HEAV
09-30-2005, 09:25 AM
A certain Charger doesn't want to become Old Man Rivers waiting his turn. "I love it here,'' quarterback Philip Rivers said. "But I want to play. I would rather play and be a starter somewhere else if I can't do it here.'' Rivers is talking about the future. The present shows him backing up Drew Brees for the second of Rivers' two years in the NFL. But by year three, the fourth pick of the 2004 draft wants a team to call his own ---- wherever that might be. "Everything is fine right now,'' said Rivers, who played briefly in two games last season. "It's only my second year and the learning curve is still going up. And this is a great working environment. "But I would hope at the end of this year they will make it clear which one of us is the quarterback of the future. I'm not saying he's not the quarterback of the San Diego Chargers right now; he has every right to be. I just think both of us would like to know, looking at it long-term.'' Chargers general manager A.J. Smith is in no hurry to make such a decision.
Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi aches to play. That much is evident just by looking into his eyes. And while he's stated he won't be returning until the 2006 season, don't be surprised if he at least pursues all avenues toward making a swifter return. Word is, in fact, Bruschi is back seeing doctors, apparently hoping to gather enough information and data to see if it might at least be in the realm of possibility to come back sooner than he had planned. Remember, he still hasn't been put on the injured reserve list, making him ineligible to play. He sits on the physically unable to perform list, or PUP, which technically would allow him to return at some point after the sixth game of the season. It's interesting that when asked yesterday about the possibility of returning this season, Bruschi offered a flat, ``No comment.''
As the 49ers attempt to trade LB Jamie Winborn instead of cutting him outright, coach Mike Nolan said four teams have expressed varying degrees of interest in the fifth-year outside linebacker. Nolan declined to name the teams and said Winborn did not request a trade. The Raiders said Thursday that they are not interested in Winborn.
The only big-name quarterback the Jets inquired about this week was Tampa Bay's Chris Simms, but the Bucs wanted a first-round pick in return. The search for a quarterback who could beat out Pennington and start next season is expected to heat up in the offseason, but it hasn't started yet. Reports that the Jets asked the Chargers about Philip Rivers are false, according to a team official.
The Saints fell 10,800 tickets short of their goal of selling out their Alamodome debut against the Buffalo Bills by Thursday at noon. The deadline became a moot point Thursday when the NFL announced that local television blackout rules would not apply to the three Saints games played in San Antonio this year. Nevertheless, there was a mixture of disappointment and pride after a whirlwind two weeks of marketing and sales efforts reached the initial deadline. I was hopeful it would be a sellout, San Antonio mayor Phil Hardberger said Thursday afternoon. But I was not really disappointed, because I thought that was a very difficult thing to do. There was very little advertisement of this. Its something that we had a very short lead time in. It wasnt as if the people of San Antonio had known all year, like they would if you had a team here, that these games were going to be here.
Moss taking plays off? That was the feeling some Eagles had last week playing against Raiders wideout Randy Moss, who seemed to lose interest in his routes in the face of double-team coverage in a 23-20 loss at Philadelphia. Porter said he doesn't fault a guy for slowing down on a route if it's clear he's completely covered and not the quarterback's read on the play. "Just let up. It's not happening, especially if they've got two guys right there.''
Wide receiver Troy Edwards and quarterbacks Jeff Smoker and Rod Rutherford are among the players having free-agent workouts today with the Dolphins.
The Ravens are managing 2.7 yards a carry, which is second worst in the NFL, primarily because of the offensive line. Every carry appears to end the same: Lewis struggling to get back to the line of scrimmage, where there are no holes to escape. Maybe the offensive line is just showing its years. The average age of the starters is 30.8, which ties them with the Kansas City Chiefs for second-oldest line in the NFL. "I don't think age 30 as an offensive lineman affects you as much as age 30 for a running back or cornerback," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "I have played around offensive linemen, and they play forever. Is Kansas City at risk right now? Theirs is about that age." The Ravens and the Chiefs are two of five teams whose line has an average age over 30.
One Patriots source close to the situation said yesterday that left tackle Matt Light figures to be sidelined for at least eight weeks and could eventually be placed on injured reserve
Chris Landry was asked in the Chicago Tribune... What offensive and defensive player have been the most dominant thus far regardless of his position? Defensively Dwight Freeney of the Colts has graded out as the best player through three games. Offensively Seattle tackle Walter Jones has been dominant and edges out his teammate running back Shaun Alexander who has ran the ball very well.
Jets coach Herman Edwards said yesterday that he's moving veteran left tackle Jason Fabini to the right side and switching right tackle Adrian Jones to the left side on Sunday against the Ravens because Fabini, if he plays, is operating on a sprained right knee. Fabini has struggled this season, giving up three sacks, including the one by Jaguars DE Paul Spicer that ended QB Chad Pennington's season. Edwards said he'll see how Jones does against the Ravens before deciding whether the switch is permanent. Oddly enough, Fabini began his career at right tackle, while Jones began his on the left side.
Darren Sproles doesn't believe in touchbacks. If that ball can come out of the end zone, it will. "I want to score," Sproles said. Sproles has yet to take a kickoff return the distance this season, but he has been oh-so-close on "damn near all of them." Sproles, a fourth-round pick, has already proved to be an asset, and he is perhaps even the Chargers' most valuable newcomer thus far. His 31.9-yard kickoff return average ranks second in the league.
Giants cornerback Will Peterson is likely to be replaced in the starting lineup by the second-year player Curtis Deloatch. The Giants have frequently had to fill Peterson's shoes. Since being drafted in the third round in 2001, Peterson, 26, has played all 16 games in only two seasons, and started off poorly this season, with a knee injury that kept him out of the opener. The knee injury might have played a small part in the current injury.
Have the Browns been quietly giving backup quarterback Charlie Frye extra study work to digest during this bye week - as starting QB Trent Dilfer continues to heal from the battering he took last Sunday against Indianapolis? Hmmm.
The NFL players who reportedly had steroid prescriptions filled by a South Carolina physician have been given a penalty normally reserved for players who test positive for the performance-enhancing drugs, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. The league has concluded an investigation into television and newspaper reports about the prescriptions written by physician James Shortt, and as a result, the players, most of them current or former members of the Carolina Panthers, will be subject to as many as 24 random steroid tests annually, Tagliabue said.
Rodney Peete, co-host of the "Best Damn Sports Show Period," on the possibility of Brett Favre not starting next season for the Packers: "It's going to happen. They're about to be 0-4. At some point - he said it himself - something's got to give. It's one thing if they're 0-4 and Brett is lighting it up...But he's struggling. At some point, [coach] Mike Sherman is going to say 'My job is on the line.'"
Running back Clinton Portis would like to think that the Redskins' two big-play passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter of the comeback victory over Dallas may force teams to pay more attention to Washington's passing attack and perhaps put fewer men at the line of scrimmage to stop the run. "Now you know that you can't stick everyone in the box," Portis said yesterday. "Now we have that. Last year we didn't have it all year long. People know what we're capable of doing. If you don't [pay attention to the deep ball], it's only a matter of time before Santana [Moss] and David [Patten] get behind the corner."
Wild rumor of the day: The Jets offered MLB Jonathan Vilma to the Chargers for QB Philip Rivers. Not true, according to an NFL source. Vilma found it amusing. "I'd love to get him, but I don't want to leave here," he said.
It's interesting that both the Ravens and Jets lost their starting quarterbacks last week and neither team called the Titans to inquire about their backup, Billy Volek. Wonder if the fact that Volek is represented by Drew Rosenhaus had anything to do with it.
The Eagles' Jevon Kearse isn't the only high-profile pass rusher without a sack this season. Carolina's Julius Peppers also is sackless. Said Peppers, of sacks: "They're not a stupid number. But people make too much of it sometimes. It's an indicator, but it doesn't tell the whole of what's really happening."
Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil wishes the networks would cease and desist with the idea of miking players during games. Earlier this week, he chastised Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, who was miked during Monday night's game, for suggesting the Chiefs weren't playing very hard. "They use it to enhance the broadcast, but sometimes it embarrasses the player,'' said Vermeil, who won't allow any of his players to be miked.
It's no 4th and 26, but Freddie Mitchell caught a foul ball at the Phillies/Mets game Wednesday night while the ex-Iggles wide receiver was seated behind home plate with Terrell Owens. Phillies 2nd baseman Chase Utley, who played baseball with Mitchell at UCLA, provided the tickets for the guys, and one for Todd Pinkston as well, but he stayed in the Phillies Suite, where Mitchell and Owens also spent most of the game. Mitchell later celebrated his catch over late night food and drinks at Smith & Wollensky at the Rittenhouse Hotel along with Utley, Phillies outfielder Pat Burrell, IBEW Local 98 business agent Brian Stevenson and developer David Killian.
Before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last Sunday, Saints safety Jay Bellamy had started 122 consecutive games in the NFL. This Sunday, Saints rookie Josh Bullocks will start his streak at 1. Bullocks, a second-round draft pick from Nebraska, will replace Bellamy in the starting lineup. What the 6-foot-1, 207-pounder lacks in experience, the Saints are hoping he can make up for in pure natural ability. Its a very exciting opportunity. Its just sad it had to turn out the way it did. But Ive got to be prepared, said Bullocks, who spouted off the old football clichι about being ready at all times because you never know when your turn will come. It didnt take long for that to ring true for Bullocks, who left Nebraska after his junior season after snatching 13 career interceptions second in school history.
The assumption, ever since it became apparent last year that Drew Brees was indeed a capable starting quarterback, is that after the 2005 season the Chargers would need to jettison him or Philip Rivers. The pervading thought is that the Chargers cannot afford to keep two quarterbacks of that stature. But that isn't necessarily true. The big money in Rivers' contract has already been awarded. His future salaries are relatively small and well within the Chargers' means. In fact, a worst-case scenario has Brees and Rivers together counting about $15 million against the salary cap in 2006. That is a lot of money to commit to one position, but the Chargers sit well under the cap and are capable of carrying that load.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dropped a nugget in his postgame media session Sunday in talking about the winning drive. ''What more could you ask? There's 1:21 left I mean, we've seen that before." Sure have. That was what was on the Superdome clock in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams the night analyst John Madden suggested that the Patriots run out the clock and take their chances in overtime. Instead, Brady engineered the winning drive that culminated with an Adam Vinatieri 48-yard field goal and the Patriots' first Super Bowl championship
Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi aches to play. That much is evident just by looking into his eyes. And while he's stated he won't be returning until the 2006 season, don't be surprised if he at least pursues all avenues toward making a swifter return. Word is, in fact, Bruschi is back seeing doctors, apparently hoping to gather enough information and data to see if it might at least be in the realm of possibility to come back sooner than he had planned. Remember, he still hasn't been put on the injured reserve list, making him ineligible to play. He sits on the physically unable to perform list, or PUP, which technically would allow him to return at some point after the sixth game of the season. It's interesting that when asked yesterday about the possibility of returning this season, Bruschi offered a flat, ``No comment.''
As the 49ers attempt to trade LB Jamie Winborn instead of cutting him outright, coach Mike Nolan said four teams have expressed varying degrees of interest in the fifth-year outside linebacker. Nolan declined to name the teams and said Winborn did not request a trade. The Raiders said Thursday that they are not interested in Winborn.
The only big-name quarterback the Jets inquired about this week was Tampa Bay's Chris Simms, but the Bucs wanted a first-round pick in return. The search for a quarterback who could beat out Pennington and start next season is expected to heat up in the offseason, but it hasn't started yet. Reports that the Jets asked the Chargers about Philip Rivers are false, according to a team official.
The Saints fell 10,800 tickets short of their goal of selling out their Alamodome debut against the Buffalo Bills by Thursday at noon. The deadline became a moot point Thursday when the NFL announced that local television blackout rules would not apply to the three Saints games played in San Antonio this year. Nevertheless, there was a mixture of disappointment and pride after a whirlwind two weeks of marketing and sales efforts reached the initial deadline. I was hopeful it would be a sellout, San Antonio mayor Phil Hardberger said Thursday afternoon. But I was not really disappointed, because I thought that was a very difficult thing to do. There was very little advertisement of this. Its something that we had a very short lead time in. It wasnt as if the people of San Antonio had known all year, like they would if you had a team here, that these games were going to be here.
Moss taking plays off? That was the feeling some Eagles had last week playing against Raiders wideout Randy Moss, who seemed to lose interest in his routes in the face of double-team coverage in a 23-20 loss at Philadelphia. Porter said he doesn't fault a guy for slowing down on a route if it's clear he's completely covered and not the quarterback's read on the play. "Just let up. It's not happening, especially if they've got two guys right there.''
Wide receiver Troy Edwards and quarterbacks Jeff Smoker and Rod Rutherford are among the players having free-agent workouts today with the Dolphins.
The Ravens are managing 2.7 yards a carry, which is second worst in the NFL, primarily because of the offensive line. Every carry appears to end the same: Lewis struggling to get back to the line of scrimmage, where there are no holes to escape. Maybe the offensive line is just showing its years. The average age of the starters is 30.8, which ties them with the Kansas City Chiefs for second-oldest line in the NFL. "I don't think age 30 as an offensive lineman affects you as much as age 30 for a running back or cornerback," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "I have played around offensive linemen, and they play forever. Is Kansas City at risk right now? Theirs is about that age." The Ravens and the Chiefs are two of five teams whose line has an average age over 30.
One Patriots source close to the situation said yesterday that left tackle Matt Light figures to be sidelined for at least eight weeks and could eventually be placed on injured reserve
Chris Landry was asked in the Chicago Tribune... What offensive and defensive player have been the most dominant thus far regardless of his position? Defensively Dwight Freeney of the Colts has graded out as the best player through three games. Offensively Seattle tackle Walter Jones has been dominant and edges out his teammate running back Shaun Alexander who has ran the ball very well.
Jets coach Herman Edwards said yesterday that he's moving veteran left tackle Jason Fabini to the right side and switching right tackle Adrian Jones to the left side on Sunday against the Ravens because Fabini, if he plays, is operating on a sprained right knee. Fabini has struggled this season, giving up three sacks, including the one by Jaguars DE Paul Spicer that ended QB Chad Pennington's season. Edwards said he'll see how Jones does against the Ravens before deciding whether the switch is permanent. Oddly enough, Fabini began his career at right tackle, while Jones began his on the left side.
Darren Sproles doesn't believe in touchbacks. If that ball can come out of the end zone, it will. "I want to score," Sproles said. Sproles has yet to take a kickoff return the distance this season, but he has been oh-so-close on "damn near all of them." Sproles, a fourth-round pick, has already proved to be an asset, and he is perhaps even the Chargers' most valuable newcomer thus far. His 31.9-yard kickoff return average ranks second in the league.
Giants cornerback Will Peterson is likely to be replaced in the starting lineup by the second-year player Curtis Deloatch. The Giants have frequently had to fill Peterson's shoes. Since being drafted in the third round in 2001, Peterson, 26, has played all 16 games in only two seasons, and started off poorly this season, with a knee injury that kept him out of the opener. The knee injury might have played a small part in the current injury.
Have the Browns been quietly giving backup quarterback Charlie Frye extra study work to digest during this bye week - as starting QB Trent Dilfer continues to heal from the battering he took last Sunday against Indianapolis? Hmmm.
The NFL players who reportedly had steroid prescriptions filled by a South Carolina physician have been given a penalty normally reserved for players who test positive for the performance-enhancing drugs, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. The league has concluded an investigation into television and newspaper reports about the prescriptions written by physician James Shortt, and as a result, the players, most of them current or former members of the Carolina Panthers, will be subject to as many as 24 random steroid tests annually, Tagliabue said.
Rodney Peete, co-host of the "Best Damn Sports Show Period," on the possibility of Brett Favre not starting next season for the Packers: "It's going to happen. They're about to be 0-4. At some point - he said it himself - something's got to give. It's one thing if they're 0-4 and Brett is lighting it up...But he's struggling. At some point, [coach] Mike Sherman is going to say 'My job is on the line.'"
Running back Clinton Portis would like to think that the Redskins' two big-play passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter of the comeback victory over Dallas may force teams to pay more attention to Washington's passing attack and perhaps put fewer men at the line of scrimmage to stop the run. "Now you know that you can't stick everyone in the box," Portis said yesterday. "Now we have that. Last year we didn't have it all year long. People know what we're capable of doing. If you don't [pay attention to the deep ball], it's only a matter of time before Santana [Moss] and David [Patten] get behind the corner."
Wild rumor of the day: The Jets offered MLB Jonathan Vilma to the Chargers for QB Philip Rivers. Not true, according to an NFL source. Vilma found it amusing. "I'd love to get him, but I don't want to leave here," he said.
It's interesting that both the Ravens and Jets lost their starting quarterbacks last week and neither team called the Titans to inquire about their backup, Billy Volek. Wonder if the fact that Volek is represented by Drew Rosenhaus had anything to do with it.
The Eagles' Jevon Kearse isn't the only high-profile pass rusher without a sack this season. Carolina's Julius Peppers also is sackless. Said Peppers, of sacks: "They're not a stupid number. But people make too much of it sometimes. It's an indicator, but it doesn't tell the whole of what's really happening."
Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil wishes the networks would cease and desist with the idea of miking players during games. Earlier this week, he chastised Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, who was miked during Monday night's game, for suggesting the Chiefs weren't playing very hard. "They use it to enhance the broadcast, but sometimes it embarrasses the player,'' said Vermeil, who won't allow any of his players to be miked.
It's no 4th and 26, but Freddie Mitchell caught a foul ball at the Phillies/Mets game Wednesday night while the ex-Iggles wide receiver was seated behind home plate with Terrell Owens. Phillies 2nd baseman Chase Utley, who played baseball with Mitchell at UCLA, provided the tickets for the guys, and one for Todd Pinkston as well, but he stayed in the Phillies Suite, where Mitchell and Owens also spent most of the game. Mitchell later celebrated his catch over late night food and drinks at Smith & Wollensky at the Rittenhouse Hotel along with Utley, Phillies outfielder Pat Burrell, IBEW Local 98 business agent Brian Stevenson and developer David Killian.
Before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last Sunday, Saints safety Jay Bellamy had started 122 consecutive games in the NFL. This Sunday, Saints rookie Josh Bullocks will start his streak at 1. Bullocks, a second-round draft pick from Nebraska, will replace Bellamy in the starting lineup. What the 6-foot-1, 207-pounder lacks in experience, the Saints are hoping he can make up for in pure natural ability. Its a very exciting opportunity. Its just sad it had to turn out the way it did. But Ive got to be prepared, said Bullocks, who spouted off the old football clichι about being ready at all times because you never know when your turn will come. It didnt take long for that to ring true for Bullocks, who left Nebraska after his junior season after snatching 13 career interceptions second in school history.
The assumption, ever since it became apparent last year that Drew Brees was indeed a capable starting quarterback, is that after the 2005 season the Chargers would need to jettison him or Philip Rivers. The pervading thought is that the Chargers cannot afford to keep two quarterbacks of that stature. But that isn't necessarily true. The big money in Rivers' contract has already been awarded. His future salaries are relatively small and well within the Chargers' means. In fact, a worst-case scenario has Brees and Rivers together counting about $15 million against the salary cap in 2006. That is a lot of money to commit to one position, but the Chargers sit well under the cap and are capable of carrying that load.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dropped a nugget in his postgame media session Sunday in talking about the winning drive. ''What more could you ask? There's 1:21 left I mean, we've seen that before." Sure have. That was what was on the Superdome clock in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams the night analyst John Madden suggested that the Patriots run out the clock and take their chances in overtime. Instead, Brady engineered the winning drive that culminated with an Adam Vinatieri 48-yard field goal and the Patriots' first Super Bowl championship