Former Jets center Nick Mangold was out of football in 2017, but he hasn’t ruled out a return to the field next season, as Bob Glauber of Newsday writes.
“I’m kind of not closing the door, but I’m not actively searching for anything right now,” said Mangold on Radio Row in advance of the Super Bowl.
Mangold, 34, stayed at home as he dealt with a foot injury suffered during the 2016 season. He told ESPN Radio (Twitter link) that he was never healthy last season, but during his Radio Row trip, he indicated that he could have played at some point in the late fall.
“Maybe midseason, but by that point, it’s the middle of the season, you’ve missed the whole offseason when you get to know people,” he said. “[The foot] still wasn’t right. It was one of those things where I probably could have gone out there and played, but I wouldn’t be playing up to my standards. I wouldn’t want to go out there stealing checks, so that’s why I didn’t go for it, because I wouldn’t have been playing at my level.”
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- The Jay Ajayi trade looks a loss for the Dolphins right now, but the team can learn some valuable lessons from the way things played out, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald writes. The Dolphins are a passing-centric team, which didn’t sit right with Ajayi and meant that a divorce was probably inevitable. However, the Dolphins would have been better served by waiting until the season was over to trade Ajayi, giving them a wider range of suitors to work with, Salguero opines. The Eagles are certainly happy with Miami’s decision to deal the running back for a late fourth-round pick – Ajayi averaged 5.8 yards per carry for Philadelphia in his seven regular season games with the team.
- Super Bowl LII doesn’t feel like the end of the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era of the Patriots, but they are likely to lose well-respected offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia to retirement, Peter King of The MMQB (video link, on Twitter) says. It sounds like the Patriots will have to recast four of the main players on the coaching staff this season – offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, special teams coach Joe Judge, and Scarnecchia.
- On Thursday, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell indicated that he is not interested in joining the Jets in free agency. Of course, it’s unlikely that Bell reaches unrestricted free agency anyway.
Dante Scarnecchia is a bigger loss than the rest as proven before
Very accurate
Massive loss.
Yup, remember when he retired a couple of years ago. That O-Line was lost
Indeed! Cost the Pats the AFC Championship against the Broncos. Brady was hit WAY too much.
Let’s give credit where it’s do that Denver D was pretty damn good that yr