by Joe Tailgate on January 28, 2010
in NFL News
Despite his own lackluster performance against the Jets twice in the past month, Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco is not yet ready to call Jets CB Darrelle Revis a shutdown corner. Ochocinco caught just two passes for 28 yards in two games, both losses, to the Jets in Week 17 and the wild-card round. “We have a guy that’s had one great season, and we want to label him a shutdown corner.” Ochocinco said.
Cardinals free safety Antrel Rolle settled in as a starter in 2009, but his salary is due to jump to $8.1 million this year and he’s due a roster bonus of $4 million. This is the last season of his rookie deal, and those devices were placed in the contract to force the two sides back to the bargaining table. Rolle has said he’s not going to accept a paycut.
[click to continue…]
by Joe Tailgate on August 19, 2009
in NFL News
by Joe Tailgate on July 8, 2009
in NFL News
- Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez will catch his share of passes in the Falcons offense this season. However, with the offense built around RB Michael Turner, Gonzalez will be relied upon to be a productive blocking tight end. “Tony will help our offense in a number of ways,” offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey said. “One thing he’s going to do is that he’s a productive blocker and that’s important in our offense … As successful as he’s been as a receiver, he’s a good blocker too and he really doesn’t get the credit that he should.”
- Falcons WR Roddy White will be looking to become the second player in team history to post three straight 1,000-yard seasons, joining Andre Rison (1992 to 1994) in the exclusive club. There’s that small matter of White’s contract extension that could get in the way. White’s camp had to like the three-year, $27 million extension that Greg Jennings signed with Green Bay recently).
- Bears RBs coach Tim Spencer said he would like to see second-year RB Matt Forte improve on his yards per carry and yards per catch. Spencer believes both will improve for Forte this season. Spencer said he is not concerned about a sophomore slump. “He’s going to do well,” Spencer added. “We have some new players and we’ve improved on our offensive line. I see no reason why Matt shouldn’t improve this season.”
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones defended Tony Romo from criticism by Troy Aikman, who said that because success has come so quickly for the undrafted Eastern Illinois product that Romo “hasn’t fully grasped what being the Cowboys quarterback is all about.” “I’ve always been so amused about any talk of Tony and his focus on football and his work ethic,” Jones says. “Tony’s boring. He won’t talk about anything but football and the Cowboys and how to move the ball and what plays we should run. “I don’t know (that) I’ve been around anybody who’s just that into football. I wish he would talk more about spicy things, but I can’t get him to.”
- Browns RB Jamal Lewis should have plenty of opportunities to carry the ball within the team’s new offense. Head coach Eric Mangini wants to control the clock with a power running game, which would seem to suit Lewis. Last year Lewis had 279 carries for 1,002 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
- Browns QB Brady Quinn holds a slight lead over QB Derek Anderson (calf) in the competition for the team’s starting quarterback job. Quinn had a decent, albeit not spectacular, minicamp, while Anderson struggled most of the way through before missing the final two practices with a calf injury. The coaching staff, however, will not make any premature decisions and they will wait until both quarterbacks perform in preseason games, so it is still very much an open competition.
by Joe Tailgate on June 15, 2009
in NFL News
Braylon Edwards sat out the first day of mandatory minicamp Thursday with an unspecified injury, but he said it’s nothing serious. Coach Eric Mangini also said Edwards will be fine for the start of training camp in late July or early August. Edwards said he was “slightly” injured at some point this off-season, but “I’m physically fine for the most part. Coach Mangini is taking precaution, so I’m just enjoying my time right now, doing some things on the side and following coach’s orders.”
Rumors have surfaced that the injury that caused Edwards to miss practice last week was sustained while playing a pickup basketball game. The Browns refused to comment on this or any injury, but sources close to the team describe it as accurate.
Eric Mangini gave quarterback Brady Quinn a slight edge heading into voluntary practices last month, but neither Quinn nor Derek Anderson will have an advantage heading into training camp Aug. 1. “That was based on the off-season program leading up to that point,” said Mangini at the conclusion of mandatory minicamp Saturday, signaling with a level hand that the competition was essentially even. If either Quinn or Anderson did emerge as a frontrunner from minicamp and voluntary practices, Mangini isn’t letting on. “You’re right — I’m not going to say it,” he said. Only one thing is certain: Mangini will have more film of Quinn from the mandatory camp than Anderson, who missed the final two of five practices with an apparent calf injury.
Veteran cornerback Dre’ Bly has signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers, who moved quickly to fill the spot created by Walt Harris’ knee injury. ”We lost a Pro Bowl-caliber player in Walt Harris this week, and we were able to fill that void with another Pro Bowler in Dre Bly,” 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan said. “It was important to get Dre in here quickly so that he can get acquainted with our system, our coaches and his new teammates.”
The Dallas Cowboys are shopping outside linebacker Greg Ellis, multiple sources told FanHouse on Thursday. Dallas is serious about a potential move because on Thursday, the final day of this week’s organized team activities, the team sent Ellis home, not allowing him to practice.
Max Jean-Gilles landed on injured reserve when he broke the fibula in his right leg just before halftime of the Eagles‘ Thanksgiving night game against the Arizona Cardinals. His hopes of returning to the starting lineup are slim, but he is more focused on recovering from his injury, which required the surgical insertion of eight screws and a plate. “I still have a long way to go,” Jean-Gilles said. “I’m about 60 percent right now.”
Jon Gruden, who was fired last season after the Buccaneers lost their final four games to miss the playoffs, sounded like a man taking a one-year sabbatical rather than someone making a career change. Once, when asked about the length of his contract, he said, “I’m a short-term, goal-oriented person.” “I dearly miss coaching.”
Browns QB Brady Quinn has been running the first-team offense the last two days of coach Eric Mangini’s first voluntary minicamp. ”There’s no overwhelming significance to that,” Mangini said Thursday. Mangini said that Quinn got the nod over Derek Anderson “because he’s done a really outstanding job in the off-season program.” ”Not that Derek hasn’t done well,” Mangini added, “but [Quinn] got the edge, so he took the first reps.”
