Khairi Fortt was placed on the Saints’ IR even though his hamstring has been fine for weeks, writes Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. Amidst reports that Fortt was cut loose for missing team meetings, the Bengals linebacker won’t get into why he was dropped by the Saints. “They just went a different route and [Bengals] coach [Marvin] Lewis, he gave me another opportunity, and I’m grateful for it,” Fortt said. “I know coaches know that I have the ability, it’s just all about getting the playbook down now. And then from there, I’ll just move forward in trying to be a great linebacker.”
- There’s a good chance that you learned Branden Oliver‘s name just days ago, but the Chargers have been excited by the running back for some time now, GM Tom Telesco told NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah (audio link). “We probably missed on him because we probably should have just drafted him,” Telesco said. “We should have hit on him … Really, the first couple of OTA practices, he jumps off at you.” The former University of Buffalo star generated more yards from scrimmage than any Chargers running back since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2007 with his breakout performance against the Jets.
- Michael Vick has taken some flack for admitting he was ill-prepared on Sunday, but Jets coach Rex Ryan appreciates the honesty of his free agent pickup, writes Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “I wanted guys to take a stand and admit that, ‘You know what? I can do more,‘” Ryan said. “I think that’s what Mike is doing. He knows what’s going to be said about him, yet he chose to take that stand.“
- Former Jets coach Bill Parcells is decidedly less impressed with Vick, as Cimini tweets. “I certainly don’t think he’s answer to their problems,” Tuna told ESPN Radio in New York. “Mike was a pretty good player for a while, but if you look at his history, it has been just OK, certainly nothing spectacular.”