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Ryan Tannehill

East Rumors: Tannehill, Patriots, Kap

February 8th, 2016 at 9:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ryan Tannehill asked former Dolphins offensive coordinator Bill Lazor for more audible latitude last season prior to Lazor’s dismissal, but the then-OC dismissed the notion, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

In Adam Gase, Tannehill will find a more innovative offensive coach, at least judging by his 2010s work in Denver and Chicago, but may not enjoy the kind of freedom he covets, Jackson notes. Gase’s work with Peyton Manning in 2013-14 notwithstanding, the Bears, per CSNChicago.com, were not an audible-heavy team under his direction last season, even as Jay Cutler progressed.

“I’m going to speak for Ryan right now, which I typically don’t do,” Greg Jennings told Finsiders.com. “He wants some more freedom. … He’s been hand-held his entire career.”

Here’s the latest from the NFL’s Eastern divisions on Day 1 of the offseason.

  • Jennings is no lock to be employed by the Dolphins next season after he caught just 19 passes for 208 yards — both well below his previous career-low marks. The 32-year-old wideout’s entering the second season of a two-year, $8MM contract, and the Dolphins, per Pro Football Talk (via Jackson), haven’t told him he’ll be back. Jennings is due to occupy a $5.5MM cap number for the currently over-the-cap Fins, who can save $4MM by cutting the backup target. Jennings is currently Miami’s highest-paid receiver.
  • The Patriots are in discussions with retired coach Dante Scarnecchia about a return to the coaching staff to fix their ailing offensive line, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. Scarnecchia retired after the 2013 season but he has remained around the Pats, particularly to help with evaluating offensive line prospects in the draft. One source told Reiss that it would be a surprise if the coach wasn’t back on the sidelines for the Pats in 2016. Scarnecchia had retired after 32 seasons in the NFL, 30 of which came in New England.
  • There has been a lot of debate as to whether the Jets should pursue 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and, over the weekend, Hall of Famer Joe Namath weighed in. “I think he should consider that a little more,” Namath told ESPN radio (via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News) when asked about Brandon Marshall‘s opposition to the idea. “I know that [Ryan] Fitzpatrick did a wonderful job this year. Whenever I’m asked to critique what I’ve seen and what I feel, I know that he would like to throw the ball more accurately given the chance. You need more than one quarterback on a team. If Kaepernick were available, I’d certainly consider bringing him in, yes.“
  • During an appearance on the Fox News show Fox & Friends, Tom Coughlin reiterated he has no plans to retire, via Tom Rock of Newsday. “I’m not. … I don’t like that word, you know, the retired word,” Coughlin said. “I’m way too young for that, you know what I mean?” Coughlin will also discuss a potential advisory role with the Giants with John Mara soon, Rock reports. Coughlin’s coached in the NFL for 20 of the past 21 seasons, eight with the Jaguars before sitting out 2003.

Zach Links contributed to this report

East Notes: Curry, Eagles, Jets, Giants, Fins

February 5th, 2016 at 9:39pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Edge rusher Vinny Curry became the latest Eagle to sign a long-term extension with the club this week, inking a five-year deal that will keep him in Philadelphia through 2020. And while the initial guarantee of Curry’s $47MM deal was reported as $23MM, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com reports (via Twitter) that the full guarantee is actually only $18MM — the remaining $5MM is for injury only. Corry also passes along Curry’s cap charges from 2016-2020 (Twitter link): $3MM, $9MM, $11MM, $11.25MM, and finally, $12MM in 2020.

There’s more news from the East divisions, so let’s dive in:

  • The Jets have hired Jeff Hammerschmidt as assistant special teams coordinator, the club announced via press release. Hammerschmidt spent the past four years as Colorado State’s special teams coach, and also worked with the team’s running backs and tight ends. He’ll serve under Brant Boyer, whom New York hired away from the Colts earlier this week.
  • In his latest offseason preview, Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap takes a look at the Giants, noting that the club’s main goal in the next few months should be working out contract solutions with receiver Victor Cruz and tackle Will Beatty. A strong effort during the free agent period, opines Fitzgerald, will be key if Big Blue wants to compete in 2016.
  • Ryan Tannehill was essentially banned from calling audibles last season, so much so that receiver Greg Jennings isn’t sure anyone knows what the young Dolphins quarterback is really capable of, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “[H]e hasn’t been given the reins to where he has the liberty and freedom to call his shots sometimes,” said Jennings. “It’s almost like taking a baby who’s six years old and he still has a bottle in his mouth. Gotta take it out and see if he can drink out of a cup.”

AFC East Notes: Tannehill, Campbell, Whaley

January 31st, 2016 at 5:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

With the Senior Bowl wrapped up and all four AFC East teams in offseason mode as Super Bowl 50 nears, let’s look at the latest news coming out of the division, starting with the Dolphins.

  • Ryan Tannehill‘s inconsistency notwithstanding, Mike Tannenbaum‘s seen enough from the fifth-year quarterback to avoid spending a draft pick or signing a free agent for legitimate competition, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. This isn’t too surprising. Miami gave Tannehill $77MM in new money last May to be their franchise quarterback, and ending a year that began with playoff expectations at 6-10, the team has other pressing needs.
  • The Dolphins have quite a few issues to sort out over the coming offseason, but chief among them will be overhauling their linebacking unit, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Kelvin Sheppard proved enough at middle linebacker, but per Salguero, the club is aware that it needs an upgrade at that spot. Further, Miami is likely to replace one of its two outside linebackers, with Koa Misi being the most obvious candidate to be cut given his 2016 cap charge of roughly $4.88MM (the Dolphins could save $4.3MM by making him a post-June 1 release). For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus graded Misi as the highest of Miami’s three ‘backers (No. 21), while Jelani Jenkins and Sheppard rated Nos. 38 and 84, respectively, among 97 qualifiers.
  • Although interim coach Dan Campbell reportedly did not take losing out to Adam Gase with the Dolphins well, the team’s interim coach last season still could have joined Gase’s staff but instead chose to join the Saints’ staff as assistant head coach/tight ends coach, Jackson writes. The Dolphins, however, prevented multiple teams from hiring special teams coach Darren Rizzi.
  • The Bears denied outside linebackers coach Clint Hurtt to speak with Gase about becoming the Dolphins’ defensive line coach, Jackson reports, but Hurtt coming to Miami once his contract expires after this season could still be on the table. A former Miami Hurricanes assistant, Hurtt would be an attractive option, per Jackson, if the Fins’ front falters under Terrell Williams, who got the job after Chicago chose to block Hurtt’s path.
  • One GM told Lisa Wilson of the Buffalo News the Bills are trapped in “8-8 limbo” without certainty at quarterback and little money to spend this offseason. Another informed the reporter he applauded the team’s patience regarding Doug Whaley and resisting the urge to start over as many teams do in the Bills’ situation. Owners of the longest NFL playoff drought, the Bills are currently $3.4MM over the salary cap, per OverTheCap, but have strung together their most wins in a two-year span (17) since 1999-2000, the former season representing Buffalo’s last playoff advancement. Tyrod Taylor will also only count $3.13MM against the Bills’ cap next season.
  • Whaley also justified bringing in embattled veteran DC Rob Ryan as an assistant to help enhance Rex Ryan‘s productivity while helping unite the brothers against their critics. “If you look at it, Rob and Rex, they’ve had some troubles,” Whaley told media, including Wilson. “Their name is kind of like, ‘Hey, they’re the Ryans, what happened to their defense?’ So why not bring in your brother and try to reclaim that name? That’s the way I look at it. And who’s going to have your back more than your brother? I think it’s a positive. I know it’s a positive. Everybody in the building feels it’s a positive. It’s a positive for Rex, too. It can help him expand his horizons as the head coach and get into some other things.”

Dallas Robinson contributed to this report

East Notes: Dolphins, M. Smith, Coughlin

January 10th, 2016 at 11:42am CST by Rory Parks

In a fascinating post from Armando Salguero this morning, the Miami Herald scribe dives into the Dolphins‘ front office drama that the team hopes will come to an end in the Adam Gase era. In 2013, Salguero writes that the relationship between then-Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin and then-GM Jeff Ireland was on the rocks, and owner Stephen Ross ultimately chose to fire Ireland. Ross also debated firing then-offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, and in order to save his assistant and friend, Philbin privately blamed the team’s offensive struggles on quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

Although Philbin continued to toe the company line publicly, reaffirming his faith in Tannehill on numerous occasions–with one or two notable exceptions–his internal discussions had a much different tone. Philbin urged the team to draft Derek Carr in the first round of the 2014 draft, and even after Tannehill enjoyed a relatively successful 2014 campaign, Philbin continued to take out his frustrations on Tannehill, a trend that continued into the team’s difficult start to the 2015 season. Ultimately, that situation was one of the factors that led the Dolphins to hire Gase, who they expect to forge a relationship with the quarterback they’ve committed to and to make him the best player he can be.

Now let’s dive into a few more notes from the league’s east divisions, beginning with more out of South Beach.

  • James Walker of ESPN.com affirms that Dan Campbell‘s future with the Dolphins will be determined by Gase, but Walker does add that Ross would like to keep Campbell on the team’s coaching staff. In a separate piece, Walker writes that Gase will be calling the team’s offensive plays.
  • Mike Smith will interview with the Giants for their head coaching vacancy tomorrow, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
  • Mike Garafolo of FOXSports tweets that there were “rumblings” that the Giants would interview Hue Jackson for their head coaching job, but they may not get that chance, as there are multiple reports suggesting that the 49ers could hire Jackson as early as today.
  • Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer says former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin will meet with the Eagles tomorrow to discuss their head coaching vacancy. Interestingly, Berman calls the meeting an “interview,” and not a “feeling-out” as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggested yesterday.
  • Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News compiles an offseason to-d0 list for the Bills, a list topped by an extension for GM Doug Whaley and a release of Mario Williams.
  • David Moore of the Dallas Morning News looks into why the Cowboys have been unable to land an adequate backup quarterback for Tony Romo, and Moore says head coach Jason Garrett should bear as much responsibility for that failing as owner Jerry Jones.

Extra Points: Dolphins, H. Jackson, Bucs, Texans

January 9th, 2016 at 10:37pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Before hiring Adam Gase as their head coach Saturday, the Dolphins considered several other candidates. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald passes along some interesting information on a handful of those names.

The Dolphins interviewed ex-Falcons head coach Mike Smith, but they felt he lacked “some of the gravitas” for the position. In Mike Shanahan‘s case, Miami’s bigwigs were worried that too many of the two-time Super Bowl winner’s potential assistants had jobs elsewhere, which would’ve negatively affected his ability to assemble a staff. They also had concern about whether Shanahan would be prone to complacency. The Dolphins discussed the idea of pursuing another two-time champion, Tom Coughlin, but they decided the soon-to-be 70-year-old was too advanced in age to factor into their long-term plans. Dan Campbell, the Dolphins’ interim head coach for most of the 2015-16 campaign, was the runner-up to Gase. The team simply didn’t think he was ready for the full-time job. Doug Marrone came in third place, largely because his plan for quarterback Ryan Tannehill wasn’t as enticing as Gase’s.

Tannehill didn’t have the belief of ex-head coach Joe Philbin, Salguero offers, but the Dolphins are confident the relationship between him and Gase will bear more fruit.

“We’re convinced you’ll see a different Ryan Tannehill next year,” a team source told Salguero. “That’s how much Adam will affect things around here.”

More from around the NFL:

  • Although a report Friday stated that Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is in the lead for the 49ers’ head coaching job, they’ll have serious competition for his services from the Browns, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Jackson will enter his Sunday interview with the Browns viewing them and the 49ers on a level playing field, per Cabot, who notes that other teams with head coaching vacancies could join them in trying to land the 50-year-old. As our head coaching search tracker shows, the only other current opening that Jackson has been connected to is the Giants’, though they haven’t requested a meeting with him at this time.
  • Dirk Koetter isn’t the prohibitive favorite to land the Buccaneers’ head coaching job, and they didn’t fire Lovie Smith because they were worried about losing Koetter, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Bucs canned Smith because their ownership was fed up with his ability (or lack thereof) to build a quality coaching staff, his struggles with repairing their defense, and his uninspiring work when it came to putting together the 53-man roster. General manager Jason Licht believes the team will find a capable replacement for Smith. “It’s an excellent situation,” he said. “I’ve already been shown from the interest we’ve received that people want to come to Tampa and coach.”
  • After quarterback Brian Hoyer‘s five-turnover performance in the Texans’ 30-0 wild-card round loss to Kansas City on Saturday, Houston could look for a better option under center this offseason. With that in mind, Mike Sando of ESPN.com examined which roads the Texans might take in the coming months (Insider required). Draft-bound Penn State signal caller Christian Hackenberg, whom Texans coach Bill O’Brien recruited when he was at the helm of the Nittany Lions, is an obvious option. Otherwise, Sando lists Colin Kaepernick and free agent-to-be Sam Bradford as possible fits for the Texans.

AFC Notes: Manning, Tannehill, McCarron, Pats

December 14th, 2015 at 7:13pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Thanks to unimpressive showings over the last two weeks, including in Sunday’s 15-12 loss to Oakland, Brock Osweiler‘s hold on the Broncos’ starting quarterback job looks tenuous. Furthering the possibility of an eventual switch back to Peyton Manning is that head coach Gary Kubiak was reluctant Monday to name a starter for this Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh. Kubiak had announced Osweiler as the starter the previous four Mondays, and as Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today writes, he could be leaving open the possibility of Manning returning to practice this week and ultimately reclaiming the job.

Manning has been out since mid-November with a plantar fascia injury, but he is making progress in his recovery, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post.

More from the AFC:

  • Since 2012, the Dolphins have invested a top 10 pick, a contract worth up to $96MM and 60 starts in quarterback Ryan Tannehill. However, they still don’t know whether he’s their solution under center, according to James Walker of ESPN. With Miami likely to bring in a new coaching staff and install a new offensive scheme during the offseason, Walker believes Tannehill needs to finish strong this year to impress the oncoming regime and avoid having to deal with competition for his job as early as next season. Walker does note, though, that Tannehill will likely to get one to two more seasons to prove to the Dolphins whether he’s their answer at QB.
  • Even though Pro Bowl-caliber starting quarterback Andy Dalton is potentially out for the season, Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson isn’t going to stop relying on the team’s passing game down the stretch. On A.J. McCarron, who will fill in for Dalton, Jackson said (via Jim Owczarski of Cincinnati.com), “We pay him to win games. So whatever it takes for him to win, that’s what he’s going to do. If you guys think he’s going to turn around and hand it off 70 times to win a game, then you guys are mistaken.”
  • Patriots linebacker Jonathan Freeny dislocated his right thumb and part of his wrist in the team’s 27-6 win over Houston on Sunday, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports. The Pats hope to have Freeny back by year’s end, per Reiss.

East Notes: Giants, Tannehill, Jets

December 12th, 2015 at 7:23pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

While Giants brass was fed up enough with pass rusher Damontre Moore to cut him Friday after he got in a fight over headphones with then-teammate Cullen Jenkins, ESPN’s Dan Graziano writes that most of the club’s players aren’t happy the 23-year-old is gone. One Giant told Graziano that Moore’s gameday encouragement of both offensive and defensive players will be missed, and another said the third-year man could always be counted on to attend teammates’ charity events without asking for anything in return.

The atmosphere in the locker room was quiet after Moore’s release, per Graziano, who believes his ex-Giants teammates want things to go better for him in his next stop. There’s a chance the Giants and Moore could meet as foes this year, Graziano notes, as one of their remaining opponents – the Dolphins, Panthers, Vikings or Eagles – might land him.

More on Big Blue and a couple of AFC East teams:

  • While the Giants’ Tom Coughlin may be past his prime, the recent work of general manager Jerry Reese hasn’t helped the head coach’s cause, submits Newsday’s Bob Glauder. The release of Moore, a third-round pick in 2013, is the latest check mark against Reese – whom Glauber believes has too often underwhelmed in the early and middle rounds of drafts over the last few years. Reese’s failure to hit on those picks has caught up to the Giants, which is a big reason why they’re 5-7.
  • Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has gotten plenty of blame for the team’s disappointing season, but offensive coordinator Zac Taylor says the fourth-year man hasn’t “regressed in any way, shape, or form,” per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
  • The Jets have two key defensive linemen scheduled to become free agents at year’s end. One is Muhammad Wilkerson, who’s among the best, most well-known defenders in the league. The other, Damon Harrison, doesn’t have Wilkerson’s name recognition, but he has performed brilliantly. That will make it difficult for the Jets to let Harrison go, opines Brian Costello of the New York Post. The 27-year-old currently grades out as the fifth-best run-stuffing interior D-lineman in the league this season, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
  • Backup Dolphins tight end Brandon Williams broke a bone in his left foot and is likely to miss the rest of the season, head coach Dan Campbell said (Twitter link via ESPN’s James Walker).

East Notes: McCoy, Murray, Tannehill, Pats

December 9th, 2015 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

With the Bills and Eagles set to square off this weekend, with both teams fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive, the offseason trade that sent Kiko Alonso to Philadelphia and LeSean McCoy to Buffalo has become a popular topic of discussion once again.

In a conversation with Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, McCoy said this week that he’s no longer upset about the fact that the Eagles unexpectedly dealt him, adding that he doesn’t hold a grudge against head coach Chip Kelly. As for Alonso, he’s downplaying the storyline involving him and McCoy, telling reporters this week that “the fact that I got traded for him has no relevance at all” (link via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer).

As we wait to see how McCoy and Alonso fare against their old teams, let’s check in on a few more items from around the NFL’s East divisions….

  • After a report surfaced suggesting he spoke to team owner Jeffrey Lurie about his role with the Eagles, running back DeMarco Murray had no interest in talking to reporters on Tuesday about the subject, as Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News details.
  • Ryan Tannehill hasn’t exactly been lighting it up since signing his lucrative, long-term contract extension, but the Dolphins remain committed to him for now. However, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald observes, Tannehill’s base salaries beyond 2016 are non-guaranteed, so the club could have an out after next season if the quarterback doesn’t show signs of progress.
  • Former Buccaneers cornerback Leonard Johnson, who worked out for the Patriots on Monday, has stuck around the area and looks like the favorite to fill the team’s open roster spot, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. After appearing in all 48 of the Bucs’ regular season games from 2012 to 2014 starting 17 of them, Johnson was cut from the injured reserve list by Tampa Bay last week.

Breer’s Latest: Dolphins, Gronk, Cowboys, Texans

December 5th, 2015 at 3:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

Dan Campbell‘s decision to jettison both his coordinators, with OC Bill Lazor being the second to go, as an interim coach likely stemmed from the tough-minded instructor’s dismay at the Dolphins being referred to as a “finesse team in a power division,” Albert Breer of NFL.com reports.

Miami ranks 27th in rushing yards per game but sixth in yards per carry at 4.6 and attempted just 23 combined runs the past two games. This led to a sense that Lazor was losing his players, per Breer.

Lazor and Ryan Tannehill began to have a less-than-ideal QB-OC relationship, and Breer now notes Campbell will take a more involved role in the Fins’ offensive approach. So, Lamar Miller will probably see more touches going forward.

Here are some more notes from the veteran NFL scribe.

  • Rob Gronkowski‘s league-high five offensive-pass interference penalties stem from teams alerting officials to the Patriots‘ brand of pick routes against an increasing amount of man coverage, with Gronk’s size making separation at route stems noticeable. Defensive coordinators are torn on the degree of the All-Pro tight end’s level of infraction, with one saying “He pushes off on every play” and another categorizing the physical performer’s penalties as a product of his size. “It just looks extreme with him, because of size and strength. A 180-pound dude pushing off is different [than] a 260-pound dude pushing off,” the anonymous DC told Breer. Another coordinator falls in the middle of these characterizations, noting the Patriots’ volume of pick routes makes it logical they should be on the receiving end of the most OPI flags.
  • With Tony Romo set for his age-36 season in 2016 and coming off more severe collarbone trouble, the Cowboys will explore taking a quarterback in the first round and signing a veteran, Breer reports. Romo being the starter for the foreseeable future gives the Cowboys some flexibility here by not having to reach for a player they don’t think can take the reins.
  • The Los Angeles relocation project continues to point toward the Chargers and Rams, with Breer noting Dean Spanos carries the political capital in the owners’ eyes and Stan Kroenke possessing the finances to make this transition work.
  • Bill O’Brien‘s cultivating a reputation as a players’ coach in leading the Texans, permitting open social media use and organizing a 12-player leadership council, Breer notes. Houston’s now tied for first in the AFC South with Indianapolis, but as far back as the Texans’ blowout loss in Miami in late October, players were behind O’Brien. “He’s not the problem. Very cool coach to play for and everyone enjoys the way he treats us,” one Texan told Breer after that 44-26 defeat.
  • In projecting franchise tag figures for next year, Breer also gives predictions of players potentially being tagged. Moving past long-rumored names like Von Miller and Muhammad Wilkerson, NFL executives told Breer players like Josh Norman, Janoris Jenkins, Russell Okung, Mike Daniels and Kirk Cousins are tag candidates.

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Tannehill, Jets

November 28th, 2015 at 7:42pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Patriots have dealt with numerous key injuries this year and that will continue to be the case to an almost ridiculous extent Sunday, as the team announced (via Twitter) that wideout Danny Amendola and Jamie Collins won’t play against the 8-2 Broncos in Denver.

While doubting this year’s 10-0 Pats (or any team led by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick) seems unwise, Bob McManaman of AZCentral opines that their injury issues have them primed for a nose dive. McManaman writes that the losses of Julian Edelman, Dion Lewis, Nate Solder, Amendola and Aaron Dobson have depleted New England’s AFC-best offense, one that had difficulty in a 20-13 win over Buffalo on Monday. The Bills harassed Brady consistently and held him to season lows in completion percentage (51.3), yards (277), yards per attempt (7.10) and quarterback rating (72.3). Further, they kept Brady’s favorite target, all-world tight end Rob Gronkowski, out of the end zone and held him to season worsts in catches (two) and yards (37). McManaman argues that the Bills provided the blueprint for stopping Gronkowski by stacking the box and putting two defenders on him while pressuring Brady. That could be easier said than done for many teams, but maybe not for a Broncos defense that leads the NFL in both passing yards per game allowed and sacks.

As we wait to see how the injury-ravaged Patriots fare in Denver, here’s more from the AFC East:

  • Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has underwhelmed at times this year, but he still has the full confidence of the team’s front office, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. There’s a disconnect between the coaching staff and front office regarding Tannehill, per Salguero, as the former views the fourth-year man as a game manager and the latter sees him as someone with franchise QB potential. Executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum and company think so highly of the 27-year-old Tannehill that, hypothetically, they’d take him as a long-term option over the similarly aged Cam Newton, Salguero reports. If interim head coach Dan Campbell doesn’t get on board with that type of thinking, it seems his time atop Miami’s staff will definitely end in another six games.
  • With journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick having come back to earth after a hot start, Bob Glauber of Newsday took a look at possible No. 1 quarterback options for the Jets in 2016. If it’s not Fitzpatrick, it certainly won’t be backup Geno Smith – whom the Jets have no faith in, per Glauber. Among a slew of flawed options, Colin Kaepernick could be the most interesting outside possibility. The mobile Kaepernick – who is on the outs in San Francisco – is still young (28), not far removed from success, and could fare well under offensive coordinator Chan Gailey.
  • One reason the Jets have gone from 4-1 to 5-5 is the decreased production of wideout Brandon Marshall. Glauber writes that the Jets have to find a way to make him a dominant part of their offense again. Marshall caught 37 passes for 511 yards and four touchdowns in the Jets’ first five games and has hauled in 12 fewer receptions (25) for 222 fewer yards (289) over the last five, though he has accrued nearly as many TDs (three). The reason for the drop in productivity, according to Marshall, “I’m being double-teamed a lot more.” Added Gailey, “We need him to be involved to be a successful offense. They’re taking him away right now, and we don’t have enough other people involved in the passing game to take that away from them.”
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