NFL Jabber 6/14/07

Byron Leftwich and David Garrard are saying that they have been warned of Daunte Culpepper being brought in for a visit.

"Anytime you have a quarterback of Daunte's caliber, it's smart to look into it, especially with me having one year left on my contract," Leftwich said.

Bill Walsh made a stop by Raiders practice. How cool would that be?

"It was important for me to get (Walsh) over here to practice," Kiffin said. "It's one thing to ask a question. It's another thing to have him watch practice and get some thoughts from him on what he's seeing out there and to spend more time with him obviously with some other questions. I've spent some time preparing for him."

Tom Coughlin is tired of all the pissing and moaning of his players.

"Let's just play the game -- talk is cheap -- let's play the game," Coughlin said as the Giants opened a mandatory three-day minicamp. "I would like it to stay that way."

Technorati : camp, coughlin, culpepper, football, giants, jaguars, nfl, raiders, walsh
Ice Rocket : camp, coughlin, culpepper, football, giants, jaguars, nfl, raiders, walsh

Powered by Zoundry

NFL Jabber 5/23/07

 Justin Gage knows he didn't make a very good first impression as a Titan.

"Very sluggish, very slow,'' is how Gage described his early days as a Titan. "It was more trying to get the plays down and thinking more than reacting and playing.''

This could be the breakout year for Jags TE, Marcedes Lewis.

The Redskins are apologizing for the mouth of Clinton Portis.

"The Washington Redskins, as an organization, obviously would never condone anything related to animal cruelty," the team's statement said. "The team takes the recent comments of Clinton Portis very seriously and apologizes to everyone that was offended."

An Arizona killer left this world with the last words..."Go Raiders."

Drew Brees feels the Saints are in better shpae this year at WR than last.

"We have a great group of receivers," said Brees, who was in no way hindered by his recovery from a dislocated, non-throwing (left) elbow injury he sustained in the Pro Bowl on Feb. 9 in Honolulu. "You're already seeing where it's going to piece together. We've got so many good guys. I'm excited about our options. We knew what we could accomplish based on last year, but I feel we could get so much better.

"We've been throwing together for the last four weeks. We've been doing our quarterback/receiver/tight end/running back throwing sessions twice a week for the last four weeks. So we've had some of that time together. Obviously, that hasn't been with any defense. You get it to where it's second nature and guys know the route depths and they know when the ball is coming out of my hand. So when you get out there, forget that there's a defense there, we're just going to play catch."

NFL Jabber 5/11/07

NFL is thinking about adding a 17th game. It would make one of the preseason games count. Being a part of the quest for world domination, the 17th game would take place outside the US.

When Vince Young sets his mind to something it seems to happen. He is focused on improving to another level this offseason. Coaches and teammates have taken notice already.

"The good thing about this league is you have to prove yourself every
year," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said of Young. "I don't see any
big-headedness (in Vince). If anything, he understands his role has to
get bigger this year. He's working at it."

Feathers in Joe Gibbs headdress are getting ruffled as half his starting secondary didn't show for "voluntary" workouts.

"With Sean Taylor, I've had no contact whatsoever," Gibbs said. "I'm
not aware of anything there. That's about all I can say about it. I've
had no contact."

"With Shawn Springs, I've had a lot of talks this offseason," Gibbs
said. "We kind of made up our decision how we were going to proceed
this year and that we were going to go ahead with our normal situation
with him contractually and every other way. I had a sit-down with him
in Phoenix. Up to two weeks ago we thought we were in real good shape
with him.

"Then all of a sudden we lost contact. I think that's
something up here that can happen. It's one of the things you have to
work your way through."

Greg Cote of The Miami Herald makes a good point in his cry for giving Culpepper and Ricky an earned chance.

Mike Shula enjoys taking the step from Bama coach to QB coach for the Jags.

"I love coaching quarterbacks," Shula said Thursday after the Jaguars completed their final day of organized team activities. "Our job is to get the most out of these guys."

tag: nfl, football, sports, jaguars, dolphins, redskins, titans, game, vince young, sean taylor, shawn springs, joe gibbs, daunte culpepper, ricky williams, greg cote, mike shula, alabama

NFL Jabber 4/23/07

The Colts class is taking their field trip to the white house today.

"It's something that goes with the territory,'' coach Tony Dungy said. "We're looking forward to getting the treatment champions get, but more than anything we're honored to be representing the National Football League and the city of Indianapolis at the White House.

"I'm looking forward to many of our guys probably seeing the White House for the first time. I've been there a couple of times, but it's going to be a thrill for all of us.''

Could residents of New Orleans still use some socks for their kids? The Ex-Mrs. Strahan could have boxed up and shipped off the baby clothes but instead had a massive yard sale in front of her mansion. Football fans were disappointed to find no giants gear. What kind of fuming Ex doesn't try to twist the knife on the guy she hates?

Ted Ginn Jr. has turned alot of heads with teams looking for this years Devin Hester in the return game. The Jaguars are the latest to take notice.

tag: nfl, draft, football, sports, colts, jaguars, giants, ted gin, strahan, dungy, white house, d.c.

If I could watch one game a week Part II

Ahhh, the NFL schedule release. The time when we football fans can visualize the upcoming season...almost touch that it's real. So as the mandatory move of anyone who puts sports print on the net I'm going to go through and list my "must see" games. If I could watch one game per week (that is not just my team) these would be the games at this point. If I had to set my DVR now, this would be the list...

Part I

Week 5


Chicago making the trip to Green Bay on a Sunday Night. You have the whole, "Might be Brett Favre's last trip to Chicago," thing. Bottom line is these teams hate each other and that makes great football for me. I love rivalry and this one goes way back. I'm sure The Pack would love nothing more but to knock the Bears down a notch on national TV.

Week 6


Cincinnati at Kansas City looks like the game for me this week. Six weeks into the season these two teams could be defining their playoff chances. If nothing else we can see Damon Huard exposed for the back-up QB that he is (if he hasn't been already) against a Cincy D.

Week 7


Monday Night, Colts go to Jacksonville. No matter how their season is going the Jags always play the Colts tough. Look at the spanking they put on the Colts last season, 44-17 (which was also the lat Jags win). YES...the Jags vanilla offense put up 44 points on the team that would go on to win the Super Bowl. It appears that the Colts are the only team the Jags fully prepare for anymore so I look forward to this one.

Week 8


HATE! Pittsburgh in Cincinnati. My cousin and his wife had to run for their lives out of a sports bar after Palmer went down with that leg thing in the playoffs in 2005. Another patron stated before fists started flying, "Look what you did to our Quarterback." Despite how ignorant the guy was to think my 5'1" cousin played for the Steelers, it was my cousins fault too for wearing a Steeler jersey into a Cincy Sports Bar after the playoff game. As I said before, I LOVE a good rivalry!

tag: nfl, sports, football, bengals, steelers, packers, bears, colts, jaguars, chiefs, schedule, game

NFL Jabber 3/31/07

Michael Turner is on the list of some teams for RB. The Packers and Bills have been mentioned. Now the Titans are showing interest. The Chargers may get a hell of a payday for their backup RB.

Kevin Faulk has no doubt that he and Lawrence Maroney can carry the load in New England.

"If he has to take more of the load, there is no doubt in my mind he can do it," Faulk said of Maroney, who had offseason shoulder surgery. "The thing about it is that he wants to be that guy for you. He is a competitor.

"Change happens all the time, but I don't see the group being different. Sammy seems like a great guy, so the thing will be finding how we all fit in, seeing what our niche will be as a running back group."

Pete Prisco has JaMarcus Russell at #20 on his list of draft prospects.

Have to chuckle at the response Tommie Harris gave when asked about Lance Briggs. I know reporters have to ask what is going on with the hot topic but come on...go to the source.

"I have talked to Lance, and Lance is doing fine," Harris said during the start of this weekend's Bears Fan Convention. "Lance is downstairs if you guys want to talk to him."

Keeping their backfield stocked, the Jags have re-signed LaBrandon Toefield.

TINO's Bloghouse
tag: nfl, draft, free agency, football, sports, patriots, bears, packers, bills, chargers, jaguars, kevin faulk, lawrence maroney, michael turner, pete prisco, jamarcus russell, tommy harris, lance briggs

PFT TURD WATCH Update

What's missing from this picture? The NFC East has goose eggs all around! Keeping with the East Coast theme...the AFC East would have a score of Zero as well if Joey Porter could handle losing at Black Jack better.

To get a list of the Police Beat click HERE to go to PFT.

clipped from www.profootballtalk.com PFT TURD WATCH LAST UPDATED: MARCH 27, 2007 STANDINGS AFC EAST Miami 3 AFC NORTH Cincinnati 14 Pittsburgh 3 AFC South Tennessee 30 Jacksonville 20 Indianapolis 6 AFC WEST Oakland 7 Denver 6 San Diego 2 Kansas City 1 NFC North Chicago 1 NFC South New Orleans 10 Atlanta 7 Carolina 6 NFC West St. Louis 3 Arizona 3 ABOUT TURD WATCH Turd Watch is a device for tracking and publicizing player arrests and convictions. Though some might find the name to be unpleasant, NFL scouts, coaches, players, and agents commonly use the term "turd" in reference to guys who are, well, turds.

tag: nfl, sports, football, dolphins, bengals, steelers, titans, jaguars, colts, raiders, broncos, chargers, chiefs, bears, saints, falcons, panthers, rams, cardinals, police, turd, watch, pro football talk

NFL Jabber 2/23/07

Steve Wyche at The AJC reports that the coppers dispute Michael Vick's jewelry box explanation. They found it funny that the place for his pretties wasn't brought up until now as well.

"I had earrings in it, and I had jewelry in it," Vick said of the 20-ounce Aquafina bottle, which was red-flagged at the security checkpoint because liquid containers of that size can't be carried through. "They took the bottle. I don't know what they did with the bottle. I guess they were trying to, I don't want to say frame me, but at the same time look at what I had to go through."

"That's the first we've heard of that," Detective Nelda Fonticella, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said when asked if Vick was carrying jewelry in the bottle. "If he has any kind of problem with the way things were handled, then he needs to talk to internal affairs."

One of the first things Matt Schaub did when getting into Houston was asked for his new teammates numbers. Matt, I gotta tell ya...Suck up all you want, your going to be sacked. David Carr didn't spend so much time on his back because they didn't like him...

"One of the most important areas of playing this position is being a leader, not only on the field but in the locker room, in the weight room, in the community," Schaub said at his introductory news conference Thursday. "Those are all the intangibles that a quarterback has to have and are part of his responsibility — being able to lead the team. Not just the offense, but the defense and special teams — the quarterback is the leader of the entire group."

The Jags signed TE Jermaine Wiggins to a one-year deal.

Jon Kitna shows his confidence not only in the Lions but that he will remain their QB. 10 wins isn't too fan fetched, right? Come on Jon!

"I really think we should not win any less than 10 games this year, to be honest," he said. "Last year, the won-lost record (3-13), I didn't really necessarily look at that as much as I look at where did we start at and where did we get to. You're looking at certain games that would have been different had we known a little more about each other and known more about the system. There were a number of games where confusion cost us. The way the team got better in terms of who's coming and who's going this offseason, I'd say anything less than 10 wins would be a disappointment."

Armando Salguero at the Miami Herald reports that, like a used car salesman, the Texans are asking what they need to do to put the Dolphins in this Carr today.

TINO's Bloghouse
tag: nfl, free agency, trade, football, sports, dolphins, falcons, texans, jaguars, lions, michael vick, david carr, matt schaub, jermaine wiggens,

NFL Jabber 3/21/07

Lovie Smith and Adam Archuleta will be reunited in Chicago. The deal sends Washington a sixth round pick.

In other Bears jabber, Rex Grossman says he deserves criticism...and praise, but his play wasn't as bad as made out to be. (Sounds to me like he isn't quite accepting the criticism part).

"In some games, I was bad," Grossman told the Baltimore Sun. "I had 13 or 14 games I'm extremely proud of and five or six that were really bad. The swings of criticism were much bigger than swings in my play."

Byron Leftwich's agent says he has not asked for a trade but does not know if he will show for offseason training programs next week.

Shaun Rogers is a no-show for the start of Lions offseason workouts.

Something else that looks to seal that Trent Green is out the door...Herm Edwards is talking about Brodie Croyle getting a shot to compete.

“He’s going to get an opportunity,” Edwards said. “Maybe it doesn’t work out. But at least you’ll know. That’s not to say he’s going to be the starter. I don’t know who that guy is going to be at this point. But it needs to be open for competition, in my opinion, from what happened last year. It’s just the way we need to go. I want to find out where he’s at. Until you give players the ability to go out there and do it, you never know. It’s just a matter of getting Brodie some reps where he’s in competition and … where you can see how he can perform.”

Big Ben makes no excuses for his off season in Pitt.

"You know what? I might have still had the same year," if there had been no trauma, Roethlisberger said. "Who knows? I'm not going to look back and say, wow, this is what caused this and this is what caused that. There's no need for that. It's a bad year. It's going to happen. That's just the way it goes."

The Seahawks new HQ will be called the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

TINO's Bloghouse
tag: nfl, free agency, draft, trade, football, sports, bears, chiefs, nfc, afc, seahawks, steelers, lions, jaguars, redskins, herm edwards, trent green, brodie croyle, ben roethlisberger, shaun rogers, lovie smith, rex grossman, adam archuleta

NFL Jabber 3/20/07

There was an alleged rape at the home of Patrick Kerney. Kerney is not a suspect in the case, the alleged victim is a friend of his. Saeed Ahmed of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the woman and some friends got a ride home (she said Kerney's home was her own) from a bar from three men. After falling asleep she awoke to find one of the men raping her. She had the perfect idea to escape from a pervert by telling him that she was going to get a friend to join them.

The Packers have to fill a void at RB. Kevan Barlow' name is coming up (yikes). Perfect scenario would to get a stud in the draft but those are shallow at the RB position this year. Barlow's agent, Doug Hendrickson wants to remind people of that.

"There are two good backs (Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson and California's Marshawn Lynch) in the draft," Hendrickson said. "There's more maybe later on Day 1 or Day 2. But really, there are two good backs, and the rest are marginal, at best."

Jacksonville safety Gerald Sensabaugh is contributing to the Jags rise on the Turd Alert. www.jacksonville.com reports he was charged with having a loaded gun in his vehicle. I don't know if it is racial profiling or just Tennessee but where I come from, they ask us if we have been drinking, not if we are packing.

"The police department report said the radar indicated he was driving his 2006 BMW 84 mph in a 55-mph zone. The officer asked whether there were any firearms in the vehicle and was told yes but he did not have a carry permit, the incident report said."

It's the time of year again to talk about reworking the overtime system in the NFL.

Arizona has next years Super Bowl but is already looking ahead to 2011.

The Lions Damien Woody has dropped 31 pounds since the Super Bowl in his attempt to get under the 335 lb. limit set by the team for the offseason.

The Fins and Trent Green's people are still talking about a possible trade.

New Steelers coach Mike Tomlin met with his team for the first time yesterday.

"He laid down the law," wide receiver Cedrick Wilson said.

"He stepped in and kind of laid down the law a little bit, like, 'Hey guys it's going to be a little bit uncomfortable but as soon as we can get over that it's going to be better for all of us.' The guys worked hard today, on the field and also in the weight room, and I look for the same thing tomorrow."

Despite the departure of Norv Turner in San Fran, his system is sticking around. Good news for QB Alex Smith.

"I look forward to year two in an offense. It's been awhile since I have had that opportunity," said Smith, who has played in three different offensive systems the past three years dating to his final college season. "That's how you get to be a successful offense and win divisions and win championships. The Indianapolis Colts are the epitome of that. You look at their offense and they've been together for nine years."

LB Chris Draft has joined the Rams.

"We didn't promise him anything when it came to the position," coach Scott Linehan said. "But he's a proven player who has come in and played at a high level when he's been called upon to start. Certainly we're going to play the best 11 players on defense."

TINO's Bloghouse
tag: nfl, free agency, trade, football, sports, lions, falcons, seahawks, packers, jaguars, dolphins, steelers, 49'ers, panthers, chris draft, scott linehan, alex smith, super bowl, cedrick wilson, Mike tomlin, trent green, gerald sensabaugh, patrick kerney

NFL Jabber 3/2/07

Yes! Free Agency has begun...things are happening. Let's have a look around the league, shall we?

In what some call a crazy move by the Steelers, Joey Porter was let go.

Joey Porter is known for his mouth as much as his play. HERE are some quotes from his past.

The Bills are looking to trade LB Takio Spikes.

Lovie doesn't seem as chipper as some think he should be after cashing in.

The Saints didn't feel Joe Horn was worth $5.5 Million and let him walk.

The Bucs are looking for a vet QB, names coming up? Plummer, Garcia, Brooks, and that former Buc Johnson.

Fred Taylor appears to be finishing his career in Jax.

Broncos, Seahawks, Niners, and Browns were the most aggressive in getting on the phone at 12:01am when free agency began.

The Broncos-Lions trade of Tatum Bell and George Foster for Dre' Bly opens some doors for the Lions on draft day.

The ravens have made offers to all three of their Restricted Free Agents.

The Bengals are looking to sign at home before looking on the outside.

Bill Parcells is joining the ESPN NFL squad.

The Chiefs have four starters looking for a new home.

The Dolphins plan to be cautious in Free Agency according to GM Randy Mueller. "Our plan probably is, we need quantity over quality,'' Mueller said at last week's NFL combine. ``Don't take that the wrong way.''

The Vikings have given the boot to Fred Smoot, Jermaine Wiggens, and Mike Rosenthal. Rams WR Kevin Curtis is set for a visit.

There are already four teams calling Daniel Graham, free agent TE of the Patriots.

The first call San Diego Guard, Kris Dielman made after midnight was to the Seahawks. Seattle Post Intelligencer says, "One scout at the NFL scouting combine last week labeled the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Dielman "a mauler who plays with a mean streak." Sound familiar? Those are two of the components that help set Hutchinson apart".

The Titans have let TE Erin Kinney walk. "We want to thank Erron for his play through the years, and I think he understood where we were coming from with this move," Titans General Manager Mike Reinfeldt said. Awwwwww.

The Skins are looking at London Fletcher and Fred Smoot.

Dan Morgan has agreed to restructure his deal. Jake Delhomme and Mike Rucker have already done so.

The Bengals Free Agent Lineman, Eric Steinbach is visiting the Browns, who could really use the help on the line.

Technorati Tags: nfl, free agency, browns, steelers, bills, panthers, bengals, saints, titans, dolphins, espn,

NFL Jabber 3/1/07

With the debate over which QB should go first in the draft I have seen alot of Manning vs. Leaf comparisons to the situation. Phil Taylor at SI.com dives into the debate a little more here.

With all the franchise tags the Free Agent pool is getting shallow. "I think everybody kind of has visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads," Tennessee General Manager Mike Reinfeldt said, "and as you go through, Indy tags a player, Cincy does and all of the sudden a lot of the difference-makers aren't there. That being said, if you do your homework in free agency, you can find players that will help your roster."

The Jamal Lewis cut was a cap-related move and he is still likely to return to the Ravens.

Speaking of cap cuts, the Bengals booted LB Brian Simmons.

The Lions are eyeing Rams WR, Kevin Curtis.

The Fins can see alot of changes on the Defensive line front come tomorrow, possibly leafing them to go young and D in the draft.

Brad Johnson is gone in Minny. Johnson, who spoke in recent days to Childress and owner Zygi Wilf, said: "I just want to thank Zygi and Brad. I think there is a lot of respect now on both sides. Things ended on a good note."

Steve Corkan of the Contra Costa Times thinks that Jeff Garcia may be stalked by the Raiders. "If the Raiders call once free agency beings, Oakland definitely will be one of the places he seriously considers," said Steve Baker, Garcia's agent.

Jim Wyatt at the Tennessean.com discusses why he thinks Vince Young will attract Free Agents (with good reason). Keith Bullock agrees-"The things that we've done, they see what has been going on. Definitely I think this will be looked at as an attractive place in spite of what's happened in the past," linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "I think we shouldn't have a hard time trying to get free agents and high-quality free agents, top free agents.''

TE Kris Mangum of the Panthers is calling it quits after ten years with the team.

With all their cash, the Browns are licking their chops waiting on free agency to begin.

The Texans have given the boot to Eric Moulds, Zack Wiegert and Seth Payne. "We all face difficult decisions at this time of the year," Texans general manager Rick Smith said. "We're doing everything we can to improve our team."

Saints Tackle, Jon Stinchcomb is watching the clock, hoping to stay a Saint.

The Chargers put a huge price on Michael Turner. “I'd just feel better to have him in '07,” General Manager A.J. Smith said Wednesday. “If anything happens to LT – God Almighty! – that he gets hurt.”

The Jags are going to be looking at a more vertical passing game (Moss rumors still going)?

NFL Jabber 2/28/07

Bryant Young is going to be sticking around with the Niners for at least another year.

Decent write up on the battle for the #1 pick on SI.com

The Cowboys are looking to resign Marc Columbo and are expected to boot Bledsoe.

The Dolphins may release Joey Harrington before Friday.

The Broncos and Redskins are listed as teams looking to trade for the Lions Dre Bly.

Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star says Damon Huard is getting paid in KC. What does this mean for Trent Green? “I don’t know what this means for Trent at this point because I haven’t had any conversations with the Chiefs, and neither has Trent,” said Green’s agent, Jim Steiner. “I can’t speculate and won’t speculate.”

New Mexico Lawmakers Honor Brian Urlacher.

A restructured contract could land Randy Moss in Green Bay.

Steelers resigned starting DE Aaron Smith.

Pacman's family is sick of his Sh*t as well. "Everybody tries to talk to him," Robert Jones said. "I do. His mother talks to him, his grandparents talk to him. … I don't know, I just think he is out of control. I've told him I think he is out of damn control, but he doesn't want to hear it. I hate to say things on the negative because I want to see him do good. But it is hard to see him keep getting involved in stuff like this. …''

Adrian Peterson and Calvin Johnson had awesome combine workouts.

The Bills have resigned left DE Chris Kelsay.

The Chargers have hired a couple of coaching hands.

Jags QB Leftwich hasn't said a word since being named starter for 2007.

Technorati Tags: nfl, draft, niners, combine, dolhins, harrington, broncos, redskins, chiefs, urlacher, randy, moss, green bay, steelers, pacman, bills, chargers, leftwich, jaguars,