Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 8, 2011, 4:28 PM EST
AP
There is a sliding scale of justice in the NFL.
If you are going to get arrested, make sure you are very talented. Teams will try to send a “message” about character if you aren’t good enough at football.
The Panthers did just that on Tuesday, cutting practice squad player Lawrence Wilson five days after he was caught driving with weed during the team’s bye week. Wilson was a sixth-round pick this year.
Wilson said Monday that coach Ron Rivera indicated he’d keep his spot on the team, but that only remained true for another day.
If Wilson was contributing more on the field, they would have likely looked the other way.
When Haynesworth joined the Patriots, he took a pay cut in base salary from $5.4 million to $1.5 million. He had the chance to make that money back in playing time incentives.
He won’t make any of the money back now.
Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported in August that Haynesworth would have received a $1 million bonus if he played in 20% of the team’s snaps for the year. Almost $3 million more was available if he reached playing time incentives beyond that.
Dez Bryant - With Miles Austin set miss the next 2-4 games, Bryant now healthy should be leaned on heavily in the passing game. Over the next four weeks Dez draws 3 bottom dwellers against the pass in Buffalo (25th) Miami (27th) and Arizona (29th). Dez Struggled with injuries earlier in the year which handicapped his production as he was reduced to a mere shell of himself. Remember week one Dez drew Revis Island, but was well on his way to a dominating performance with 71 yards and a TD in just the first 8 minutes of the game before being hampered by a quad injury. With Dez healthy a string of dominate performances is foreseeable. Dez starts his reign of terror on NFL defenses this week against Bufalo. A game where 100+ yards and a TD can be expected because of the following:
1. Buffalos' shaky secondary
2. Bryants' immense talent
3. Favorable situation with Austin sidelined.
Even when Austin returns Dez should remain a weekly top 10 WR play. Especially with a remaing slate which contains 6 teams in the top 11 in pass plays of 40 yards or more allowed.
According to Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was asked on the Dennis and Callahan Show on WEEI radio, whether or not receiver Chad Ochocinco was in the right spots during Sunday’s loss to the Giants.
“Yeah, he is,” Brady said. “He certainly is. There’s a lot of things that go into our offense and the timing of it. He and I have only played eight games together, and we talked to each other a lot after the game. Man, it’s frustrating to come off the field and know we’re not making plays we’re capable of making. I’m trying to get him the ball and make him part of our offense. That’s what your role is. Really, what I think about is what I need to do better, and there’s plenty of those things. So, me getting caught up with other guys and what they need … For me, I need to throw the ball better, I need to make better decisions, I’ve got to make fewer bad plays each game.”
Brady was then asked what is the reason for the struggles on offense.
“We make improvements every week,” Brady said. “It’s just a matter of us ultimately getting it done in the game. Every week there’s more confidence in what we’re doing with him, and with him and me. It’s just a matter of us getting out there and doing it on the field. Believe me, no one’s more frustrated than us. We talked after the game about what we need to do to get better. And we’re just going to keep doing it. We really don’t know any other way. We’re not going to sit here and feel bad for ourselves.“
It was to Marcus Thomas, anyway. The Denver defensive tackle took his stance across from Oakland center Samson Satele(notes), Satele moved, and Thomas ... well, he moved, too, but in a much more celebratory manner.
Fortunately, there are no rules against boundless enthusiasm for false start penalties. Yet.
Posted by Mike Florio on November 8, 2011, 9:19 AM EST
Getty Images
1. Packers (No. 1; 8-0): Halfway to an undefeated season, the Packers’ defense is suddenly alarmingly porous.
2. 49ers (No. 2; 7-1): The Niners have a better formula than the Packers to win games in January.
3. Giants (No. 6; 6-2): The good news for the Giants is that quarterback Eli Manning truly has become elite. The better news is that the whole team is, too.
4. Ravens (No. 7; 6-2): If the offense that showed up late in the Steelers game had shown up against the Titans and Jaguars, the Ravens would be undefeated.
5. Lions (No. 5; 6-2): In 16 days, they get their crack at the Pack.
The sordid mess involving Miami Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis and his mysterious "non-injury" deactivation for Sunday's game at Kansas City continues to grow uglier.
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, citing a source, says Davis was believed to be drunk on Friday night before the game, and arrived for Saturday's practice hungover and with the smell of alcohol.
Earlier reports said that Davis and receiver Brandon Marshall had gotten into a confrontion at practice during the week. But Marshall made the trip that wound up being the Dolphins' first win of the season, and Davis did not.
After the game, Marshall did not deny the altercation and spoke of Davis.
“Yeah, one of the reasons why we’re standing here with a W is because the guys in our locker room, we hold each other accountable," Marshall said. "Vontae is a special player. He’s one of the best players on our team. We look forward to getting Vontae back hopefully next week. We hold each other accountable and that’s why we’re a special group. Record doesn’t show it but hopefully next week we can put another win back to back."
At his Monday press conference, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, who refused to address the matter on Sunday, said Davis would play this week against the Washington Redskins.
According to the Oakland Tribune's Steve Corkran, "chances are" Darren McFadden (foot) will not play on Thursday night against San Diego.
McFadden, who hasn't even resumed running, did not participate in Monday's Wednesday-like practice walkthrough and is expected to be replaced by Michael Bush and Taiwan Jones against the Chargers. According to Corkran, McFadden "still hasn't so much as gone out for a leisurely jog" since suffering a mid-foot sprain on October 23. After Thursday night, the Raiders' next game is on November 20, giving McFadden nearly a full month of off time. Nov 7 - 7:13 PM
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 7, 2011, 6:46 PM EST
Mike Mayock has entered the Cris Collinsworth zone for me.
I could listen to him talk football at any time, for any length of time because I’ll learn something in the process.
We usually cut up the PFT Live segments in the rumor mill, but I know a lot of you out there feel the same way about Mayock, so I’ll just put the whole interview right here.
Mayock breaks down what he saw watching the Raiders-Broncos game on Sunday. He gives his thoughts on Tim Tebow, Carson Palmer, and tells us what he learned from watching Philip Rivers on film this year.
(Also watch Florio use the word “morass” without giggling.)
Posted by Mike Florio on November 7, 2011, 11:06 PM EST
AP
Bears running back Matt Forte has done plenty of talking regarding the team’s failure to give him a new contract. Now, Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo has decided to do some talking of his own.
Before Monday night’s game against the Eagles, Angelo told WBBM radio (via John Mullin of CSNChicago.com) that the Bears have tried to sign Forte over the long haul.
“Matt was the only player we targeted and we made him, in my opinion, a very lucrative offer and it wasn’t able to get done,” Angelo said. “Our intent is still to have Matt play the bulk of his years in Chicago and we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 8, 2011, 12:33 AM EST
AP
It only took two straight wins by the Eagles, including one with major style points against the Cowboys, for everyone to jump back on Philadelphia’s bandwagon.
Get ready for everyone to jump back off.
We’re guessing that “Are the Eagles the favorites in the NFC East?” won’t be a theme of talk shows this week. Reality might set in about this Philadelphia team following Monday night’s 30-24 loss to the Bears.
The reality is that the Bears are a better team. Chicago is one of nine teams ahead of the Eagles in the NFC playoff race. 7 of those teams are at least two games ahead of Philadelphia. The Giants lead Philly in the NFC East by three games.
