HEADLINES

Month: August 2014

Rookie Quarterback Roundup: Bortles, Bridgewater, Carr, Manziel

August 9th, 2014 at 8:02am CST by Matt Feminis

Jaguars No. 3 overall choice Blake Bortles had an encouraging pro debut against Tampa Bay last night, completing 7-of-11 pass attempts for 117 yards, “which included three drops and just one questionable decision, a check-down effort on 3rd-and-19 that was tipped and nearly picked off,” according to the Orlando Sentinel’s Paul Tenorio. Head coach Gus Bradley was quoted after the game, saying, “I thought [Bortles] did a nice job, showed some good poise. We felt like we could protect him. Just the poise factor, we wanted to see that in him, and he did a nice job.”

How did the other rookie QBs fare?

  • Vikings first-rounder Teddy Bridgewater’s first play was encouraging, as he bootlegged right and threw a 21-yard strike on the move. The gain was negated by penalty, but Bridgewater performed well enough against Oakland to generate excitement despite an uneven stat line (6-of-13, 49 yards, two sacks, fumble). Overall, Bridgewater generated excitement, but clearly has aspects of his game to work on before he challenges for the starting job. “He looked unsteady at times when challenged by unfamiliar defensive alignments,” according to Brian Murray of TwinCities.com.
  • Meanwhile, Derek Carr, chosen by the Raiders four picks after Bridgewater, went 10-of-16 for 76 yards an interception (which should have been caught by the intended receiver). Carr was victimized by a few drops and bailed out on a few throws behind his receiver, but overall received passing grades in his debut. In terms of improvement areas, ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez notes the rookie needs to work on his touch.
  • As Dallas Robinson mentioned last night, Patriots second-rounder Jimmy Garoppolo looked better in his first NFL game action than he had looked in practice, outshining veteran backup Ryan Mallett. The rookie from Eastern Illinois went 9-of-13 for 157 yards and a touchdown. Garoppolo “showed a poise and pocket presence that was impressive,” according to the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian. “The players in the huddle responded to him. And, unlike Mallett, who struggled at times dealing with a shaky offensive line, Garoppolo made plays when the going got tough during Thursday night’s 23-6 loss to the Redskins in the preseason opener.”
  • As for Browns 22nd overall pick Johnny Manziel, his debut in Detroit tonight ranks as one of the most anticipated preseason games in recent memory. “The Johnny Football Circus comes to Detroit” as Free Press columnist Drew Sharp puts it. The game is sold out and the Lions issued credentials for all 200 seats of the press box, reports Sharp’s colleague Dave Birkett.

AFC East Links: Smith, Decker, Garoppolo

August 8th, 2014 at 10:15pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s round up the latest batch of notes from the AFC East, specifically New York and New England:

  • The Jets’ quarterback situation hasn’t become a controversy as of yet, but as Dennis Waszak Jr. of the Associated Press writes, head coach Rex Ryan is certainly still coy about the competition between projected starter Geno Smith and veteran Michael Vick. “We’ll just let this thing play out,” said Ryan. “It’s our first preseason game. Obviously, we know we have two excellent quarterbacks.”
  • Eric Decker and Chris Johnson made their respective debuts with the Jets last night, and both were pleased with their performances, per Kimberely A. Martin of Newsday. “It was good,” Decker said of working with Smith. “It didn’t feel any different than practices. It’s just fun to go against a different opponent and work on the timing aspect, just getting into a rhythm.”
  • New Jets corner Dimitri Patterson‘s rough debut should give the team some pause, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes.
  • Perhaps in order to showcase him for a trade, the Patriots started Ryan Mallett in yesterday’s preseason game, but it was second-round rookie Jimmy Garoppolo who shined, according to CSNNE.com. Garoppolo played college ball at Eastern Illinois, so it was encouraging to see him succeed against NFL-caliber players (even if they were second- and third-stringers).
  • The Patriots used tablets to go over plays on the sidelines for the first time last night, and head coach Bill Belichick was mostly pleased with the results. “The tablets, you have the ability to hold all the [schematic] pictures in the one tablet so you can kind of scroll through them,” he told Phil Perry of CSNNE.com. “Certainly much more concise and I’d say the quality of the tablets is good, the clarity of the pictures is good.” Belichick did note that he worries about connectivity issues, saying that a backup plan would need to be in place.
  • In a separate piece, Perry passes along some interesting comments from Belichick as he argues that the preseason is the time to work on deciding when to challenge disputed plays.

Latest On Bills’ Sale

August 8th, 2014 at 9:48pm CST by Luke Adams

As Morgan Stanley, the investment firm tasked with heading the sale of the Bills franchise, continues to meet with bidders for the team, a few more details have surfaced regarding the latest developments in the process. Let’s dive in and round them up….

  • In an update, Graham notes that the Pritzker family, owner of Hyatt Hotels, could be a candidate to buy the Bills. The Bills trust met with the family as recently as this week, but it’s not known whether they signed a non-disclosure agreement.
  • Francesco Aquilini, chariman of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, expressed interest in purchasing the Bills, and even signed the required non-disclosure agreement in order to view the franchise’s financials. But, according to Graham, Aquilini and his family have removed themselves from consideration. “I’m always exploring potential business opportunities, and I’m passionate about sports. So this is something that interested me,” Aquilini said in a statement to the Buffalo News. “However, we are not planning to pursue the opportunity further.”

Earlier updates:

  • Another source confirms to Graham what he heard last week, that Terry Pegula‘s initial bid was far less than the $1.3 billion figure widely reported (Twitter link).
  • Former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach met with the franchise’s trust on Thursday, according to Tim Graham of the Buffalo News. The duo is interested in getting involved in the purchase of the team, but Gundlach may not have the money to take the lead on making a bid himself, per Graham. As such, he and Kelly may look to catch on with another suitor as minority partners.
  • In a separate report for the Buffalo News, Graham writes that Jon Bon Jovi‘s group isn’t the only Canadian-based suitor involved in the process. Sources tell Graham that the Aquilini family (owners of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks) and John Bitove (founder of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and president of Toronto’s 2008 Olympic bid) at least signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Bills, though it’s not clear if they submitted actual bids.
  • Food-and-beverage magnate Dean Metropoulos, who was the runner-up to Shad Khan for the Jaguars in 2011, also signed the team’s non-disclosure agreement, says Graham. The Buffalo News scribe additionally identified the Chicago-based Pritzker family as a possible suitor, though it’s not clear if they signed a non-disclosure agreement.
  • Bon Jovi’s Toronto group had still not been invited to participate in the final phase of the sale as of Thursday, according to John Kryk of the Toronto Sun, who says the group has once again been asked to clarify its non-relocation intentions.
  • As for reports that up to eight bidders are now involved in the sale process, one source tells Kryk, “I don’t know if it’s real. We’re in weirdo world at this point.” Another was blunt with his skepticism, telling Kryk, “It’s all crap.”

Minor Moves: Friday

August 8th, 2014 at 9:24pm CST by Luke Adams

You can find Friday’s minor transactions from around the NFL below, with the latest moves added to the top of the page throughout the afternoon and evening….

  • Per a couple of tweets from the Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder, the Colts have waived-injured linebacker Daniel Adongo and defensive end Jeris Pendelton. In addition, Indianapolis has signed guards Thomas Austin and Marcus Hall, and re-signed receiver Nu’Keese Richardson.

Earlier updates:

  • In a series of several tweets, Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun lists the players who have been waived from their teams’ respective injured reserve lists with injury settlements: offensive lineman Darius Morris (Cowboys), cornerback Brandon Burton (Colts), defensive tackle Jordan Miller (Jaguars), and wideout Danny Coale (Steelers).
  • According to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Colts have waived former Arena Football League offensive lineman Chad Anderson, who originally signed with the team last month.
  • Despite catching a touchdown in the Bengals‘ preseason opener, wide receiver Conner Vernon was one of three players cut by the team today, writes Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. Per Hobson, the team also waived wideout Jeremy Johnson and defensive tackle Zach Minter. The Bengals, who now have 86 players on the roster, may have interest in filling one of their open roster spots with a quarterback as Jason Campbell and A.J. McCarron work through some health issues, Hobson adds.
  • The Cardinals created a third opening on their 90-man roster today, cutting linebacker Trevardo Williams just a few days after claiming him off waivers. Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com has the details.
  • Wide receiver Kofi Hughes has been waived by the Texans, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
  • The Lions swapped one defender for another today, signing defensive back Nate Ness and parting ways with linebacker Cory Greenwood to open up the necessary roster spot, tweets Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.

NFC East Notes: Henery, Giants, Redskins

August 8th, 2014 at 7:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

We learned this afternoon that Giants offensive lineman Eric Herman has been suspended four games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Let’s take a look at some more notes from New York and the rest of NFC East.

Extra Points: Burnett, Long, Adams

August 8th, 2014 at 6:59pm CST by Matt Feminis

ESPN’s staff put together a list of each team’s starter whose job is in jeopardy. Among the most notable are 49ers running back Frank Gore, Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus and Packers safety Morgan Burnett. On Burnett, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky says, “When the Packers drafted Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in the first round, the thinking was that he would start alongside Burnett. Now, there’s a chance he could start instead of Burnett. Coach Mike McCarthy likes what Micah Hyde has done at free safety, and when Burnett strained his oblique muscle this week, he put Clinton-Dix in Burnett’s strong safety spot. The Packers made a major investment in Burnett last summer with an $8.25 million signing bonus as part of a four-year extension, but he followed it with an unproductive season.”

Here’s a few miscellaneous links from around the league:

  • Panthers veteran linebacker Chase Blackburn is on that list, as second-year man A.J. Klein is pushing for the starting job, but Blackburn is embracing his role as mentor, writes Scott Fowler in the Charlotte Observer.
  • With the Eagles in Chicago to play the Bears tonight, Zach Berman of Philadelphia Inquirer writes about the relationship between Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long and Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, who helped Long get his career back on track during their time together at Oregon.
  • The Steelers were hoping 2012 second-rounder Mike Adams would challenge for a starting tackle job, but that’s not happening, writes ESPN’s Scott Brown. Adams has been inconsistent, and “It would be charitable to put Adams among the Steelers’ best seven offensive linemen through the first 11 practices,” according to Brown. Adams started 10-of-15 games played last season, but struggled and “earned” a -4.9 overall rating from Pro Football Focus.
  • Cowboys rookie safety Ahmad Dixon’s ‘Welcome to the NFL’ hit left him with a concussion, reports Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram.
  • The Seahawks’ secondary has established itself as the “Legion of Boom.” The Buccaneers are trying to establish the offensive equivalent, with the trio of Vincent Jackson, first-rounder Mike Evans and second-rounder Austin Seferian-Jenkins going by the “Three Dunkateers,” writes USA Today’s Jim Corbett.

Lions Notes: Suh, Leshoure, Lawson

August 8th, 2014 at 6:00pm CST by Matt Feminis

Lions All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was identified by the league as one of 21 “at-risk” players who have “teetered on the boundaries of the league’s new way of doing on-field business,” reports NFL.com’s Albert Breer. As a result, NFL executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent is seeking out the 21 players to address the issue directly. “There’s been pushback, and some anger,” says Breer, but in Suh’s case, Vincent was encouraged by their in-person sit-down.

“He was very receptive, he understood, he cared about the perception, his reputation, and I told him we’re not trying to take the edge he plays with away,” Vincent said. “I said, ‘We’ve seen you adjust, we’ve seen an adjustment in your play, let’s keep that going.’ … We met for hours, talking about the example he sets, the role model he’s become, and emphasizing his adjustment. What he did was set the bar with his approach, since he was first.” 

That news will probably be met with a collective eye roll from opposing players and fans who have grown tired of Suh’s lip service, but all eyes will be on him to see if he cleans up his act under a new coaching staff expected to incorporate more discipline than Jim Schwartz’s teams exhibited.

Here’s a few more Lions news and notes:

      • Running back Mikel Leshoure was a second-round pick in 2012, but he’s fourth on the Lions’ depth chart as the preseason kicks off, writes Mlive.com’s Kyle Meinke. However, people around the team seem to think that’s more a reflection of the team’s depth at the position rather than Leshoure underachieving. Even though new offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi comes from New Orleans, where the Saints used a stable of capable runners, it’s difficult to envision the Lions carrying Leshoure as a projected inactive or severing ties, particularly if he has trade value, as Meinke’s Mlive colleague Justin Rogers suggests. “Mikel Leshoure still looks the part of a former second-round pick,” says Rogers. “The fourth-year running back has the size, speed and strength teams covet in the backfield, but it’s increasingly clear he’ll struggle to see the field in Detroit…Leshoure has looked good during the early stages of training camp and has been rewarded with plenty of reps with the first-team offense. But no matter how much work he gets and how well he practices, it’s difficult seeing a role for Leshoure without an injury to another player.”
      • “An area of concern for Detroit at this point might be Ezekiel Ansah,” says ESPN’s Michael Rothstein. Ansah (shoulder) is still on the active physically unable to perform list, and while he’s been working on the side with trainers, Rothstein wonders how far behind he’s falling physically and/or mentally, especially with the team implementing a new scheme.
      • Fourth-rounder Nevin Lawson isn’t expected to have a major impact this season, but he’s in an enviable position to learn and grow, according to Fox Sports Detroit’s Dana Wakiji, who points out that the rookie stands to benefit from practice reps against Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate and tutelage from Rashean Mathis. With the Lions adding Drayton Florence to the mix, Lawson will likely begin the year fifth on the depth chart, as the team is willing to take a patient approach with his development.
      • It looks as if veteran Kevin Ogletree is establishing himself as the No. 3 receiver, says Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez in the Detroit Free Press.

Extra Points: Herman, Finnegan, Boone, Colts

August 8th, 2014 at 4:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Over at ESPN.com, Jim Trotter has published an interesting piece on why teams are inclined to pay big bucks to lock up non-elite quarterbacks.

“Teams are just afraid to say, ‘Let’s start again, because we literally do not have a legitimate chance to win a Super Bowl with the quarterback that we have,’” one club president told Trotter. “They’d rather have an average to above-average quarterback than wait to get a great quarterback. I think it’s more than fair to say that the fear of the unknown is greater than the fear of the known.”

Let’s check in on a few more odds and ends from around the NFL….

  • Giants offensive lineman Eric Herman has been suspended for four games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports. The NFLPA released a statement on behalf of Herman explaining the positive test.
  • Cornerback Cortland Finnegan tells Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com that he considered a pitch from the Falcons this offseason before ultimately reaching an agreement with the Dolphins (Twitter link).
  • In the wake of the 49ers‘ first preseason contest, it doesn’t sound as if there has been any movement on contract talks with holdout guard Alex Boone, tweets Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.
  • As Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk details, former Colts running back Chris Rainey doesn’t seem to believe he should have been cut by Indianapolis for breaking team rules, and took to Twitter to vent last night. Rainey, a free agent, has since deleted the tweets.
  • The Colts’ offensive line is thinning out, with both Khaled Holmes and rookie Ulrick John suffering injuries this week. According to Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter), the team believes Holmes may have sprained his left ankle, which would sideline him for a few weeks. As for John, Stephen Holder of the Star reports (via Twitter) that his ankle might be broken. Meanwhile, Xavier Nixon tweeted today that he’s set to undergo surgery, presumably on the knee that his been bothering him.

Dolphins Notes: Jones, Tannenbaum, Incognito

August 8th, 2014 at 2:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Here’s the latest out of Miami, where the Dolphins have announced some front office moves and lost a key defender for the first month of the season….

  • Safety Reshad Jones has been suspended for four games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, the team announced today (Twitter link). Jones, who has started every game for the Dolphins over the last two seasons, was penciled in as a starting safety alongside newcomer Louis Delmas for 2014, but the suspension means that he, like Dion Jordan, will miss the month of September.
  • Per Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter), Jones’ suspension figures to cost him about $1MM in salary. For his part, Jones released a statement through the NFLPA explaining that he took a supplement he didn’t know was banned by the league, and apologized to the team and its fans.
  • The Dolphins announced a series of front office promotions and additions today, and the most notable one of the bunch was the hiring of former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum as a consultant. Tannenbaum, who will continue on as an agent for Priority Sports and Entertainment, has been working with the club in that consultant role for several weeks already, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
  • Richie Incognito, who was at the center of last year’s bullying scandal, told Josh Peter of USA Today that his agent has received “a few nibbles” from teams this offseason. While it’s fair to assume that the free agent guard won’t be rejoining the Dolphins, it seems likely that he’ll catch on with another club at some point.

Texans Owner Talks Watt, Manziel, Fans

August 8th, 2014 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams

As we heard yesterday, it’s been a rough year for Texans owner Bob McNair, who endured a 10-month ordeal in which he battled two forms of cancer under an assumed name at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. However, McNair has been given a clean bill of health by the team of doctors that treated him, and was available to speak to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com about a few topics related to football and the Texans. Here are some of McNair’s notable quotes from Ganguli’s pair of pieces for ESPN:

On the possibility of using the franchise tag on J.J. Watt when his rookie contract expires:

“You’ve got guys in the Hall of Fame that have been franchised in back-to-back years. The franchise tag is worth something to the team and you can’t be afraid to use it.”

On a potential long-term deal for Watt, sooner or later:

“It’s going to be a big contract. If we can do something with him that makes sense for the team to do it early, we’ll certainly do it. It has to make sense for us. The team comes first. We want to keep all of our players. We want to take care of all or our players, but the team comes first.”

On prioritizing which players to lock up:

“Mario [Williams] is gone; we just couldn’t do that. Some people said, ‘Why didn’t you sign Peyton Manning?’ Well, we just couldn’t do it. We would have had to let go of two or three of our outstanding players to create enough room in the salary cap to do something with him. Those are the decisions you have to make as you go forward. You hope you make the right decision.”

On what would have happened if the Texans opted to draft Johnny Manziel:

“I knew with Manziel it would be a frenzy. And probably even if he didn’t succeed at being an outstanding NFL quarterback for a couple years, the fans would have been frenzied. … Long term, we had questions as to how well he’d fit in our system doing what we wanted to do. At the end of the day, you’ve gotta do what you think is best for the team. If you do what’s best for the team and the team succeeds as a result of it, the fans are going to forget those other things.”

On the role that fan pressure plays in the team’s football decisions:

“Ultimately all they want to do is win. Once you win, at that point they don’t care what those decisions were; at that point, they’re happy because you’re winning. If you picked some of those other guys and you didn’t win, their response would be, ‘Why’d you listen to us? You’re losing. We’re unhappy because you’re losing.’ We respect our fans and we listen to our fans, but they don’t study the film that we study. They don’t have the information and knowledge that we have. We’re in the best position to make those decisions.”

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