KEY INJURIES, PHILLY QB QUESTIONS & A NEW LOW IN BUFFALO
New England lost their best defender, inside linebacker, Jarod Mayo, Monday night with a sprained MCL. It is believed to be a Grade III sprain, which means he will be out for 6-8 weeks & for now, the word is no surgery. This is 7 defensive starters from 2007 the Patriots have lost to injury, free agency, trade or retirement. That's a bunch, regardless of how many guys you have on your roster to "plug in" or how great the coaching staff is.
The Eagles were also dealt quite a blow when they had to place starting right tackle Stacey Andrews on injured reserve with re-occurring back problems. The Eagle offensive line was to start Andrews, his brother Shawn at right guard & Stacey's college roommate, Jason Peters. Pretty cozy. Now Winston Justice, infamous for surrendering 6 sacks to Osi Umenyiora in one game, will become the starter on the right side.
Buffalo will lose starting middle linebacker, Paul Posluszny, to another broken arm. This is the same arm he broke last season that required him to undergo surgery & be lost to injured reserve. This time the break isn't as severe, but it still required surgery & he'll be out for about 6 weeks. Losing their signal caller is a major loss for a young defense trying to establish it's identity.
Green Bay saftey Atari Bigby, will be out for 4-6 weeks with an MCL sprain. No surgery, just rest & rehab.
Seattle will lose staring outside linebacker Leroy Hill for an undetermined period of time. Hill sustained a severely pulled or torn groin muscle in Sunday's game with the Rams. Hill might need surgery to reconnect several tendons back to the bone. Coach Jim Mora acknowledged today Hill would be out until the middle of November at the minimum.
I told you that Minnesota coach Brad Childress had gone "all in" with the Brett Favre circus & now he's hurt himself further amongst his players. Before the final cut down, he asked wide receiver Bobby Wade to take a pay cut. If Wade accepted that pay cut, he would be retained, if not, he would be waived most likely. Wade accepted the cut in pay & 9 days later he was waived. Peter King of SI.com & NBC Sports reported today that he had spoke to several head coaches & to a man, they thought this was a horrible move by Childress. One told King "by doing this you're killing yourself in your locker room". It appears Childress has used up all his equity with many of his players. Wade was signed by Kansas City on Monday.
Jay Leno had a great line about Charger linebacker Shawne Merriman's alleged choking of MTV reality star, Tila Tequila. San Diego police won't pursue criminal charges in the incident. Leno joked "even the cops know the Chargers always wait for the playoffs before they start choking".
An off-handed comment Brett Favre gave to Peter King a few weeks ago has now cost the Jets organization, Eric Mangini & New York GM Mike Tannenbaum a cool $125,000. Favre told King he played the last 6 weeks of the '08 season with the torn biceps muscle he had surgically repaired last spring. Problem is the Jets never listed Favre on the NFL mandated injury list. Favre told King everybody in the front office & then coach Eric Mangini knew of the injury. O.K. boys, pay up.
Oakland rookie wide receiver & overall 7th pick in April's draft, Darius Heyward-Bey had a rather unspectacular debut Monday night vs. the Chargers. He had no receptions & 2 drops. Coach Tom Cable wasn't sugarcoating DHB's performance in yesterday's press conference, "I thought I saw a real nervous, uptight young man. A lot of big eyes, he has to learn how to handle this". My question is, when did he ever handle this? He ran shoddy routes in college, he dropped a lot of passes in college & he couldn't even make the ACC all-conference team. The Raiders drafted a kid who couldn't make his all-conference team 7th overall? If you'll look in the archives, I've never been a fan of DHB, saw all the things the Raiders decided to overlook, because of 1 thing, speed, the guy is really fast. In a straight line anyway. Louis Murphy, a 4th round pick, is playing circles around DHB, he outplayed him in the preseason & Monday night he had 4 catches for 87 yards & a touchdown.
While I'm on the subject of troubled wide receivers, I went to my wife's company picnic yesterday(the food was wonderful) & a question I was asked a lot was "what's the story about Michael Crabtree"? The very confused 10th pick in the first round, remains the only unsigned player from April's draft. Crabtree got his feelings hurt when he wasn't the 1st receiver taken, the Raiders blundered into the DHB pick at #7 & he wants to be paid like the 1st receiver taken. Sorry Michael, it doesn't work that way, the NFL has "slotted salary & bonus amounts" that are fixed. The only position that carries a "pay 'em what you want to pay 'em" clause is quarterback. Crabtree was somewhat of a diva during the scouting process, more than a few clubs were totally turned off with the entourage & his manor. It's the crew he rolls with that is apparently giving him bad advice. His cousin & his uncle have spoken for Michael on numerous occasions, more than Crabtree or his agent, Eugene Parker. The 49ers have offered to have a one-on-one sit down with co-owner Jed York, Parker & Crabtree. But the Niners are going to continue to reduce their offer as the schedule clips along, Why pay for games that have already been played? His cousin said he is prepared to sit out the entire season & re-enter the 2010 draft. The NFL's drop-dead date for unsigned players being ineligible to play this season is November 10th. Let me get this straight. Crabtree is willing to lose a year's worth of pay, plus the interest on hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt he has rung up with his agent, re-enter the 2010 draft & be what, the 5th or 6th receiver taken & make 10 million less in guaranteed money? Is that the plan you & your 'advisers' have come up with? To say nothing of the potential endorsement dollars you've flushed down the drain & the ill will you have created with other NFL players for believing you're more special than anyone else in the league. Is that about it Michael? Is there anyone out there who thinks Crabtree & Co. have devised a superior business plan? Another negative aspect is even if he signs immediately after the draft & we've seen nothing to believe that would ever happen, it will be almost 20 months since he played in a live football game. For a 3rd-year sophomore like Crabtree, this is very bad, he needs coaching & he needs reps. Unbelievably bad decision, he may never recover from it, financially or in his development as a player.
So yesterday, the Eagles activated Michael Vick so that he may practice, he's unable to play until week 3. They also signed veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia, an old Philly hand & now their roster has QB questions aplenty. Starter Donovan McNabb is currently sidelined with a fractured rib. It is doubtful he will be able to play Sunday vs. the Saints. Kevin Kolb has been the backup, but as I told you during the preseason, Kolb is still very erratic & prone to panic. Garcia doesn't get rattled, but he is 39 years old. Garcia was with the Raiders, but Al Davis didn't want him around to threaten JaMarcus Russell's playing time. And then there's Vick, so 4 QB's & except in coach Andy Reid's head, nobody really knows what is going to happen. Here's my take on the situation, McNabb might miss 2 games, New Orleans & Kansas City, both home games. Then week 4 is the Eagles' bye week. After that, expect McNabb to be back in the starting lineup. Expect Kolb to start both games, but if he gets into trouble, I doubt Reid would be the least bit hesitant to play Garcia. Michael Vick has very little future as a backup QB for Philadelphia. He will get his 6-10 snaps a game in the Wildcat formation or in gadget plays, he been away too long for a playoff caliber team to put him in as a backup quarterback. At least that's how I see it.
Finally, for a new low in fan behavior, we go to Buffalo, New York, where some fan(s) painted the final score of Monday's heartbreaking loss to New England & some obscenities on the lawn of Bills' return man, Leodis McKelvin. Booing a guy is one thing, but going to his home is truly crossing the line in my opinion & I hope the culprit(s) is caught & charged. McKelvin apologized for his fumble that led to the Patriot's winning touchdown. McKelvin is one of the league's very best return men, plus he's a damn good cornerback. What kind of person feels this was a good thing to do? I remember way back in the 70's, when, after a very tough loss, Green Bay Packer coach, Dan Devine, returned home to find his dog hung from a tree in his front yard. For God's sake, if you know of, or ever hear of someone doing something so inappropriate at a player or coaches home, please report it to authorities. If they'll do it over a football game, they'll do it for just about anything, which makes a person like this dangerous.
Today's real name of the day; Churphy Steward, defensive tackle, Breaux Bridge High School, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
The Eagles were also dealt quite a blow when they had to place starting right tackle Stacey Andrews on injured reserve with re-occurring back problems. The Eagle offensive line was to start Andrews, his brother Shawn at right guard & Stacey's college roommate, Jason Peters. Pretty cozy. Now Winston Justice, infamous for surrendering 6 sacks to Osi Umenyiora in one game, will become the starter on the right side.
Buffalo will lose starting middle linebacker, Paul Posluszny, to another broken arm. This is the same arm he broke last season that required him to undergo surgery & be lost to injured reserve. This time the break isn't as severe, but it still required surgery & he'll be out for about 6 weeks. Losing their signal caller is a major loss for a young defense trying to establish it's identity.
Green Bay saftey Atari Bigby, will be out for 4-6 weeks with an MCL sprain. No surgery, just rest & rehab.
Seattle will lose staring outside linebacker Leroy Hill for an undetermined period of time. Hill sustained a severely pulled or torn groin muscle in Sunday's game with the Rams. Hill might need surgery to reconnect several tendons back to the bone. Coach Jim Mora acknowledged today Hill would be out until the middle of November at the minimum.
I told you that Minnesota coach Brad Childress had gone "all in" with the Brett Favre circus & now he's hurt himself further amongst his players. Before the final cut down, he asked wide receiver Bobby Wade to take a pay cut. If Wade accepted that pay cut, he would be retained, if not, he would be waived most likely. Wade accepted the cut in pay & 9 days later he was waived. Peter King of SI.com & NBC Sports reported today that he had spoke to several head coaches & to a man, they thought this was a horrible move by Childress. One told King "by doing this you're killing yourself in your locker room". It appears Childress has used up all his equity with many of his players. Wade was signed by Kansas City on Monday.
Jay Leno had a great line about Charger linebacker Shawne Merriman's alleged choking of MTV reality star, Tila Tequila. San Diego police won't pursue criminal charges in the incident. Leno joked "even the cops know the Chargers always wait for the playoffs before they start choking".
An off-handed comment Brett Favre gave to Peter King a few weeks ago has now cost the Jets organization, Eric Mangini & New York GM Mike Tannenbaum a cool $125,000. Favre told King he played the last 6 weeks of the '08 season with the torn biceps muscle he had surgically repaired last spring. Problem is the Jets never listed Favre on the NFL mandated injury list. Favre told King everybody in the front office & then coach Eric Mangini knew of the injury. O.K. boys, pay up.
Oakland rookie wide receiver & overall 7th pick in April's draft, Darius Heyward-Bey had a rather unspectacular debut Monday night vs. the Chargers. He had no receptions & 2 drops. Coach Tom Cable wasn't sugarcoating DHB's performance in yesterday's press conference, "I thought I saw a real nervous, uptight young man. A lot of big eyes, he has to learn how to handle this". My question is, when did he ever handle this? He ran shoddy routes in college, he dropped a lot of passes in college & he couldn't even make the ACC all-conference team. The Raiders drafted a kid who couldn't make his all-conference team 7th overall? If you'll look in the archives, I've never been a fan of DHB, saw all the things the Raiders decided to overlook, because of 1 thing, speed, the guy is really fast. In a straight line anyway. Louis Murphy, a 4th round pick, is playing circles around DHB, he outplayed him in the preseason & Monday night he had 4 catches for 87 yards & a touchdown.
While I'm on the subject of troubled wide receivers, I went to my wife's company picnic yesterday(the food was wonderful) & a question I was asked a lot was "what's the story about Michael Crabtree"? The very confused 10th pick in the first round, remains the only unsigned player from April's draft. Crabtree got his feelings hurt when he wasn't the 1st receiver taken, the Raiders blundered into the DHB pick at #7 & he wants to be paid like the 1st receiver taken. Sorry Michael, it doesn't work that way, the NFL has "slotted salary & bonus amounts" that are fixed. The only position that carries a "pay 'em what you want to pay 'em" clause is quarterback. Crabtree was somewhat of a diva during the scouting process, more than a few clubs were totally turned off with the entourage & his manor. It's the crew he rolls with that is apparently giving him bad advice. His cousin & his uncle have spoken for Michael on numerous occasions, more than Crabtree or his agent, Eugene Parker. The 49ers have offered to have a one-on-one sit down with co-owner Jed York, Parker & Crabtree. But the Niners are going to continue to reduce their offer as the schedule clips along, Why pay for games that have already been played? His cousin said he is prepared to sit out the entire season & re-enter the 2010 draft. The NFL's drop-dead date for unsigned players being ineligible to play this season is November 10th. Let me get this straight. Crabtree is willing to lose a year's worth of pay, plus the interest on hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt he has rung up with his agent, re-enter the 2010 draft & be what, the 5th or 6th receiver taken & make 10 million less in guaranteed money? Is that the plan you & your 'advisers' have come up with? To say nothing of the potential endorsement dollars you've flushed down the drain & the ill will you have created with other NFL players for believing you're more special than anyone else in the league. Is that about it Michael? Is there anyone out there who thinks Crabtree & Co. have devised a superior business plan? Another negative aspect is even if he signs immediately after the draft & we've seen nothing to believe that would ever happen, it will be almost 20 months since he played in a live football game. For a 3rd-year sophomore like Crabtree, this is very bad, he needs coaching & he needs reps. Unbelievably bad decision, he may never recover from it, financially or in his development as a player.
So yesterday, the Eagles activated Michael Vick so that he may practice, he's unable to play until week 3. They also signed veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia, an old Philly hand & now their roster has QB questions aplenty. Starter Donovan McNabb is currently sidelined with a fractured rib. It is doubtful he will be able to play Sunday vs. the Saints. Kevin Kolb has been the backup, but as I told you during the preseason, Kolb is still very erratic & prone to panic. Garcia doesn't get rattled, but he is 39 years old. Garcia was with the Raiders, but Al Davis didn't want him around to threaten JaMarcus Russell's playing time. And then there's Vick, so 4 QB's & except in coach Andy Reid's head, nobody really knows what is going to happen. Here's my take on the situation, McNabb might miss 2 games, New Orleans & Kansas City, both home games. Then week 4 is the Eagles' bye week. After that, expect McNabb to be back in the starting lineup. Expect Kolb to start both games, but if he gets into trouble, I doubt Reid would be the least bit hesitant to play Garcia. Michael Vick has very little future as a backup QB for Philadelphia. He will get his 6-10 snaps a game in the Wildcat formation or in gadget plays, he been away too long for a playoff caliber team to put him in as a backup quarterback. At least that's how I see it.
Finally, for a new low in fan behavior, we go to Buffalo, New York, where some fan(s) painted the final score of Monday's heartbreaking loss to New England & some obscenities on the lawn of Bills' return man, Leodis McKelvin. Booing a guy is one thing, but going to his home is truly crossing the line in my opinion & I hope the culprit(s) is caught & charged. McKelvin apologized for his fumble that led to the Patriot's winning touchdown. McKelvin is one of the league's very best return men, plus he's a damn good cornerback. What kind of person feels this was a good thing to do? I remember way back in the 70's, when, after a very tough loss, Green Bay Packer coach, Dan Devine, returned home to find his dog hung from a tree in his front yard. For God's sake, if you know of, or ever hear of someone doing something so inappropriate at a player or coaches home, please report it to authorities. If they'll do it over a football game, they'll do it for just about anything, which makes a person like this dangerous.
Today's real name of the day; Churphy Steward, defensive tackle, Breaux Bridge High School, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
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