THIS AND THAT..........MONDAY
The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a major blow to their championship chase when middle linebacker, Stewart Bradley, suffered a torn ACL. An MRI will be conducted as soon as the swelling goes down, but it appears he's gone for the year. The Eagles don't have a lot of depth at linebacker, so how they fill this probable vacancy will be crucial. The Philly defense already lost the most important piece of their defense when defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away last week. New coordinator Sean McDermott is now really under the gun filling Bradley's spot.
I thought Tony Gonzalez would be happy playing for a contender, but with his trade to Atlanta, he'd see far fewer passes thrown his way. Well, Tony just might be right back in a situation where he could catch 85-90 balls in '09. Wide receiver Roddy White is still not in camp in a contract dispute & every day he's absent, Falcon QB Matt Ryan is depending more on Gonzalez. White set the team record for yardage in '08 with 1,382 to go with his 88 catches & 7 TDs. White caught 11 passes in their playoff loss at Arizona last January, so he has certainly been Ryan's favorite target. The #1 pick in 2005 has lived up to his billing so far, his 1,202 yards in '07 working with a collection of pedestrian QB's certainly impressed me. If Ryan was working some rookie & their combination was beginning to click, it would be something to talk about but when you're talking about a 10-time Pro Bowler like Gonzalez, White may not like being relegated to being Ryan's second option.
I've told you about the difficulty of virtually every team in the league to sell every ticket. New York Newsday reported over the weekend, the New York Giants still have tickets for 6 regular season games including their last-ever game at Giants Stadium, December 27, vs the Carolina Panthers. The estimated population in the Tri-State area is over 23 million people within 100 miles of Giants Stadium. See why teams like Jacksonville, Kansas City & even Dallas, are having a tough time filling their seats.
Glenn Dorsey, the 5th overall pick in the 2008 draft for Kansas City, is currently residing in River Falls purgatory. Kent Babb of The Red Zone blog reports Dorsey is so far in head coach Todd Haley's dog house, he's been exiled to work out all by himself at practice. He runs, walks, hits the sled & drags weights around in solitary. Haley made it clear in the off season he expected his players to be in much better shape & weighing less before camp opened. Dorsey's lack of conditioning & the 25 pounds or so he packed on during the off season have put him squarely at odds with Haley. Until he can get into the kind of condition Haley expects, Dorsey will suffer the humiliation of his one-man workouts conducted in front of both teammates & fans.
I saw a quote from USC head coach Pete Carroll over the weekend that made me go "uh oh". Seems like whenever someone makes a really bold statement about how the future will go, it blows up in their face. You know, karma, that kind of thing. Carroll said "I really don't see any end in sight to the run we've been on the last 7 years, just don't see it". I know Carroll recruits with the best of them, I know they have a top flight coaching staff, I know they have kids lined up wanting to be a Trojan, but there's more to it than that. Carroll lost 6 of his front 7 on defense & 2 starters in the secondary. For most of the season USC wasn't a powerhouse on offense, they depended on their defense to get them turnovers & superior field position. They also lost their starting QB Mark Sanchez & 2 days before camp opens, who will replace him is still undecided. Examining their schedule shows other potential pitfalls, at Ohio State, at Cal & at Oregon. If the 2009 edition of Carroll's Trojans ends up in the top-5 in January, it will vindicate his comments, if not, it could be karma huh?
I thought Tony Gonzalez would be happy playing for a contender, but with his trade to Atlanta, he'd see far fewer passes thrown his way. Well, Tony just might be right back in a situation where he could catch 85-90 balls in '09. Wide receiver Roddy White is still not in camp in a contract dispute & every day he's absent, Falcon QB Matt Ryan is depending more on Gonzalez. White set the team record for yardage in '08 with 1,382 to go with his 88 catches & 7 TDs. White caught 11 passes in their playoff loss at Arizona last January, so he has certainly been Ryan's favorite target. The #1 pick in 2005 has lived up to his billing so far, his 1,202 yards in '07 working with a collection of pedestrian QB's certainly impressed me. If Ryan was working some rookie & their combination was beginning to click, it would be something to talk about but when you're talking about a 10-time Pro Bowler like Gonzalez, White may not like being relegated to being Ryan's second option.
I've told you about the difficulty of virtually every team in the league to sell every ticket. New York Newsday reported over the weekend, the New York Giants still have tickets for 6 regular season games including their last-ever game at Giants Stadium, December 27, vs the Carolina Panthers. The estimated population in the Tri-State area is over 23 million people within 100 miles of Giants Stadium. See why teams like Jacksonville, Kansas City & even Dallas, are having a tough time filling their seats.
Glenn Dorsey, the 5th overall pick in the 2008 draft for Kansas City, is currently residing in River Falls purgatory. Kent Babb of The Red Zone blog reports Dorsey is so far in head coach Todd Haley's dog house, he's been exiled to work out all by himself at practice. He runs, walks, hits the sled & drags weights around in solitary. Haley made it clear in the off season he expected his players to be in much better shape & weighing less before camp opened. Dorsey's lack of conditioning & the 25 pounds or so he packed on during the off season have put him squarely at odds with Haley. Until he can get into the kind of condition Haley expects, Dorsey will suffer the humiliation of his one-man workouts conducted in front of both teammates & fans.
I saw a quote from USC head coach Pete Carroll over the weekend that made me go "uh oh". Seems like whenever someone makes a really bold statement about how the future will go, it blows up in their face. You know, karma, that kind of thing. Carroll said "I really don't see any end in sight to the run we've been on the last 7 years, just don't see it". I know Carroll recruits with the best of them, I know they have a top flight coaching staff, I know they have kids lined up wanting to be a Trojan, but there's more to it than that. Carroll lost 6 of his front 7 on defense & 2 starters in the secondary. For most of the season USC wasn't a powerhouse on offense, they depended on their defense to get them turnovers & superior field position. They also lost their starting QB Mark Sanchez & 2 days before camp opens, who will replace him is still undecided. Examining their schedule shows other potential pitfalls, at Ohio State, at Cal & at Oregon. If the 2009 edition of Carroll's Trojans ends up in the top-5 in January, it will vindicate his comments, if not, it could be karma huh?
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