July 19th, 2014 at 1:10pm CST by Matt Feminis
- Texans No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney’s status for the beginning of training camp is still up the air, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle. Clowney, who is recovering from June sports hernia surgery, remains day-to-day with no timetable established for his return.
- The Ravens placed backup nose tackle Terrence Cody on the physically unable to perform list for the beginning of training camp, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Cody, who is recovering from hip surgery, can be be activated whenever he’s healthy enough to resume practicing.
- In minor transaction news, the Bills signed receiver Tori Gurley and cornerback Kamaal McIlwain to fill empty roster spots, according to BuffaloBills.com insider Chris Brown.
- Bills left tackle Cordy Glenn is on the Active/Non-Football Illness list, but GM Doug Whaley doesn’t think Glenn will be lost long-term, according to WGR 550’s Joe Buscaglia. Said Whaley: “We don’t think so at this time. It’s just gonna have to see on how he progresses. We hope not. We’re still waiting on some reports on him, but it looks like it’s gonna be one of those day-to-day things and we’ll see how it progresses.”
- In the meantime, highly publicized rookie Seantrel Henderson will man left tackle in Glenn’s stead.
- Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union takes an in-depth look at the Jaguars’ new-look offensive line, including quotes from offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch praising the athleticism of Luke Joeckel and the leadership of Zane Beadles. “He’s certainly as advertised and then some,” Fisch says of Beadles.
- Falcons fourth-round outside linebacker Prince Shembo has a realistic chance of earning starts, writes Orlando Ledbetter in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ledbetter says the team will “force-feed” information to Shembo, whom head coach Mike Smith is “very excited” about. “He’s picked up the system very well,” said Smith. “He doesn’t have any experience, but we will get him a lot, I can assure you that in the preseason.”
- James Harrison, Jermichael Finley and Santonio Holmes headline AP writer Dennis Waszak Jr.’s list of 13 notable, veteran free agents still looking for work with training camps getting underway.
- The Patriots issued a press release saying Bill Belichick and Aaron Hernandez exchanged 34 total text messages, not 33 pages worth. According to Boston Globe correspondent Dan Adams, filings released Monday did not reveal the contents of the text messages or what Patriots employees shared with authorities, but did reveal that Belichick, Robert Kraft were interviewed by investigators, who also searched the locker of a player.
- The NFL is moving swiftly to address the issue of underqualified underclassmen flooding the draft, reports NFL.com’s Albert Breer. In an effort to deter potentially undraftable players from declaring, the league’s advisory committee will streamline (simplify) its evaluation grades to include first round, second round or neither. Additionally, colleges will be restricted to five evaluation requests unless an abundance of talent dictates the need for more (e.g. Alabama, LSU, Florida State, etc.). Writes Beer: “At the heart of the changes are staggering statistics stemming from the 2014 draft class — of the record 107 who declared, 45 went undrafted. A majority of those 45 remain unsigned by NFL teams as undrafted free agents.”
