NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean reports Mario Branch, a mammoth offensive tackle who spent two training camps with the Titans, has died of congestive heart failure.

Branch was 31. He will be buried on Saturday on Greenwood, Mississippi. A 6-foot-7, 345-pounder from Mississippi Valley State, Branch was with the Titans in training camps in 2003 and 2004, but he never made the final roster.

A family member said he'd battled complications in recent weeks before passing away in Southern Hills Medical Center.

A relative of Lions safety Louis Delmas has received probation for brandishing the player’s gun at people in another vehicle while driving with Delmas according to the Associated Press.

Twenty-year-old Ravelle Sadler of Cincinnati was arrested before dawn Dec. 21 after three teens in another vehicle said another driver threatened them in Wayne County’s Canton Township.

Police say the car with the teens pulled up next to Dumas’s vehicle, with one teen wearing a Halloween mask. They say Sadler then brandished the gun. Delmas had a concealed weapon license.

Sadler pleaded guilty last month to felonious assault.

Jim Corbett of USA Today reports Bengals offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth says the longer the NFL lockout goes on, the more threat there could be to the quality of football that would be played in the eventual 2011 season.

“Guys are human beings. And if you tell guys ‘It doesn’t look like you’re doing anything until July or August,’ guys will lose a lot of incentive to train and to get better,” said Whitworth, the Bengals’ player rep.

“You will get a lot of guys who will say, ‘We’re not even going to play. I’m not going to work hard all the time.’

“You’re going to ruin the chance for quality football. There will be more injuries and things that affect the game. Period.”

Plenty of bloggers and experts have their opinions about who the Houston Texans will pick in April's 2011 NFL Draft.  Here's a list of popular sites and their mock picks for the Texans' 11th pick.

1. Chron.com's Lance Zierlein's Mock Draft 3.0: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama.

2. ESPN's AFC South Blogger Paul Kuharsky: J.J. Watt, 3-4 OLB/4-3 DE, Wisconsin.

3. HoustonTexans.com's Mock Machine 2.0: Robert Quin, OLB, North Carolina.

4. ESPN's Todd McShay and Mel Kiper: Robert Quinn, OLB, North Carolina; J.J. Watt, 3-4 OLB/4-3 DE, Wisconsin.

5. SBNation's Mocking the Draft: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama.

6. Bleacher Report's Patrick Clarke: Akeem Ayers, OLB, UCLA.

7. Bleacher Report's Jake Langenkamp: Prince Amukamara, CB/(Some project) S, Nebraska.

You can also read the Houston Chronicle's football guru, John McClain's, draft spill.

When the Cowboys selected WR Dez Bryant in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, they knew they were getting a very talented player. However, there was a reason why he fell to the 24th spot. It wasn't a secret that he had maturity issues.

"You guys have heard me say this, it was amazing how well he played in his rookie year after not having played a lot of games in his last college season and then having missed the time that he missed in training camp and in the preseason, he played remarkably well," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett told reporters during the recent NFL owners meetings.

"He missed a lot of time. It's really valuable for a guy like that for any rookie, to get the time, in practice in preseason games to help their transition. So I think he did an amazing job considering all the time he missed and it's really encouraging from that standpoint if you get him into a more normal situation with an offseason and preseason the growth he can make."

Bryant has been sued twice recently for allegedly still owing money for merchandise and clothing he received over a two year period. "That's the nature of this league, you have a lot of guys coming in who are young. You have to understand that the transition into the NFL not only as a player but as a person is a significant one," Garrett explained.

"That's 32 teams around the league, we feel really good about him, he's a very passionate person about football. He loves it, you can see his enthusiasm, it's hard not to when you're at practice it's hard not to when you see him play in a game. So he's someone that will continue to grow and develop in all the different areas."

When bringing up the title game against Green Bay, Caleb Hanie and the Bears defense should be mentioned, opposed to Cutler and his injury

Jay Cutler and Caleb Hanie are close friends.  So dismiss the notion that an injured Jay wasn't pulling for Caleb on the sidelines this past January against the Packers in the NFC Championship game.  He wanted his team to win.  Make no bones about it.

Here's what the gunslinger who wears #6 for the Bears had to say recently to the Chicago Sun Times about the game, his injury, and the critics:

"To get to the point we were and the opportunity we had — I'm frustrated just like everyone else.  But there's nothing we can do about it now. We have to learn from it and overcome it this year."

Concerning the undeserved criticism: "I was gone, and I stayed away from it all.  But I can't say it didn't bother me that people questioned my toughness and desire to play."

"I think I've been through a lot here in Chicago, and I would have loved to play."

"Those are the guys you are with a lot of the time, and those guys didn't flinch. I've got to thank them for that."

As for the haters: "They can think what they want."

Spoken like a true competitor.  I'm extremely proud of the fact that Jay Cutler is the starting QB for my Chicago Bears. Who's side are you on Bears fans?

Keen Lions fans have noticed that the team has done a lot of homework on this year’s crop of running backs, something that has elicited mild surprise given the fact that the team made a trade up into the back end of the first round last year to select RB Jahvid Best. It shouldn’t, however. No one at the Lions’ facility has any interest in burying Best on the depth chart, even after a somewhat disappointing rookie season.

Ask the coaches or front office about Best and they’ll continue to gush about his playmaking ability, reminding everyone of Best’s two turf toe injuries last season but that doesn’t mean the Lions aren’t interested in adding a complementary back. Right now, Kevin Smith really isn’t in the equation and Maurice Morris easily could give way to a younger option. Although the team might have more pressing needs, GM Martin Mayhew has earned his reputation as being patient and willing to use his picks on the better talent rather than the biggest needs.

It continues to look increasingly like the Panthers are going to select Cam Newton with the first overall pick in April’s draft, but there is a caveat. Owner Jerry Richardson still isn’t completely sold on Newton, a source with knowledge of the Panthers’ draft plans told CBSSports.com.

Still, Richardson will likely defer to his personnel staff, and many of them have met with Newton, and like him. Another player the Panthers continue to be enamored with is former Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green. Mike Freeman of CBS Sports says he finds this impossible to believe but people he trusts insist the Panthers could trade down and take Green.

Saints wide out Robert Meachem is coming off ankle surgery. The wide out told The Sporting News that he had ankle surgery this offseason, but that he will be ready to go come training camp.

Meachem said the ankle was an issue for him most of the season, and he also was trying to come back from toe surgery. The former first-round draft pick last year still had 44 catches for 638 yards with five touchdowns.

At 6-foot-2, 210-pounds, Meachem can still be a big part of the Saints offense with Drew Brees if he can get back to 100 percent.