Despite David Garrard's return to practice after an early back injury, Blaine Gabbert has seen his first-team reps increase in recent days.
Strong-armed and built like a franchise quarterback at 6-foot-4, 234, Gabbert is especially attractive to the eye on the practice field. Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times Union says she can say "with 100 percent certainty" that Gabbert and Garrard are "in a competition to be the Jaguars' starting quarterback." It sounds like Gabbert has a legitimate shot to start in Week 1.
Willis McGahee took the snaps ahead of Knowshon Moreno during goal-line drills Tuesday.
McGahee handled himself well as the designated goal-line back in Baltimore, scoring on 10-of-25 chances from inside the opponents' 10-yard line during the last two seasons. With Moreno slimming down to 200 pounds and McGahee hovering around 235, it makes sense to use the newcomer in short yardage. We're expecting Moreno to be used as the feature back, but his scoring upside will be capped.
Appearing on WFAN Radio Wednesday, coach Tom Coughlin suggested that Mario Manningham will be the Giants' slot receiver if Victor Cruz or rookie Jerrel Jernigan doesn't step up to fill the role.
In this scenario, Domenik Hixon and Hakeem Nicks would be the outside wideouts with Manningham moving inside for three-receiver sets. The Giants haven't seen enough from Cruz or Jernigan to place them among the club's top three receivers. It'd be a nice plus for Manningham's fantasy outlook in PPR leagues. He'd be playing the exact same role once manned by Steve Smith.
If Ndamukong Suh is not a dirty player, why does he keep getting called for personal fouls? Suh says it’s because referees are taken aback by his strength.
Discussing his $20,000 fine for slamming Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton to the ground, Suh said the things he does on the field look worse than they are because referees aren’t accustomed to seeing players as strong as he is.
That might sound like bragging, but there’s a lot of truth to it: Suh is such a powerful athlete that his hits probably look a lot more violent to us mere mortals than they feel to him. That was the case last year when Suh was flagged and fined for a hit on Jay Cutler: Suh brought so much force to the hit that it looked violent, but he appeared to shove Cutler in the back of the shoulder pads, which is legal.
But just because Suh is capable of slamming the 215-pound Dalton to the ground with ease doesn’t mean he should be allowed to do it. That hit definitely deserved a flag and a fine.
Suh says he recognizes the importance of protecting players from illegal hits, but he also says it’s important for the NFL to remember that there are going to be big hits in the NFL as long as big guys like him are playing.
“A lot of us players growing up and coming in, we’re getting faster, stronger, and some guys just have incredible strength on that football field,” Suh said. “So I feel like we put them in tough situations, and with the new rules and the different situation of safety — which definitely should be something that should be applied on both sides of the ball — we definitely put them in tough situations, so they have to make the right judgment. I’m not going to fault them for making a call that they’re erring on the safer side, because safety is important. It’s important for myself, it’s important for a quarterback, it’s important for every last 22 players on the football field.”
Suh said he will appeal the $20,000 fine, and he said no fine will change the way he plays.
“I’m never going to put myself in a situation where I can allow a play to affect my team because I didn’t follow through on my job,” Suh said. “So I’m not going to stop playing hard. Like I said before, I owe it to my fans, I owe it to my teammates, I owe it to the coaches, and I owe it to the fans, first and foremost. That’s the reason why they watch the game. It’s one of the reasons football is football.”
A perfect example of this is the "shove" he gave Jay Cutler last year. Cutler was near the sideline running for a first down and Suh pushed him violently to the turf with two hands. That two handed "shove" delivered more force than some tackles you see. At full speed the hit looked like a cheap shot, but in slow motion it was just a shove by a very powerful man. But the referees have to make the calls at full speed, not in slow motion.
Jeremy Maclin does not have Lymphoma or any other types of cancer or disease. All the tests have come back and he has been cleared to play. The diagnosis was a rare virus that he battled but has gotten past it. Maclin should be returning to the Eagles soon.
Sweed was waived earlier today with the “injured” designation. If he isn’t claimed, he’ll land on the Steelers’ injured reserve list. Either way, he won’t be playing for the Steelers this year, absent a timely injury settlement, which would allow him to return to the team later in the year. (It gets complicated.)
Appearing in 20 career regular-season games, Sweed has seven catches for 69 yards. He had two catches for 20 yards in the 2008 postseason.
The Steelers also waived tight end Eugene Bright from the Physically Unable to Perform list, and they signed defensive backs Macho Harris and John Dockery.
Harris spent 2009 with the Eagles and 2010 with the Redskins. Dockery has 11 starts and 61 appearances in six NFL seasons.
Considering all the excellent wide receiver selections the Steelers have made, they were bound to miss at least once. Lets take a look at some of them; Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress, Antwan Randel El, Santonio Holmes, Limas Sweed, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, and Antonio Brown.
Yahoo! Sports' Michael Silver reports the Eagles have been asking for a pair of second-round picks in exchange for CB Asante Samuel.
No team has been willing to bite at that price, and GM Howie Roseman now says he's comfortable with three star corners on the roster. Coach Andy Reid seconds that outlook, stating Tuesday, "It's what I told him initially and what I've told you, he's on our football team. That's what he is."
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Carolina coach Ron Rivera says Cam Newton will start at quarterback for the Panthers in their second preseason game Friday.
Rivera says Newton's start is "pretty much following the line of what we had planned throughout training camp and that's to go back and forth" with Newton and Jimmy Clausen.
Rivera says the first-team offense will play about one half and that Clausen will get reps with the first team to keep the quarterback competition even.
The coach says he has not made a decision on which quarterback will start the Sept. 11 regular-season opener against Arizona.
He says he'll likely make that announcement next week.
Rivers says by then "we'll have a real good feel for what we're going to do as we go into the regular season."
Arian Foster was back at practice today. He said he isn't sure if he will play in the next game or not yet, but that he does feel "pretty much 100 percent". There is no reason for the Texans to rush him back right now. Hamstring pulls can be tricky, and he could risk a setback. Chris Ogbonnaya could use the extra reps anyways to put more work on tape in the event he doesn't make the team. Now if Ben Tate can just get healthy.
We asked over the weekend whether Ndamukong Suh isa dirty player. The NFL at least seems to think that in the Lions’ preseason opener, Suh committed a dirty play.
There’s been no official announcement of any fine, but Suh’s tweet (“$20,000REALLY???!!”) suggested that the NFL has informed him that’s how much his paycheck will be docked.
Suh might not like it, but the fine was completely appropriate: Suh slammed Dalton to the ground hard after Dalton had already released the ball. And Suh is a repeat offender who delivered the most vicious hit of last year’s preseason when he pummeled Browns quarterback Jake Delhomme.
Last year Suh was fined $7,500 for the hit on Delhomme and then $15,000 for a hit on Jay Cutler. Now he’s at $20,000. We’ll see if this fine gets his attention, or if the NFL slaps Suh with a James Harrison-sized fine next.
The Patriots have given off a few obvious signs they aren’t happy with their safety situation.
They worked out Dashon Goldson, Renaldo Hill, and Darren Sharper during camp. They haven’t signed any of them, but Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe reports the team is “unhappy” with Brandon Meriweather. (And it has nothing to do with his off-field issues.)
Meriweather wound up making the Pro Bowl last year even though he was benched occasionally. Over the last two days, the team has worked in Sergio Brown with the starting unit next to Patrick Chung. The team also has veteran James Sanders, but he’s been injured.
New England’s cornerback position is deeper than it has been in years. Chung looks like a quality starter. Despite the Pro Bowl nods, Meriweather looks like the weak spot of the Patriots secondary.
In no way do I blame the Patriots for wanting to get better at a position, no matter how strong it is or is not. Sometimes you make a position stronger by simply creating competition, or at lease the illusion of it. However, if this is more than a gimmick and Meriweather is ever up for grabs, there will be teams lined up.
Tim Tebow believes in God. He lets it be known, he praises him openly and he has absolutely no problem standing up for his beliefs.
This bothers people for some inexplicable reason, and it has caused nearly as much controversy as his attempts to become the starting quarterback in Denver.
Let's put the Broncos aside for a moment though. This has little to do with their decision to start Kyle Orton over Tebow this year.
Football is the nation's most popular sport. It is played everywhere, loved everywhere and embraced in even some of the most remote reaches of the country.
This country also happens to believe in the freedom of religion. In some parts of this country, football and religion basically go hand-in-hand. It is not this way everywhere, but this philosophy does exist .
There are plenty of players in the league who are openly vocal about their faith. Kurt Warner, a potential Hall of Famer, is just one that comes to mind. At one point in 2000, Warner was even quoted as believing God healed him from a concussion.
So why is the same situation with Tebow is so overblown?
Because he's only 24 years old? Because he's one of the greatest college quarterbacks to ever play the game? Because he was easily the most controversial first-round pick in a decade?
Will Tim Tebow Ever Become the Full-Time Starter in Denver?
CBS Sports' Gregg Doyel had enough ofhow Tebow believes his faith ties into his NFLfuture and went as far as to call it "blasphemy."
Since writing that article, according to USA Today writer Michael McCarthy, Doyel has received an influx of "hate mail."
Doyel's arguing point for most of his column was based on Tebow saying "I'm relying as always on my faith", something he had told the Denver Post days earlier.
The writer, basically, paraphrased Tebow's quotes to mean, "I'll be a starter in this league because God loves me that much."
Which, in all actuality, is an absurd generalization.
Maybe Tebow does believe that it is God's plan for him start in the NFL and be successful, but how can anyone argue with him? Who Tim Tebow is, what Tim Tebow believes of himself and how much Tim Tebow believes in his God has done good things for him so far.
He's been an unbelievable person and football player everywhere he has been for the first 24-years of life; is there any reason for him not to believe in himself and his faith?
Tebow Connecting with Willis on a 43-Yard Pass in Week 1 Preseason Game Against Cowboys
Maybe Tebow is "relying on his faith" just to give him the strength to have a long career in the NFL, regardless of whether he is a starter or not.
Or maybe Tebow is "relying on his faith" simply to give him a fair opportunity to start in the NFL.
Or maybe Tebow really is "relying on his faith" to make him a starter in the NFL one day.
Regardless, it shouldn't matter to us what Tim Tebow believes his faith will do for him. He's allowed to believe, say and practice whatever he wants regarding God, football, faith and the pro-style offense.
Doyel's surge into to Tebow's faith isn't the first and won't be the last, but these arguments will forever be pointless.
Tim Tebow is going to become the best football player he can possibly be, regardless of his faith, and whether that equates to him starting at quarterback or rolling as a career backup remains to be seen.
He is, however, allowed the opportunity to attribute it to whatever he wants, and that should be enough for everyone else to just leave it alone.
Football and religion are two of the greatest things we have in this country, and there should be no problem with them coinciding.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera made the smartest move of his short Carolina tenure by giving Cam Newton the start Friday, ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas writes. 
