Category: NFL (Page 109 of 1282)

      Chad Henne set to torture Miami fans some more

      August 13, 2011 /
      Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne (7) throws during play against the Atlanta Falcons in the first half of their NFL preseason football game in Atlanta, Georgia August 12, 2011. REUTERS/Tami Chappell (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Chad Henne is one of those quarterbacks who will torture his team’s fans. He has a great arm and he seems like a likeable and competitive guy. He’ll make some great plays and get you all pumped up, and then he’ll do his best Derek Anderson impersonation and suffer another mindless meltdown.

      He was right back at it in his first preseason game against the Falcons:

      The pass that never should have been thrown, the one that settled into the hands of an Atlanta defensive back, was simply one of those Chad Henne moments.

      We’re all too familiar with those moments, right?

      They make you yell at your television. They make you want to punch holes in walls. They make you do crazy things like pine for Trent Green, for goodness sake. These moments convince you Henne will never be a winning quarterback and make you wonder why the Dolphins front office or coaching staff haven’t figured that out yet.

      When Brent Grimes caught Henne’s second interception of the first quarter Friday night, an errant throw following a miscommunication with receiver Davone Bess, that moment of truth arrived with a roar at the Georgia Dome.

      He’s young, so there’s an argument to be made that he just needs time to develop. That’s fair. But as an Ohio State fan who had the pleasure of watching Chad Henne go 0-4 against the Buckeyes, I wouldn’t hold my breath that Henne is going to change.

      Miami was smart to go after Kyle Orton, and the Broncos were almost stupid enough to let Orton go and try their luck with fullback backup quarterback Tim Tebow. I’m not sure what happened to that deal. maybe Orton wasn’t worth the money he was asking for. Who knows. But Miami is now screwed for 2011. Orton would have given them a chance to be a playoff team. I’ll be shocked if they go that far now with Henne.

      External Sports, NFL

      Good start for Julio Jones in Atlanta

      August 13, 2011 /

      We’ve been starved for football for so long that any news is exciting this time of year. Everyone is anxious for news on how rookies and other new players might fare on their new teams.

      With Julio Jones, that attention is magnified given the huge bounty Atlanta paid to Cleveland for the privilege to draft Jones with the #6 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. It was a huge gamble, but Atlanta needed to be aggressive in order to help Matt Ryan and his teammates get over the hump.

      The early returns are encouraging, and those who follow the Falcons are impressed. As Jeff Schultz explains in his blog, it’s easy to make too much of performances in early preseason games, but it’s also encouraging to see a stud receiver at least look like a stud receiver when he first starts to play. Jones has passed that test. The upside is significant, so Atlanta fans should be pleased. Jones looks like the kind of player that can elevate Ryan’s game and possibly put the Falcons in contention with the other favorites in the NFC.

      Now that we’ve gotten a glimpse of how he can use his significant talent in the NFL, we’ll start to see if he can be consistent as well, and whether he can perform when defenses make it a point to stop him.

      External Sports, NFL

      Brad Childress: Randy Moss “vomited” on Vikings’ locker room

      August 12, 2011 /
      Minnesota Viking wide receiver Randy Moss smiles during team warm-ups before their NFL football game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey, October 11, 2010. Moss was playing in his first game with the Vikings after being traded by the New England Patriots earlier in the week. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Brad Childress has admitted in the past that acquiring Randy Moss from the Patriots last year was a mistake. But he took the Moss situation a step further this week when he criticized the receiver for “vomiting on” his locker room.

      “We had good guys, by and large, [but Moss] walked in the locker room and vomited on it.”

      Regular readers know that I’m not a huge Moss fan. I think he was blessed with elite talent and if he had Jerry Rice’s work ethic, he could have been the best receiver to play the game. Instead, Moss picked his spots to be great. He was motivated when he first came into the league because so many teams passed on him in the 1998 draft, so he worked his ass off in Minnesota. Then he was traded to Oakland and completely shut it down. When he was sent to New England in 2007, he was hungry again to prove his worth and wound up being an MVP candidate for the Patriots. When he wanted a new contract at the start of last season and didn’t receive one from the Pats, he shut it down again and became a distraction in Minnesota and Tennessee.

      But despite my feelings about Moss, I find it interesting that in the same breath Childress didn’t mention how big of a distraction Brett Favre’s situation was last year. Now, don’t make this a race thing – it’s not about race. My point is that there were tons of things that went wrong in Minnesota last year, most of which happened before Moss even arrived. So why didn’t Childress speak out about that while he was busy pointing the finger at Moss?

      It’s not hard to believe that Randy Moss was a distraction and now that he’s not associated with the organization any more, Childress has the right to speak his mind. But if he’s looking to point the finger, he might as well point it at more than just Moss. Favre was a distraction from Day 1; first, nobody knew whether or not he was going to return to Minnesota because he did his annual song and dance routine for months, then he became a distraction again when the Jenn Sterger story broke. Funny how Childress says he has no regrets getting on his knees and begging Favre to come back, yet Moss “vomited” on his good-guy locker room.

      Please. Childress was the root of the issue in Minnesota. The players didn’t respect him, he never had a handle on how to manage the different personalities in the locker room and he allowed guys like Favre to do whatever he wanted. The head coach sets the tone for the rest of the team and very few players in that Vikings locker room were ready to march to the beat of Brad Childress.

      The Vikings may not make the playoffs this year under Leslie Frazier but I can almost guarantee you that it won’t be because the players don’t respect the head coach. And for that, the franchise is in much better shape now than it was at this point last year.

      External Sports, NFL

      Titans ready to make Chris Johnson highest paid back in NFL?

      August 11, 2011 /
      Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson (28) breaks past Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett (58) for a 15-yard touchdown in the third quarter of the Colts 23-20 win at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis on January 2, 2011. UPI /Mark Cowan

      Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt said Thursday that he’s ready to make Chris Johnson the highest-paid running back in the NFL.

      From the New York Times:

      General manager Mike Reinfeldt told The Associated Press on Thursday that Johnson’s agent was the first person they called once the NFL’s lockout was lifted. The Titans reworked Johnson’s contract a year ago to give him more money in 2010 and promised to talk to him again a year later.

      Reinfeldt says they already have talked about the perimeters of this new deal for Johnson and would like to have the running back in camp to learn the offense with a new coach while negotiations are finished.

      This has always been a no-brainer in my eyes. Johnson has been one of the most productive running backs in the NFL the past couple of years and arguably deserves to be the highest paid RB in the league.

      It’s not like this is a risky proposition for the Titans, or at least not in the way signing a player coming off an injury or a down year would be. Johnson is only 25 and barring injury, he presumably has four or five productive years left in him. If the Titans make him the highest-paid running back now and lock him in for five years, then everyone (i.e. the player, the team and the fan base) should be happy.

      Of course, there are always unforeseen issues that arise. Maybe Johnson will be upset in three years because another running back has surpassed him in terms of their contract status. Maybe he’ll get paid and shut it down like Randy Moss did when he got to Oakland. Who knows? We can only go off the information presently at hand and the information presently at hand suggests to pay the man what he’s worth and reap the benefits of having him locked up for the next X amount of years.

      External Sports, NFL

      Apparently the Bears know something about Roy Williams nobody else does

      August 10, 2011 /
      Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams watches from the sidelines in the second half of their NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Arlington, Texas January 3, 2010. REUTERS/Mike Stone (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      “You don’t bring a Roy Williams in here to sit the bench.”

      That’s what Bears wide receiver coach Darryl Drake said in this Chicago Tribune article about Johnny Knox and his frustration over being listed behind Williams on the team’s first depth chart of the preseason.

      I’d be frustrated too if nonsense like that was spilling out of my coach’s mouth.

      You don’t bring a Roy Williams in to sit the bench? Since when did Williams turn into Andre Johnson, Greg Jennings or even Jabar Gaffney? I get what Drake is implying: that Williams is a veteran, has experience playing in Mike Martz’s offense and deserves the respect to see his name atop the depth chart. But are the Bears serious here?

      If Cowboy fans ever wondered if Williams could get any slower than he was last year, follow him this year on that patch of dirt the Bears call their home field. This was a guy that struggled mightily trying to gain separation from defenders last season in Dallas, which oh-by-the-way plays half its games on turf. There were also times when he displayed alligator arms and lost focus as his role diminished in the offense.

      Granted, the Bears have been vocal about Knox needing to get more aggressive at the line of scrimmage and fighting for the ball when it’s in the air. Plus, he’s going to get opportunities to play because Martz usually roles out three or four receivers in most sets. But the part that is confusing to me is the Bears’ overall thought process. Do they honestly believe that Williams should receive more playing time than Knox? Or that Williams gives them the best chance to win? Knox played in 88.2 percent of the Bears’ offensive plays last year and was easily their best receiver. If the coaching staff believes that Williams is an upgrade, then what in Tom Waddle’s name is going on in the Windy City?

      Of course, none of this will probably matter in a couple of months. Once Williams proves that he’s not a reliable full-time starter, Martz and the rest of the Bears coaching staff will wise up and put Knox back in. Because if there’s one thing this Chicago coaching staff knows, its how to manage a receiver corps…

      External Sports, NFL

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