Jenkins and his coach deny rumors he partied at North Alabama

Terry McCormick - National Football Post

Recent reports that cornerback Janoris Jenkins admitted to clubs he continued to smoke marijuana at the University of North Alabama are not true, says the draft prospect.

"I wasn't smoking marijuana at North Alabama," Jenkins told Aaron Wilson of Scout.com. "If anybody wants to know, they can give my coaches a call. I wasn't partying. They've been saying a lot of things about me that aren't true without getting my side of the story. It's been a humbling experience.

Report: Bucs shoping Aqib Talib

Posted by Josh Alper on April 18, 2012, 11:03 AM EDT

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The signs of the Buccaneers’ interest in drafting LSU cornerback Morris Claiborneare coming faster and faster.

Ronde Barber is playing safety at the team’s workouts, Barber said last week that the teamwill “probably” draft Claiborne and now there’s a report that the team is shopping cornerback Aqib Talib in a trade. A team source told Pewter Report that general manager Mark Dominik would like to acquire additional picks in next week’s draft in exchange for Talib, a pretty good sign that the team plans to add a starter at the position.

This years rookies could make less than last years

Posted by Mike Florio on April 18, 2012, 10:11 AM EDT

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There’s a Baby Ruth in the NFL’s rookie pool.

Yes, at a time when everyone connected to football is making more and more money, the incoming class of players could be making less.

Per a league source, it’s currently believed that the rookie pool will drop in 2012.

The problem, as the source explained it, comes from the original calculations that would have put this year’s salary cap as low as $113 million per team.  When the NFL and NFLPA agreed to bump the 2012 cap to $120.6 million per team, the NFL and the NFLPA didn’t include within the agreement the rookie pool.

Madden cover between Cam Newton and Megatron

Posted by Mike Florio on April 18, 2012, 10:39 AM EDT

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The Madden curse, if there is one, will apply to one of two high-profile NFC players this year.

The contrived bracket-style tournament has been whittled down to Lions receiver Calvin Johnson and Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

Packers fans surely are rejoicing, given that quarterback Aaron Rodgers once again has escaped the injuries, struggles, and/or outright goofy behavior that occurs after a player lands on the cover of the most popular (in large part because it’s the only) NFL-licensed console video game.

Ronde Barber could be making the switch to safety

Posted by Josh Alper on April 18, 2012, 8:29 AM EDT

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Ronde Barber let slip a little bit of knowledgeabout the Buccaneers’ interest in drafting LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne last week and the Bucs might have offered a hint about where Claiborne would fit on the defense during Tuesday’s workout.

Barber took reps at safety during the session, a place where the Bucs are awfully thin at present. If they wound up drafting Claiborne next week, they would be much deeper at corner with Eric Wright and Aqib Talib (assuming he’s available to play this season) joining Barber at the position. Moving Barber would allow the team to play more of their talented players at the same time while also protecting the step that Barber lost when locked up on a receiver last season.

Wednesday morning one-liners

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 18, 2012, 8:26 AM EDT

AP

Bills General Manager Buddy Nix said of the receivers in this year’s draft, “They get prettier every year — bigger and faster and long arms. The wide receiver group is deep.”

The schedule-makers don’t view the Dolphins as a marquee team; Miami’s only prime time game is a Thursday nighter against Buffalo.

Patriots LB Jerod Mayo, who has a cameo in The Three Stooges, says, “Right now I’m focused on football. But if there are any roles out there, I’m willing to take them.”

Said Jets coach Rex Ryan of the schedule, “To be honest, I was hoping we could get a couple of the teams I requested on the schedule. I requested a couple of local high school teams, Madison high school and Summit but they’re not on there.”

Nate Webster says he didn't have sex with girl until she turned 16

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 18, 2012, 7:10 AM EDT

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Former Bengals linebacker Nate Webster is admitting in his sexual assault trial that he had sex with a teenage girl. But he claims that the sex didn’t begin until she reached the legal age of consent, 16.

It’s a strange quirk of the law that if Webster and the girl had sex at 11:30 p.m. on the day before her 16th birthday, then he committed a crime that can get him sent to prison for 30 years. If they had sex an hour later, at 12:30 a.m. on the day of her 16th birthday, then he didn’t commit any crime at all.

Peyton vs. Brady comes in Week 5

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 17, 2012, 7:25 PM EDT

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The NFL clearly views the Denver Broncos as one of the marquee teams this season, with the schedule that was released today showing that the league office wants Peyton Manning on national television as often as possible.

We already noted that the Broncos open the season at home against the Steelers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, but it turns out that the Broncos actually have their first two games in prime time: In Week Two Denver is at Atlanta on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

But the game that could be among the biggest of the entire 2012 NFL regular season is in Week Five, when Manning and the Broncos visit Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. When Manning’s Colts played the Patriots it was often the NFL’s most-watched game of the season, and now Manning’s Broncos against the Patriots may be as well. That Week Five contest is a Sunday afternoon game on CBS.

The Broncos have another Monday night prime time game against the Chargers Week Six, a Sunday night prime time game against the Saints Week Eight, and a Thursday night prime time game against the Raiders Week 14.

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Great slate of games for Thanksgiving this year

Posted by Mike Florio on April 17, 2012, 7:02 PM EDT

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Upon release of the 2012 regular-season schedule, the first thing I checked was the lineup for the Thanksgiving tripleheader, which concludes with a first-ever NBC nightcap.

And it’ll be a great one.

After the Texans visit the Lions and the Redskins travel to Dallas, the Patriots visit the Jets in New York.

The Lions’ options were limited to Indianapolis and Houston, given that the Lions’ Thanksgiving game in 2012 will be televised by CBS.  The Cowboys had five alternative opponents to the Redskins, who will be bringing Robert Griffin IIIback to Texas.

The NBC game will feature one of the most bitter rivalries in the NFL, along with the Tebow factor.  Regardless of the quality of the game itself (and no matter how many of the viewers have slipped into Tryptophan-induced comas), the ratings will be through the roof.

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