Posted by Mike Florio on December 16, 2011, 1:29 PM EST
AP
Inevitably, a Tebow backlash has emerged.
And it’s coming from another AFC quarterback whose team is better, whose numbers are better, but who badly trails Tebow in the AFC fan Pro Bowl voting.
“I mean, look at Tim Tebow,” Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco told WNST radio in Baltimore, via NFL.com. “I like Tim, but you have a tendency to want to — I don’t want to see Tim do bad — but look what happens after he wins a football game. If you watched SportsCenter today, it was Tim Tebow then something else, Tim Tebow then something else, and Tim Tebow then something else. When we beat the Steelers, were we on TV? No. I couldn’t even find a Baltimore Ravens highlight. I think that’s kinda the way it is around Baltimore. We don’t always get our respect but you gotta deal with it and go out there every week and just win football games.”
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 16, 2011, 2:07 PM EST
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Early this season, members of the Vikings secondary weren’t too confident in the approach that defensive coordinator Fred Pagac took with his coverage calls.
Tom Pelissero of espn1500.com writes that a group of players simply refused to play the defenses called, yelling out their own coverages as they broke the huddle. The players didn’t like the frequency and timing of some man coverage and blitz concept calls.
Minnesota’s struggles in the second halves of games were blamed on coaches failing to adjust. Leslie Frazier eventually took over some playcalling duties in November, but the damage was done.
Former Green Bay Packer Matt Brock revealed Thursday some inside information as to what likely sparked Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to stomp on an opposing player's arm during the Lions-Packers Thanksgiving Day matchup.
Brock, speaking on KXTG radio in Portland, Ore., said he learned from Packers offensive line coach James Campen that Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith was instructed to untie Suh's shoelaces at every possible opportunity during the game.
"So my friend, James [Campen] — man, I probably shouldn't say his name, he told me not to tell this, and I was like, 'Whatever,' — he's the offensive line coach. The center, or one of his guards, he's had like one or two starts in his career and he's got to play against Suh. So he's pretty puckered, right? So, he's talking to James, the offensive line coach, going, 'What do I do? What do I do?'"
"James is just in his mind going, 'This guy is going to get killed. I got to take his mind off it, give him something else to do.' So he says, 'OK, every time you're in a pile, I want you to focus on something. I want you to untie his shoes.
"'Anytime you can, just reach in; he's got floppy shoe laces, he doesn't spat (cover them with tape) or anything, just untie his shoes. It will irritate him.'"
Brock said the Packers offensive lineman untied Suh's shoes three times during the game.
"That's why he stomped him," Brock said. "That's why he banged his head on the ground and he stomped him."
Suh, who already had been fined three times in his short NFL career for illegal hits on quarterbacks, served a two-game suspension for the stomp to Dietrich-Smith's arm.
The 2010 Defensive Rookie of the Year has avoided any direct answers to the stomping incident since returning to the Lions this week.
While Billick was diplomatic and tactful, it’s clear that he has some concerns. “It has to be a partnership between the head coach, general manager and ownership with a very specific vision,” Billick said. “The Dolphins are probably a long way from formulating their plans.”
Posted by Mike Florio on December 15, 2011, 8:41 PM EST
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I’ve had a chance to fully digest the five-page criminal complaint filed today against Bears receiver Sam Hurd. The document reveals that Hurd submitted to a consensual interview with federal authorities in July 2011 — but Hurd allegedly kept on buying and selling cocaine and marijuana, in large amounts.
On July 27, a person known only as T.L. allegedly was attempting to purchase four kilograms of cocaine on behalf of Hurd. T.L. wanted to buy the cocaine at an early hour, because Hurd would be taking it to a “northern destination.”
Coincidentally — or otherwise — Hurd signed with the Bears on July 29. Training camp opened in Illinois on July 30.
UPDATED DEC 15, 2011 3:01 PM ET
