THIS AND THAT..........TUESDAY
Some major injuries are already causing major concern in three NFL camps. I told you about Philadelphia middle linebacker Stewart Bradley's torn ACL. The Eagles signed Matt Wilhelm last night. Wilhelm was a 4th round pick out of Ohio State for the Chargers. They released him last month. Carolina defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu ruptured his Achilles tendon & will be lost for the season. The 6-5 345-pound run stuffer is a major loss to the Carolina Panther defense, last season when he was out, their run defense fell apart. With the $16 million the Panthers are obligated to pay franchise player Julius Peppers, they have virtually no cap room to bring in another veteran. Rookies Corey Irvin & Marlon Favorite are the likely replacements for Kemoeatu. Favorite played on the nose in college & is very tough to move, so he might be the 'favorite' for the job. Cincinnati TE, Reggie Kelly also ruptured his Achilles tendon. This is a real setback for the Bengals as he was their blocking TE while Ben Utecht & rookie Chase Coffman, were supposed to fill the receiving TE slot. Daniel Coats may be called upon to fill Kelly's spot. The other consideration about this spot is that rookie Andre Smith will start at RT & Kelly's experience could have been very helpful playing next to Smith.
Rookie tackle Michael Oher won't be competing for the starting right tackle job with Baltimore. Last season's starter, Adam Terry, Oher's competition, will be put on injured reserve tomorrow, his surgically repaired knee hasn't responded as expected, he will need additional surgery & be lost for the season.
Jeremy Maclin signed yesterday, so the Eagles have their entire rookie class under contract. I think Maclin will make a major impact in '09. With superior skill position players all around him & a brilliant offensive head coach, Maclin can inserted in certain offensive packages to get the most from an inexperienced receiver. Last season Andy Reid worked DeSean Jackson in gradually as a rookie & he finished the season as the Eagles' leading receiver. Maclin's return abilities will be used too, but Quinten Demps & DeSean Jackson handled the returns pretty well, both scoring a TD, but Maclin adds another dimension with speed the other two can't duplicate.
I always knew the late Jim Johnson's defenses were a nightmare to scheme against, but after seeing some stats yesterday, I have even more respect for what Johnson did in Philadelphia. The very sharp guys at Footballoutsiders.com put together a league-wide 10-year average for the most important defensive stats. The Eagles defense ranked 2nd in 3rd down efficiency, 2nd in red zone TD percentage, 2nd in sacks, 4th in points allowed & 4th in their opponents' QB ratings. Couple these impressive stats with the fact Johnson had only 2 players in that decade that made the Pro Bowl more than 2 consecutive years, DE Hugh Douglas & S Brian Dawkins. When contacted about their article, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh, St Louis head coach Steve Spagnoula, Washington def. coordinator Greg Blache & Andy Reid were asked what one word described Johnson's philosophy. To a man the one word was 'pressure'. Blache made what I believe was the most astute comment, "a lot of defenses blitz, but every time you lined up against the Eagles, you had absolutely no idea where the blitzers were going to come from. You always hear quarterbacks say they love getting blitzed because it opens up the secondary with man-for-man coverage, but I never heard a QB say that after an Eagle game, that says it all about Jim Johnson's defenses". Indeed it does.
In what may become an epidemic before a cure is found, the Twitter craze continues to cause problems around the league. Charger cornerback Antonio Cromartie was fined $2,500 today for Tweeting his displeasure with the food in Charger training camp. His description of the menu & the food service was slightly obscene & ultimately in direct disregard of head coach Norv Turner's "no Tweeting policy" while in camp. Now players from other teams are Tweeting their support for Cromartie. The undisputed 'King of Twitter' in the NFL, Chad Ochocinco, once again showed just how ridiculous he is when he Tweeted "Pray for my dude Plaxico Burress, indicted on all counts after injuring only himself, huh, grand jury my a$$!" Yeah, there's certainly no reason for a guy having to take personal responsibility for carrying a loaded handgun in a public place when anyone with an I.Q. above 20 knows it's against the law & a really bad idea. A Charger teammate of Cromartie's said it best "Tweeting was invented for 7th grade girls. Apparently we have a bunch of 7th grade girls in this league". The league office is reportedly burning the midnight oil coming up with a concise Twitter policy.
Rookie tackle Michael Oher won't be competing for the starting right tackle job with Baltimore. Last season's starter, Adam Terry, Oher's competition, will be put on injured reserve tomorrow, his surgically repaired knee hasn't responded as expected, he will need additional surgery & be lost for the season.
Jeremy Maclin signed yesterday, so the Eagles have their entire rookie class under contract. I think Maclin will make a major impact in '09. With superior skill position players all around him & a brilliant offensive head coach, Maclin can inserted in certain offensive packages to get the most from an inexperienced receiver. Last season Andy Reid worked DeSean Jackson in gradually as a rookie & he finished the season as the Eagles' leading receiver. Maclin's return abilities will be used too, but Quinten Demps & DeSean Jackson handled the returns pretty well, both scoring a TD, but Maclin adds another dimension with speed the other two can't duplicate.
I always knew the late Jim Johnson's defenses were a nightmare to scheme against, but after seeing some stats yesterday, I have even more respect for what Johnson did in Philadelphia. The very sharp guys at Footballoutsiders.com put together a league-wide 10-year average for the most important defensive stats. The Eagles defense ranked 2nd in 3rd down efficiency, 2nd in red zone TD percentage, 2nd in sacks, 4th in points allowed & 4th in their opponents' QB ratings. Couple these impressive stats with the fact Johnson had only 2 players in that decade that made the Pro Bowl more than 2 consecutive years, DE Hugh Douglas & S Brian Dawkins. When contacted about their article, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh, St Louis head coach Steve Spagnoula, Washington def. coordinator Greg Blache & Andy Reid were asked what one word described Johnson's philosophy. To a man the one word was 'pressure'. Blache made what I believe was the most astute comment, "a lot of defenses blitz, but every time you lined up against the Eagles, you had absolutely no idea where the blitzers were going to come from. You always hear quarterbacks say they love getting blitzed because it opens up the secondary with man-for-man coverage, but I never heard a QB say that after an Eagle game, that says it all about Jim Johnson's defenses". Indeed it does.
In what may become an epidemic before a cure is found, the Twitter craze continues to cause problems around the league. Charger cornerback Antonio Cromartie was fined $2,500 today for Tweeting his displeasure with the food in Charger training camp. His description of the menu & the food service was slightly obscene & ultimately in direct disregard of head coach Norv Turner's "no Tweeting policy" while in camp. Now players from other teams are Tweeting their support for Cromartie. The undisputed 'King of Twitter' in the NFL, Chad Ochocinco, once again showed just how ridiculous he is when he Tweeted "Pray for my dude Plaxico Burress, indicted on all counts after injuring only himself, huh, grand jury my a$$!" Yeah, there's certainly no reason for a guy having to take personal responsibility for carrying a loaded handgun in a public place when anyone with an I.Q. above 20 knows it's against the law & a really bad idea. A Charger teammate of Cromartie's said it best "Tweeting was invented for 7th grade girls. Apparently we have a bunch of 7th grade girls in this league". The league office is reportedly burning the midnight oil coming up with a concise Twitter policy.
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