“I’m a one-on-one player.” So true — that’s both the best and worst thing about Kobe’s game.
Page 673 of 2956
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, quarterback Michael Vick does not have broken ribs but he was diagnosed with a rib cartilage injury. The newspaper also reports that running back LeSean McCoy suffered a rib injury in Sunday’s loss to the Redskins.
“We’ll see how he feels,” Reid said. “This is going to be one of those day-to-day, week-to-week things … Rick [Burkholder] and our docs will keep a close eye on it.”
Reid said Vick is “sore” today.
“We’ll see how Michael does here,” Reid said. “If he is as sore as he is today, then Kevin will take the snaps [Wednesday].”
Vick at least was not grimacing as he walked from the NovaCare cafeteria to a meeting. Walking seemed painful for him yesterday. “Better,” Vick said when asked how he felt.
Meanwhile, running back LeSean McCoy has a broken rib suffered in the second quarter. “He played through it,” Reid said. “He’s a pretty tough kid. We have to see. It’s a comfort thing. They are doing a couple of other things.”
In related news, Reuben Frank of the Burlington County Times reports that the Eagles have inquired about the availability of Bills’ running back Marshawn Lynch. According to Frank, Philly contacted Buffalo after receiving word about McCoy’s injury.
There’s no doubt that McCoy’s injury leaves the Eagles thin at running back. Mike Bell is listed behind McCoy on Philly’s depth chart and he didn’t play a down on Sunday against the Redskins. He has just 20 yards on 12 carries through four games and could struggle mightily against the 49ers next Sunday.
Maybe Buffalo GM Buddy Nix will get that third rounder after all. It just depends on how desperate the Eagles are.
Outside of cutting down on his interceptions, if you’re the Rams what more could you ask for out of rookie quarterback Sam Bradford to this point?
After completing 34 of 41 passes for 289 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the Rams’ 20-3 blowout of the Seahawks on Sunday, Bradford is now 2-2 as a starter and has led St. Louis to back-to-back wins (for the first time since Regan was in office, I think). He’s also 28-of-49 for 350 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions on third downs and has thrown five red zone touchdown passes in his first four games.
Again, outside of his interception total (six), the Rams couldn’t have asked for a better start out of their No. 1 draft pick.
Granted, he hasn’t faced the most prolific of defenses to this point, as most quarterbacks will rack up good numbers against the likes of Arizona, Oakland, Washington and Seattle. But Bradford is only playing who’s on the Rams’ schedule and thus far, he’s been impressive.
And let’s give a little credit to his receivers, too. The Rams arguably have the worst collection of wideouts in the league and yet look at their average yards-per-catch from Sunday: Mark Clayton 14.4; Brandon Gibson 16.7, Danny Amendola 9.5; and Daniel Fells (who is a tight end, not a receiver) 11.7. Bradford obviously has a hand in those numbers, but he isn’t afraid to check the ball down and let his receivers pick up yardage after the catch (which they did plenty of yesterday).
The Rams have a long ways to go, but they play in the worst division in football so who knows? Maybe they can continue to surprise. With teams like the Lions, Bucs, Panthers and 49ers coming up before their Week 9 bye, Bradford and Co. may continue to rack up victories.
49er fans once again have had about all they can take when it comes to the play of Alex Smith.
Following yet another rough performance by his starting quarterback in a 16-14 loss to the Falcons on Sunday, 49ers head coach Mike Singletary said that he never thought about pulling Smith during the game. Why would he? Smith killed two potential scoring drives with interceptions, but coaches don’t make it a habit to pull their starting quarterbacks when their team has the lead. And up until the final seven seconds, the Niners had the lead the entire time.
But while the thought didn’t cross his mind on Sunday, I wonder if Singletary is considering making a quarterback change now. Smith hasn’t been dreadful, but the bottom line is that he isn’t making enough plays in the vertical passing game – or enough plays period. The situation in Atlanta was set up perfectly for him: he had a 14-0 lead, a solid game plan under new offensive coordinator Mike Johnson and a defense that was holding the Falcons to field goals instead of touchdowns. All Smith had to do was keep the chains moving, protect the football and allow the Falcons to kill themselves with dumb mistakes.
But once again, he failed to do that and now San Fran is 0-4 after many pundits (this one included) projected them to win the NFC West. Given how bad the division is, that goal can still be attained but not if Smith continues to play as poorly as he has.
The problem is that Singletary has options at quarterback, but they’re not very good. We’ve all witnessed David Carr’s handy work and Nate Davis is still incredibly raw. The wild card is Troy Smith, whom the Niners signed a month ago after the Ravens dumped him. But he’s coming off a brutal preseason and doesn’t have the accuracy or decision-making to be a starter at this juncture. Despite Smith’s play, he still gives the 49ers the best chance of winning at the moment (however long that is) and Singletary may have no choice but to stick with him.
Then again, why continue to do something if it isn’t working? If Smith can’t produce under Johnson, then Carr, Troy Smith or Davis should get an opportunity. The Niners can’t continue to be derailed by inconsistency at the quarterback position or else this season is about to get longer than it already has been.
It’s now or never, Alex Smith.
Joakim Noah wasn’t happy with the Bulls’ $55 million offer, but Chicago upped the ante and it seems the two parties have agreed to an extension.
The deal is worth $60 million plus additional bonuses, Dan Fegan, one of Noah’s agents, told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher.
I compared Noah to Andrew Bogut in a previous post, and this contract sound a lot like the one Bogut signed two years ago. Bogut’s deal raised a few eyebrows then, but he has since developed one of the best two-way centers in the league, earning All-NBA 3rd Team honors last season in his best year as a pro.
Between this contract and their refusal to include him in a deal for Carmelo Anthony, the Bulls obviously value what Noah brings to the table. According to 82 Games, his net points (per 100 possessions) was +0.9 last season, while Bogut’s was +8.0. In three head-to-head matchups last year, Bogut averaged 22/14 on 52% shooting, while Noah posted 10/16 on 42% shooting.
I think $12 M+ per season for a defensive/rebounding specialist is steep, but maybe Noah will develop offensively in the same way Bogut did. The difference is that Bogut started with a pretty good post game and developed from there, while Noah’s current post moves are rudimentary at best.
FOLLOW US!
CATEGORIES
© 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑