NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

HoustonTexans.com's Nick Scurfield reported that Gary Kubiak suggested that backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky would take the majority of the snaps in the preseason opener in Arizona.

"He needs to play a bunch," Kubiak said. "For backup quarterbacks, preseason is their season. So, he'll have to play a lot of football. I want to take a look at J.D. (John David Booty); he will play. But obviously, Dan is going to play a great deal."

Kubiak's right, Orlovsky did not record a down in 2009 for the Texans, and last season he spent the offseason losing the backup quarterback job to current Redskin Rex Grossman.   Orlovsky's last four games on an NFL field took place in week 9, 15, 16, and 17 with Detroit in 2008.

The New England Patriots announced Friday that defensive end Ty Warren has been placed on injured reserve (IR), and defensive end Derrick Burgess has been reinstated to the active roster. Burgess has flirted with retirement the past couple weeks, but this move ensures that he is coming back. Warren, however, will miss the entire 2010 season, opting to undergo season ending surgery to repair a torn labrum next week.

Burgess has been missing from training camp since it opened on July 29th, and it was widely believed that he was retiring. With Burgess back into the fold the team on paper strengthens its pass rush, but the loss of Warren is a crushing blow to the defensive line.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick elaborated on the teams decision to put Warren on injured reserve Friday. "[It was a] tough break of Ty but we have to move on. He's missed quite a bit of time the last couple of years, so we've had to deal with that anyway," Belichick said. "It's unfortunate, but unfortunately that's part of the game, so we'll just move ahead."

As for Burgess, Belichick said he reported to the team Friday morning and passed his physical and conditioning test. He called him "ready to go" and described him as a "very knowledgeable pass rusher."

"He has a good understanding of his opponents, pass-rush technique, and how to defeat blockers and how specifically to defeat individual blockers based on their strengths and weaknesses and how he matches up against them," said Belichick.

Ty Warren skipped the teams offseason strength and conditioning program to return to class at Texas A&M this summer, and was injured early in training camp. Warren played through a horrific abdominal injury in 2008, missed three games late last season with an ankle injury and this injury may be a result of wear and team over the past couple of season, as well as skipping the teams offseason program. Warren turned down a $200,000 bonus to skip the offseason program to return to Texas A&M this summer. Skipping the offseason strength and conditioning program most likely didn't help prevent the injury.

The Patriots starters on the defensive line now consist of Gerard Warren, Vince Wilfork, and Mike Wright, and depth is a major issue for New England going forward. The Patriots have veteran Damione Lewis, second year pros Ron Brace and Myron Pryor, and rookies Brandon Deaderick, Kade Weston, and Kyle Love on the roster as well. Expect the Patriots to make a major push for free agent defensive end Aaron Schobel over the next couple days.

It almost doesn't feel real, but the Eagles will play in their first preseason game tonight at the Linc against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The starters will get to strut their stuff for the first quarter before the backups come in and try to prove that they're worthy of a roster spot. I'm assuming the Jaguars starters will do the same so here's some of the matchups I'll be looking at:

Eagles Offensive Line vs. Jaguars Defensive Line
The Eagles offensive line has to be the biggest question mark on the team right now. On the line, the Jaguars have some big boys up front, including first round draft pick Tyson Alualu. I'm not sure if he'll be running with the first team at all, but I'd like to see how the Eagles interior line holds up no matter who's there.

The Jaguars also added Aaron Kampman this offseason, a veteran defensive end who will look to get to Kevin Kolb early and often. Kampman will be a good early test for Jason Peters, who is going to see a lot of talented defensive ends this season.

The Eagles have a high powered offense, but it can only be as good as their line. The amount of time Kolb has to throw the ball will be something to watch.

Eagles Receivers vs. Jaguars Secondary
Passing the ball will be the Eagles bread and butter this season, so I'll be keeping my eye on the young wide outs and the rhythm they have with Kolb.

The Eagles are extremely deep at this position and I'd like to see all the receivers get involved tonight. I'm not particularly interested in seeing the Eagles hit a homerun on a deep ball (although I'll take it if it happens), but I'd like to see them churn out a bunch of quick hitting passes that move the chains.

Eagles Run Defense vs. Maruice Jones-Drew
In the final games of the 2009 season, the Eagles could not stop the run to save their lives. Maurice Jones-Drew is one of the best running backs in the leagues, and hopefully Ernie Sims hits him 10 times harder than he's hit any of his teammates in practice.

Teams will try to keep the Eagles offense off the field this year, and the best way to do that is by establishing a run game. I'm hoping to see the Eagles shut down the run and force teams to drop back and throw the ball. Which brings me to my next matchup…

Eagles Defensive Ends vs. Jaguars Offensive Tackles
The Eagles focused a lot this offseason in improving their personnel at defensive end. They have a slew of new guys joining veterans Trent Cole and Juqua Parker.

Brandon Graham has looked great in practice, so I hope to see him perform the same way tonight. Graham and Cole should be able to drive quarterbacks nuts this season and they have some nice depth at the position to keep up the pressure even when these two aren't on the field.

Nate Allen vs. Anything that comes his way
Allen is the only rookie listed as a starter as it stands right now and there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders to perform at a high level. Whether it's stepping up and helping against the run or doing what he does best (ball hawking), I want to see this kid make some plays.

Brian Dawkins left a huge hole when he left Philadelphia and I'm ready to see Allen step in and fill the void.

What matchups will you be keeping an eye on tonight?

The first preseason game is all about making a positive first impression. But the Bears Saturday night game versus the Chargers offers some intriguing storylines too. Consider the game will be the first time…

• Lovie Smith gets to see his shiny new defensive monster, Julius Peppers, harass an opposing QB. This one just so happens to be Jay Cutler's old AFC West archrival, Phillip Rivers. Peppers has looked dominate at times in camp against the Bears tackles. But now it's time to see how he fares (in limited action) against another team.
• Bears fans get to marvel in the formation shifts, 7-step drops and 3- and 4-wide receiver sets of offensive guru, Mike Martz. It will be interesting to see how in-sync Cutler and his talented young receiving corps are after offseason OTAs and two weeks of training camp.
• We see the reportedly rejuvenated Matt Forte run in an offense that could allow him to put up All-Pro numbers. He won't get more than 8 carries on Saturday, but Bears fans should see a swifter, smoother #22.
• Defensive rookies Major Wright and Corey Wootten get the chance to stand out on tape…and potentially move up the depth chart. Don't be surprised if these guys play a half or more.

And of course, we have to add in some drama in the form of…

Cuter vs. Rivers revisited. After battling head-to-head for three years and cussing each other out from across the sidelines during games, it's obvious these guys can't stand each other. I'll be almost as interested in seeing whether they exchange pleasantries before or after the game as the game itself.

Lovie vs. Rivera. Ron Rivera, the popular defensive coordinator Lovie canned after the Bears went to the Super Bowl, will get to show off his 3-4 defense while the three guys who tried to replace him as Bears d-coordinator (Babich, Marinelli and Lovie) watch from the opposing sideline.

Players to watch:

Jaron Gilbert and Henry Melton. For the last year, we've heard coaches rave about their physical talent. But now it's time to see if the young d-linemen can use those skills to disrupt an offense.

The revolving door that is the Bears starting safety combo. How long will 1^st team tandem Chris Harris-Danieal Manning play? Will Major Wright or the steady Craig Steltz start pushing Manning back to nickelback?

Greg Olsen. He's been a favorite target of Cutler during camp, but when the lights go on and 70,000 fans pack the stadium, will Cutler still find comfort in his BFF?

Offensive line. This is a group that will be under the microscope all preseason. Their ability to protect Cutler and open up running lanes have been the biggest camp question mark so far. With Lovie facing a make-or-break year, it'll be interesting to watch how patient he is with his new guy (RG Lance Louis) and old guys at new positions – Roberto Garza at LG and Frank Omiyale at right tackle.

Who's injured?

According to the Chicago Tribune, Earl Bennett (hamstring), Kellen Davis (back), Kahlil Bell (hamstring), Hunter Hillenmeyer (ankle) and WR Greg Mathews (shoulder) nursed injuries late this week and may not play.

According to a recent post on Pro Football Talk, restricted free agent wide receiver Vincent Jackson has no reason to sit the entire 2010 NFL season. After playing hardball with the Chargers and general manager A.J. Smith for months, it seems irrational on Jackson's part to not come back at least by Week 10 of the regular season in order to gain his year of credit towards free agency.

With Jackson suspended for the first three games of the season and unlikely to show up and sign his dramatically reduced restricted free agency tender before that, the question becomes whether he'll sign at some point after the suspension ends and before Week 10, after which time he won't be able to play at all in 2010.

If he doesn't show up by Week 10, the Chargers will hold the same rights to him in 2011 that they held in 2010.  Jackson's only path out of San Diego, short of a trade, lies in showing up by Week 10, earning a year of credit toward free agency, and then hoping to get out of town next year.  (Since he's not under contract, Jackson can show up after August 10 and still earn a year of credit toward free agency.)

If he doesn't come back by then, he will be in the exact same position that he was in at the start of this off-season, which doesn't like the most logical move on his part. But then again, this entire situation doesn't seem all that logical to begin with.

In an article by Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Acee says that "Vincent Jackson is not part of the plan" and that he doesn't see the Chargers "using the franchise [tag] on Jackson either". He finishes off the rest of that with this simple line which we all have been thinking for months since this fiasco started. "This has gotten ugly."

As this situation continues to look dimmer and dimmer for the Chargers and their hopes of bringing back Jackson, only time will tell if A.J. Smith really is bent on keeping Jackson away or if his thick skull will finally crack and he brings back a vital part of the Chargers offense.

As of right now, Jackson stands alone. The next move or lack their of is his to decide.

The season is now started.  How did the Raiders do last night?

*Offensive Line

Start Jared Valdheer now.  There is no question he needs to anchor the left side of the line immediately, or even center as he played in the 4th quarter last night.  He needs to be on the field asap.  Bruce Campbell has away to go, multiple times he was either pushed into the backfield or thrown aside, he isn't ready to start yet.  The rest of the line played okay, they did good to keep the QB's upright for most of the night, and opened enough holes to allow the running backs to find creases.

*Defensive Line

The bright part of last night.  LaMarr Houston is a stud; he will be in the top half of the league for sacks (just needs to get a haircut!).  Add in the fact that their secondary and LB's covered well and you saw potential of the defensive line to put pressure on QB's this year.

*QB Backup Battle

Kyle Boller played well enough last night to take the lead as the 3rd string QB last night.  I'm guessing Colt Brennan and Charlie Frye will get majority of the back up snaps next week to compare before any final decisions.

*Consistency

Jason Campbell's numbers were average, but it was concerning that there was not 1 sustained drive for the starting offense all night, forcing the defense to play alot in the first half.  It's game 1, and he admitted to some jitters, so let's chalk it to that…unless they do the same thing in game 2.

Overall, they showed flashes of why there is belief that this team may be competitive this year.  I expect them to open up their play book a bit more in game 2 to see how the offense does, and that will be a better indication of how much better this team is.  BTW, watch out Michael Bush and Darren McFadden, Michael Bennett and Rock Cartwright did enough last night to get some looks with the 1st string offense.