Merry preseason, everyone. It’s been a long offseason, but football is finally gearing up again and to celebrate I’m rolling out a new series on TSR entitled “2010 NFL Question Marks,” where I discuss one or two of the biggest concerns that teams have heading into the new season. Granted, some teams have more issues than others, but I’ll primarily be focusing on the biggest problem areas. Today I’ll be discussing the trio of issues the Redskins could face this season.

I always thought Jason Campbell got kind of a bad rap, although there’s no question that Donovan McNabb has better physical tools – even at this point in his career. Thanks to first round pick Trent Williams and former Saint Jammal Brown, the tackle positions got a much needed makeover in our nation’s capital as well.

So generally speaking, the Washington Redskins are an improved football team.

But it seems as though some pundits are going a tad overboard when predicting this team’s success this year. While they have made several upgrades on that side of the ball, the offense still has plenty of question marks as well.

Let’s start with the offensive line. Williams is a tremendous prospect, but he’s still a rookie and far from a guarantee. He also doesn’t have a ton of experience on the left side, which is where he’s expected to anchor this Washington O-line.

Brown is a massive upgrade over Stephon Heyer, but that’s like saying an authentic slice of New York pizza is an upgrade over Dominos. Heyer was one of the worst offensive linemen in all of football last year, so a broomstick cemented in a bucket would have been an upgrade.

Read the rest of this entry »

Revis, Jets close to deal
Dan Graziano of AOL NFL Fanhouse is reporting that the Jets and Darrelle Revis are close to signing a new contract. Graziano claims that an agreement could be announced in the coming days, although it’s important to note that the two sides were reportedly $40 million apart on Monday.

Childress doesn’t rule out IR for Rice
Head coach Brad Childress said on Tuesday that the Vikings won’t rule out the possibility of Sidney Rice being placed on injured reserve following the receiver’s hip surgery on Monday. At the very least, Rice is heading for the PUP list, which means he’ll miss at least the first six weeks of the regular season. If the team places him on IR (which seems like a stretch at this point), his entire 2010 season would be over.

Daniels gets good news on MRI
FOX 26 in Houston is reporting that Owen Daniels’ surgically repaired knee is 100% after the Texans’ tight end had an MRI on Tuesday. Daniels will still have a checkup with Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday, but it appears that he’ll be medically cleared to play by the start of the season.

Bulluck moved back outside
Just one day after I question whether or not Keith Bulluck was a good fit at middle linebacker for Perry Fewell’s defensive scheme in my “NFL Question Marks Series,” the Giants have decided to move him back to the outside where he’s played his entire career. (Obviously Tom Coughlin is a fan of The Scores Report and there’s little to no doubt I’ll be an adviser for the Giants in the upcoming months…ah, sarcasm.) Jonathan Goff will start in the middle for the Giants this season, although fourth rounder Phillip Dillard could get a look if Goff struggles.

LJ, “Fast Willie” on the Skins’ roster bubble?
According to Jason Reid of the Washington Post, it wouldn’t be a shock if both Larry Johnson and Willie Parker were released before the start of the season. Neither back has impressed the new coaching staff in Washington and Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams could wind up backing up Clinton Portis this year.

It didn’t take long for Larry Johnson to make an impact for the Bengals.

Just two weeks after Cincinnati signed the troubled running back, Johnson rushed for 107 yards on 22 carries to help the Bengals beat the Browns 16-7 in Week 12.

Johnson started by splitting carries with Bernard Scott, but after rushing for 42 yards on his first four carries, Marvin Lewis gave him more opportunities throughout the game. Then after Scott was injured in the third quarter, Johnson took over as the team’s primary back and helped the Bengals earn an unimpressive win.

Johnson won’t unseat Cedric Benson as Cincinnati’s top back, but it never hurts when a contender has two capable runners come playoff time. KC fans will want to throw up when they read this, but LJ gave his best effort of the year, which is huge given Benson’s injury.

With this win, the Bengals completed a season sweep of the entire AFC North and at 8-3, Cincy is right in contention for a first round bye.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS gives us one more reason to hate Sasha Vujacic. (Hint: He’s dating the girl in the picture.) They also have a strange story about Dwight Howard, as told by porn star Mary Carey.

- RED’S ARMY says that people should forget about LeBron James joining Kobe in Los Angeles. Are there actually those who think this might happen?

- PRO FOOTBALL TALK reports that the 7-1 Minnesota Vikings face potential blackouts after this week’s bye. Seriously. That’s pathetic.

- LARRY BROWN SPORTS wonders if the sign that the Chiefs posted is aimed at a certain running back with the initials “LJ.”

Johnson is only 75 yards away from becoming the team’s all-time leading rusher, and a group of Chiefs fans are petitioning the club to release him before that happens.

An online petition started by Chiefs fans asks general manager Scott Pioli to deactivate Johnson and keep him on the sideline so he cannot pass Priest Holmes for the team rushing record, or join the team’s Ring of Honor at Arrowhead Stadium.

“While we are thankful for his service, we feel that Larry has been a black eye on the organization and has no business being mentioned” among the team’s all-time greats, the petition reads.

After his Twitter blow up a few weeks ago, I don’t think Johnson is in any danger of donning a Chiefs uniform again, but you never know. These Chiefs fans are figuring it’s better to be safe than sorry.

According to a report by the Kansas City Star, the Chiefs and troubled running back Larry Johnson are working on some kind of settlement that would decide LJ’s future with the team.

Asked whether that settlement would involve a separation from the team, (Johnson’s agent) Schaffer said: “Not necessarily.”

Schaffer said Johnson’s side is working on an appeal of the two-week suspension the team handed down Wednesday for detrimental conduct. Schaffer said Wednesday night that he hoped an appeal would be filed early Thursday, and it’s possible that settlement talks could delay that appeal.

Johnson would lose more than $600,000 if he serves the full two-week suspension. He also could face further punishment from the league and the Chiefs when this suspension expires Nov. 9.

This situation seems a little ridiculous. Johnson was out of line, the Chiefs suspended him and will decide his future with the team over the course of the next two weeks. So what is there to “settle?”

There’s a good chance that Johnson will never play another down with the Chiefs, so maybe the team is trying to work out a deal where LJ gets to keep part of his contract if he just goes away. Then again, there have been reports that the Chiefs don’t want to outright release him because then it provokes other players to act up if they want to get out of town. So I don’t know what to think at this point.

We’ll see what comes out of this “settlement.”