The Tiger Report: 12/01/11

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Roland McClain arrested for assault, discharging a firearm

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 1, 2011, 4:31 PM EST

Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain was arrested and stands accused of illegally firing a gun in his hometown of Decatur, Alabama.

CSNBayArea.com reports that McClain has been arrested for discharging a firearm within city limits, third degree assault, menacing, and reckless endangerment.

Decatur Police Lt. John Crouch told Comcast SportsNet that McClain is currently in jail.

“I can tell you that Rolando McClain is under arrest,” Crouch said. “He’s been charged with third degree assault, menacing, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm in city limits. He is still in custody.”

McClain, who went home this week for his grandfather’s funeral, was reportedly involved in a fight on Wednesday night before the shooting broke out.

Report: Rolando McClain at the scene of gunshots in Alabama

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 1, 2011, 2:40 PM EST

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Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain wasn’t at practice Wednesday because of the ankle injury he suffered last week against the Bears.

He was in Alabama, where police responded to a call following gunshots and a fight.

McClain was at the scene of the fight according to police via Keith Clines of the Huntsville Times. McClain hasn’t been charged with anything. Police are investigating the incident.

“We are aware of the incident. At this time, we have no further comment,” the Raiders said in a statement to CSNBayAreacom.

We’re a little confused why McClain would be in Alabama in the first place. It’s out of the ordinary for a team to let a player travel home instead of receiving treatment and attending meetings at the team facility.

This is the second time McClain’s name has come up in the news in Alabama this year. In January, McClain told police that an unknown individual shot at his truck when he drove by.

TTR's Week 13 - Start em Sit em

Start em

Toby Gerhart - Gerhart did better than expected against a touch Falcons defense so he should fare much better against the Broncos 19th ranked run defense. The Broncos are also possibly without Von Miller, so that could make the match up even more favorable. Gerhart should easily have double digit points, if not 15+.

Chris Johnson - CJ1k has had a rough year, and only recently has he done anything worth mentioning. Even in the stretch of good games, he was still inconsistent with some poor performances in between. This week with their playoff hopes still slimly alive, CJ1k gets to face a bad run defense in the Bills. They are allowing over 120 yards per game rushing. CJ should have a big day in Buffalo.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis - He is playing against the Colts, plain and simple. This could be a game that has the Patriots running the ball for most of the second half. Expect Green-Ellis to get plenty of touches in this blowout win over Indy.

Darren Sproles - Sproles is a match up nightmare for most teams, and figures to do the same against Detroit. Especially with the over aggressive front that they play, screens and draws can be devastating. Also Detroit's special teams coverage has been awful this year, so do not be surprised if Sproles has a big day in the return game.

Eli Manning - Despite all the injuries, Eli typically finds a way to get production out of those available. So even though he may not have Manningham or Nicks this week, don't hesitate to start him against a bad Green Bay pass defense. They have allowed the 2nd most passing yards this year, and they are tied for 6th most passing touchdowns allowed. Eli should produce, even in a Giants loss.

Sit em

Mike Williams (TB) - Williams is finally starting to produce and actually help your lineup, and Freeman get's hurt shooting a gun, I mean playing football. He was a borderline WR2 play to begin with, and this week your probably don't even want to take that chance.

Arian Foster - I highly doubt anyone would bench Foster, but do not expect him to have a huge game against the Falcons. They are 2nd against the run and I don't know that the Texans will have an early lead to allow them to grind the clock. Foster will probably play, but he will produce more like a RB2 or Flex option this week.

Willis McGahee - The Vikings are pretty stout against the run so I don't expect much production out of Willis this week. Additionally the Vikings could get an early lead that will force Denver away from their read option game. Von Miller's absence in the Broncos lineup will be apparent.

Add Donovan McNabb to the Waiver Wire

Posted by Mike Florio on December 1, 2011, 1:53 PM EST

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During both the Week 12 10-pack and Monday night’s edition of NBC SportsTalk, we pointed out that, if Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb has any desire to play football, he should ask the team for his release.

He apparently has.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that McNabb will be released today.

The move will spark another game of waiver-wire bluff, in which any interested team much submit a claim for the balance of his one-year contract. The team with the highest priority will acquire his services.

The Texans should make a claim, notwithstanding the recent decision to sign Jake Delhomme. The Bears, who were blocked last week from getting Kyle Orton, also should make a claim.

Given Chicago’s lost last weekend to the Raiders, the Bears will have dibs over the Texans.

Another possibility is the Cowboys, given that Dallas also made a claim for Kyle Orton.

Regardless, it’ll make for an interesting 24 hours, especially while we wait for the Colts to cobble together an excuse for not making a claim for McNabb.

Ryan Grant feels Suh's two-game suspension is "Absurd"

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 1, 2011, 1:36 PM EST

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After seeing Lions defensive tackleNdamukong Suh stomp on one of his teammates, Packers running back Ryan Grantisn’t happy that Suh will be back on the field in two weeks.

“Do I think it needs to be longer? Yeah, I do,” Grant said on WSSP in Milwaukee, viaSportsRadioInterviews.com. “I think it’s absurd. It was about as overboard as you can get what he did; it’s just not football. Can’t have that. It was ridiculous, and it’s not something you want to see regardless. I’m not a fan of the apology, I’m not a fan of what he said. Anybody in hindsight can say all that, but we’re talking about something that’s not exactly a first occurrence. There have been issues, there have been talks and communication with the commissioner and across the board.”

Suh will likely point out at today’s appeal hearing, however, that after the communication with the commissioner that Grant references, Roger Goodell praised Suh, writing on Twitter, “he has clearly made the adjustments to play consistently w/in the rules.” Suh could also point out that his ejection and two-game suspension is a much stiffer punishment than other players received for dirty plays: Grant’s teammate Charles Woodson was neither ejected nor suspended for punching Saints tight end David Thomas. Vikings defensive end Brian Robison was neither ejected nor suspended for kicking Packers guard T.J. Lang in the groin.

So while Grant is saying the punishment was too lenient, Suh is arguing that the punishment was too severe. The opinion that really matters is that of Art Shell, who’s hearing Suh’s appeal.

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Giants injury concerns for Week 13

Nicks, Manningham, Bradshaw not practicing

Hakeem Nicks (concussion, ribs), Mario Manningham (knee) and Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) all missed practice Thursday.

Nicks' absence is a concern. He took a few punishing hits on Monday night, including one from Isa Abdul-Quddus over the middle that nearly decapitated him. When Nicks showed up for work on Wednesday, he had headaches. Although the Giants say he has been medically cleared, this could be a fluid situation thanks to the tricky nature of concussions.

Source: Mike Garafolo on Twitter

Kevin Smith on track to play against the Saints

Kevin Smith is going through drills Thursday

Kevin Smith (ankle) was participating in Lions practice Thursday.

Smith will likely end up as a "limited" participant, but he's trending in the right direction. Per beat writer Dave Birkett, Smith ran a cone and bag drill Thursday "without issue" and it "looks like he'll be a go barring a tweak." At this point, it's obvious Smith's Thanksgiving ankle sprain was of the mild variety. He was the No. 1 back in position drills today.

Source: Dave Birkett on Twitter

Vikings avoid blackout

Posted by Mike Florio on December 1, 2011, 12:36 PM EST

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Earlier this week, the Vikings were at risk of snapping a sellout streak extending back to 1997. Ultimately, the streak will continue.

Per the Associated Press, the team has said that Sunday’s game against the Broncos will be televised locally.

It’s unknown whether Tebowmania saved the day, or whether owner Zygi Wilf peeled off some of the discretionary income with which he recently purchased a $19 million co-op on Park Avenue to ensure that the team will have a three-hour local TV commercial at a time when the franchise is trying to get the public to kick in $700 million or so toward a new stadium.

The Broncos-Vikings game will be televised by the local FOX affiliate, due to the limited number of 1:00 p.m. ET games that FOX otherwise would be broadcasting. Under the traditional formula, FOX had two games and CBS had seven, due to the flexing of Saints-Lions to Sunday night.

TTR's Week 13 Picks

Current record 108-54 (66.6%)

Last Week 13-3

Thursday Night

Eagles at Seahawks - Both of these teams are frustrating because they are so inconsistent. One thing that is not going to be inconsistent in this game is going to be the pass rush. Chris Clemons is having a great individual season with 8 sacks on the season. Despite that, the Seahawks are still giving up almost 2 sacks to every 1 they record. They have allowed the most QB hits (82) and the second most sacks (36) so far this season. With that the Eagles have to seize this opportunity with a top 10 ranked pass rush that has generated 30 sacks on the year. The Eagles are in disarray, but with this favorable match up they should be able to win this game. Eagles 23-17.

Sunday

Raiders at Dolphins - The Battle of the Bushes in South Beach. I called the

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Brandon Marshall can not stay out of trouble

Brandon Marshall briefly detained by police

Brandon Marshall was handcuffed and briefly detained by police in Broward County, FL after being accused of fleeing a $142 cab fare.

The incident happen at around 5AM on November 14 at the Florida International Airport. The issue was resolved, but not until after Marshall tried to get out of paying. "He didn’t know where he wanted to go," the driver said. "When I woke him up and told him he had to pay, he said he wasn’t and started arguing for me to take him home." After exiting the cab and trying to flee in another, Marshall blamed the "misunderstanding" on the cab driver's "accent." Marshall's agent, Kennard McGuire, claims his client was "completely innocent."

Source: South Florida Time

Martz says execution, not play selection, is to blame

Posted by Mike Florio on November 30, 2011, 10:37 PM EST

To the extent that soon-to-be Jaguars owner Shahid Khan would consider hiring Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz to serve as the head coach of the Jaguars simply because Martz once served as head coach of the Rams when Khan was a Rams season-ticket holder, Khan may want to keep an eye on the situation in Chicago.

On Wednesday, Martz shifted blame from himself to his players for an ill-advised throwback screen pass that wiped out a possible first-half field goal for the Bears and resulted in a field goal for the Raiders, a six-point swing in a five-point game.

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