Owens suffered a torn ACL earlier this year. He has said repeatedly that he plans to play. To make that happen, he’ll need to find a team to be interested in his services.
While many will surely say no, it only takes one to say yes.
One of the more intriguing games of Week Two will feature the defending Super Bowl champions visiting Charlotte. Sure, the Panthers were 2-14 last year and 0-1 so far in 2011. But Cam Newton, the first overall pick in the draft, made the jump to the NFL in a big way, racking up 422 yards passing in his first game.
So while the Packers most likely will win, it’ll be interesting to see what Newton can do against a quality team, right?
The Panthers don’t see it that way. Linebacker Thomas Davis thinks that the Panthers can win the game.
“Man, I’m tired of talking about [Packers quarterback] Aaron Rodgers,” Davis told reporters Wednesday, via Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com. “We’ll line up and we’re going to compete as hard as we can and we should come away with a victory.”
If Davis seems irritated about the Packers, consider his feelings regarding the local happiness with the fact that the Panthers lost to the Cardinals by only seven points.
“You look back and the fans were excited about us being in the game against Arizona,” Davis said. “Arizona is a team that went 5-11 last year. So I don’t know why that is something to be excited about. We went out and fully expected to win that game, just like we are going out and fully expect to win this game.
“You can’t really go into a game thinking you don’t have a chance or we’re close. This is the NFL and any given Sunday you can win a football game.”
We like the confidence. It may be misplaced, but we like it. There’s no way any team can be successful if the team doesn’t believe in itself. And so that’s another reason for Panthers fans to feel good about their team, even if it falls to 0-2 on Sunday.
Three weeks after Arian Foster aggravated his hamstring injury in a preseason game, the league’s leading rusher from a year ago returned to practice Wednesday.
“He took a normal Wednesday load for a starter,” Kubiak said. “I guess the key probably is how does he come out of practice tomorrow, does he feel good. But everything was positive today at practice, so we’ll see.”
The Texans ran the ball well against the Colts, but the matchup looks much tougher this week against Miami. Derrick Ward is day-to-day after leaving last week’s game with an ankle injury. Ben Tate figures to backup Foster, but Kubiak made it clear he won’t be too worried about Foster’s workload.
“If he can play, you play [him],” Kubiak said. “There won’t be being careful with him. You may say, ‘This is how many times he’s going to touch it,’ but you can’t do something half-speed out there. We’d have to see, but if he’s ready to go, he puts us at our best and he’ll be out there.”
Translation for fantasy leaguers and Texans fans: Giddy up.
So Woodson did something that’s indisputably unacceptable — punching an opponent — and got fined 0.1 percent of his salary. Jaguars practice squad linebacker Mike Lockley did something that’s at least arguably acceptable — a borderline hit while trying to break up a pass — and got fined more than 20 percent of his salary.
Something is wrong with that picture.
This is so stupid. Ndamukong Suh plays the game the right way, and get's nailed 20K. Yet Woodson throw a punch at another player, and is fined half that. Mason Foster who lands an excellent hit on Ochocinco in preseason gets nailed 20k too. This is a friggin' joke and the NFL offices need to be policed better.
While 49ers receiver Braylon Edwards was looking for a job after his contract with the Jets expired, two members of his entourage found themselves accused of knifing and/or forking two employees at a restaurant in Michigan.
Though initial reports cleared Edwards of any involvement, the restaurant issued a statement implicating the former Wolverine: “Braylon Edwards was present and involved, but it’s an ongoing police investigation so at this time we don’t have any further information.”
Edwards never was charged, but now Edwards is taking action. According to theAssociated Press, Edwards has sued the restaurant and three of its employees for slander, claiming that the false allegations prompted an unnamed team that had offered him a contract with $15 million guaranteed to acquire a case of cold feet in response to the contention that Edwards had a role in the incident.
Ordinarily, defamation cases are difficult for folks with a history of bad behavior, since the measure of damages comes from comparing the reputation before the false statements to the reputation after the false statements. That’s probably why, for example, Pacman Jones never made good on a threat to sue ESPN for claiming that he instigated another shooting in a Vegas strip club.
In this case, Edwards may be onto something. If he can prove that there was a team who had offered that money, that the team pulled the offer after the restaurant claimed that Edwards “was present and involved” in the incident, and that the allegation was false, Edwards could prevail.
The challenge, of course, will be to squeeze the $14 million out of the restaurant and its employees. Maybe, in the end, he’ll simply own the restaurant.
And maybe Pacman Jones can instigate a shooting there.
After shedding the boot last week during practice and playing in Sunday’s game, Evans said of the injury, “It’s the same. It is what it is.”
Acquired from Buffalo during camp, Evans was targeted four times, and he had no catches against the Steelers.
Also missing from practice were cornerback Jimmy Smith (ankle) and cornerbackChris Carr (hamstring). The Ravens play the Titans in Tennessee on Sunday.
While doing some research (yes, I do some research . . . sometimes) for today’s PFT Live, I noticed something odd on the Broncos online depth chart.
Though it’s widely believed that Tim Tebow is the third-string quarterback in Denver, he isn’t. But he isn’t the second-stringer, either.
On the team’s three-deep depth chart, the second string quarterback is “Brady Quinn or Tim Tebow.” Given the elimination of the emergency quarterback rule, it doesn’t matter who’s No. 2 or No. 3 if both guys will be among the 46 active players on game day. But the team’s reluctance to apply the official second-string or third-string label makes little sense.
It could be that the Broncos don’t want to expose Tebow to the official indignity of being the third-string quarterback, and that the team also doesn’t want Tebow to be in the on-deck circle behind the starter on a team that could once again struggle.
Either way, at some point the fans will demand — loudly — that Tebow plays. And it won’t matter where he is on the depth chart. For more, check out the first segment of today’s PFT Live.
Haynesworth said on WEEI that the Patriots’ defense isn’t good enough, and that he personally isn’t good enough.
“We have to be a lot better, especially up front,” Haynesworth said. “I can only talk about what we do as us, personally. I think we let them score too many points and get too many yards. Once we figure out that and keep playing hard and getting after the quarterback, we’ll be all right.”
Echoing coach Bill Belichick, who said after Monday night’s game that the Patriots are a long way from being good, Haynesworth said everyone on the Patriots’ defense should be looking at how they can improve after giving up 488 yards of offense to the Dolphins.
“You have to stop them,” Haynesworth said. “We just have to play better as a front, as a defense. If we want to be that top-ranked defense, then we have to play like it.”
Haynesworth was on the field for 30 snaps and played reasonably well, but he said he still needs to learn his role in the Patriots’ defense.
“I just have to cut out some of the mental errors,” Haynesworth said. “I still have to feel comfortable with what I’m doing and trust in it, and then, I’ll be more effective.”
This is good new for the Patriots, that the former defensive player of the year is unsatisfied with their product on the field. The sleeping giants motivation can be a major developing story all season long.
Lavoyda Lenard, the mother of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, has died.
The Bears released a statement saying that Lenard died suddenly at her home in Texas on Monday. No information about the cause of death has been released. Lenard was 51 years old.
“My first priority right now is to be with my family as we mourn her loss and make the arrangements to lay her to rest,” Urlacher said in a statement released by the team. “This is a very difficult and emotional time for us and I sincerely ask that you respect our privacy. Thank you.”
Urlacher has not said when he plans to return to the Bears.
Chiefs at Lions - The Chiefs were supposed to pick up where they left off last year, but they fell flat in the opener. To say they fell flat is an understatement, in fact they were steamrolled flat by the surprise Bills. Everything went wrong for the Chiefs in week 1, including losing Eric Berry to a torn ACL. Matt Cassel has been terrible and it does not get better against a rapidly improving Detroit defense. The Chiefs will right the ship, but not this week against a confident and hungry Lions team. Detroit walks into Ford Field with a 1-0 record and long suffering fan base will be will be wildly support the Silver and Blue. 17 - 34
Raiders at Bills - The Bills just came off a great game against the Chiefs, but the Raiders are a more physical team. This could be a very close game, but the Raiders power running game and nasty front 7 lead them to victory. 24 - 20
Ravens at Titans - The Ravens are have some of the best veteran leadership in the league, they will not be resting on their beatdown of the Steelers. Suggs and Ngata will wreak havoc on the Titans this week and CJ2k is off to a very slow start after 2 weeks. Ravens coast 31 - 13
Jaguars at Jets - The Jags did a good job of getting out to a quick start in the division, but without a proven passing game they struggle at the New Meadowlands. The Jets overwhelm McCown with their attacking defense. Sanchez continues to take the reins of the offense as the Jets continue to move away from ground and pound. 14 - 35
Browns at Colts - The Colts think they are still playing Houston as the ball gets run right down their throat. Peyton Hillis has a huge game and Montario Hardesty makes a name for himself this week. 27 - 10
Cardinals at Skins - The Cardinals are 1 and 0, and have a shot at the NFC West. But that has nothing to do with this game. The Skins are a much better team than the Panthers that nearly beat the Cards in week 1. The Cardinals secondary will improve as Peterson develops, but it won't be in time for this weekend. Tim Hightower won't be as much of a factor running the ball as some will think, but the Skins roll to 2 - 0.
17 - 24
Buccaneers at Vikings - The Bucs got beaten pretty soundly in week 1, despite what the score suggests. But this week they rebound in a big way. Expect Tampa's big 3 to all have a better game than last week. Tampa's pass protection is much better than most realize so they will be able to slow down Jared Allen and Bryan Robinson. With time to throw, Freeman and Williams carve up the Vikings banged up secondary all game. McNabb will throw for more than 39 yards, but it still won't be pretty or nearly enough. AP has a solid game against a middle of the pack rush defense, but can not carry the team far enough this week.
28-17
Packers at Panthers - This game will surely be surrounded by hype and it will probably be fun to watch, but it will not be a close game. The Packers will absolutely attack the Panthers secondary that gave up 309 yards and 2 TDs to Kolb last week. Kolb came out of that game with a 130 passer rating, and Rodgers is a much better QB. Expect Dom Capers to have a nasty bag of tricks up his sleeve to confuse and attack the young Panthers QB. Newton will be forced to make more plays with his legs this week and could be exciting. Packers roll to an easy win in Charlotte, 38-13.
Bears at Saints - I don't think this game will be a shoot out at all. Despite having talent on offense, both defenses have a lot to offer still. I expect one or two big plays make the difference in the Big Easy. Look for Sproles to be used more and more in the offense as well as special teams. Devery Henderson is a player to keep an eye on in this match up as well. Saint slip past the Bears 17-24.
Seahawks at Steelers - Pete Carrol can talk about competition all he wants, but this team is going to get destroyed this week. The Steelers did not lose because they got out coached, or out schemed, or the ball took a few unlucky bounces. They simply got manhandled by their nemesis from Baltimore. The Steelers will look to get their identity back and impose their will on whatever team is on the schedule. Seattle, lucky you. James Harrison despite his health concerns will be a force to be reckoned with this week, watch out Tarvaris.
10-38 Steelers.
Cowboys at 49ers - The team formerly known as "America's Team" must be sick this week. They outplayed the Jets for most of the game, then just handed the game away. Fortunately they are not playing a team of the caliber of the Jets this week. Romo should be able to make plays in the passing game but he needs to take better care of the ball. The 49ers have not shown that they have a legit passing game yet, and as much as I love Frank Gore, I don't see him having any success against the Cowboys rush defense. Cowboys even up the record at 1 - 1 with a 35-14 win over the Niners.
Chargers at Patriots - This game is going to be a closer game than some might think. Despite how the Pats dominated the fish, I think this game could go either way. Since this game is in Foxboro, I go with the Pats. Listen, San Diego still is not running the ball that well. Against a banged up and depleted Viking defense they had 24 carries and 80 yards between Matthews and Tolbert. Don't expect that to get much better here. But the Chargers have one of the best QBs at carrying his offense despite the presence of a running game. Philip Rivers will put up huge numbers against a Patriots secondary that let Henne put up 416 yards. Some might say that it was garbage yardage against a shell defense. To some extent that is true, but there is a lot of work Henne did against them before they were in any shell. If the Patriots want to slow Rivers down, they need to get more pressure. I think it comes down to a clock killing drive at the end, and the Patriots running game is able to close it out. 34-35 Patriots.
Bengals at Broncos - The Bengals played up, and the Broncos played down last week. Normally I would expect things to even themselves out but this one just sticks out a bit. The Broncos were pushed around and gave up 190 rushing yards to the Silver and Black last week. The Bengals are at their best when they are pounding the rock themselves, and Cedric Benson rumbled for 121 yards on 4.8 yards per carry. If the Bengals can keep from falling behind early, Benson could be in for a big day. Bengals 17-13.
Texans at Dolphins - The Dolphins defense will look a lot better this week against the visiting Texans, but they still will not be able to keep up. The Texans continue to keep pace in the AFC South 34-24.
Eagles at Falcons - The Falcons fell flat while the Eagles were flying high last weekend. Matt Ryan is a better quarterback than he played, but maybe he isn't ready to take that next step into the elite. This week he will not have a much easier match up. The Eagles registered 5 sacks last week, the same number that the Falcons gave up. Expect them to get after Ryan and keep him out of rhythm. On the offensive side of the ball expect Vick to shine as he lights up the Georgia Dome in his return as a starter. Eagles 28-24.
Monday
Rams at Giants - This is a battle of the walking wounded. Both teams have just been ravished by injuries to start this season. The Rams are going to be getting some players back a lot sooner than expected but the Giants defense is still hurting. Both teams will want to fling the ball around the field, but with receivers concerns, I don't think either team is that successful. The Rams need one of the wide outs to claim that top spot so they take the next step as an offense. The Giants on the other hand are short on receivers too with the swelling in Nick's knee being a short term concern and Manningham is a great option, but he is better suited as a slot or #2. The Giants squeak this one out 20-24.
The Daily News does not expect Hakeem Nicks (knee) to miss more than one game at most.
Doctors are almost certain that Nicks has a mere bone bruise and no real damage in his knee. He'll miss practice due to swelling, but he still has a chance to play against the Rams Monday night if the knee loosens up. Either way, Nicks' injury is not a long-term concern.
One Jaguars fan celebrated the start of the NFL season by
mocking deceased former Titans quarterback Steve McNair.
Clay Travis of OutKicktheCoverage.com passed along a photo of one Jaguars fan that dressed up a skeleton with a torn-up and bloody Steve McNair jersey. The skeleton was proudly displayed outside his car while tailgating before the game.
We know one fan shouldn’t provide a negative slant on an entire fanbase, but this is so out of bounds and pathetic it still merits attention. Perhaps the Jaguars could figure out who did it, and take away their season tickets if they have any.
PFT regulars will remember that an amusement park in Cincinnati intended to include McNair’s jersey and “skeleton” as part of a Halloween display a few years ago. It’s ridiculous that such a similar story happened again.
Everybody knows that Tom Brady's(notes) "Monday Night Football" performance against the Miami Dolphins was historically great — the last guy to throw for over 500 yards and four touchdowns in the same game was one Yelberton Abraham Tittle, back in the Paleolithic era (actually, 1962, when Tittle, the New York Giantsquarterback, busted out for 505 yards and seven touchdowns against the Washington Redskins). But at least one Hall of Fame quarterback believes that Brady may have been assisted by the supernatural — yes, Steve Young thinks Brady went all Jedi on us. The force is strong with this one!
Here's what Young had to say about Brady's performance, on ESPN's postgame coverage:
"His ball is sending a message to the receivers, and they believe it — it's as if the ball is talking to you. 'Go this way — this is the right way. This shoulder … I'm telling you … away from traffic. So, that way, everyone believes that ball has something important to say. The receiver heads that way, and that's all football is — just a big game of inches! Everyone's moving a few inches ahead of the other guy … otherwise, football's slow and methodical, and that's why you get tackled. Tom Brady moves people just ahead of the defense, and that's 500 yards."
Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic replayed Young's comments on their Tuesday morning radio show, with Golic wondering: "Seriously. Are we talking about Tom Brady, or Yoda?"
Former Patriots assistant coach, and ex-New York Jets and Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini, had this to add on the same show: "I think that when you're a former quarterback, and you see a performance like that, it's almost religious, and that's how you look at it. You think the ball is talking to the receivers. Look, I love Yoda — I'd love to be able to think that my ball is channeling the receivers. I heard it this morning, and I liked it — I knew it was going to be a big topic for debate. I'm sure the Miami defense wasn't sitting back and thinking that they wanted to hear any more from the football!"
Miami defensive end Jason Taylor(notes) certainly didn't want to hear anymore from the football, or about the guy throwing it, and he was rather cranky about it after the game.
"He hung 500 yards," Taylor said. "Who gives a damn? There's next week. If you want to write a story about Tom Brady throwing for 500 yards feel free. Congrats. He did a great job. We lost the game and we play again Sunday."
"His numbers can be a little skewed. He threw the ball well and they made plays. The thing is we had chances starting at the beginning of the game. Obviously giving up the 99-yarder there in a crucial spot. You know you're forcing them to kick the ball out of their own end zone and happen to give your offense a chance to go down on 'em. You know I think offensively we had a couple opportunities that we left out there to score. Defensively we didn't cover anybody. We didn't rush worth a darn, didn't tackle very well. We still had a chance to be in the game."
Sounds like the grumpy musings of a guy who just got zapped with the wrong end of a light saber. Based on Monday's performance and many more like it in the past, we're going to assume that Tom Brady IS a Jedi, and we'll do so until someone proves otherwise.
Future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner(notes) talked about "conversational football" in more conventional terms when I caught up with him in a Tuesday morning media call for the NFL Network — he discussed how quarterbacks must make things easier for their receivers.
"It's an incredibly important part of every good quarterback's game," Warner said. "We say, 'You throw your receivers open,' and by that, I mean that you lead, you anticipate, you see the coverage that a lot of people on the field don't see. You guide the receivers, and you throw them to the open area. They have to be able to make adjustments and find the football. Like Steve was saying last night, through the course of time, you start directing receivers, having thrown a certain way, guys start to anticipate and understand what you're seeing.
"Versus a particular coverage, a receiver comes out flat, you throw it high. Maybe you miss the first time, maybe the receiver's able to make an adjustment, but they start to understand why you're throwing a certain way time and time again. You throw it quicker, you anticipate, you might hold on to it a little longer, to flag the guy out and take him higher because you see the opening, even if your receiver isn't going exactly where you want. You put a little more velocity or touch on the ball, and it allows your receiver to make that adjustment and still make the catch in a spot. Certain guys are better at it than others; obviously Tom's extremely good at playing every part of the position, but I definitely see that with him.
During Sunday’s Panthers-Cardinals game, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton threw an interception that was called back because Arizona defensive back Richard Marshall was flagged for roughing the passer. That flag had Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt wondering what the rule is on hits to quarterbacks.
“What exactly is the rule in that instance?” Whisenhunt asked at his press conference. “I mean, that’s something that I’ve got to get clarification on.”
Whisenhunt is right to ask for clarification: Marshall did leave his feet to hit Newton, but he led with his shoulder into Newton’s shoulder, not with his head into Newton’s head. It’s obviously still not clear to coaches, players or fans whether what Marshall did should be a penalty or not.
Part of the problem is that the officials don’t offer enough clarity about what they’re calling. When the referee announced the penalty on Marshall, he just said it was roughing the passer — he didn’t explain what, exactly, Marshall did that constitutes roughing the passer. Whisenhunt said he’s going to need a clarification from the league office because when he asked the ref during the game he didn’t get an adequate explanation.
“I asked him what it was called for,” Whisenhunt said. “Was it a hit to the head? I think [Marshall] tried to do it the right way. He certainly didn’t lead with his head.”
Last month the NFL released a video that was supposed to clarify the rules to players and coaches. There’s clearly a lot more clarification needed. Whisenhunt is trying to get some clarification from the league office this week.
The Ravens had sufficient confidence in second-year defensive tackle Terrence Cody to send veteran Kelly Gregg packing. So far, Cody has given them no reason to regret the move.
Tom Worgo of CSNBaltimore.com reports that Cody, who weighed anywhere from 375 to 400 pounds as a rookie, has gotten down to 335.
“I was out of shape and overweight,” Cody said. “That’s what kind of slowed me down.”
His partner at defensive tackle has noticed.
“He is definitely a different player than last year,” Ngata said. “He has better technique. You are seeing that. He ended last year on such a great note. Once he gets going this year and gets more experience under his belt, he can do a lot of good things.”
Motivating Cody was a comment from G.M. Ozzie Newsome that Cody could have a breakout year.
“I was told about them,” Cody said. “It was like a big wake-up call. Everybody is really counting on me. That was a motivator to be ready to play.”
If Cody can become a great player, he and Ngata could become the premiere one-two punch in the league.
During the season, players are typically off on Tuesdays. And so, with the players in most cities not in the building, coaches and personnel types often bring in some new players for a look-see and, possibly, a contract. (It’s often called a Gong Show, especially when a team has a specific need that it’s trying to fill. And, yes, we mentioned that in order to justify the choice of picture for this story.)
Per a league source, the following tryouts occurred on Tuesday. More than a few recognizable names are among the guys looking for work.
In Cincinnati, defensive backs Lito Sheppard and Trevard Lindley had a chance to win spots with the unexpectedly undefeated team, along with tight end Donald Lee.
In Detroit, defensive end Jacob Ford and tight end Nathan Overbay got shots at spots on a team that has won five straight games.
In New England, three linebackers got a chance: Keith Darbut, Heath Farwell, and Lance Laury. Defensive ends Hall Davis and Jake Laptad also had tryouts.
The Jets looked at linebackers Tully Banta-Cain and Chris Wilson.
The Steelers, who signed tackle Jamon Meredith after his tryout, also looked at tackle Ray Willis.
The Chargers had a kick-off that Nick Novak won, beating out Dave Rayner and Shayne Graham.
Everybody knows that 
