Month: January 2010 (Page 6 of 65)

      Is Freeney’s injury worse than Colts are letting on?

      January 28, 2010 /

      If asked to name as many players on the Colts’ defense as they could, the causal NFL fan may struggle coming up with five names. But the one name that would undoubtedly come out of his or her mouth would be defensive end Dwight Freeney.

      In only 14 games this season, Freeney racked up 13.5 sacks, 24 tackles and one forced fumble. At times, he provides all the pass-rush that the Colts need and will play a crucial role in the team’s success come February 7 when Indianapolis takes on the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.

      The problem with that, however, is that Freeney sprained his right ankle in the AFC Championship Game last weekend and although head coach Jim Caldwell told the Indianapolis Star that his Pro Bowl D-end’s ankle was progressing, there’s some question about whether or not Freeney will actually be at 100% health come Super Bowl Sunday.

      Freeney missed practice on Thursday and isn’t expected to partake in any of the Pro Bowl activities, so he’ll have at least a week of rest before getting back onto the practice field. And if the ankle hasn’t shown any signs of improvement by Monday, Caldwell would surely limit Freeney’s participation n in practice the week of the Super Bowl.

      If he does wind up missing an entire two weeks of practice, will Freeney be as effective during the Super Bowl as he was this season? He’s an eight-year veteran of the Colts’ defense, so it’s not like he needs extra reps at this point in his career. But even after only two weeks of inactively, the game has a tendency to slow down for players.

      Given how vital it’ll be for the Colts to pressure Saints quarterback Drew Brees, having Freeney at 100% is crucial.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Suh signs with Crabtree’s agents

      January 28, 2010 /

      Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who is highly considered the best prospect in this year’s NFL draft, has signed with Maximum Sports Management. Why is that newsworthy you ask? They were the same agents who misrepresented 49ers’ receiver Michael Crabtree this past season.

      The good news for Suh is that Roosevelt Barnes and not Eugene Parker will serve as his lead agent. Parker was the genius that instructed Crabtree to holdout until he got paid top-3 money and almost cost Crabtree his entire rookie season before finally accepting an offer from the Niners.

      I’m a little surprised that Maximum Sports Management landed the top prospect in the draft after the massive screw up with Crabtree. Hopefully for Suh’s sake, teams at the top of the draft won’t shy away from him due to his choice of agent. But again, I doubt that Suh will have any problems given that Parker won’t be his lead agent.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Marshall expected to be traded after March 5

      January 28, 2010 /

      The Denver Post reports that the Broncos are expected to trade receiver Brandon Marshall soon after the NFL free agency period opens on March 5.

      During the AFC Pro Bowl team’s first practice Wednesday at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Marshall ran a few patterns at top speed, cut sharply on the artificial surface and showed no ill effects from the bum hamstring that brought on a controversial and premature end to his 2009 season.

      After the practice, Marshall was pleasant and conversational, until it was time to speak on the record.
      “I’m not talking,” he said. “I’ve had enough publicity.”

      Marshall was benched by Broncos coach Josh McDaniels the Friday before Denver’s final game of the season, essentially for punitive, not injury-related, reasons.

      The roller coaster that is Brandon Marshall’s NFL life continues. The Broncos may have a tough time getting fair compensation for Marshall in a trade after he and head coach Josh McDaniels got into it during the final week of the season. Teams aren’t going to be willing to hand over draft picks knowing that the Broncos want to dump the troubled receiver. And let’s not forget Marshall’s, uh, character quirks.

      It’s funny to think back at the start of the season when the Broncos were winning and Marshall went up to hug McDaniels during a post-game presser. Their relationship collapsed quicker than Denver’s season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Bears should take a long look at Paul Hackett

      January 28, 2010 /

      Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times recently chimed in on the Bears’ offensive coordinator dilemma (as in, it’s almost February and they don’t have one) and suggested that Jim Zorn should be on the team’s radar.

      On the surface, hiring Zorn might offer the Bears some value. Outside of Mike Martz, he’s the biggest name available and he did have success with the Redskins in 2008 before they crashed and burned during the second half of the season.

      But the problem that Jensen seems to forget is that Zorn was a disaster this past year in Washington and had his offensive play-calling duties stripped from him mid-season. Granted, that doesn’t mean Zorn can’t rebound and become a successful OC elsewhere, but there are seemingly better candidates available.

      One in particular is current Raiders quarterback coach Paul Hackett. He has a ton of experience working with quarterbacks and had successful stints as an offensive coordinator with the Chiefs (’93-’97) and Jets (’01-’04) before settling in as a QB coach for the Bucs and Raiders over the past four years. He also recruited Carson Palmer when he was the head coach at USC.

      During his five years as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator, the Chiefs made the playoffs in four of those five seasons. They also ranked fifth in offense in his last year there before taking over as USC’s head coach from 1998 to 2000. During his stint in New York, the Jets made the playoffs in three of his four years and while his offenses never cracked the top 10, don’t forget that the J.E.T.S. didn’t have a roster full of Pro Bowlers on the offensive side of the ball.

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      NFL

      Jackson accused of assaulting former girlfriend

      January 28, 2010 /

      According to a report by CBSSports.com, Rams’ running back Steven Jackson has been accused of assaulting a former girlfriend, who also happened to be nine months pregnant at the time.

      Jackson’s girlfriend at the time, Supriya Harris, said in a complaint filed with the Las Vegas Police Department that an argument in March of 2009 became physical and according to the complaint Jackson pushed her to the ground repeatedly.

      According to the report, Harris says she was bleeding from wounds as a result of the argument. The report states that Harris gave birth to her son soon after the alleged incident.

      She also says in the report that she left Jackson after he again threatened to physically beat her.

      As with similar reports, I’ll stress first and foremost that Jackson has not been convicted of anything yet so let’s not jump to conclusions. There are a lot of greedy people in the world looking for cash settlements and their 15 minutes of fame, so maybe Jackson is innocent in all of this.

      But if he is guilty, here’s hoping he’s punished by the full extent of the law and suspended by the NFL. There’s no excuse for hitting a woman, especially one that is pregnant.

      Guilty or not guilty, what else could go wrong for the Rams? Record-wise, they were the worst team in the league last year, have little to no direction and now their star player is being accused of assaulting a woman. Fantastic.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

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