THIS & THAT..........EARLY FRIDAY EDITION
Lions safety Daniel Bullocks was placed on injured reserve Thursday after a knee injury sustained early in camp failed to respond & will need surgery. Bullocks started 15 games last season & recorded 121 tackles. Drew Brees will be missing his left offensive tackle, Jamaal Brown, who might have a sports hernia. The Saints will know tomorrow. His backup, Zach Strief, is also sidelined with a knee sprain. Reggie Bush is hobbled once again with a 'leg injury' & isn't expected to play Saturday versus Houston. I won't pretend to understand what it takes to play in pain at this level, but honestly, there are guys in the NFL who can't tell the difference between pain & injury. I'm beginning to believe Bush is one of those guys. With all of these vital offensive players sitting down Saturday evening, I don't see Sean Payton leaving Brees in there too long.
The ugliness in Denver between pouting WR Brandon Albert & the Broncos continues. Thursday Josh McDaniel demoted Marshall to the scout team. This is basically "last string". Marshall admitted to some Denver media "I haven't learned one-quarter of the playbook". Yeah that will endear you to an offensive head coach. I think Denver ownership & coaching staff are standing firm, Marshall is going to lose this battle of wills.
The Houston Texans & New Orleans have practiced against each other the past two days before they play an exhibition game Saturday night. The Thursday afternoon practice had to be halted several times because of a few scuffles & two large brawls. One involved Texan linebacker DeMeco Ryans & Saint TE Jeremy Shockey. I saw a video of the fight on WWLTV Channel-4's website. Ryans shoved Shockey after a pass fell incomplete, Shockey took a swing at Ryans & it was on. Ryans slammed Shockey to the turf & a few teammates joined in taking a few swings at Shockey. Watching the time code on the video, it was nearly 25 seconds before any of Shockey's Saint teammates came to his aid. I know he has never been a locker room favorite, but usually teammates will jump in just because it's an attack on their team. Saint linebacker Cato June suffered a broken arm during the practice, but not a result of any fighting. He is expected to be out 3-4 weeks.
Word out of Buffalo last night was #1 pick, Aaron Maybin has finally reached an agreement to sign with the Bills. This leaves only tackle Andre 'I need a manzier' Smith & Michael 'the Diva' Crabtree unsigned from April's draft.
The Raider 'punchgate' story may just bust wide open very soon. Assistant coach, Randy Hanson, he of the broken jaw, has hired an attorney & it has been reported they have given Napa Police the x-rays taken in the emergency room. Hanson is rumored to be an on-staff rat, a direct pipeline to Al Davis. He wasn't hired by head coach Tom Cable. Various reports say not only did Cable sucker punch Hanson, but after he fell into a cabinet & onto the floor, Cable started choking him, yelling "I ought to kill you". When a head coach has no say so over the hiring of his staff, there can be factions within the staff that can cause a lot of friction. ESPN's Mark Schlereth, a college teammate of Cable, denied everything on a telecast of "NFL Live" Wednesday. He's going to look less than credible if this thing blows up in Cable's face. If the police become involved, the NFL will too & somebody is going to find their ass in a sling.
What's going on here, more USC bad karma? Armond Armstead, a starting defensive end, suffered a broken foot & will be lost about 6 weeks. That means he will miss the trip to Ohio State as well as 2 conference games, albeit games versus Washington & Washington State. He hopes to return for the October matchup at Cal. The 3-way battle for the starting quarterback spot continues as Aaron Corp returned to the fray after recovering from a small broken bone in his leg. Surprising freshman Matt Barkley is having a better camp than '08 backup, Mitch Mustain. The Trojans open their season Saturday, September 5th against San Jose State. That's only 15 days to name a starting QB when no one has emerged as the leader so far.
Oregon won't have starting WR Rory Cavaille for their opener at Boise State. Duck's coach Chip Kelly said Cavaille injured his shoulder & he could be out for an extended period, even as much as the entire season.
Former "Real name of the day" winner, Qua Huzzie, sustained a severe shoulder injury & will be lost for the season. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks was counting on the freshman linebacker as a starter. The type of shoulder injury wasn't released by the school.
Missouri coach, Gary Pinkel, was less than enthusiastic following the Tigers scrimmage on Thursday. Pinkel said "we were just plain sloppy, too many penalties, too many sacks". With right offensive tackle Dan Hoch sidelined with a knee sprain, all Big-12 guard Kurtis Gregory was moved outside in Hoch's spot. He didn't fare well & neither did his replacement at right guard, J.T. Beasley. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert was flushed from the pocket too often to suit Pinkel, "we should be further along than we are right now". The Tiger have one more scrimmage scheduled for next Thursday before they open the season September 5th versus Illinois. A few Tigers had a good scrimmage. Senior defenders Sean Weatherspoon(a very high 1st round draft pick next April) & Jaron Baston(NFL in his future too) got the defense rolling early. Aldon Smith, the freshman from Raytown, looked great again with a sack & 2 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The Mizzou defensive end rotation could be very good. The lone bright spot on the offensive side of the ball was WR Jerrell Jackson who snagged 6 passes for 60 yards. Senior Jared Perry was demoted earlier this week because of Jackson's superior play. All three QBs threw a TD pas, but Gabbert & Costello once again threw interceptions.
Todays real name of the day; Ja'Baris Little, tight end, Florida State.
I'll have a preview of the Chiefs-Vikings game later today, so check back.
The ugliness in Denver between pouting WR Brandon Albert & the Broncos continues. Thursday Josh McDaniel demoted Marshall to the scout team. This is basically "last string". Marshall admitted to some Denver media "I haven't learned one-quarter of the playbook". Yeah that will endear you to an offensive head coach. I think Denver ownership & coaching staff are standing firm, Marshall is going to lose this battle of wills.
The Houston Texans & New Orleans have practiced against each other the past two days before they play an exhibition game Saturday night. The Thursday afternoon practice had to be halted several times because of a few scuffles & two large brawls. One involved Texan linebacker DeMeco Ryans & Saint TE Jeremy Shockey. I saw a video of the fight on WWLTV Channel-4's website. Ryans shoved Shockey after a pass fell incomplete, Shockey took a swing at Ryans & it was on. Ryans slammed Shockey to the turf & a few teammates joined in taking a few swings at Shockey. Watching the time code on the video, it was nearly 25 seconds before any of Shockey's Saint teammates came to his aid. I know he has never been a locker room favorite, but usually teammates will jump in just because it's an attack on their team. Saint linebacker Cato June suffered a broken arm during the practice, but not a result of any fighting. He is expected to be out 3-4 weeks.
Word out of Buffalo last night was #1 pick, Aaron Maybin has finally reached an agreement to sign with the Bills. This leaves only tackle Andre 'I need a manzier' Smith & Michael 'the Diva' Crabtree unsigned from April's draft.
The Raider 'punchgate' story may just bust wide open very soon. Assistant coach, Randy Hanson, he of the broken jaw, has hired an attorney & it has been reported they have given Napa Police the x-rays taken in the emergency room. Hanson is rumored to be an on-staff rat, a direct pipeline to Al Davis. He wasn't hired by head coach Tom Cable. Various reports say not only did Cable sucker punch Hanson, but after he fell into a cabinet & onto the floor, Cable started choking him, yelling "I ought to kill you". When a head coach has no say so over the hiring of his staff, there can be factions within the staff that can cause a lot of friction. ESPN's Mark Schlereth, a college teammate of Cable, denied everything on a telecast of "NFL Live" Wednesday. He's going to look less than credible if this thing blows up in Cable's face. If the police become involved, the NFL will too & somebody is going to find their ass in a sling.
What's going on here, more USC bad karma? Armond Armstead, a starting defensive end, suffered a broken foot & will be lost about 6 weeks. That means he will miss the trip to Ohio State as well as 2 conference games, albeit games versus Washington & Washington State. He hopes to return for the October matchup at Cal. The 3-way battle for the starting quarterback spot continues as Aaron Corp returned to the fray after recovering from a small broken bone in his leg. Surprising freshman Matt Barkley is having a better camp than '08 backup, Mitch Mustain. The Trojans open their season Saturday, September 5th against San Jose State. That's only 15 days to name a starting QB when no one has emerged as the leader so far.
Oregon won't have starting WR Rory Cavaille for their opener at Boise State. Duck's coach Chip Kelly said Cavaille injured his shoulder & he could be out for an extended period, even as much as the entire season.
Former "Real name of the day" winner, Qua Huzzie, sustained a severe shoulder injury & will be lost for the season. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks was counting on the freshman linebacker as a starter. The type of shoulder injury wasn't released by the school.
Missouri coach, Gary Pinkel, was less than enthusiastic following the Tigers scrimmage on Thursday. Pinkel said "we were just plain sloppy, too many penalties, too many sacks". With right offensive tackle Dan Hoch sidelined with a knee sprain, all Big-12 guard Kurtis Gregory was moved outside in Hoch's spot. He didn't fare well & neither did his replacement at right guard, J.T. Beasley. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert was flushed from the pocket too often to suit Pinkel, "we should be further along than we are right now". The Tiger have one more scrimmage scheduled for next Thursday before they open the season September 5th versus Illinois. A few Tigers had a good scrimmage. Senior defenders Sean Weatherspoon(a very high 1st round draft pick next April) & Jaron Baston(NFL in his future too) got the defense rolling early. Aldon Smith, the freshman from Raytown, looked great again with a sack & 2 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The Mizzou defensive end rotation could be very good. The lone bright spot on the offensive side of the ball was WR Jerrell Jackson who snagged 6 passes for 60 yards. Senior Jared Perry was demoted earlier this week because of Jackson's superior play. All three QBs threw a TD pas, but Gabbert & Costello once again threw interceptions.
Todays real name of the day; Ja'Baris Little, tight end, Florida State.
I'll have a preview of the Chiefs-Vikings game later today, so check back.
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