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Vikings WR Rice’s Absence A Hip Problem Or A Wallet Issue? Or Both?

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 08:45 PM PDT

I have been wondering for quite some time about the mysterious hip injury that is keeping wide receiver Sidney Rice off the field.

In Judd Zulgad's recent article about the situation, he goes out of his way so many times to assure readers that he is not suggesting that Rice is faking his injury, that it makes me wonder if, well, Rice is faking his injury.

I won't go so far as to say that is my official opinion (heck, it isn't even my unofficial opinion) but there is no doubt that there are two issues at play here.  First, the hip injury, of course.  Second, the fact that last year Rice had the fourth most receiving yards in the NFL and he is set to make only $550,000 this year.

Rice's 1,312 regular season yards and eight touchdowns should suggest that Rice is due a pay raise.  If that doesn't convince you, then how about those 184 playoff yards with four touchdowns?

The bottom line is that Rice feels that those numbers should have earned him a new contract and that the Vikings think the fact that he didn't do squat in his other two NFL seasons means he needs to further prove himself.

The unsettling nature of the Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn't help matters at all.

The questions of when Rice will return, how healthy and productive he will be, and how much he'll be getting paid are all questions that matter plenty to the Vikings 2010 Super Bowl hopes.

Thoughts on the First Eagles Depth Chart of 2010

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 08:38 PM PDT

DeSean Jackson

The Eagles have released their first version of the depth chart as they prepare for their matchup on Friday with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Here are some of my observations on the depth chart:

Hank Baskett listed in front of Riley Cooper
Despite all the raving people are doing about Riley Cooper, he is still listed behind Hank Baskett on the depth chart. This isn't a big surprise and could definitely change. I think Cooper has definitely outperformed Baskett offensively, but he will need to prove that he can be valuable on special teams. Before the regular season starts, I expect to see Cooper listed ahead of Baskett.

Cornelius Ingram listed in front Clay Harbor
Not a surprise at all, but I think it's definitely something to keep an eye on. Harbor is having a very strong camp, and Ingram is starting to miss practices because of his knees. Ingram can be a great player if he can stay healthy, but he seems like he might be one of those guys that can't stay healthy. If Harbor continues to shine and Ingram's knees don't heal, watch out for Harbor to jump to the backup spot.

Charles Scott listed only at the fullback position
I guess this could be for a few reasons. First, I'm sure the Eagles wanted to list a backup and had no one else to put. Scott has been taking snaps at fullback, but that's not why the Eagles brought him in. Also, I've heard that he has stone hands and that's not a good thing for a running back to have in the Eagles system. He's a bruiser running the ball and I think the Eagles are high on him, so we'll see how it works out.

Juqua Paker still listed as a starter
Putting his mini holdout aside, Brandon Graham has done everything right. He's doing even more than the Eagles expected and is showing them they didn't make a mistake in drafting him. I'm not overly surprised he's not listed as the starter; he'll be there by the opener.

Nate Allen listed as a starter (only rookie)
Not surprised by this, it's just rare to see rookies listed as starters this early. If Marlin Jackson didn't go down, he'd probably be listed as the starter. This would just be on paper, and like Graham, he would probably start the opener anyway. Being listed this way, he has a lot to prove.

DeSean Jackson listed as staring punt returner
There has been a lot of talk about whether or not the Eagles would transition Jackson out of the punt return game to try and prevent injury. As of now, he's still listed as the starter. I have mixed feelings on the matter. When he's back there, he's absolutely electrifying. However, I'd hate to see him get seriously injured on a return. He takes a lot of his returns down the sideline so hopefully he continues that trend so he can avoid the big hit.

What are your thoughts on the depth chart?

Texans Owner Lobbys Goodell for Reduction on Cushing Suspension

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 08:23 PM PDT

Last night, FOX 26 News broke the news that Texans owner Bob McNair  would meet with NFL Comissioner Roger Goodell with new and perhaps conclusive evidence that Brian Cushing was not taking banned substances to raise his hCG level.  McNair, who paid the path for this evidence, contends that his Rookie of the Year linebacker suffered from "Overtrained Athlete Syndrome," which naturally elevated his body's hCG.  Cushing rejected allegations earlier this summer that he has never taken performance enhancing drugs, and he maintained his position recently with a SI interview with Peter King:

"Everything points to that overtrained athlete syndrome.  I'm pretty sure it is.  I'm pretty positive.  I didn't take anything.  It's not a tainted supplement.  So all roads lead to that."

McNair agreed:

"He shows no sign of ever having been on steroids.  His weight hasn't changed appreciably since he's been with us.  I've looked nto it pretty thoroughly, and I haven't found anything that would lead me to believe that he has ever taken a performance-enhancing drug."

And for Cushing, after morning practice he told the media that he's a more than pleased under McNair as his NFL owner"

"It means a lot.  That's the kind of owner you really want to play for. .  .  I couldn't be playing anywhere better in the world that supports me like this."

We'll keep you updated with all the McNair and Goodell meeting news here at NFLGridironGab.com!

Defense the Story in Cardinals Red-White Game

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 03:02 PM PDT

The Cardinals held their annual Red-White practice this past Saturday (8/7) with the first team defense scrimmaging against the first team offense in front of approximately 11,000 Cardinals fans.  The defense showed they are far ahead of the offense by only allowing one touchdown and pretty much dominating the entire contest.  Leinart was picked off three times and Anderson was intercepted twice, though Whisenhunt claims that some of those picks were the result of bad protection.  "You know it's one weekend," Whisenhunt said.  "We've done a lot of good things in the practices this week and you can't make assessments too quickly based on what you see on one day."  Unfortunately, this is the second report about Leinart's interception troubles, which I still say isn't that big of a deal at this point, but hopefully they stop sooner rather than later.

The lone bright spot for the offense came on a 10-yard touchdown throw from Derek Anderson to rookie WR Stephen Williams.  In addition, the Cards ran goal line drills with a Matt Leinart running touchdown negated by a holding penalty.  Further, Beanie Wells was stuffed on a third and goal as he attempted to jump over the goal line.

As expected, Whisenhunt isn't panicking with regards to the offense.  The head coach remarked that it's "not surprising" that the defense is ahead of the offense at this point in training camp.  It's true that it usually takes longer for an offense than a defense to click together, but hopefully it does happen for the Cards before the regular season begins.  I suppose we can be happy that the defense looked good, but  we don't know whether that's only because the offense played so poorly.

Jay Feely connected on two field goals, one from 50-yards out.

Injury Report:

  • WR Early Doucet was held out with an abdominal injury.  It doesn't appear to be serious and he should be practicing soon.
  • FB Charles Ali walked off the field with a hamstring injury on Friday (8/6), which will reportedly keep him out a few weeks.
  • CB Michael Adams only participated in drills.
  • TE Anthony Becht suited up, but did not play.

49′ers Lose Center Eric Heitmann to a Broken Fibula

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 02:57 PM PDT

The Niners got awful news today about center Eric Heitmann, as Matt Maiocco just tweeted the following about an injury that will keep him out up to two months:

Source tells CSN Bay Area 49ers center Eric Heitmann will miss 6 to 8 weeks with a broken left fibula.

This is bad news for the Niners, as listed 2nd on the depth chart at center is Cody Wallace, a 4th round pick in the 2008 draft from Texas A&M.

Raiders Ink Former Redskins QB Colt Brennan

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 11:50 AM PDT

The Raiders have added another former Redskins QB to their team, as Tweets from various sources state the team has added Colt Brennan to the roster.

One guy that tweeted about it in just the last few minutes was former Redskin and now Washington Post commentator LaVar Arrington:

CONGRATS ARE IN ORDER FOR MY DUDE COLT BRENNAN HE WILL BE JOINING A STEADILY IMPROVING RAIDERS TEAM!

Brennan was a fan favorite with the Redskins, but had a couple hip surgeries, and the team picked up former Ravens QB John Beck, and decided to cut ties with the former University of Hawaii star.

Post 2010 NFL HOF Game Thoughts From the Bengals Side

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 11:27 AM PDT


Well, it wasn't quite what we were looking for from the Bengals, even if it was only the first preseason game.  The 16-7 loss did nothing to dispense concerns regarding the areas the team needs to improve upon from 2009.  The passing offense continued to struggle, and the offensive line had difficulty containing the Cowboy pass rush. The team continued to show a lack of discipline in committing 12 penalties, including killers that negated a fumble recovery on defense and a couple of big gains on offense.

However, there were some bright spots.  The defense held up very well against the powerful Dallas offense, and there were some good returns in the kicking game.

The team has a lot to work on as they move on to their next preseason tilt Sunday versus Denver.  Here's a look at each of the points of interest I wrote about prior to the game, and the results we saw last night:

  • Carson Palmer's Accuracy: Palmer played in only two series, but finished just 2-of-5 for a meager 18 yards. Both completions went to his shiny new toy, Terrell Owens. Palmer's attempts, when not pressured, were generally on-target, but he found himself under a lot of pressure every time he dropped back.
  • Batman & Robin Premiere: Palmer went to these two with all five of his attempts. Unfortunately, he only completed two. While Gotham City (or Cincinnati) shouldn't throw a parade for these guys yet, with only two offensive series' together, it's tough to get too high or too low on these caped crusaders.
  • Offensive Line Play: Troubling to say the least. Whether it was the first-teamers with Carson Palmer, or the back-ups with J.T. O'Sullivan and Jordan Palmer, the protection was suspect all game. The team can certainly run block, but OL coach Paul Alexander has a lot of work to do if the passing game is going to improve.

  • Rookie Receivers: Not much happened with these guys last night. First-round TE Jermaine Gresham was blanked, though he was missed on one particularly bad throw when he was open. Third-rounder Jordan Shipley finished with 2 catches for 17 yards, but also had a few mistakes. Sixth-rounder Dez Briscoe got one catch for 11 yards in the second half.
  • Michael Johnson:  Linebacker. This was one of the more pleasant sights last night. Johnson's move to linebacker has so far proven to be a good one. Johnson was very effective against mostly first-teamers in the first half, and made plays throughout his time on the field.  Johnson finished with 2 sacks and 3 tackles, but also provided consistent pressure on Dallas quarterbacks. He forced Jon Kitna and Stephen McGee into bad throws on the run. Look for Johnson to have a big impact in Mike Zimmer's defense this year.
  • Adam Jones:  The man formerly known as "Pacman" started at corner with Johnathan Joseph down to rest injuries. Jones was solid in coverage against the much taller Cowboy receivers, and did a good job on kick returns. Jones had a 9-yard punt return and a 31-yard kick-off return.
  • Long-snapper: Former UC Bearcat Mike Windt and incumbent Clark Harris alternated snaps, with neither player creating any distance.  Both had generally good, fast and accurate snaps.
  • Kicker: Mike Nugent was down due to injury, and his competition, Dave Rayner, didn't get many opportunities, so this one is essentially a push. Rayner nailed his only scoring attempt, an extra point, and both of his kick-offs made it into the end zone (something Shayne Graham did rarely). One of the two kick-offs was a touchback.
  • Cowboy re-unions: The former Cowboys on the Bengals' roster clearly enjoyed their reunions with former teammates. Owens will clearly get some publicity this week for lamenting the fact he's no longer with them.
  • Matt Jones versus Jerome Simpson: Round one goes to Jones. The former first-round pick of the Jaguars doesn't look particularly fast or agile out there, but he made some nice catches, and showed to be difficult to tackle in the open field. Jones finished leading the team with 3 catches for 42 yards. Simpson, despite all his athleticism, looked out-of-control and undisciplined. He wasn't blessed with a lot of good balls to catch, but he didn't do himself any favors with is 2 catches for 19 yards.
  • Jordan Palmer vs. J.T. O'Sullivan: The O'Sullivan experiment is not working. In my unscientific opinion, the well-traveled journeyman looked like he had no idea what he was doing, showed a confidence problem and wasn't accurate with his passes, even when he had ample time to throw. The younger Palmer had two ugly interceptions, but nevertheless showed a lot more poise and inner confidence. The numbers are in Palmer's favor as well. O'Sullivan finished with an ugly 4 for 11 for 33 yards and one interception. Palmer finished 10 for 20 for 102 yards and a touchdown pass to go with 2 picks. Neither guy will make us forget Carson, or stop praying that he stays healthy, but the younger Palmer is clearly the better option at this point as primary back-up.

So the team had 3 specific goals as I mentioned prior to the game:

  1. Don't lose anyone to injuries—particularly starters
  2. Get some evaluation tape—particularly back-ups.
  3. See Number 1.

Number 2 was going to happen regardless, but number one is yet to be determined. Defensive starters Antwan Odom (eye) and Chris Crocker (ankle) both went down, but early reports are they will be fine. Third-down back Brian Leonard, however, looks to have a serious foot injury. Test results back in Cincinnati are pending, but if Leonard will miss significant time, it will be a huge blow to the struggling offense.

Other bright spots for the Bengals:

  • Rookie DT Geno Atkins was active and disruptive on defense, routinely breaking double-teams and getting into the offensive back field. Atkins finished leading the defense with 6 total tackles and a sack.
  • Jordan Shipley's 63-yard punt return to the Dallas 2-yard line set up the team's only offensive score, and showed that his return skills to translate to the next level. Shipley found a nice crease in the coverage, broke several tackles, and looked quick.
  • Chase Coffman had a nice 21-yard catch in traffic on fourth-and-long. Getting Coffman into the offense should be a priority for offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski.

Next week, we'll need to see some more improvement from the first team offense, particularly from the line and the pass receivers. On defense, more pass rush is still a high priority.

Thoughts on the Divorce Between the Bills and Aaron Schobel

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 11:08 AM PDT

My initial reaction to the Bills and defensive end Aaron Schobel ending their nine year relationship last Thursday wasn't one of shock or disappointment.   Essentially, it is what it is.

He spent nine seasons rushing the passer for the Bills, starting 107 straight games.  His 78 career sacks, second only in Bills history to Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.  Schobel led the Bills in sacks in eight of nine seasons.  Along with Smith, Schobel is the only other defensive player in Bills history with four seasons of 10 plus sacks.

But by the end of last season and as he began talking about his possible retirement shorty after the conclusion of 2009, I knew Schobel's last game in a Bills uniform was the season finale victory against the Indianapolis Colts.  The writing was on the wall.  The Bills completed another miserable season and were facing the prospects of trying to rebuild back to respectability yet again.

From that vantage point, it didn't make much sense to me that Schobel would return.  He'll be 33 next month and he's in the twilight of his playing days, and while he's never gone public with demands or expressed his full displeasure with the organization these last nine years, I fully believe Schobel when he said he was relieved that the Bills decided to move forward without him.

Schobel never struck me as a guy who would walk into Buddy Nix's office and demand to be traded or released instead of coming back to what could be another long, losing season in Buffalo.  Certainly in nine years, I'm guessing there was a time or two Schobel felt like demanding to head for the exits.  But that was never his way.  His mouth never did his talking; his play on the field did.

You won't find me complaining about Schobel because there's nothing for me to complain about.  He never made off the field headlines with strip club altercations, domestic disturbances or drug charges.  He was a very good player for the Bills, not a game changer or cornerstone, but a player you never questioned whether or not he was going to show up on Sundays.

For too many years during his tenure in Buffalo, he was the Bills' only legitimate pass rushing threat.  There's no denying that Bruce Smith will go down as the one of the best defensive players ever in Buffalo and the NFL.  Schobel came to the Bills at a time when Buffalo was looking for the slightest pass rusher who could even get to the quarterback, let alone rank second all time in history in sacks. But nine years later, now it's the rest of the Bills' roster looking at one another wondering who's going to pick up the slack Schobel left behind.

Indeed, there were numerous things that Tom Donahoe did very wrong, but giving the devil his due, Donahoe got this one right.  Schobel was the second pick under the Tom Donahoe era and in a decade where the Bills have had way too many draft misses, Schobel turned out to be a hit.  Even if the teams he played for didn't.

Schobel will probably be viewed as a good football player who played for a bad bunch of teams, and it's hard to argue if that's your opinion.  He witnessed only one winning season with the Bills in 2004 and he's never tasted the playoffs.  From the Monday night debacles, rebuilding projects and losing seasons, Schobel's play probably deserved much better than the outcomes he's been around for.

He's one of the few Bills who experienced the only victory they've had against the New England Patriots in 2003.  Ironically, as dreadfully brutal the Bills have been against the Patriots, Schobel's 12 sacks against Tom Brady are the most by a defensive player in the NFL.  His only career touchdown came in last season's opener at New England when Schobel picked off an attempted screen pass from Brady and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

Schobel's best season in a  Bills uniform was in 2006 when he recorded a career-best 14 sacks, which was the third highest total that season.  He made his first Pro Bowl appearance and was rewarded with a lucrative 7-year contract worth $50.25 million shortly after the 2006 concluded.

Last season, Schobel returned to his consistent, playing form after a disastrous 2008 season in which he missed 11 games because of a Lisfranc foot injury.  He registered 10 sacks and forced three fumbles, and again proved to be the Bills' most consistent and threatening pass rusher.

I still think Schobel has some football left in the playing tank, and my guess is that he'll land with a team that has a chance to make the playoffs and beyond.  It'll be weird not seeing No.94 on defense for the Bills, but for the best defensive player Buffalo has had for nearly 10 seasons, he deserves a chance to get a taste of what playoff football is like.

Best of luck to Aaron Schobel!

NBC Dumps Keith Olbermann From ‘SNF’ Crew

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 08:45 AM PDT


There will be a different look to the crew at ‘Sunday Night Football’ this season at NBC, as the NY Post is reporting that loud newsman Keith Olbermann is being taken off the crew.

Bombastic cable news commentator Keith Olbermann is being yanked off NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” this year, according to reports.

Olbermann’s MSNBC bosses are said to be behind the move to remove him from his high-profile spot on the pre-game show, “Football Night In America ,” after complaining that it was distracting him from his job on the cable news network.

Seems Olbermann missed several Friday night editions of his MSNBC show, “Countdown,” because of his commitment to the football show, and NBC news execs were unhappy.

NBC officials assured reporters that Olbermann’s florid, left-of-center politics and tendency to rant against Republicans is not the reason he is being yanked.

It was simply that his new cable bosses did not want the conflict any longer between his cable job and the Sunday night game.
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