Four games are on the Week 1 NFL preseason schedule tonight and there are some interesting headlines to follow. Below are six quick-hit thoughts on tonight’s action.
1. Brady returns to live action
The last time Tom Brady took a snap in a live NFL game, he tore both his MCL and ACL after suffering a season-ending hit in Week 1 of the 2008 season. Brady returns to action tonight and will start against the Eagles in Philadelphia. He probably won’t get more than a series or two, but if everything goes well, it’ll be yet another promising sign that Brady has recovered from the devastating knee injury that almost ruined his career.
2. Is Flacco in store for a major sophomore slump?
Reports out of Baltimore haven’t been promising for second-year quarterback Joe Flacco, who has struggled in the passing game thus far in training camp. He apparently has struggled reading defenses, is missing open receivers and has thrown a high number of interceptions. The Ravens would like to open the playbook more in Flacco’s second year, but if his struggles carry into the preseason, then the team might have to scale back his responsibilities and once again make him more of a game-manager like he was as a rookie.
3. How will the T.O.-less Cowboys look?
During the offseason, one of the main reasons the Cowboys cut toxic (but highly productive) receiver Terrell Owens was so that quarterback Tony Romo wouldn’t have any distractions entering the 2009 season. Dallas wants Romo to step up and be more of a leader both in the locker room and on the field and it would appear that the 29-year-old’s career is at a crossroads. One preseason game in Oakland isn’t going to answer whether or not Romo is ready to become the leader that Dallas wants him to be, but it’ll be interesting to see how well he gels with his receivers without T.O. commanding his attention. Apparently Romo and Roy Williams are finally starting to get their timing down.





