THIS AND THAT..........FRIDAY
On the injury front, I'm glad to report Cincinnati tight end, Ben Utecht, who lay motionless on the practice field after sustaining a concussion, was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon, where he had been admitted for observation. Utecht sustained no spinal cord damage, but a timetable for his return to Bengal training camp hasn't been decided upon by doctors. Ex-Missouri Tiger & 2nd round draft pick, William Moore, will be lost to the Atlanta Falcons for 1-4 weeks after what was only described as "a procedure to his knee" was performed. That's bad news for Moore to miss so much of training camp. Chiefs safety DeJuan Morgan continues to miss practice because of an unknown injury. I thought this guy was on thin ice heading into camp, especially after Mike Brown was signed. Morgan didn't impress anyone during his rookie campaign last season & continuing to miss practice will do nothing to insure his roster spot.
It has been reported from several sources the Chiefs #1 pick, LSU defensive end, Tyson Jackson, is close to signing or according to one source, has signed. Either way, he needs to be in camp ASAP. Third round pick Alex Magee continues to impress with both effort & results. He may just push Glenn Dorsey onto the bench come opening day.
Speaking of being 'unsigned', Michael Crabtree, San Francisco's #1 pick & the 10th overall, remains on the sidelines & now his agent Eugene Parker & his cousin are telling media members Crabtree is prepared to sit out the entire season. He would then re-enter the draft in 2010. Bull......I know Crabtree is somewhat of a prima dona, maybe even a diva, but even he won't go to this extreme. He may threaten, he may huff & puff, but in the end he will sign sometime this year. The reason for the holdout is obviously money, he wants top-5 money since he believes he should have been drafted there & certainly ahead of Raiders #1 pick, Darius Heyward-Bey, who was the 7th overall selection. Oakland overpaid & now the repercussions are being felt right down the line. Players selected 6th(Andre Smith), 8th(Eugene Monroe), 9th(B.J. Raji), 10th(Crabtree) & 11th(Aaron Maybin) are all unsigned. Thank you Al Davis & company. Niner coach Mike Singletary, himself a Hall of Fame player who held out of training camp twice in his career, hasn't said much for obvious reasons & the Frisco front office is nearly mute regarding Crabtree. This may be a prolonged holdout, but he'll sign in the end. I would imagine he's been using this added downtime to continue resting his surgically repaired foot. Just about the time he feels 100%, his contract will magically get done.
As expected, the New England Patriots have acquired Derrick Burgess from Oakland for 'conditional draft choices, which are being reported as a #3 & #5 in 2011. The Raiders attempted to move Burgess in the off-season but when he failed to show up for training camp, the need to trade him became a little more urgent. Burgess will move from defensive end to outside linebacker with New England, he made 2 Pro Bowls & led the league in sacks during the 2005 season with 16. He should be an excellent fit on the Patriots.
New Tampa Bay head coach, Raheem Morris, has begun complaining in the media about tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. He said yesterday "he's too up & down emotionally". Really? You never saw that kind of behavior while Winslow was in Cleveland or even as far back as his days at U. of Miami? Nobody on your staff or in the Buccaneer front office brought up just how explosive Winslow can be? His mammoth mood swings weren't considered before giving him a new contract with $20 million in guaranteed money? Right before you gave up a 2nd round draft choice for the privilege of watching the emotional roller coaster ride that has always been Kellen Winslow Jr., no one in this organization had any reservations? Now, after not being able to regulate Winslow's attitude in private, you want to call him out in the media? Gotta say I called this way back when this trade occurred, he's always shown some instability in his attitude & actions. Good luck Raheem, there's a reason people say "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it".
In my 20 years in Las Vegas, sports books put up more & more exotic future bets every year. Here's one I'd like to see the odds on: would you take Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford & Colt McCoy to win the Heisman Trophy or would you take the field? The field being everyone else in college football. Have to believe you could get a pretty stout number on the field.
All original content on this site written by Rich Stewart unless specified otherwise. You can access every piece I've written by using the archives. Comments, questions or criticisms? Email me at rich@richsfootballreport.com
It has been reported from several sources the Chiefs #1 pick, LSU defensive end, Tyson Jackson, is close to signing or according to one source, has signed. Either way, he needs to be in camp ASAP. Third round pick Alex Magee continues to impress with both effort & results. He may just push Glenn Dorsey onto the bench come opening day.
Speaking of being 'unsigned', Michael Crabtree, San Francisco's #1 pick & the 10th overall, remains on the sidelines & now his agent Eugene Parker & his cousin are telling media members Crabtree is prepared to sit out the entire season. He would then re-enter the draft in 2010. Bull......I know Crabtree is somewhat of a prima dona, maybe even a diva, but even he won't go to this extreme. He may threaten, he may huff & puff, but in the end he will sign sometime this year. The reason for the holdout is obviously money, he wants top-5 money since he believes he should have been drafted there & certainly ahead of Raiders #1 pick, Darius Heyward-Bey, who was the 7th overall selection. Oakland overpaid & now the repercussions are being felt right down the line. Players selected 6th(Andre Smith), 8th(Eugene Monroe), 9th(B.J. Raji), 10th(Crabtree) & 11th(Aaron Maybin) are all unsigned. Thank you Al Davis & company. Niner coach Mike Singletary, himself a Hall of Fame player who held out of training camp twice in his career, hasn't said much for obvious reasons & the Frisco front office is nearly mute regarding Crabtree. This may be a prolonged holdout, but he'll sign in the end. I would imagine he's been using this added downtime to continue resting his surgically repaired foot. Just about the time he feels 100%, his contract will magically get done.
As expected, the New England Patriots have acquired Derrick Burgess from Oakland for 'conditional draft choices, which are being reported as a #3 & #5 in 2011. The Raiders attempted to move Burgess in the off-season but when he failed to show up for training camp, the need to trade him became a little more urgent. Burgess will move from defensive end to outside linebacker with New England, he made 2 Pro Bowls & led the league in sacks during the 2005 season with 16. He should be an excellent fit on the Patriots.
New Tampa Bay head coach, Raheem Morris, has begun complaining in the media about tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. He said yesterday "he's too up & down emotionally". Really? You never saw that kind of behavior while Winslow was in Cleveland or even as far back as his days at U. of Miami? Nobody on your staff or in the Buccaneer front office brought up just how explosive Winslow can be? His mammoth mood swings weren't considered before giving him a new contract with $20 million in guaranteed money? Right before you gave up a 2nd round draft choice for the privilege of watching the emotional roller coaster ride that has always been Kellen Winslow Jr., no one in this organization had any reservations? Now, after not being able to regulate Winslow's attitude in private, you want to call him out in the media? Gotta say I called this way back when this trade occurred, he's always shown some instability in his attitude & actions. Good luck Raheem, there's a reason people say "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it".
In my 20 years in Las Vegas, sports books put up more & more exotic future bets every year. Here's one I'd like to see the odds on: would you take Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford & Colt McCoy to win the Heisman Trophy or would you take the field? The field being everyone else in college football. Have to believe you could get a pretty stout number on the field.
All original content on this site written by Rich Stewart unless specified otherwise. You can access every piece I've written by using the archives. Comments, questions or criticisms? Email me at rich@richsfootballreport.com
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