NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times Union reports Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver held a conference call Thursday. The main purpose of which was to encourage season ticket sales.

The Jaguars, Weaver said, are 12,000 season tickets short of the base of 40,000 they’d like to have before single-game tickets and other packages are sold. The deadline for season ticket renewals is April 29, extended twice from March 18th.

“We’ve gotta almost repeat that Herculean effort that we had last year,” Weaver said. “… They’ll be talking about us again in the press saying we’re not a great NFL market. … It will send the wrong message to the national media and the National Football League.”

Senior writer jclombardi writes California honors Bishop & Bush.

Thursday, the California State Assembly passed resolution honoring Super Bowl XLV champs Desmond Bishop and Jarrett Bush. Bishop and Bush grew up in Northern California region.

Adding another layer to the NFL labor battle, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is now insisting that HGH testing be included in the next CBA.

"Making changes to our program is critical and we have done that over the years. We need to do more, including the inclusion of HGH testing," said Goodell.

The reaction from NFL players has been on both sides. Baltimore Ravens WR Derrick Mason spoke out strongly against it.

"You want to do whatever you have to do to make sure there's not a competitive edge in this sport," Mason said. "Blood tests? I don't know. They've been crying about blood tests for the longest time. I think that's too intrusive. There's other ways and other methods, I think, to go about testing for it."

So far, the NFLPA has not budged on the idea of blood testing to detect HGH.

"At this point, there's no reason to believe that blood-testing for NFL players will or should be implemented," union assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah said. "We should instead focus on preserving the drug-testing policy that we have in place."

Mason added "He needs to stop crying about blood testing and HGH — he needs to get a deal done."

Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who has had a busy offseason, also chimed in on the subject.

Cromartie wrote on his Twitter (@A_Cromartie31) "I'm for [HGH testing], I'm not against it. If you're against it, that means you're hiding something.

"You shouldn't have to cheat to get an edge. "Just go out and play ball," Cromartie said.

So far, the NFLPA has not budged on the idea of blood testing for HGH.

"At this point, there's no reason to believe that blood-testing for NFL players will or should be implemented," union assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah said. "We should instead focus on preserving the drug-testing policy that we have in place."