Posted by Josh Alper on August 16, 2012, 8:43 PM EDT
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The Bengals made it through the first five minutes in better shape than they did last week against the Jets, but they didn’t make it out of the first quarter unscathed.
Tight end Jermaine Gresham left the game against the Falcons during Cincinnati’s second possession after he turned a short pass from Andy Dalton into a nice 25-yard gain. He didn’t need help getting off the field or show any obvious sign of injury, but the Bengals announced a short time later that Gresham would not return to action.
Gresham’s status going forward is unknown, although he has remained on the sideline and is walking without any assistance from the training staff. It looks like the choice to hold him out the rest of the way is precautionary, although we’ll wait until the Bengals give some more information before drawing any conclusions on that front.
The Bengals lead the Falcons 3-0 after a Mike Nugent field goal.
Mullin cites two NFL sources as saying that Urlacher had surgery shortly after suffering a knee injury in the regular-season finale on January 1. It had previously been reported that Urlacher had opted for rest and rehabilitation instead of surgery.
And one source told Mullin that Urlacher actually had another procedure in the spring.
Urlacher has been sidelined since the beginning of this month with swelling and soreness in the knee, and he finally had surgery this week. He still says he thinks he can play Week One.
Posted by Josh Alper on August 16, 2012, 3:10 PM EDT
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The Texans have officially announced left tackleDuane Brown’s contract extension.
“We are thrilled to have solidified our offensive line with this extension for Duane,” said Texans Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Rick Smith in a statement from the team. “We believe Duane is an outstanding young left tackle who has the determination, commitment and ability to develop into one of the NFL’s top performers. It’s also an exciting day for our organization. We’ve laid the foundation for sustained success and this is an important step in building on that and toward a championship.”
Posted by Mike Florio on August 16, 2012, 6:02 PM EDT
Unlike many media outlets covering the sport of football, we didn’t feel compelled to mention that Tuesday was Tim Tebow’s birthday (is it December already?), or that he appears on the cover of the new GQ magazine.
But then Tebow addressed the situation on Thursday (theGQ thing, not his birthday), saying he wasn’t aware he’d be on the cover.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know until — actually probably most of [you] knew that I was on there before I knew, so it kind of was a shocker for me,” Tebow said in comments to the media, which were transcribed and distributed by the team. “It was something that I think I did maybe six years ago in college. Honestly the first time I heard [it] was when we were in the cafeteria and it was on ESPN. That’s when I found out, so it was kind of a shocker to me as well.”
It’s hardly obvious that the photos are outdated; the most controversial image appears to have Tebow in a crucifix pose, with the color dulled to the point where it creates the impression that the pants are Jet green and not Gator blue.
“Was I trying to do anything as far as the crucifix?” Tebow said. “Absolutely not. I mean, I don’t know — it was six years ago, I don’t even remember what I was doing, but I wasn’t trying to do anything like that though.”
The whole thing just seems odd. Though GQ surely retained the rights to use the six-year-old photos (otherwise, Team Tebow already would have unleashed legal hell on the magazine, Reebok-style), GQ has created the false impression that it conducted a recent photo shoot with Tebow when the truth is it didn’t. And the placement of his image on the cover implies that he was interviewed when the truth is he wasn’t.
The fact that GQ would bend reality just a bit (or more) demonstrates the power of Tebow. That said, there will be plenty of Tebowmaniacs who may be disappointed that they purchased the magazine under somewhat false pretenses.
Unfortunately, many of them won’t be returning it because they will have ripped out the page with the crucifix photo and framed it as the centerpiece of a Jobu-esque shrine.
Posted by Mike Florio on August 16, 2012, 1:21 PM EDT
AP
Texans quarterback Matt Schaub doesn’t have a new contract, but one of the guys responsible for helping Schaub stay healthy enough to get a new contract has gotten a new contract.
It wasn’t too long ago that the Detroit Lions were the laughing stock of the football world. The Lions compiled a 31-97 record from 2001 to 2008, setting the standard for futility in that time frame and managing to cap it off with a winless regular season in 2008. In the years since CEO Matt Millen departed from the franchise, the organization has made strides in improving and making itself a legitimate NFL playoff contender. They managed to win two games in 2009 and six games in 2010 before breaking through in 2011: Their 10-6 record earned them a Wild Card berth and, although they were eliminated in one game by the Saints, it also gave their fans something that they haven’t had for a long time as the team heads into 2012: Hope.
As far as personnel goes, the Lions have become a talented bunch. By making the most of their draft picks over the last several years, Detroit has been able to stockpile a handful of young players who can serve as difference makers. Quarterback Matt Stafford is heading into his fourth season, and he’s proven himself to be a very productive player when able to stay healthy. Although Stafford played in just 13 of a potential 32 games over his first two seasons, 2011 saw him stay healthy and put up marvelous numbers: Stafford finished with the fifth-highest QB rating in the league with a 97.2, and he was one of three players to throw for an eye-popping 5,000-plus yards, finishing with 5,038. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he has one of the most dynamic young receivers in the league to throw to in Calvin Johnson.
Aside from Stafford and Johnson, the Lions have young talent at other positions. Everyone knows about their ace defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, but other players are also making a name for themselves with the organization. Corey Williams and Nick Fairley will also serve as productive members of the defense, and guys like Brandon Pettigrew and Jahvid Best help take the pressure off of Calvin Johnson when it comes to gaining yards. All in all, the 2012 Lions have a consistent talent base with several very major weapons, and any team that’s built like that has the potential to go very deep in the playoffs.
The Lions’ schedule is also going to play a significant role in how the team fares in 2012. In terms of the opponents that they face, the Lions would seem to have caught a bit of a break. Their schedule is ranked 20th in the NFL in terms of how difficult their opponents are, as Detroit will face a combination of opponents that finished 126-130 last season. Only six of their games will come against teams that won nine or more games last year.
With that in mind, much of the Lions success looks like it will hinge on how well they can measure up to their division foes. Minnesota is still a team that is very much all over the place and is unlikely to compete, but Green Bay has been a monster in the division for the last several years. The Chicago Bears will be another division opponent that’s going to give the Lions a good challenge. It’s easy to overlook that the Bears’ record last season was skewed by the Jay Cutler injury. They’ve also made several big additions in Brandon Marshall and Michael Bush. Detroit has a quality team this year, but they’re going to have to prove it within their division before they can even think about competing against the rest of the league in the playoffs.
With all of that said, the upcoming 2012 season looks like it might be a very productive one for the Lions. They’re saddled with the unfortunate burden of having to play within an NFC North division that has two very tough opponents in it, but the Lions are a team that’s accustomed to being the underdog. If their players can stay healthy and fight through the difficult stretches of the season, they have more than enough talent this season to establish themselves as a legitimate threat in the NFC.
Posted by Evan Silva on August 16, 2012, 7:52 AM EDT
AP
Through two NFL seasons, Rams quarterback Sam Bradfordhas absorbed a whopping 70 sacks in 26 career games. ESPN’s Ron Jaworski reviewed the 2011 game tape and observed that Bradford has developed “Cabin Fever” in the pocket, playing tentatively and anticipating the pass rush, sometimes when pass rushers aren’t even there.
Though Bradford says he tunes out criticism, he acknowledged to Albert Breer of NFL.com that he’s working with first-year offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to fix and ultimately speed up his pocket mechanics in an effort to rediscover Bradford’s rookie-season form.
Posted by Michael David Smith on August 15, 2012, 10:17 PM EDT
AP
In another indication that the Titans’ quarterback job is Jake Locker’s to lose, coach Mike Munchak said today that if Locker continues to do through the rest of the preseason what he has done so far, he’ll beat out Matt Hasselbeck for the starting job.
