NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

By Panthers Gab Columnist Trey Woody

Coach Rivera made an announcement Monday that he will make the #1 QB spot decision before the third week preseason game against Cincinnati. I think many folks would hope that Cam gets his spotlight at starter before he does, but it looks like Clausen will most likely be the guy. At this point nobody knows if the decision will stick and it's impossible to know exactly what Rivera is seeing.

Right now, all we can do is watch and guess. After Saturday's game there are high hopes that Clausen has made a turnaround and his production will more than double last season's to lead a confident offense with ambitions of competing in what could be one of the tougher seasons for many NFL teams. Here's what we have seen and hopefully there are more improvements to come.

Clausen's stats were average at best against the Giants. He played only one quarter racking up an embarrassing pick-six to lead the first offensive drive, but later making up for it with an 18 yard TD to Greg Olsen for a total of 69 yards with 4/7 in completions. Not an impressive start for his second season, but it's a start in the right direction.

He displayed more confidence in the pocket and seemed to make smarter plays when there were no passing options. The early interception was reminiscent of 2010 Clausen as well as some of the sacks he took when maybe he could have gotten rid of the ball. To be fair, the pick was obviously a miscommunication between Clausen and DWill. He manned up and took responsibility for it by stating that he threw behind the the receiver and that says a lot about his attitude.

Also, Jordan Gross was having a difficult time keeping up with DE Jason Pierre-Paul from the Giants, enough to let the two sacks on Clausen sneak through. The O-line definitely played a big part in allowing Jimmy to catch the heat like he was getting. Although, no QB is without fault for messed up plays.

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Houston coach Gary Kubiak brought in Wade Phillips to rebuild the Texans’ defense. The group showed progress in the preseason opener against the New York Jets. The Texans had seven sacks and running back Chris Ogbonnaya scored two touchdowns in Houston’s 20-16 win over the Jets on Monday night.

Phillips has had only a few weeks to teach the Texans how to play a 3-4 scheme, a change from the 4-3 they played last season. Kubiak liked what he saw, though the Jets outgained Houston 310-221. “It was exciting to find a way to win the game there at the end, because we played really, really exceptionally on the defensive side of the ball throughout the game,” Kubiak said.

The starters for both sides only played the first quarter.

The Jets’ Mark Sanchez looked sharp, completing 6 of 7 passes, two to Santonio Holmes. Sanchez’s usual backup, Mark Brunell, did not play because of a finger injury, leaving the rest of the game to seventh-round draft pick Greg McElroy, the former Alabama star.

The Jets’ first-string offense produced four first downs and 73 yards, but only three points.

“We would’ve liked to score a touchdown on that first drive, but we didn’t,” Sanchez said. “I was proud of the first group moving the ball the way we did. Now, we just need to finish in the red zone.”

Matt Schaub, meanwhile, looked shaky for the Texans. He went 2 for 5 for 20 yards and was sacked once before Matt Leinart replaced him. Ogbonnaya accounted for 104 total yards – 37 on the ground and 67 receiving. He was just about the last running back standing for Houston after Derrick Ward left in the first half with a head injury. Arian Foster, the 2010 league rushing champ, and backups Steve Slaton and Ben Tate were sidelined with hamstring injuries.

“Hats off to Ogbonnaya, the young man’s had a great camp for two weeks,” Kubiak said. “Really, he was all we had. He played the whole game. He’s been a real warrior for us.”

Houston trailed 16-13 in the final quarter when Derrick Townsel returned a punt to the New York 37. Two plays later, rookie T.J. Yates completed a 28-yard pass to rookie Lestar Jean to the 1. Ogbonnaya dived into the end zone on the first play following the two-minute warning.

The Jets had a chance to win it in the final minute, but undrafted free agent Michael Campbell dropped a 32-yard pass from McElroy in the end zone.

“Obviously, I hate losing, our team hates losing,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “I don’t care if it’s preseason or not, we know in the big picture, you forget about what your record is. But still, at the time, I hate losing.”

Leinart, who turned down offers from other teams to return to Houston and back up Schaub, also looked solid, except for an interception that led to the Jets’ lone touchdown. Leinart went 8 for 14 for 78 yards in about two quarters.

Sanchez completed his first four throws, and the Jets drove inside the Houston 15. Linebacker Xavier Adibi sacked Sanchez on third down, forcing New York to settle for Nick Folk’s 33-yard field goal.

Leinart replaced Schaub at the start of the second quarter, and immediately completed a pass to James Casey for a 9-yard gain. On third down, Leinart rolled left and threw a short pass to Ogbonnaya, who picked up 29 yards to the Jets 31.

The drive stalled, and Neil Rackers’ 49-yard field goal tied it with 12:13 left in the first half. McElroy replaced Sanchez on New York’s first drive of the second quarter.

Linebacker Jesse Nading sacked McElroy, forced a fumble and defensive end Tim Jamison recovered at the Jets 14. Ogbonnaya converted a fourth-and-1, and Ryan stomped up the sideline and angrily called a timeout and ripped off his headset before Houston could snap it again.

“Too many guys out there, and we had to burn a timeout,” Ryan said. Leinart then rolled left again and flicked an easy pass to Ogbonnaya for a touchdown. Rackers kicked a 47-yard field goal with 57 seconds left before the break to put the Texans ahead 13-3.

Nick Novak kicked a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Leinart’s first pass of the second half was tipped at the line by Kendrick Ellis and intercepted by Josh Mauga.

Bilal Powell gained 19 yards on a short pass, and McElroy found Patrick Turner for the tying touchdown. Folk kicked a 40-yard field goal to give New York a 16-13 lead.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports Arizona Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s deal includes a clause that prevents the Cardinals from slapping their franchise tag on him after this season, according to two sources who have reviewed the contract.

This means that if Fitzgerald is not signed to an extension before his contract expires at the end of this season, he would have the ability to leave Arizona in the off-season, without any restrictions.

The “no-franchise-tag” clause was included in the four-year, $40 million contract extension that Fitzgerald signed in March 2008.

Fitzgerald and the Cardinals already have been discussing a new contract extension that, if consummated, would be staggering in scope.

But unless Fitzgerald is comfortable with the deal and with Arizona, he would have the option of walking away from it and the franchise, a prospect the Cardinals want to, and are trying to, avoid.

I have to admit I was very surprised to see that the New Orleans Saints decided to cut pro bowl offensive tackle John Stinchcomb today.

Despite battling nagging injuries, he still started 16 games and was the most consistent presence the team had at tackle. He is one year removed from a pro bowl season.

Not often does a player of his caliber hit the market at this time in the pre-season, this is someone I believe the Seahawks should pursue immediately given their (still) flush resources.

Russell Okung has legitimate injury concerns after missing 6 games last season and rolling his ankle without being touched by a defensive player 5 snaps into the first preseason game. Despite a massive overhaul of the offensive line, it still lacks quality depth. This retooling could all be for nothing if the most critical component (Okung) misses any significant time and Tyler Polumbus ends up protecting Tarvaris Jacksons blindside.

I don’t know about you, but I think you would be hard pressed to find a worse LT-QB combination in the league than Tyler Polumbus and Tarvaris Jackson. This would put Seattle at an almost impossible disadvantage to overcome even in the NFC West.

Stinchcomb could probably come in and unseat one of Seattles five starters anyway. At the very least, he provides by far the most quality depth available at this point in time.

He knows what these new look Seahawks are all about anyway, he did have to witness this after all:

You can view all Seahawks comings and goings as they happen on our Free Agency Tracker as well as Seahawks Roster Needs

You can view up to date Seahawks free agency news and rumors by clicking here.

Right tackle Jon Stinchcomb has been released by the Saints according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The Saints made the move on Monday, making way for backups Zach Strief and Charles Brown to battle for the starting tight tackle job,

Both Coach Sean Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis described the move as very difficult for them personally. Stinchcomb, who was drafted in the second round in 2003, was the longest-tenured member of the Saints’ roster and one of the most popular players in the building.

Stinchcomb was a Pro Bowler in 2009 and the team’s Man of the Year in 2008. Payton and Loomis both said he “epitomized” everything they want from the players in the organization.

“He’s gonna be on the ‘Wall of Fame’ that we have down our hallway, and I think he should be in the Saints’ Hall of Fame one day,” Loomis said. “He’s meant a lot to our organization, for a number of reasons, including his play on the field.”

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is convinced he is not a dirty player.

“There’s always a fine line of dirtiness and a fine line of aggressiveness,” he told Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press Sunday. “I know to this point that in my own heart that I haven’t crossed that line by any means.”

Fellow defensive tackle Corey Williams emphatizes with Suh. “It’s really hard,” Williams said, “because you work that hard to get to the quarterback, or you work that hard to get to the running back, you want to get them on the ground as hard as you can and as fast as you can. I know he ain’t intentionally doing it. He’s not trying to hurt him. He’s just an aggressive player. He’s just real physical.”

“It’s a fine line and you don’t want to take aggressiveness away,” coach Jim Schwartz said. “But you also need to be aware, and we need to do a better job with that.”

Suh said he would not have to worry about pulling off a tackle too early.

“I’m never going to put myself in that position,” he said. “I’m never ever going to put myself in a position to where it’s ‘should I or should I not?’ It’s either you do it or you don’t. If he has the ball, then play.”

The Buccaneers announced Monday they have signed cornerback Ashton Youboty to a two-year contract. The 27-year-old Youboty played his first five NFL seasons with the Bills before becoming an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

To make room for Youboty on their 90-man training camp roster, the Buccaneers released rookie tight end Jose Cruz.

The Bills originally selected Youboty early in the third round (70th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. He became a restricted free agent in 2010 but was re-signed by Buffalo to a one-year deal.

1. The Cowboys. The Cowboys are still the team with the fewest holes in the NFC East. They have Pro Bowlers all over the field and a new, physical attitude supplied by Jason Garrett and new DC Rob Ryan. They will win the division. They have only lost to the Eagles once in the last five meetings, and it was by 3 points last season with Jon Kitna under center. The Eagles, for all their talent at corner, have safeties and linebackers that are inexperienced in pass coverage and sure to struggle against a team that goes four deep at tight end with tailbacks Jones and Murray catching passes out of the backfield.

2. The Redskins. Speaking of safeties and linebackers in coverage, these players will have matchup difficulty against two of the best tight ends in the game – Chris Cooley and Fred Davis. The Eagles also allowed 49 sacks last year. They’ve added new veterans but nobody elite. For all the justified spotlight that has been on the new Eagles defensive line – featuring Jason Babin and Cullen Jenkins -, the Redskins added OLB Ryan Kerrigan, DE Stephen Bowen, DT Jarvis Jenkins and DT Barry Cofield to join DE Brian Orakpo as pass rushing mavens. I’m not saying the Redskins will finish ahead of the Eagles but they will take at least one game from them and physically have them limping toward their next opponents.

3. Vince Young will play and that’s probably not a good thing. This team has a lot of divas and celebrities now – Asomugha not being one of them. We saw how Andy Reid’s lack of developing strong leaders – Dawkins being about the only one – helped contribute to Terrell Owens departure in 2005. To that point, the Eagles had fought to Championship Games with their defense and McNabb yet their offense was never harder to stop than with Owens. After his deactivation, they failed to make the Championship Game that season and the two after it. Vince Young has had difficulty being a leader on this level, but what is far worse is his ability to perform well against good defenses for long stretches.

He puts up good stats but, when you look more closely at the numbers, you see how he can light up bad defenses but really struggle against the elite ones. In 2009, he piled up great stats against the Jaguars, Bills, Texans, Rams and Dolphins but had 3 total touchdowns, 3 INT, and under 50% comp. in two games vs. the Chargers and Colts.  In 2010, he beat the postseason-free Giants and 3 teams with non-winning records but check out his stats against the Chargers and Steelers. He’s 1-5 when attempting at least 36 passes.

Young may be a decent back-up option on teams that don’t have injury-prone quarterbacks or other issues. Vick rarely makes it 16 games, so Vince Young will see the field and that will be bad for the Eagles.

4. They have inexperience at the last line of defense. Jaiquawn Jarrett and Nate Allen have a total of 13 regular season starts put together, none in the playoffs. Allen is certainly a good player – 2 sacks, 3 INT, 8 passes defensed, a forced fumble – but probably not in his prime yet. That’s one thing I look for in a Championship team, great players in the peak or twilight of their greatness. The Eagles allowed 31 TD passes in the regular season last year, despite facing just three of the top 12 quarterbacks in TDs thrown, a total of four times (allowing 27, 31, 17, and 17 points in 3 wins and 1 loss). They also plan on starting rookie MLB Casey Matthews.

5. They are not built for December offensively. Sure, their main reason for being beat by the Vikings last year was Vick getting hurt but this team has maybe a handful of big targets who don’t rely heavily on speed. Brent Celek, Donald Lee, and Jason Avant are physical presences that could help them if the field conditions and weather eliminate the deep game.

The Packers are the best team in the NFC. That hasn’t changed. The Eagles will not have homefield if they get to the playoffs and a third meeting with the Cowboys could be their undoing. I like a lot of the moves the Eagles made but they need a more effective back-up QB and will be vulnerable with all those rookies and the first-year defensive coordinator. This team of egos will rely mostly on the big plays in good weather and on good playing surfaces. They aren’t ready for the storm.

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Will Johnson Blink First?

The Tennessee Titans’ contract discussions, or lack thereof (according to whom you talk to), with superstar running back Chris Johnson, are at a peculiar standstill.

While the Titans revealed their plans to reward the East Carolina product as the highest-paid running back in the NFL, those near the holdout speedster note he should be inked as one of the top stars in the league – not just for running backs, sources aware of the scenario per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

At the moment, the Titans have not made any proposals to the NFL’s premiere big-play back.

According to Johnson, Titans GM Mike Reinfeldt has not made him an offer:

“Maybe they talked, but I guarantee we never received any offer,” Johnson told The Tennessean.

Johnson said last year that he desired a new contract with $30 million in guaranteed cash.  The Titans revised his contract by amplifying his 2010 salary by $1.5 million to $2.05 million to sway the running back to show.

The electrifying playmaker is entering his fourth season and is scheduled to earn $800,000 in base salary.  The final two years of his deal can max out at around $2.7 million.

Over the weekend, unfortunately I have not had the proper time frame I would've liked to be able to sit down and give the Lee Evans to Baltimore trade the proper time and effort in a piece it deserves.  So, yes I know I'm a little late but I wanted to get my final thoughts together and get them out there.

1.  Let me start with Lee Evans, since he spent the first seven years of his career in Buffalo it's logically a damn good place for me to begin.  He was, and remains a true professional.  Evans spent seven years in Buffalo, and let's be truthful they were seven long years.  The most success the Wisconsin product endured was his rookie season in 2004 when the Bills went 9-7, and should have made the playoffs if not for the still unexplainable season finale loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers' B-team.  Since '04, the Bills' win totals per season went 5, 7, 7, 7, 6, and 4.  But through all the losing, the constant turnover from the coaching staff to the front office and the unsuccessful search for a franchise quarterback, you never heard a negative remark made by Evans.  He strapped on his helmet every Sunday and always gave you his best regarding the circumstances.  He never squabbled with teammates or coaches, never called out the Bills' publicly in the media.

2.  When I think of Evans, he'll always be the "What-if" player to me, as in what if he actually got a chance to play with a star quarterback?  How truly talented a receiver could he have been playing with a Tom Brady, or a Drew Brees or a Peyton Manning?  Evans never had the distinction of playing with an elite signal caller, and Bills never came up in short supply of mediocrity under center.  In seven years, Evans played with six QBs:  Drew Bledsoe, Kelly Holcomb, J.P. Losman, Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm.

3.  Which leads me into Evans' career numbers with Buffalo:  he ranks fourth all-time in receptions (377), third in all-time receiving yards (5, 934) and third all-time in touchdown receptions (43).  Those numbers alone, combined with the him playing with those previous six QBs mentioned, it's amazing he exits Buffalo ranking as high as he does on the Bills' all-time receiving list.

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