Matt Schaub Will Not Play Against Patriots
10:38pm: Schaub left the team to be with his wife, who had an emergency C-section, says Ed Werder of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
2:57pm: Raiders’ backup quarterback Matt Schaub will not play this weekend against the Patriots as a healthy scratch, reports Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Tafur adds that Schaub made the trip to Boston, but had to take himself away from the team due to an emergency (via Twitter).
The Raiders thought they were getting a starting quarterback when they traded for Schaub this offseason. Rookie second-round pick Derek Carr outperformed his veteran counterpart in the preseason, and surprisingly won the starting job going into week one.
Schaub struggled with performance, but was also dealing with a sore elbow that kept him from playing to his accustomed level. The 11 year veteran had his worst season as a starter for the Texans in 2013, including a streak of four consecutive games in which he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, which is an NFL record.
If he continues going forward as neither the starting quarterback nor the backup, there are serious questions to his future with the team and in the league. Earlier this season he was adamant that he was not considering retirement, as he becomes further removed from the team that possibility seems all the more likely.
With $8MM guaranteed on his contract during this year and next, Schaub will almost definitely wait until he is cut from the team before considering retirement to ensure he gets his last NFL payday. He will be hardpressed to find another team willing to employ his services if he fails to turn it around in Oakland.
Former Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin is slated to back up Carr in Schaub’s absence.
Teams To Better Evaluate Player Conduct
The player conduct policy getting some exercise these past few weeks, with the domestic violence cases dominating the news. The cases of Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Dwyer, and Greg Hardy all resulted in the players making headlines and missing games.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attempted to address this in his press conference on Friday, but was undermined when the report by Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg of ESPN was published.
Still, the best way for teams to avoid the embarrassment that the Ravens, Vikings, Cardinals, and Panthers are now deservingly subject to is to do a better job in selecting and guiding players in the organization, writes Albert Breer of NFL.com. Of course, if it was easy to pick out the future criminals and troublemakers, teams would be doing so already.
“I don’t think you’ll find an NFL team that has not put an emphasis on character, and gathering the background to understand the full picture of a player,” one AFC personnel executive told Breer. “You may have risk guys. You’re gonna measure risk to a degree. But you’re also gonna have values and principles that, in some cases, will be unwavering. … I just don’t think there’s a blanket response (in how this will change things).”
Breer writes that we will not see whether this peak in incidents will influence how teams will change their approach until the calendar draws closer to the draft and free agency. It isn’t simply a question of when teams will start becoming more cautious, but if their decisions will be effected altogether.
“I’ll be honest, it will not change anything we do,” a veteran general manager said. “I hate to say it, but it’s not like we’re saying, ‘OK, from now on, we can’t have domestic violence.’ I think the players come into the league, they’re younger, and we have to develop them from boys to men. And so we spend a lot of energy here doing that.”
The process of bringing players into the organization will be equally important as the guidance they are able to provide for those players. With young men anywhere, the NFL included, a system of developing them into mature members of society needs to continue after college.
Even still, no matter how hard the teams try to bring in high character players, it is impossible to be perfect while building a team.
“You really don’t know,” an NFC executive said. “You really, really don’t know. You gotta do your homework, but there’s no telling exactly what you’re getting.”
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is not playing this Saturday because of an off the field transgression that resulted in his suspension for the game against Clemson. Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report uses the Winston case as an example of the the effect the last two weeks in the NFL will have on player evaluations.
Winston won the Heisman Trophy last year for the national champion winning Seminoles, and as the reigning best player in college football, Winston and Florida State entered this weekend as the top ranked team in the country. Despite that, the most recent incident has caused many to drop Winston on their draft boards.
Freeman notes that draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN dropped Winston from third on his board down to the 25th best player available. His colleague Bill Polian, who formerly was the general manager of the Bills teams that made it to four consecutive Super Bowls and the Peyton Manning era Colts, was asked whether he would take Winston and replied “I don’t know.”
Freeman believes players like Winston will be used as a test case for the changing demeanor amongst NFL decision makers. It is unknown if the best player in college football will be drafted in the first round. There is a chance both Hardy and Rice are free agents this offseason, assuming they are not suspended. Peterson and Dwyer both could also be looking for new teams, depending on what the Vikings and Cardinals ultimately decide to do with them once their situations play out.
In time, it will be more clear whether player conduct becomes a more vital part of the evaluation process during the draft and free agency, and if that changes the climate of the NFL.
AFC North Notes: Gordon, Richardson, Rice
Josh Gordon recently had his season-long ban reduced to ten games, and both he and the team are grateful of the new ruling, writes Pat McManamon of ESPN.com.
Browns‘ general manager Ray Farmer released a statement:
“We are aware of the new NFL policy related to the reduction of Josh Gordon’s suspension to 10 games. We will continue to support and work with him under the NFL guidelines throughout this process. Our team’s focus right now remains on preparing for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.”
Gordon also released a statement through the NFLPA:
“I”m happy that the NFLPA and NFL worked hard to agree on a new Substances of Abuse policy. I”m very thankful to my union for fighting for a significant reduction in my suspension. I”m glad I can go to the facility during my suspension. I look forward to going to meetings, working out individually, and learning from my coaches and teammates. I can”t wait until game 11 to get back on the field!”
Here are some other notes from around the AFC North:
- Yesterday, the Colts were lamenting the long term effects of the Trent Richardson trade. The Browns, on the other hand, are reaping the benefits, writes Tom Reed of Cleveland.com. Just one year later, the Browns, while not perfect, are progressing as an organization, highlighted by last week’s win over the Saints. The 0-2 Colts have a top heavy roster that seems to be crumbling around Andrew Luck, and while they ran the ball well against the Eagles last week, Richardson fumbled twice.
- Ravens‘ linebacker Courtney Upshaw was fined $16,537 for a hit he put on Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger last Thursday, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Upshaw will appeal the fine.
- The Ravens have already denied the accuracy of the report on how the team and the NFL handled the domestic violence case against Ray Rice, and ESPN did trip over itself in reporting incident. Bob Ley of Outside the Lines misreported that the team had actually received a copy of the tape, and then backtracked to say they had received an account of what transpired. This hurts the overall credibility of the report, writes David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun.
Josh McCown Could Miss Several Weeks
SATURDAY, 11:25am: Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that McCown has a “significant” sprain and will visit a hand specialist on Monday. As a result, it’s unlikely that the quarterback will play this weekend.
However, in an earlier tweet, Stroud said the team was optimistic that McCown would play against the Steelers, perhaps indicating that the quarterback’s injury is not as severe as initially thought.
FRIDAY, 8:08pm: Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown injured his thumb in the 56-14 blowout loss to the Falcons Thursday night. Early on, it looked as if the injury was not serious, but Alex Marvez of Fox Sports 1 is reporting that it could force McCown out of the linup for several weeks (via Twitter).
McCown went under a second test that found the injury to be severe enough to sideline the Buccaneers’ free agent signal caller.
Mike Glennon will be slated to start in his place, as he filled in for McCown during the Thursday Night Game.
McCown had been struggling mightily during his two and a half games as a starter in Tampa Bay. He failed to move the offense, and the team remained winless through three games. Even still, head coach Lovie Smith remains committed to him as the starter, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
“Josh is our starter,” Smith said. “We’re looking at one game right now. It would be simple if Josh was the only guy who played bad. It seems like the only guy I’m asked about is Josh. You can ask that about quite a few people starting with me. Am I still the head coach based on that effort? But a little more goes into it than that.”
Now that McCown will miss action, Glennon will have an opportunity to put his stamp on a job that he performed admirably at just last season. As a rookie, Glennon went 4-9 as a starter for a bad Buccaneers team. His touchdown to interception ratio was better than two to one during the 2013 campaign.
NFC Notes: Jordan, Vikings, Buccaneers
Dolphins’ defensive end Dion Jordan has been reinstated and suspended again, due to a separate failed drug test. The team is still supporting Jordan, although there was a report that they shopped the former first-round pick this offseason, in order to gauge his trade value.
One team that inquired as to Jordan’s availability was the Eagles, and Jordan’s former college coach Chip Kelly. The Eagles were interested in acquiring Jordan via trade, and called up the Dolphins’ front office shortly after Dennis Hickey accepted the job of general manager, reports Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
The Dolphins had no interest in trading Jordan at that time, but Salguero wonders if the recent suspensions have created a missed opportunity for Hickey to get out from a bad investment.
Here are some other notes from around the NFC:
- After losing Adrian Peterson to the Commissioner’s exemption list, and releasing Jerome Simpson, the Vikings have two open roster spots to fill, reports Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. The team is considering bringing back fullback Zach Line back to the active roster from the practice squad. The team will most likely not fill that spot in time for their matchup against the Saints this weekend, but will look into it sometime next week.
- After the embarrassing Thursday Night Football loss to the Falcons, which put the Buccaneers at 0-3, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com examined how the team has constructed its roster over the past few years. The team has spent a lot of money in free agency in recent years, and although a few of those signings have failed to work out, Fitzgerald argues that the timing of their spending sprees were misguided, noting that it is better to draft a young core and add to it. The Buccaneers tried to buy their young core and skip the first step.
- In order to loosen up his team in the days leading up to the week three battle against the Texans, head coach Tom Coughlin is allowing the Giants‘ players to play music during warmups, writes George Willis of the New York Post. The music was suggested by the player’s leadership council.
AFC Notes: Ravens, Broncos, Bills, Richardson
The Ravens have responded to the ESPN report by Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg, releasing a statement denying the authenticity of the report, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). The statement is as follows (via Twitter):
“The … article contains numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions, and perhaps misunderstandings. The Ravens will address all of these next week in Baltimore after our trip to Cleveland for Sunday’s game against the Browns.”
ESPN released a simple statement in response to the Ravens’ reaction, according to Pro Football Talk (via Twitter):
“We stand by our reporting.”
Here are some other notes from around the AFC:
- The Broncos have been preparing for their regular season rematch with the Seahawks since February. After being blown out 43-8 in the Super Bowl, the Broncos returned as the favorites to return to the big game. However, just getting there wasn’t enough. Over the offseason, the team turned over regulars at ten spots on the defense, writes Peter King of Monday Morning Quarterback. The new look Broncos’ defense will be highlighted by the return of Von Miller and Chris Harris, and the additions of Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware, and T.J. Ward
- The Bills received a great offer to buy the team from Kim and Terry Pegula, but the person who deserves credit for the big price is Donald Trump, reports Donald Trump (via Twitter). The Pegula’s paid $1.4 billion for the team, which was considered an overpay by financial analysts, according to the Buffalo News.
- One year later, Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star reflects on the trade that brought Trent Richardson to the Colts. The former Alabama star can bench press nearly 500 pounds, but he hasn’t been able to power his way to a smooth transition with his new club. Richardson’s 79 rushing yards and 16 receiving yards on Monday night represented his best statistical game in Indianapolis. But, even in the 30-27 loss, Richardson fumbled twice.
Late Week Workouts: Patriots, Cardinals
The Patriots worked out four players on Friday, reports Mike Reiss and Field Yates of ESPNBoston.com.
They are likely only looking at these players as practice squad candidates, but the team has made a habit of bringing in these players each week.
The team worked out former Falcons’ receiver and special teamer Kevin Cone, former Buccaneers’ defensive end Steven Means, undrafted free agent running back Rajion Neal, and linebacker D.J. Smith. Smith, a former Packer, also spent time with the Texans and Panthers.
The Cardinals also brought in a semi-big name in the recently released offensive tackle Cameron Bradfield, according to Yates (via Twitter). Bradfield started the first two games of this season for the Jaguars, but struggled mightily to protect Chad Henne. The team gave up ten sacks to the Redskins’ defense this past Sunday.
None of these players were signed as of Friday evening.
John Harbaugh Wanted To Release Ray Rice
Since February, information about the Ray Rice domestic abuse case has come out, little by little. When the story first broke and the first video was released, Rice was suspended for two games, but the Ravens stood behind him as an organization.
However, it now seems like head coach John Harbaugh wanted the team to terminate Rice’s contract at that point, when the first reports came out. This is according to an investigative report by Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg of ESPN. The Ravens have denied this report, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
As the second video surfaced on TMZ, Rice was then cut by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. In the ESPN report, the Ravens are purported to have had knowledge of the video inside the elevator within hours of the incident. Director of Security for the team, Darren Sanders spoke to an Atlantic City police officer over the phone shortly after it happened. The officer described the video in detail, and the Ravens knew the severity of the issue the same night.
Reports earlier this month told the story that the NFL had never reached out to the casino for the second video tape. The ESPN report states that the Ravens knew everything in February.
Here is an excerpt of the report, that is damning to the Ravens’ front office, Roger Goodell, and the NFL:
After the Feb. 15 incident in the casino elevator, Ravens executives — in particular owner Steve Bisciotti, president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome — began extensive public and private campaigns pushing for leniency for Rice on several fronts: from the judicial system in Atlantic County, where Rice faced assault charges, to commissioner Goodell, who ultimately would decide the number of games Rice would be suspended from this fall, to within their own building, where some were arguing immediately after the incident that Rice should be released.
The Ravens also consulted frequently with Rice’s Philadelphia defense attorney, Michael J. Diamondstein, who in early April had obtained a copy of the inside-elevator video and told Cass: “It’s f—ing horrible.” Cass did not request a copy of the video from Diamondstein but instead began urging Rice’s legal team to get Rice accepted into a pretrial intervention program after being told some of the program’s benefits. Among them: It would keep the inside-elevator video from becoming public.
For its part, the NFL — which in other player discipline cases has been able to obtain information that’s been sealed by court order — took an uncharacteristically passive approach when it came to gathering evidence, opening itself up to widespread criticism, allegations of inconsistent approaches to player discipline and questions about whether Goodell gave Rice — the corporate face of the Baltimore franchise — a light punishment as a favor to his good friend Bisciotti. Four sources said Ravens executives, including Bisciotti, Cass and Newsome, urged Goodell and other league executives to give Rice no more than a two-game suspension, and that’s what Goodell did on July 24.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who gained a reputation for coming down hard on player conduct early in his tenure, may have been lenient on Rice by failing to pursue the proper evidence. He has excused himself from the appeal of Rice’s case, and ordered an investigation of the NFL’s procedure of dealing with this situation.
Bisciotti also reportedly texted Rice after releasing him that the owner would have a front office job waiting for his All-Pro running back when his NFL career was over. At the same time, the Ravens’ front office was claiming that Rice lied about what happened inside the elevator.
Since the ESPN report came out, questions of those key members of the team’s front office status going forward. Cass and Sanders have already had their jobs called for by fans and sportswriters on Twitter, and Bisciotti’s ownership has been questioned as well.
Ray Rice Appeals Suspension
TUESDAY, 8:02pm: Rice has filed an appeal of his suspension, a source tells Albert Breer of the NFL Network (on Twitter).
Breer (link) passes along the NFLPA’s statement on the appeal:
“Today, the NFL Players Association formally filed an appeal of the indefinite suspension of Ray Rice by the NFL. This action taken by our union is to protect the due process rights of all NFL players. The NFLPA appeal is based on supporting facts that reveal a lack of a fair and impartial process, including the role of the office of the Commissioner of the NFL. We have asked that a neutral and jointly selected arbitrator hear this case as the Commissioner and his staff will be essential witnesses in the proceeding and thus cannot serve as impartial arbitrators.”
A hearing date has to be determined within the next ten days, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Both sides concur that Ray Rice remains suspended indefinitely while his case is being appealed, sources tell ESPN’s Ed Werder (Twitter).
MONDAY, 9:36pm: Rice was expected to officially appeal his indefinite suspension today, but that appeal will be delayed until at least Tuesday, reports Pro Football Talk (via Twitter). Part of the reason for the delay is to give more time for Rice’s representatives to craft a request for Commissioner Goodell to recuse himself from the case.
SUNDAY, 9:42pm: The NFLPA will fight on behalf of Rice in part because of the precedent it will set for players going forward on the matter of due process, reports Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter).
For Rice, a major argument in his defense will be using the “one punishment” article of the collective bargaining agreement, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
6:42 P.M.: Former Ravens’ running back Ray Rice will appeal his indefinite suspension from the NFL, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Rice was suspended following the emergence of video evidence in the domestic violence incident in which he physically assaulted his now-wife in an elevator at an Atlantic City casino.
The Ravens had released the Pro Bowl running back prior to his suspension.
Rice is expected to officially appeal on Monday, according to league sources. Florio reports that the NFLPA will handle the case in conjunction with Rice’s lawyer.
Roger Goodell will play a key role in the appeal process. Rice was suspended under the NFL’s personal-conduct policy, which leaves the commissioner as the final authority over all appeals. Florio expects that Rice’s representatives will ask that Goodell remove himself from the proceedings. This move would not be unprecedented, as Goodell removed himself from the Saints case during the bounty investigation.
Even if this scenario plays out, Goodell and the NFL office would be likely to testify as witnesses, writes Florio. A key component of the case will be whether or not Rice lied about what happened inside the elevator before the video evidence was made public.
Not “End Of The Road” For Charles Tillman
Charles Tillman suffered a triceps injury in the Sunday Night Football matchup with the 49ers, which forced the Bears to place him on the injured reserve list, ending his 2014 campaign early. The injury is the same one that forced him to miss the second half of the 2013 season.
Tillman is among the best corners in the team’s history. However, at 34 years old there has been much speculation as to how much longer Tillman can play, writes Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“I appreciate the kind words of encouragement and support from all the Bears fans who have reached out to me,” said Tillman. “I know this feeling way too well, but this isn’t the end of the road for me.”
Jahns notes that whether or not Tillman continues his career with the Bears next year, his presence has been felt. He is the franchise leader in defensive touchdowns, interceptions returned for touchdowns, and third in interceptions.
Tillman was playing 2014 out on a one-year deal, worth $3.25MM. He’ll earn a little less than that amount for the season, since a portion was tied up in per-game roster bonuses.
“As I rehab my injury, my role will transition to helping coach and support my teammates” said Tillman. “I will be at Halas Hall and do everything I can to help our team reach its goals.”