, linebacker Kirk
Morrison, and linebacker Thomas Howard.
Curiously omitted from this list is safety
Michael Huff, the No. 7 overall pick in 2006.
On the other side of the ball, Chris Mortensen
of ESPN says that rookie quarterback JaMarcus Russell could take the field
by Thanksgiving weekend, and that he is progressing well in practice.
POSTED 12:27 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
DELHOMME ELBOW NEEDS SURGERY
Jay Glazer of FOX reports that Panthers
quarterback Jake Delhomme will eventually need surgery on his injured elbow,
and actually could have had surgery prior to the season to repair the joint.
Delhomme messed up the elbow last weekend.
He'll miss Sunday's game against the Buccaneers.
Other injury news from Glazer -- Broncos
safety John Lynch won't play against the Colts.
POSTED 12:23 p.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
LOTS OF BEARS TO BE IN STREET CLOTHES
The NFL.com list of inactives for the
Bears-Lions games contains 75 percent of the starting defensive secondary.
Out are safety Adam Archuleta, cornerback
Nathan Vasher, and cornerback Charles Tillman.
Also listed as inactive is weakside linebacker
Lance Briggs.
As a result, we think the Lions might throw a
few passes.
With ESPN reporting that running backs Derrick
Ward and Brandon Jacobs out for Sunday's game against the Eagles, look for
Reuben Droughns to get plenty of touches.
Droughns was traded to the Giants from the
Browns in the offseason. He scored two touchdowns last week as the
understudy to Ward.
BARBERIE GOES GOTH
As a couple of readers have
pointed out (and as we unfortunately have seen for ourselves), FOX weather
bimbo Jilian Barberie is looking like she's ready to celebrate Halloween
early with a Goth-style of makeup during Sunday's pregame show on FOX.
The only explanation?
She hired Rachel Nichols' makeup assistant.
POSTED 11:55 a.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
BULGER WILL START
Rams quarterback Marc Bulger will get the
start on Sunday despite having broken ribs, reports ESPN's Ed Werder.
Per Werder, Bulger has had a pain-killing shot
that is the equivalent of taking 30 Advil tablets.
Bulger is having a disappointing season, due
in large part to poor offensive line play.
POSTED 11:48 a.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
CALVIN JOHNSON INACTIVE FOR SUNDAY
NFL.com reports that Lions rookie receiver
Calvin Johnson will miss Sunday's game against the Bears with a back injury.
The full list of early-game inactives is
right here.
Each roster has 53 players, but only 45 may
dress on Sunday, along with a No. 3 quarterback.
POSTED 11:27 a.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
ORTON ERA NEXT?
Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that Bears
reserve quarterback Kyle Orton could eventually bump Brian Griese out of the
starting lineup.
Mort says that Orton nearly nudged out Griese
as the primary backup to Rex Grossman in the preseason.
If Griese stumbles, look for Orton to get the
nod. As a rookie, he was an effective game manager in 2005.
GAME OF THE WEEK?
With the early games 90
minutes away from kickoff, which of the 14 matchups is the best game of the
week?
You've got your opinion.
PFTV has its opinion. Take a listen to the guys from PFTV.
POSTED 11:23 a.m. EDT,
September 30, 2007
HALL WILL SIT FOR THE FIRST QUARTER ON
SUNDAY
When the Atlanta Falcons face former backup
quarterback Matt Schaub on Sunday, they'll do it without cornerback DeAngelo
Hall, for the first quarter.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that, in
addition to his $100,000 fine for going bonkos last weekend, Hall has been
benched for the initial 15 minutes of Sunday's game.
And Mort also mentioned an article from the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding the problems between Hall and new
coach Bobby Petrino.
Hall also suggested that his change of heart
regarding playing offense and his unwillingness to return punts might have
contributed to the souring of the relationship.
Bottom line? Unless Petrino quits or
gets fired after the 2007 season, there's no way Hall will be back in 2008.
John Clayton of ESPN reports that Panthers
quarterback Jake Delhomme won't go due to an elbow injury.
The start instead will go to David Carr, the
No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft.
Delhomme was having a great season before
injuring the elbow during a Week Three win over the Falcons.
MAKE YOUR PFT PICK
CHALLENGE SELECTIONS, AND MOVE ON (OR MOVE OUT)
We've been flooded with
e-mails from folks playing the PFT Pick Challenge game regarding the fact
that, after picks are made and the user logs out and later logs back in, the
picks aren't showing up.
But, trust us, they're in
there.
We're working on this
still-beta game and we'll get it to the point that you can go back in and
look at your picks.
Hey, ESPN's Rachel Nichols is
wearing her hair differently. She has ditched the meticulously
annoying habit of having one side of her hair dangle in front of a shoulder,
and the other side behind a shoulder.
Instead, both sides are now in
front of her shoulders.
She must have gone to a
seminar, or something.
POSTED 10:15 a.m. EDT; LAST
UPDATED 10:48 a.m. EDT, September 30, 2007
WESTBROOK A GAME-TIME DECISION?
We're told that the availability of Eagles
running back Brian Westbrook won't be known until at or close to game time.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation,
Westbrook can barely move without experiencing abdominal pain. He is
pressing hard to play, but coach Andy Reid is reluctant to let him.
Stay tuned.
DAVIS SAYS FUHGETABOUT THE
TITANS
Two weeks ago on FSN's Pro
Football Preview, former Titans running back Eddie George accused former
Raiders receiver Tim Brown of cheating during a game between the two teams.
Eddie claimed that Brown and other Raiders receivers had radio receivers in
their helmets.
This weekend, Brown delivered
a rebuttal to George, from Raiders owner Al Davis, via team president Amy
Trask. Said Davis, "Why would we have to cheat to beat the Titans?"
Pro Football Preview
host Jay Glazer raised a far more pertinent question: "Al Davis
watches our show?"
He should. And everyone
else should, too. Glazer is coming into his own as a talking (shaved)
head, and George, Brown and Jason Sehorn are each 100 times (no, 1,000
times) better than Emmitt Smith of ESPN.
PFT MEDIA FANTASY CHALLENGE
HEATS UP
It. Is. On.
Today, yours truly faces off
against a "real" fantasy expert, Gregg Rosenthal of Rotoworld.com, in the
PFT Media Fantasy Challenge.
Too bad it wasn't last week,
since I racked up 100 points and Rosenthal scored a mere 82.
With that 100 even in Week
Three, the Bad Newz Ken-Dolls took it to the still-unnamed squad managed by
Eddie George.
Elsewhere, Michael Fabiano of
NFL.com beat Nancy Gay of the San Francisco Chronicle, 109-100.
Seth Wickersham of ESPN trounced Dave Richard of CBSSports.com, 99-62.
Paul Allen of KFAN took down Jeffri Chadiha of ESPN.com, 83-68.
The guy from NFL Network beat
the guy from Sirius NFL Radio in the battle of the Adam S-c-h-es, with
Schefter scoring 135 and Schein managing 115.
Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com
handled Adam Caplan of Scout.com, 83-75. Rosenthal rocked Todd Wright
of Sporting News Radio, 82-68. And Tom Curran of NBCSports.com edged
Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, 79-70.
This week, other games include
Richard versus Fabiano, Allen against Wickersham, Chadiha challenging
Jensen, Schefter and the third Adam, Caplan, Wright against Freeman, Gay vs.
Curran, and George taking on Schein.
Rosenthal is the only
undefeated member of the league, and Caplan and Chadiha are the Saints and
the Falcons.
The 16-team effort is hosted
on NFL.com's excellent League Manager system, which was provided to us free
of charge.
Walker suffered a knee injury last week
against the Jaguars, and was listed as questionable after missing practice
on Wednesday and Thursday and participating in practice on a limited basis
on Friday.
The Broncos also will be without guard Ben
Hamilton, who has been placed on injured reserve due to a concussion
problem. Safety John Lynch is questionable with a groin problem, and
he missed two days of practice this week.
Packers RB Vernand Morency
will get plenty of work in his season debut, especially with rookie
Brandon Jackson out due to a problem with his shin (man, I'm glad I caught
that typo).
Steelers TE Matt Spaeth, who scored two
touchdowns in the first two games of the season,
will miss his
second straight game due to a quad injury.
Fins LB Zach Thomas (concussion)
is sleeping in a
hyberbaric chamber. (He's actually sleeping in his dryer, but
that's one of the effects of the concussion.)
Two weeks ago, FOX's Jimmy Johnson admitted on
the network's pregame show that he engaged in the same type of cheating that
got the Pats in trouble during a Week One win over the Jets. (The
topic was
one of
the ten that some Internet hack addressed on SportingNews.com after Week
Two.)
On Friday, Johnson reiterated his remarks on
WFAN in New York, in a
spot with Mike Francesa and Chris Russo.
Johnson said that, 18 years ago, a Chiefs
scout told him how to do exactly what Belichick did. Though Johnson
didn't name the scout when he first mentioned it on FOX, Johnson now says
that the scout was the late Mark Hatley.
"I did it with video and so did a lot of other
teams in the league," Johnson said. "This was commonplace."
Johnson also implicated then-Chiefs offensive
line coach Howard Mudd, who currently serves as the offensive line coach
with the Colts, saying that Mudd "was the best in the entire league at
stealing signals."
As he said on FOX, Johnson explained that he
didn't do it much because he didn't get much out of it. Still, Johnson
recognizes its potential value.
"If it gives you one single play in the ball
game," he said, "it might be the different."
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin confirmed that
Culpepper will take the reins.
Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter recently
guaranteed a win over Oakland. Ironically, Culpepper was playing for
the Dolphins a year ago when Porter was in Pittsburgh, and it was an
interception return for a touchdown from Porter that iced the win for the
Steelers.
The start comes 23 months to the day after
Culpepper's knee was exploded during a game in Charlotte. He started
several games for Miami a year ago, but was yanked because his knee was not
completely healed.
POSTED 3:31 p.m. EDT,
September 29, 2007
LAWSUIT PREVENTS PATS FROM MOVING ON
At the conclusion of paragraph 18 of the
class-action lawsuit filed against the New England Patriots and coach Bill
Belichick in the wake of the cheating scandal that erupted on September 10,
the formal complaint quotes Belichick's statement of three days later, after
the league's punishment was announced: "With tonight's resolution, I
will not be offering any further comments on this matter. We are
moving on with our preparations for Sunday's game."
And the next sentence of the initial filing
says it all. "The New York Jets ticket-holders who have purchased
tickets to watch the Jets play the New England Patriots are not willing to
move on."
The
full text of the
lawsuit appears on a blog maintained by the plaintiff, who also is a New
Jersey lawyer. The paperwork reads like any other document that
launches a civil lawsuit. Though it's too early to tell whether any of
the various legal theories (tortious interference with contractual
relations, common law fraud, deceptive business practices, federal and state
racketeering, violation of ticket-holder rights as third-party
beneficiaries, breach of contract, and consumer fraud) will survive an
aggressive and comprehensive effort to dispose of the case before guys like
Belichick and Matt Estrella and Roger Goodell are asked to swear and affirm
that their testimony is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, the mere existence of the lawsuit forces the team, and the league, to
re-open matters that had been proclaimed closed.
That fact, standing alone, makes this lawsuit
newsworthy, and significant. The team wants to move on, but the team
can't move on. Not until the lawsuit is over and all appeals are
exhausted.
Also, even if the Pats prevail on a motion to
dismiss all eight counts of the complaint on the basis that each theory
fails to state a claim on which any relief can be granted, the Pats will
have to reduce to writing an argument that, from a P.R. perspective, might
be less than ideal.
Basically, the Pats' legal team will write in
the brief in support of the motion to dismiss that folks who buy tickets to
pro football games have no recourse, under any circumstances, regardless of
the existence and extent of cheating. Great care will need to be taken
in the crafting of the sentences, because it will be easy for folks in the
media to lift segments of the brief that, when considered out of context,
won't reflect favorably on the whole customer satisfaction side of the
business.
The Patriots also might try in the motion to
dismiss to argue that the cheating provided no meaningful benefit, and that
the common nature of the practice required teams like the Jets to take steps
to shield their defensive signals. But injecting such facts at the
outset of the case makes the motion to dismiss something other than a motion
to dismiss, and it will invite an argument that formal discovery (i.e.,
depositions of witnesses and written requested for information and
documents) should be allowed before any ruling is made as to whether the
case may proceed.
And, as we mentioned last night, the prospect
of engaging in discovery in this case is a bit more troubling than in a
normal civil action because all of the evidence of cheating has been
surrendered by the Pats to the league office, which then destroyed it.
Moving forward, the Patriots and Belichick
will have 30 days to respond to the complaint after being formally served,
presumably through the New Jersey Secretary of State. The defendants'
first move undoubtedly will be a motion to dismiss. Discovery will be
permitted to commence after the parties engage in a Rule 26(f) conference,
which typically occurs a couple of months after the lawsuit is filed.
At some point after the Rule 26(f) conference the Court will enter a
scheduling order that contains various dates and deadlines, including (most
importantly) the day on which the trial will begin.
Another important portion in the process will
be the filing of a motion by the plaintiff to certify the class. It's
a necessary step in class actions; before the case can proceed as a class
action, the Court has to agree that the legal requirements of class
treatment are met. Defendants often oppose motions to certify
aggressively, since preventing certification essentially destroys the class
action.
So this case will be around for awhile.
And we'll be keeping an eye on the developments. And we'll likely be
boring all of the non-lawyers in the audience with some of the details from
time to time.
POSTED 2:36 p.m. EDT,
September 29, 2007
ROY WILLIAMS FINED FOR BREAKING RULE AIMED
AT HIM
Cowboys safety Roy Williams has been
slapped with a
$12,500 fine for a horse-collar tackle that he applied to Bears tight
end Desmond Clark on Sunday night.
The NFL banned the practice of dragging a guy
down by pulling him down from behind by grabbing the neck hole of his
shoulder pads in May 2005, due in large part to Williams' use of the
technique to tackle down ball carriers. Williams applied the
horse-collar tackle to Eagles receiver Terrell Owens in 2004, resulting in
broken ankle that kept Owens out of action until the Super Bowl.
The rule has since been expanded to include
tackles made not only by getting a hand inside the pads, but also by merely
pulling the player down from behind by grabbing the opening in his jersey.
There's increasing talk in league circles that
Chargers G.M. A.J. Smith could be in some serious trouble if the fortunes of
the team don't change quickly.
Smith won a protracted power struggle with
coach Marty Schottenheimer in February, finagling his termination in
February, after Schottenheimer apparently had survived the fallout from his
team's stunning loss in a AFC divisional playoff game.
But now Smith is the guy who has full
accountability for the team's performance. If they fail under new
coach Norv Turner (and fail they have thus far), Smith will get the blame.
And, in the end, Smith could get the shoe.
The Chargers get a chance to pull back to .500
on Sunday when they host the 1-2 Kansas City Chiefs.
SO WHO'S THE FIRST COACH TO GET FIRED?
Apart from A.J. Smith and other General Managers who
might be in trouble, who'll be the first coach to get the soiled shoe in
the poop chute this year?
It's one of this week's PFTV topics. Click below
and give it a look.
FREE FANTASY STUFF
It's Saturday, and that
means the site is littered with all sorts of stuff to help you make good
decisions for your fantasy lineup.
Or, alternatively, to give
you someone else to blame when the woman from admin who picked her team
based on zodiac signs beats you by 40 points.
We've got stuff like the
Fantasy Rankings, Matt Pitzer's Start 'Em and Sit' Em column, and the
Fantasy Podcast with Gregg Rosenthal of Rotoworld.com.
Scroll up for links to everything. And remember
that it's all free. So, as always, you'll get your money's worth.
DON'T FORGET THE INJURY REPORT
What fantasy lineup can be completed without taking a
look at the full injury report?
The Friday
version has the full information for the week -- who missed practice
each day, who was limited, and their labels for Sunday.
POSTED 8:45 a.m. EDT,
September 29, 2007
ROMO SAYS HE DIDN'T ASK FOR MORE THAN $30
MILLION
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, in response to
questions regarding our report that his agent, Tom Condon, has asked for
more than $30 million in guaranteed money as part of a new contract, says
that the report isn't accurate.
"That's not true," Romo said, according to the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I don't know where that came from.
But I will take
it, though."
Actually, we need to clarify our prior report.
The demand, as we heard it, was for more guaranteed money than Colts
quarterback Peyton Manning received. That number wasn't $30 million --
it was $34.5 million.
As to Romo's denial, we've got three comments.
First, why wouldn't Condon make a big demand?
Romo is quickly moving into level of the elite quarterbacks, and elite
quarterbacks get a ton of guaranteed money. And when non-quarterbacks
like Dwight Freeney are getting $30 million guaranteed, then it's easy to
make the argument that Romo should be at or above that level.
Second, given the apparent extent to which
Condon kept Browns quarterback Brady Quinn in the dark about the specifics
of Condon's negotiations with the team, why should anyone think that Romo is
getting chapter-and-verse details about Condon's tactics? Our guess is
that Condon and Romo have agreed on a bottom-line, and that getting there is
up to Condon.
Third, why would Romo sayanything
about the status of the negotiations? Nothing good can come from
mixing football and his contract; the best approach would be to say, "I'm
not worried about any of that stuff right now. I'm only worried about
playing football and winning games."
Okay, we've got a fourth one too.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is a shrewd negotiator, and he'll try to find a
way to use Romo's comments against Condon.
NEW PALM PRODUCT IS PRICED
TO SELL
The Palm Treo is one of the
most popular smart phones available from Sprint Nextel, the official
telecommunications partner of ProFootballTalk.
And now Palm, working
exclusively with Sprint, has rolled out a smaller, lighter, and
cheaper version of the Treo.
It's the Centro, and it will
soon be available for only $99.99. That's not a typo. You can
now own a smart phone for less than $100. (Okay, it's only a penny
less than $100, but it's still less than $100.)
Sprint will begin selling the
Centro exclusively in mid-October 2007. Sprint and Palm introduced the
Centro on Thursday as part of the DigitalLife Show at New York's Jacob
Javits Convention Center.
While you're waiting for the
Centro to hit the market, feel free to peruse some of the other available
Sprint and Nextel products by clicking the ads on this site. Or drop
by ManningsMind.com for a little
football/trivia match with Peyton's shoebox-sized cranium.
