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WR Bradley Marquez: Jeff Fisher stank

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https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/08/07/a...-cutler-dolphins-nfl-training-camp-peter-king

Monday Morning QB: Aaron Rodgers Never Wants to Retire (While Jay Cutler Changes His Mind)
Peter King's whirlwind camp tour swings through Green Bay, where the Packers quarterback is working to keep his body healthy so he can play another ‘seven, eight, nine, 10 years’

In Miami, the Dolphins will turn to coach Adam Gase’s old Bears buddy to fill the gaping hole at quarterback that opened when Ryan Tannehill went down

More notes from the road, including: Brian Hoyer and the Niners, Mike Zimmer and the Vikings, Richard Sherman and the Seahawks. Plus items on HOF speeches, must-read almanacs, player tattoos and more
PETER KING


MATT LUTDKE/AP

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Look around this classic old football town. It’s changing—in a big way. There’s a new luxury hotel, Lodge Kohler, across the street from Lambeau Field, a cornerstone to a new year-round fun-and-games Titletown District. (Bocce. Sled hill. Big park. Apartment complex. Medical complex.) Amazing hotel.

You order room-service on the in-room bedside tablet; there are ground-floor suites with terraces and grills and fire pits, less than 100 yards from admission gates to Lambeau Field. Shiny and huge Hinterland Brewery has relocated here, with a couple of highbrow restaurants (there’s venison meatloaf) and 12 local brews on tap. There’s also an indoor Johnsonville tailgate house in the Lambeau lot, impressive and logical for frigid days.

As I looked over the lush landscape Friday, I couldn’t help but think: I hope the Packers thank their lucky stars for Aaron Rodgers.

And I hope they continue to thank those stars.

“I want to play another seven, eight, nine, 10 years,” the 33-year-old Rodgers told me in a quiet locker room Friday afternoon.

Much more about Rodgers and the Packers, and the pressure that lies on them, in a few moments. But news happened Sunday. The quarterback America loves to loathe walked out of retirement and into an impossible dream. Jay Cutler has to find a way to beat New England. That’s only the hardest assignment in football.


Unsure if you’re in Green Bay? The signs will let you know.
PETER KING/THE MMQB

AARON RODGERS AND THE PACKERS PRESSURE COOKER

More on my camp tour now—on stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Minnesota and Green Bay. I was in Kansas City, too, and I’ll report on the Chiefs on Wednesday. Let’s start with Rodgers and what he’s doing to be better this season, and for a long time.

Great quarterbacks give you a chance every year. Great quarterbacks may not win the Big One, but they allow your team, whatever its foibles, to play into January annually. With hope and a good chance and 11 or 12 wins every year comes people flooding into your stadium and your city and your hotels, enjoying your new bells and whistles.

Green Bay has five, seven, eight more years of Rodgers-related goodness, if I read it right. Maybe eight more years to build the franchise to record levels of prosperity. So … you come to Green Bay, to all this tradition and all the newness, and you see the excitement for another season. And you feel the pressure to win it all, to be the Patriots of the NFC. It’s sort of omnipresent.

“Of course you hear about it,” Rodgers said. “I get asked about it, I got asked about it last week—this idea that the Packers embrace mediocrity. I think what we've done the last eight years`making the playoffs, there's only a couple other teams that have ever done that. New England, actually, currently is on the same streak as us, making the playoff for eight straight years.

That's tough to do, especially with the parity of this league and how they pair up division champions each year to play each other in the same conference. We've sustained success, we just haven't sustained it on the top level. We haven't won more than one Super Bowl. We’ve also been to three NFC championship games and none of them at home. So that's how we look at it. We've got to get one of those at home, because we are tough to beat at home.

“I don't feel like our window is closing here. I feel like this window is going to be open for a while. And in order for some of that stuff to go away, the outside noise, we're going to have to win another Super Bowl. It would be disappointing if we were only able to win one in my time here. Hopefully we can get one of those done.”

Rodgers had a pretty peaceful offseason. He stayed off Page Six after his breakup with star Olivia Munn, and no one saw much of him … which is the way he likes it. He went fly fishing in Montana for a week, and spent some time getting to know New York City—anonymously.

“Mostly,” he said, “I think I did a really good job of pairing my workout mode with better eating habits. Now I’ve put together a year where I’ve sustained positive eating habits, and I really notice a difference in my performance. I did a lot of stretching and yoga this offseason, which I have always felt has helped me to sustain my legs and my athleticism and just taking off in practice on some scrambles. Yoga is just wonderful for me.

I feel like I am moving as well as I did when I was 23 and I'm 33. Stretching, for me, is amazing. Flexibility can add years to your life, and in our life, football, it adds years to your career. The way I want to play even when I am 40-plus, I want to be moving around, and making plays outside the pocket like I still am, so I have to keep up with the yoga.”

We spoke the day after Tom Brady’s 40th birthday, and Rodgers said he emailed Brady on Thursday to wish him a happy birthday. “And I said to him, ‘Is it just me, or does it seem like you are getting more mobile with age? You're running around good! You weren't doing that when you were younger!’ I feel the same way at practice the last couple days.”

Off the field, Rodgers seems more placid. “His overall quality of life is at a high, since I’ve known him,” said coach Mike McCarthy.

In the Packer Pro Shop inside Lambeau Field on Friday afternoon, I saw a scrum of people around the replica team jerseys. The place was mobbed, just before a cool evening’s practice with a packed house across the street at the Don Hutson Center. The money was flowing. The crowd was eight-deep at the Rodgers rack.

* * *

THE COACH WITH GUTS, AND THE MISSING MAN


Mike Zimmer and the Vikings are looking to return to the playoffs after last season’s bumpy 8-8 record.
ANDY CLAYTON-KING/AP

MANKATO, Minn. — What I found odd at the last of 52 Mankato training camps (the Vikings will move to their new suburban Minneapolis facility): no Adrian Peterson. I just got so used to coming here for a decade and seeing the crowds flock to see the best back in team history. I’m not alone.

“It is totally weird to not see Adrian Peterson here,” said defensive end Everson Griffen, who shared this camp with Peterson for seven of the back’s 10 Vikings seasons. (Peterson, a cap casualty in the offseason, signed with the Saints.) “It feels like he should have finished his career here, but it’s a business.”

Odder still: Peterson will walk into Minnesota on opening night with the Saints. “Pretty big coincidence,” Griffen said with some skepticism. Now I had a question for Griffen, in these days of milder training camps, that I was genuinely curious about.

“Have you ever tackled Adrian Peterson? Once?” I asked.

“Never,” said Griffen. “NEH-ver. Not once! I thudded him up a few times, but never tackled him to the ground. He was off limits. He was a golden child. So to tackle him, it’s going to be weird, but it’s going to feel so good. I miss him.”

Of more importance this season: the health of coach Mike Zimmer. After eight surgeries related to a detached retina in his right eye, Zimmer told me here: “I’m done with the surgeries. The doctor said there was less than 1 percent chance that it would detach again. I have a contact lens now in my bad eye, my right eye. Without the contact, I can hardly see anything. With the contact, I can see kind of good. But it doesn’t really affect me that much. It’s more of a nuisance.

My other eye is really good. It’s really not an issue. The doctor is only concerned if something happens to my left eye. I feel really strongly that I do this for the fans, for the team, for the organization—I have to do what’s best for the team, not just what’s best for me. Depth perception, close up work, is hard, but people in all walks of life do it all the time. It’s just part of life.”

There was a pause, Zimmer sitting on his golf cart before practice, squinting a bit.

“It’s a little hard,” he said. “But losing games, that’s worse.”

* * *

SEAHAWKS FIGHT (EVERYBODY) TO STAY ON TOP


Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson are showing love here, but it hasn’t been all hugs at Seahawks training camp so far.
TED S. WARREN/AP

RENTON, Wash. — This didn’t seem like a happy team the day I was there (last Tuesday). Two skirmishes at practice. One carried over, with coach Pete Carroll banning hothead defensive end Frank Clark for a day of practice when he slugged offensive lineman Germain Ifedi later in the week.

Richard Sherman still obviously feeling pissed off over Seth Wickersham’s ESPN story about Sherman being unable to drop his feelings over the Super Bowl loss to New England—and, as Wickersham reported, Sherman’s feelings that the coaching staff was too soft on Russell Wilson. Sherman, according to Wickersham, also boiled over one day in practice after the Super Bowl loss, cursing at Wilson.

“Did you see me out there today?” Sherman told me after a feisty practice in pads. “I was saying a lot worse things out there than they [ESPN] had me saying!”

Perhaps. But with the decibel level so high at practice, the only thing you can hear other than the music is … well, nothing. You cannot hear a thing out here. And maybe that’s the way Pete Carroll wants it, so we can’t hear what Sherman is saying out here to Wilson, and, on this day, to wideout and longtime friend from Stanford Doug Baldwin.

“We practice at a level where we always want to restrain ourselves,” said Carroll.

“We always want to go to that edge, and look over that edge, and almost tip over that edge, and come so close that you almost fall over,” Wilson said. “Because if you don’t go there, you’ll never be great. But we have to be really smart too.”

I’m not a big fan of fighting at training camp. I’ve seen a lot of fights over the years. When I covered the Giants in the ’80s, I saw two teammates on the defensive line, Eric Dorsey and Erik Howard, fight so violently that helmets got swung in the direction of bare heads. And skirmishes are going to happen at training camp.

I get that Carroll likes a feisty practice. But I don’t get the encouragement to go to that edge and peer over the side. How can a Frank Clark or a Thomas Rawls, two young guys trying to earn their spurs, control themselves when the tenor of practice gets so hot? They couldn’t the other day.

Everything’s great when you win—and that’s the case here too. But there is no team in the NFL with a tougher road slate early than Seattle. And keep in mind there is no normal or easy roadie for this team; everything’s more than 1,000 miles, seemingly.

In the first six games, Seattle plays at Green Bay, at Tennessee, at Oakland, and at the Giants. Sherman didn’t take adversity well last year, barking at offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell during a game with the nation watching. And he was dangled in trade talks before the draft; he’s back this year, in large part, because no team would pay two high draft choices for him.

So this is a big year for this franchise. Those in the crosshairs don’t seem bothered by what the outside world thinks.

“We’re only bothered by things that can affect us,” Wilson said. “It’s all love here.”

* * *

LOOKIE HERE—IT’S BRIAN HOYER


The 49ers are the seventh NFL team in nine seasons for quarterback Brian Hoyer.
JEFF CHIU/AP

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Do you remember Brian Hoyer’s pitiable show in the 2015 wild-card game for Houston? That’s not exaggerating. His zero-TD, four-interception nightmare in the 30-0 loss to Kansas City (it was over after 22 minutes) was just that. You felt sorry for Hoyer, he was so awful. Five straight first-half drives ended: pick, Hoyer fumble, punt, pick, pick. The Texans, desperate to move on from Hoyer in 2016, vastly overpaid for Brock Osweiler, and you know how that turned out.

Hoyer landed in Chicago to back up Jay Cutler, and he was actually pretty good in the six games he played: 67 percent passing, six touchdowns, no interceptions. Among quarterbacks who threw at least 200 passes last year (Hoyer threw exactly 200), he was seventh in the league with a 98.0 rating.

His former coach from Cleveland in 2014, Kyle Shanahan, thought enough of Hoyer to bring him to San Francisco as a bridge to the future this offseason, and so there he was Wednesday at practice, firing a 20-yard strike up the seam to fellow first-year Niner Pierre Garçon at practice. Hoyer is the likely starter, with Matt Barkley the backup.

Hoyer, I thought, was cooked after that playoff game. But he saved himself last season, and he has a chance this year—nothing’s certain, but Shanahan’s quarterbacks often put up killer numbers in his system. Hoyer went on a riff with me post-practice about why he’s still standing.

“For me, I have handled a lot of adversity,” Hoyer said in a quiet room under Levi’s Stadium. “Not getting drafted, getting cut, having a bad playoff game. I think you respond the same way you do always: You pick yourself back up.

My dad always used to tell me growing up, when it was a big deal to lose a baseball game, the sun is going to come up tomorrow. So that night after the loss to the Chiefs, the sun came up the next day. Then I ended up in Chicago. I think I played really well.

“There is a way to go on this roller coaster of the NFL and deal with the highs and deal with the lows and try to stay right in the middle. It's okay to be upset or hurt and then pick yourself back up and attack. What else are you going to do?

As I got further and further away from that playoff game, I realized it was just an anomaly. I never had a game in my entire life that I played that bad. But it was just one day. One day. And I was not going to let that day define me as a player or as a person.”

Good lesson in football, and in life.

* * *

THREE CAMP SCENES FROM THE MMQB TEAM

While I’ve been out west for the first two weeks of training camp, The MMQBhas dispatched other staffers east of the Mississippi. Three things they’ve seen that will educate you a bit:

• FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (New York Jets), Monday, from Tim Rohan: On Monday at Jets’ camp, Christian Hackenberg was having trouble just breaking the huddle correctly. During one rep in seven-on-seven drills, as he approached the line of scrimmage, a coach ordered him to re-huddle.

When he broke the huddle again—in the wrong fashion for a second time—he was ordered off the field. No one expects the Jets to contend this season, but at some point, they will have to decide whether Hackenberg is the answer at quarterback, a decision that could affect their 2018 draft plans and their franchise for years to come.

So for now, all eyes are on him. The next time Hackenberg took the field, he broke the huddle correctly and threaded a pass about 20 yards downfield for a completion. That kind of resilience will serve him well, if he wants to be the Jets’ long-term quarterback answer.

• PITTSFORD, N.Y. (Buffalo), Wednesday, from Kalyn Kahler: Sometimes watching the sidelines can be more interesting than watching the action on the practice field. While at Bills practice, I was distracted by defensive linemen Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson, standing just a few feet away from me on the sideline. The two defensive ends were working on pass rush techniques with defensive line coach Mike Waufle. The coach had Hughes and Lawson drill their club moves with slowed-down timing.

With each repetition of the punching motion, Waufle sped it up, instructing Hughes and Lawson to eliminate any wasted time. “It’s all about the milliseconds!” Waufle shouted over the DJ’s music piped into practice. It was fascinating to watch players take a common pass rush move and put it under a microscope.

• RICHMOND, Va. (Washington), Sunday, from Jenny Vrentas: The practice field was baking under the late-morning sun, but after Washington’s walkthrough on Sunday, not everyone retreated inside the team’s training facility for some shade. For a full 30 minutes, five young offensive linemen—all with a season or less of NFL experience—stayed out on the field with a stand-up blocking dummy and position coach Bill Callahan.

They rolled through different techniques during the session. Sometimes, they went up against each other; other times, assistant offensive line coach Kevin Carberry would demonstrate a specific technique against the blocking dummy, and they’d line up to mimic his hand and foot movements. A major part of Washington’s offensive success the past two seasons has been strong play up front, and that includes both versatility and depth at that part of the roster.

Success on offense starts up front, and while none of the players who lingered on the field are pegged for a starting role this season, this is the kind of behind-the-scenes, extra work that readies them in case they are called upon to do more.

* * *

“I wanted someone that could get it done to be our coach. I wanted Jimmy Johnson. I said he'd be worth five first-round draft choices or five Heisman Trophy winners. Of course, I sure did get laughed out of town when I said it. It was my first experience as an owner and general manager making a difficult and very unpopular decision.

Jimmy, it was a great decision. You were a great teammate, you were a great partner. To the contrary of popular belief, we worked so well together for five years and restored the Cowboys' credibility with our fans. We were back-to-back [Super Bowl champions], we were driven, we had thick skin, we took all the criticism they could dish out. I thank you."

—Jerry Jones, with the olive branch to Jimmy Johnson in his speech.

“Trent Green: Our paths crossed in the most incredible of ways, and I acknowledge, you could easily be the one standing up here tonight. But the class that you showed while dealing with the toughest of situations is etched in my mind. Your willingness to share your football secrets so I could succeed was incredibly valuable. But the character displayed and the way you modeled the definition of teammate was priceless. Those lessons followed me the rest of my career. Thanks for sharpening my character with your own.”

—Kurt Warner, to the man whose season-ending knee injury opened the door for Warner in St. Louis in 1999.

* * *

POD PEOPLE

This week: Oakland linebacker Khalil Mack, the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 2016, and rookie Denver coach Vance Joseph.

• Mack on attending the “pass rush summit” organized by Von Miller for pass rushers in June: “I really didn’t know if it was a pass rush summit for us or for college kids. I went to support that and when I got there, I was like, ‘Where all the kids at?’ And [Von Miller] was like, ‘Bro, it’s just us.’ And I’m like, well, luckily I have my cleats in the trunk! I’m thinking I’m coming out here just to teach, but the way he broke it down, he wanted us to come in and learn from each other. I thought it was pretty cool.

He was like, ‘The guys in the NBA do it all the time, so why can’t we do it?’ As pass rushers, it’s hard out here in these streets, pass rushing and doing all those different things, when you get all those double teams and different things. It only makes sense for us to come together and learn from one another. I didn't know many of the [other players there] at all. I ran into Von a few times. I've been playing against him since I first got in the league.

All the other guys that were there, I didn't know too many of them. When you think about being in the film room with DeMarcus Ware, it was like, Okay, are you sure you want to tell me these things? It was fun, knowing the way he broke down the game, and it made it that much easier for me. I enjoyed that, and I enjoyed that process very much.

• Joseph on being self-conscious as a head coach versus being an assistant coach: “How do you say no to a fan who wants to say hi to you or wants a picture with you? The part about being on all the time … I am aware of like, if I am going to the store with my kid, what I'm wearing, if I'm wearing this T-shirt or this hat, or my flip flops. You kind of think twice about what you're wearing leaving the house now.

Years ago I wouldn't care, I would go out in my T-shirt and my flip-flops and my hat turned to the back, relaxing. But now I am aware of what I'm wearing. You don't want certain perceptions to be out there about who you are, and that is just the reality of it.”

* * *

THINGS I THINK I THINK

1. I think Peyton Manning is preparing for a career as the next John Elway. Now, I said “preparing.” It’s not any sure thing he’ll do it. But he’s doing his homework, getting to know different teams, different ways of doing things. He had dinner with coach Sean McVay and GM Les Snead and COO Kevin Demoff of the Rams recently. “He’s very curious,” McVay told me. Manning as a GM and franchise architect would be quite interesting, obviously. He’d be a formidable foe, wherever he lands, if he chooses to do it.

2. I think it’s always a good week when the Football Outsiders almanac arrives in the email box. (Here’s the link to the 2017 almanac.) Every year, FO impresario Aaron Schatz and his staff mine a slew of data to tell you things you didn’t know about even your favorite team. Here are some of the tidbits that should make you eager to dive in:

a. Chicago led the NFL last year with 155.1 Adjusted Games Lost. That’s a metric that accounts for injuries to starters and important situational players by counting not only games missed but also games where players were at less than 100 percent because of injury. Chicago had the highest total in FO’s entire injury database, dating back to 2000.

b. Worried about Atlanta losing offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan? Expect the Falcons to take a step back on offense because of regression towards the mean. But on average, top offenses that lose their offensive coordinator decline by the same amount as top offenses that don't lose their offensive coordinator.

c. Dallas led the league with 8.2 yards per pass and 11.2 average yards after the catch on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage. Even without Ezekiel Elliott's 83-yard touchdown against Pittsburgh, the Cowboys still would have ranked third.

d. The Denver pass defense has been more than 20 percent better than average for two straight years. The only defense since 1986 to reach this baseline for more than two straight years was Tampa Bay from 1999 to 2003.

e. All 32 NFL teams had “11 personnel” (three wideouts, one back, one tight end) as their most common personnel grouping last year, but the Giants took it to another level. The Giants ran 11 personnel on an astonishing 92 percent of plays. No other team was above 76 percent.

f. The Raiders had the lowest scoring differential (plus-31) of any 12-4 team in NFL history. The other seven teams that went 12-4 with a scoring differential of plus-70 or lower averaged a 9-7 record the next year.

g. Without Marshawn Lynch or a healthy Thomas Rawls, the Seattle offense plummeted from second in broken tackles in 2015 to 29th in 2016.

3. I think the Jags shouldn’t be too concerned about the retirement of Branden Albert. His heart wasn’t into football; better that he goes now than when the games are happening. Cam Robinson, the rookie picked to be Albert’s heir, will be the beneficiary. He’ll play earlier than expected, but he’s got the drive Albert doesn’t. We’ll see if Robinson’s good enough.

4. I think I don’t love to make any judgment whatsoever on a first preseason game. But Blaine Gabbert, if a judgment is to be made of any kind, looked good against the Dallas Schmoes on Thursday night in Canton, starting seven of seven for 136 yards.

5. I think I don’t want to alarm Panther fans, but at one of their major practices of camp, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Friday night (in front of 58,000 fans), five weeks and two days before the team’s regular-season opener, Cam Newton didn’t throw because of a sore right shoulder. It was his fourth straight missed practice with the bum shoulder, surgically repaired in the offseason.

The team still thinks Newton will play opening day, and it’s better to be safe right now. But Newton’s so important to the team, and to the development of a different style of offense with some young weapons, that he needs to play a lot this summer so the Panthers don’t sputter coming out of the gate.

6. I think I could not be more impressed with Kyle Shanahan the football-explainer. His press conferences, early in training camp, have become classrooms. I appreciate his explanations so much because many coaches view meetings with reporters as trips to the dentist without Novocain. They don’t like media stuff and just try to get it done as quickly and painlessly as possible. But listen to Shanahan’s responses to some involved questions. See how he actually tries to educate the reporters and the public:

• On tight ends working extra time on receiving the ball before practice: “We usually give all the position coaches about half an hour with the guys before practice. Most of the guys use it as meeting time and script review. [Assistant head coach/tight ends coach Jon] Embree likes to go out there and get on the sled and do some extra work, stuff they don’t really get.

Tight ends, their individual time always gets taken from them because half the time they’ve got to go with the quarterbacks to work on the pass game. Then they’ve got to go with the O-linemen to work on the blocking stuff. It’s hard for them to really get their own time, so that’s where Embree finds it.”

• On why his quarterbacks don’t wear wristbands for play-calling purposes: “I think you’d have to ask other people why they have their quarterbacks use wristbands. It depends. A lot of teams that I know of … their quarterbacks use wristbands because their play-caller doesn’t call the formation and doesn’t say the whole play. They just say a number and put it on the quarterback to then look down and then he reads it to them. Those are most of the people that I’ve found out, but we don’t need to do that. I just call the whole play and they repeat it.

I don’t just say ‘14,’ I say the formation and the play, and they read it. So, there’s no need to look down and have a cheat sheet. They just have to repeat what they hear in their helmet. I really don’t know the other reasons why people would have a wristband, but that’s why we don’t. If the headset ever went down, we would try to run one out to him very fast. I want him to get in the huddle together not looking down at his arm, and there’s more than 10 plays.

I don’t want him to have to flip through a bunch of stuff. It takes time. We want to go as fast as we can. I want to say it, I want him to repeat it after me and get to the line of scrimmage. Sometimes when you put that on quarterbacks and you put more pressure on ‘Hey here’s the number, but if you’re on the right hash you’ve got to say all this stuff the other way. You’ve got to say it left instead of right, you’ve got to say ‘Three Jet’ instead of ‘Two Jet,’ you’ve got to say 19 instead of 18.’ In the heat of battle, sometimes that can get tough for a guy.”

• On whether, as a play-designer and play-caller, he scripts the first 15 of the game as some offensive coaches do: “I’ve always scripted. I usually try to give an opening 24. But I don’t think ever in my life have I gone one through 24. You just try to give guys an idea of what the game plan is, and where you plan on going with it. It’s mainly more so players can feel comfortable with what the play-caller’s thinking so they can prepare.

I always start out with the first play, and I usually go with the second play too. But, very quickly when you see what you’re getting on defense, how they’re playing, formations, how they’re playing personnel groupings, after a series we might’ve just finished plays one through five but I’ll tell the coaches, ‘Hey we’re skipping to 19.

They’re playing this differently and we want to get in this personnel group, we’ll go there.’ Then I might come back later to play seven. It just gives players an idea of how to prepare—kind of what you’re thinking so they don’t have to read your mind. But by no means are we just going to stick with it and go, it’s always set on what we’re going against.”

This stuff is just fantastic. It makes for smarter writing and communicating. Where in those previous three paragraphs is anything about Shanahan giving away anything to opponents? There’s nothing there, except education.

7. I think rising-star Minnesota pass rusher Danielle Hunter will finish this year in the top three in the NFL in sacks.

8. I think there’s only one thing to do if you’re the Falcons and Jalen Collins gets whacked for his second PED suspension in two seasons: Cut him loose. It’d be one thing if he were a great cornerback. But he’s not. He got torched by Tom Brady in the Patriots’ comeback in the Super Bowl, and now he’s proven not to be remotely reliable off the field. I know third and fourth corners have value, but not if you don’t know if they’re going to stay clean.

9. I think the one thing we do in this business is obsess over players’ salaries. And at the end of the day, I believe the stories are overplayed. The Matthew Stafford story, for instance. So he’s going to leapfrog Derek Carr (listen to Carr talk about that on The MMQB Podcast With Peter King soon, and you’ll see he shares my shrugging attitude about said salary discussion) and make, whatever, $26 million a year on average when he signs his new deal.

The bottom line is that he’s not going to move from Detroit, and we know the general neighborhood of where the deal will end up in dollars. So I’ll be skipping the play-by-play about “we're not close” until the story breaks that the Lions and Stafford are at an impasse and they’re going to get rid of him. Which is a story we’re never going to read.

Ever hear a song playing at the wrong time or place? Say it was depressing or inappropriate given the current circumstance? I find this often happens when I'm watching a TV at a store with the sound turned off and something inappropriate to what is on the TV is playing nearby.

Early this morning (Monday) I was in a store and the workers were in a more zombie like state than usual.......when the storewide sound system began playing Loverboy's "Working For the Weekend".
Login to view embedded media View: https://youtu.be/G5mtsnM9WNM

Former USC running back Justin Davis hitting his stride with Rams

Rams running back Justin Davis, shown during rookie minicamp on May 12, rushed for 2,465 yards and scored 21 touchdowns at USC. (Michael Owen Baker / Associated Press)

By Gary Klein

The choice, based on the roster, seemed somewhat perplexing when Justin Davis chose to sign with the Rams as an undrafted free agent.

The former USC running back knew that Todd Gurley was the starter and that the team had signed Lance Dunbar as a free agent. Malcolm Brown and Aaron Green also were on the roster.

Where was the opportunity?

Davis did not worry.

Through offseason workouts and training camp, he said he focused on running hard, catching the ball and learning pass protections while also working to impress on special teams.

And he appears to be reaping some benefit.

Dunbar, who played five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, was sidelined for most offseason workouts and has not participated in training camp drills because of a knee injury. His absence has enabled Brown to ascend to the backup role.

That leaves open a possible competition for the third running back position if Dunbar cannot return.

“I have to make sure I’m in a spot where I don’t miss a beat,” Davis said.

Davis has looked sharp at times during team drills, hitting holes with quickness and catching the ball well.

“I’ve been very pleased with him so far,” running-backs coach Skip Peete said. “He’s done a good job in both the running game and pass-protection game, and he’s surprised me as a receiver coming out of the backfield.”

Davis rushed for 2,465 yards and scored 21 touchdowns at USC. He is listed at 6 feet 1 and 198 pounds, but he appears substantially larger than he did in college.

“I really made it my No. 1 priority to get bigger,” he said, noting that NFLplayers hit harder and that he would be practicing against players such as Rams middle linebacker Alec Ogletree every day.

Unlike recent years, when rosters were trimmed to 75 from 90 and then to 53, NFL teams this season will carry 90 players and then cut down to 53 after the fourth preseason game. They also can retain 10 practice-squad players.

Davis must continue to perform at running back and prove his value on special teams to earn a spot.

“I’m trying to get into extra [special teams] film, because special teams is the quickest way on the field,” he said. “So I’m trying to master my craft, trying to do everything possible to get better at that.”

Right-side shuffle

Rob Havenstein, the starting right tackle the last two seasons, was moved to right guard during the offseason.

Jamon Brown, who played guard the last two seasons, appeared settled at right tackle after beating out the since-traded Greg Robinson during the organized-team activities and minicamps.

During Sunday’s short no-pads practice, Havenstein switched to tackle and Brown to guard, and coach Sean McVay said they would probably remain there at least part of the week.

“We feel really good about what Jamon and Rob have done on that right side, but with Rob’s history playing tackle and Jamon’s history playing guard, we also want to have contingency plans in place if one of them were to go down,” McVay said.

Sunday’s moves had been discussed even before last Saturday’s practice with the Chargers, McVay said.

“We’re just continuing to find whatever that best mix is for our five guys up front,” he said.

The Rams practice with the Chargers again on Wednesday. They play their first preseason game on Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys.

Brown said “cross training” at several positions gives the Rams flexibility. Havenstein agreed.

“Me and Jamon are open to any way we can help,” Havenstein said.

Etc…

Receiver Tavon Austin, who suffered a hamstring injury last week, did not practice. He has missed the last five workouts. … Rookie receiver Josh Reynolds (quadriceps) worked on conditioning drills …. Offensive lineman Andrew Donnal and receiver Bradley Marquez are not practicing because of knee injuries, McVay said. Donnal is expected to be sidelined at least a week, McVay said.

[www.latimes.com]

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Training Camp Report: Quick Hits From Day 8

The Rams were back on field at their temporary home of UC Irvine today for Day 8 of training camp. After the team’s joint practice with the Los Angeles Chargers at the StubHub Center yesterday, this afternoon’s practice was markedly lighter and shorter in nature.

Sunday’s practice ran just over an hour and was used mainly as a walk-thru period for the players with no pads or helmets. But there was still some information about the team to be taken away from Day 8 - here’s what you need to know:

FIELD-LEVEL OBSERVATIONS

• After a physical afternoon with the Chargers, today marked a much more mental practice for the Rams. The team went through about 90 reps on both offense and defense focusing on the formation and execution of every play.

• Head coach Sean McVay said that after watching the film from their joint practice he believed there was both good and bad to be taken away. Going forward the team will emphasize tightening their technique overall and coming together as a unit before they take on the Chargers for their second joint practice on Wednesday.

• There was some reshuffling of the offensive line throughout Sunday’s drills, including the movement of offensive guard Jamon Brown and offensive tackle Rob Havenstein. With a high risk of injury over the course of the season, offensive line coach Aaron Kromer along with McVay are continuously trying to figure out the best combination for the line - making sure other players are willing and able to step up should a starter go down. McVay said the team will continue to experiment with the line as training camp continues.

• Many of the plays executed today included throwing to the tight end position. Tyler Higbee, Gerald Everett, and Temarrick Hemingway continued to assert themselves as the top three in their position group, recording a slew of receptions from quarterback Jared Goff.

• After a standout performance yesterday, running back Todd Gurley walked through select running and passing routes in this afternoon’s practice. Though Gurley has been known in the past mainly for his big runs, he could be more of a target at receiver this coming season. Throughout Day 8, Gurley caught a variety of short passes and worked with all three quarterbacks early on in the red zone drills.

INJURY WATCH

- Wide receivers Tavon Austin and Josh Reynolds remained sidelined for today’s practice. McVay told reporters that both were “day to day” with hamstring and quad issues.

- Offensive tackle Andrew Donnal and wide receiver Bradley Marquez were also mentioned as two newly injured players. Both are suffering from “knee tweaks” and will be out for the next week or so.

- On both sides of the ball a select number of veteran players were limited in today’s practice in an effort to keep them fresh and healthy heading into next week. Those players included left tackle Andrew Whitworth, outside linebacker Connor Barwin, guard Rodger Saffold, and center John Sullivan.

- Running back Lance Dunbar also remains out indefinitely with a knee injury.

PRESS POINTS

After practice McVay addressed the media to discuss his thoughts on week one of training camp as well as his plans going forward. Catch up on his most interesting point of the day and check out his full interview here.

SEAN McVAY:

On what has stood out to him so far from this week of training camp: “I just think it’s the way that we’re coming together and what’s been really fun is you watch some of these leaders take command of the team and then everybody kind of falls in line. Seeing guys like Alec Ogletree, Connor Barwin really step up, watching on the offensive side of the ball the Andrew Whitworth’s, the maturation of Jared Goff and Todd Gurley, so I could go on and on – John Sullivan has been great. I think it’s just how refreshing it’s been to see the leaders on the team be the guys that are setting the standards and what it looks like and then everybody kind of falls in alignment.”

The Rams will be back for Day 9 of training camp tomorrow afternoon before the players receive their second day off on Tuesday.

I have a Parking Pass for Rams V Cowboys.
In covered structure on Coliseum grounds
Cost 55
sell 40

Rich Hammond‏Verified Rich_Hammond

Basically just a walk-thru practice for Rams today. Many veterans didn't participate. One item of note: J. Brown at RG, Havenstein at RT

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...ng-up-speed-lions-offensive-scheme/104243750/

Allen Park — Detroit Lions offensive tackle Greg Robinson isn’t going to sugarcoat it — the transition has been difficult.

Acquired in a mid-June trade, directly before the lengthy layoff before training camp, Robinson has struggled with his acclimation after three years with the Rams.

“That’s the biggest thing I’m catching up on,” Robinson said, when asked about learning the playbook. “Missing OTAs and those things put me behind a bit. Mainly, I’m just focusing on picking it up the best I can and progressing every day.”

Even though the offensive schemes in Los Angeles and Detroit share many similarities, the play calls all have different names. Think of it like learning a foreign language. You do your best to make correlations, but it takes time.

Missing the early portions of the offseason program, Robinson missed the period when the rest of the roster went through multiple installations of the offense. He had to start from scratch, working on his own during the team’s summer vacation.

In addition to learning the playbook, Robinson has been asked to adjust the way he blocks, a transition that’s been equally as difficult.

“Honestly, it’s going to take a little adjusting,” Robinson said. “I’ve been trying to take the coaching from (offensive line) coach (Ron) Prince and do it the way he wants us doing it and incorporating my own things into the game I feel help me that I feel separates me.

“A few of the zone steps are a lot different, and getting (what I’m used to doing) out of my technique, out of my muscle memory has been a challenge for these past few days. I think slowly it will come along.”

Geoff Schwartz, a free-agent offensive lineman who spent training camp with the Lions last season, wrote an interesting piece for SB Nation. In the article, he suggested the Lions’ blocking style was an ideal fit for Robinson, who has failed to live up to his potential as a former No. 2 overall draft pick.

Robinson’s so early in the learning process that he can’t even conceptualize how these new techniques are better for his skill set

“Honestly, no,” he said. “Once I get it down pat and I can really see the benefits of it, then eventually I’ll be able to commend him on that. Right now, it’s going to take a lot of adjusting.”

Robinson has worked with the first-team offense the past two days, sharing reps with Cyrus Kouandjio, who was added to the roster on the same day in June. The two are the leading contenders to fill in for Taylor Decker, while he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.

Robinson anticipates he’ll feel much more comfortable after another week of practice and coach Jim Caldwell is also counting on it.

“I would not suspect it to take him long to be able to get the techniques and fundamentals down,” Caldwell said. “He’s one of the better athletes that you’ll find at that position, so there’s probably not a whole lot from an athletic standpoint that he can’t do. He can bend his knees, he can move, he’s big, he’s strong, so I think he can adapt and adapt very well.”

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @justin_rogers

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ay-cutler-agrees-to-terms-with-miami-dolphins

Jay Cutler is back.

The 34-year-old put off early retirement and the broadcasting life to sign a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday.

Cutler's contract is worth $10 million with incentives, Rapoport reported on Inside Training Camp Live. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the incentives could add up to as much as $3 million.

The move reunites Cutler with former offensive coordinator Adam Gase. During their one season together in 2015, Cutler experienced a late-career renaissance and developed a strong bond with the 39-year-old head coach. Rapoport noted earlier on Sunday that Gase made a serious push for Cutler after it became clear that Ryan Tannehill's knee injury could lead to season-ending surgery.

While Tannehill has yet to make a decision regarding surgery on his injured knee, the desperate attempt for Cutler's services could provide some context. The Dolphins are a team that made the playoffs with a combination of Tannehill and Matt Moore under center a year ago and believe the roster is good enough to win now.

Cutler seemed comfortable with his post-career decision, telling a Chicago-area radio station that it was a "permanent" retirement. However, there was always an out clause for the former first-round pick. As NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported back in May, Cutler was inserted into a two-man booth already featuring Charles Davis and Kevin Burkhardt. This meant Cutler could easily slide back out if an enticing situation presented itself without disrupting the on-camera chemistry.

Unlike former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Jim Nantz at CBS, it was a lineup never set in stone.

Cutler's success in Miami is no guarantee. His final NFL season saw him play in just five games with a 59.1 percent passer rating, four touchdown passes and five interceptions. On the bright side, he joins an organization loaded with weapons at the receiver position, including catch-machine Jarvis Landryand deep threat Kenny Stills.

He also walks into a situation far different than the one he left in Chicago. Largely misunderstood in the Windy City, Cutler also had some painful waning years with the Bears. With a constantly-shifting coaching staff seemingly always eager to get rid of his balky, seven-year contract, Cutler's dry sense of humor and alternative style were interpreted as apathy by the masses.

Gase gives Cutler a chance to be himself and play in a system that helped Cutler significantly cut down on his turnover-prone ways.

Cutler threw for 3,659 yards, 21 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions with Gase back in 2015. By comparison, Tannehill logged 2,995 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 picks in 13 games a season ago.

Is he an upgrade? That remains to be seen. But as Rapoport reported Sunday, one thing was clear: The Dolphins never wavered on their next option after Tannehill. It was Cutler all the way.

The SYFY channel is having a viewing as we speak...Hurricane hitting LA with hundreds of vicious sharks...It could happen...lol

Alden Gonzales - http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angele...t-todd-gurley-in-joint-practice-with-chargers


CARSON, Calif. -- The Todd Gurley of old seemingly made an appearance at StubHub Center on Saturday, during a joint practice against the Los Angeles Chargers that was attended by only a few thousand season-ticket holders. The Los Angeles Rams' star running back hit holes decisively and aggressively, putting together a handful of long runs toward the middle of the field and also bouncing one outside during 11-on-11 drills.

Rams coach Sean McVay saw "a violent runner."
"He did a great job of getting it out into the open field," McVay said, "and there was a couple where he's reading it one gap at a time on some of the schemes we have, and you can feel his speed once he gets to the corner. He's a guy that has been motivated and has been a standout throughout the offseason program, and it's been the same throughout camp. We're expecting big things from Todd."

Gurley, drafted 10th overall out of Georgia, was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2015. He rushed for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns despite starting only 12 games. But his production slipped in 2016, with 885 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 278 carries.

Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, taken five spots behind Gurley in 2015, was excited for Saturday because it marked the first time he would see Gurley play in person.

"I'm cool with him," Gordon said, "but obviously we both want to be and are fighting to be the best. My first year I didn't do so well, and I kind of watched him. And my second year, I did a little better than he did. So this year's going to tell it all."

The Rams' secondary was beaten a few times by Philip Rivers and a talented Chargers offense. The Rams' passing attack, meanwhile, was hit-and-miss. Standout Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram penetrated consistently and second-year Rams quarterback Jared Goff kept most of his throws short. The short throws are seemingly a necessity at the moment, with three receivers who are expected to be deep threats -- Tavon Austin, Mike Thomas and Josh Reynolds -- nursing leg injuries. Several of Goff's throwing plays were play-action rollouts that consisted of him dumping it off to a tight end, a running back or a slot receiver, of which the Rams have plenty.


Goff maintained that it was largely a function of how the Chargers defended him.

"You can't go broke taking a deposit," he said, "so you just take what they give you."

Goff looked sharp during a two-minute drill that resulted in a field goal, but it was Gurley who impressed for most of the afternoon, displaying the feel and burst that made him one of the game's best running backs just two short seasons ago.

When told that McVay called him a "violent runner," Gurley said: "I'll take that all day, for sure. We've just got to keep working, coming out here getting better. I feel like it was a pretty good day overall."

.

watching this is better than sex.

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http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/04/jim-plunketts-painful-journey-my-life-sucks/

Jim Plunkett’s painful journey: ‘My life sucks’
Super Bowl-winning QB faces constant pain and an uncertain future
By ELLIOTT ALMOND


LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group

He rises from a chair next to his Heisman Trophy in a room stuffed with dozens of silver and gold keepsakes that recognize a remarkable sports legacy. At 6-foot-3, Jim Plunkett still commands a room.

But underneath the tanned exterior anxiety grows over an uncertain future.

“My life sucks,” said Plunkett, 69. “It’s no fun being in this body right now. Everything hurts.”

The years of daily pain pulsating from the neck, back, knees, shoulders, hips and head have taken a toll on a quarterback who played 15 NFL seasons and led the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.

His body is a patchwork of medical magic: Artificial knees, an artificial shoulder and a surgically repaired back. After 18 operations, Plunkett’s activities have been reduced to golf and light workouts at home on a Crosstrainer.

A quiet figure during his quarterbacking days, Plunkett represents a generation of men who played football with a taste for violence while locking their emotions in safety deposit boxes. For decades, Sunday’s heroes have suffered in silence from degenerative brain disease, depression, opioid addiction, Parkinson’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The price for playing football has come due.

“Think of getting in 50 car wrecks a week for 20 straight weeks a year,” said Hank Bauer, a former San Diego Chargers running back known for his reckless play on special teams. “Everybody hurts at our age. We just hurt more.”

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Latest health problems

A year ago, Plunkett contracted Bell’s Palsy, a temporary facial paralysis that causes one side of the face to droop. No sooner had the disorder disappeared than the throbbing headaches began. The head pain has been diagnosed as a neurological disorder that his physician thinks is connected to Bell’s Palsy.

These are the latest in a series of health problems that began four years after Plunkett left the NFL in 1986. He takes six pills in the morning, seven at night for his heart, blood pressure and other problems. Plunkett usually takes an opioid to play a round of golf, but otherwise stays away from the addictive painkillers. In early summer, he even tried hemp oil for a month but stopped when he didn’t see any results.

“There are a couple other drugs I take — I can’t know them all,” he said. “I’ve got to take them every day to quote-unquote survive.”

Plunkett’s football career began in the 1960s at James Lick High School in East San Jose. Then he played four years at Stanford, appearing in 32 games. After winning the Heisman Trophy in 1970 — he remains the only Heisman recipient in Stanford history — Plunkett was the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft by the New England Patriots.

He weathered 380 sacks in a pro career from 1971-86, and that doesn’t begin to account for all the times he was hit after throwing.

A year after Plunkett retired, NFL officials began addressing ways to protect their most valuable asset as quarterbacks were getting injured at an alarming rate. They prohibited pass rushers from taking two steps before smashing into a signal caller after the ball had been thrown. Such tactics were legal in Plunkett’s era. So was slamming quarterbacks to the ground.

Plunkett was sacked 36 times in his first season while playing for a team that went 3-11. One of the worst hits came from Miami’s Bob Matheson, a 6-4, 238-pound linebacker.

“He knocked me silly,” Plunkett said.

Afterward, Plunkett got to the huddle and called a scheme out of Stanford’s playbook. His linemen just stared at him. The Patriots had to call a timeout to give Plunkett a chance to regroup.

Still, he never missed a down during the rookie season. The next year, Plunkett was sacked 39 times, then 37 the year after that.

“He just got hammered — I mean hammered brutally,” said Randy Vataha, who played receiver for Plunkett for three years at Stanford and five in New England.

“He got up a lot of times when he shouldn’t have. Probably played some games when he shouldn’t have. That’s Jim.”

Former Raiders tight end Bob Moore, who also played alongside Plunkett at Stanford, blames the barbarity of the NFL for his college teammate’s steady decline.

“Most of them were OK when they left” college, said Moore, a San Francisco lawyer. “Now most of them are not OK.”

Plunkett recalls suffering at least 10 concussions dating to high school. He suspects he had many others. Back then, NFL officials asked players who got knocked out their name, who they were playing and how many fingers they were holding up.

“If you say, ‘Three,’ they say, ‘Close enough,’ ” Plunkett said. “You’d get a little smelling salt and you go right back in.”

Gerry Plunkett’s face carries the tension of her circumstance as she sits on a couch in the couple’s Atherton home.

Her husband has exhibited growing signs of symptoms of traumatic brain injury in the past few years. For example, Plunkett is lively with friends or at autograph signings but returns home exhausted. But, until recently, he mostly dismissed concerns.

“I think he was in denial,” Gerry said.

Her unease is supported by a new report by doctors at Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System. Researchers studying a link between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) found signs of the degenerative brain disease in 110 of 111 specimens donated by families of deceased NFL players.

Overall, researchers found evidence of the brain disease in 87 percent of the 202 donated cadavers of former players at all levels.

Plunkett doesn’t need studies to understand what might lie ahead. It’s all around him.

One of his Raiders teammates, Kenny Stabler, suffered from Stage 3 CTE, an autopsy revealed two years ago. In March, another Raiders teammate, Mickey Marvin, died at age 61. A month later, Oakland teammate Derrick Jensen was dead at age 60. Both suffered from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, that also afflicts 49ers great Dwight Clark.

“ALS and they were gone in a few years,” Plunkett said quietly.

He recently filed paperwork as part of the $1 billion concussion lawsuit settlement to begin testing. The program provides neuropsychological and neurological assessment examinations to determine whether retired players are suffering from cognitive impairment.

“I don’t know what there is to do,” Plunkett said. “If it happens, it happens. I don’t know how you stop it at this point.”

But he has called on NFL officials to support retirees, saying the league has an obligation “to help take care of these people.”

Gerry Plunkett sometimes feels helpless.

“At first it is frustrating because you want them to get help or do this or that,” she said. “Guys are pretty stubborn. You just have to be there and work together as a family. That’s what you do.”

Comeback with Raiders

Plunkett’s career should have ended after two mediocre years with the 49ers, who acquired him from New England in a trade before the 1976 season. But Raiders owner Al Davis picked him up off waivers for $100 before the 1978 season.

Davis told Plunkett to rebuild his confidence and regain his health. He hardly played the next 2½ years.

By the time Plunkett replaced injured Dan Pastorini early in the 1980 season, Plunkett felt revived. He won comeback player of the year after leading the Raiders to a victory over Philadelphia in Super Bowl XV. He won a second Super Bowl ring in 1983 after replacing an injured Marc Wilson.

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But all the while, Plunkett’s body and brain still were taking a beating. A 1985 game against the 49ers summarized the destruction on any given Sunday. Plunkett was sacked six times in a 34-10 loss.

With 10 minutes left, 275-pound defensive end Jeff Stover plowed into Plunkett while going down hard on his left arm. Plunkett collapsed near the sideline when leaving the field. He had suffered a shoulder separation.

The Raiders’ physician twice put the shoulder in place but it popped out each time. Gerry Plunkett rushed to the locker room to check on her husband.

“That was the worst game of my life because people in the stands started cheering because they wanted Marc Wilson in,” she recalled. “I don’t care what team anybody is on whoever is getting hurt, you don’t cheer.”

After everything he has endured, Plunkett wants to help educate teenage football players on how to deal with head injuries. He joined about 40 former NFL players — half of them ex-Raiders — in June for the Game-Changer Celebrity Golf tournament in Rocklin to raise funds for research on traumatic brain injuries involving high school athletes.

“Kids are stubborn and when they get hurt they won’t report it,” Plunkett said.

He wants to help make football safer so it doesn’t disappear because of fears over concussions. Plunkett even hopes his 5-year-old grandson wants to play. For now, Grandpa throws footballs and baseballs to the boy on a vacant tennis court in the back yard that used to be Plunkett’s physical outlet when he could still run.

“I would love to see it,” he said of his grandson playing football, “but that would be selfish on my part.”

Then Plunkett considered another possibility.

“Golf’s a great sport,” he said. “Nobody hits you.”

Lets see what ya got

If you're interested in hearing about football around the league we got you covered. Take a listen.
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/12511689

Only one week into the first McVay camp, but I'm feeling frisky, okay?

Buckle up, 'cause here goes...

McVay will be named Coach of the Year.

Gurley will exceed 1200 yards on the ground. Probably more. And he will be a terror as a pass receiving threat, as well.

Whit will be a Pro Bowler.

Kupp will be a strong OROY candidate, maybe even winning it. Right HC and right OC plus all the talent necessary in a truly NFL ready rookie that will be the perfect security blanket for the young Goff.

Everett will be the starter by game 4, maybe sooner. Will have a strong rookie year in this McVay TE friendly O.

Sullivan will prove to be the most underrated FA signing of the offseason. The OL will greatly benefit and improve because of his steadying influence.

Aaron Donald will have his best year yet. And that's really saying something, isn't it?

Wade's D will finish Top 5. There, I said it.

Quinn will stay healthy and be a terror in this D.

Barwin will be seen as the second most underrated FA signing. Barwin will get a 3 year extension after this season.

Joyner and Alexander will make an outstanding S combo, each finally playing at his respective best position under Wade.

CB play will be solid, although maybe not a team strength compared to DL/LB/S play. I expect several CB's (not named TruJo) to be extended after this season. Maybe three.

I see McVay, Wade Phillips, and Kromer as our 3 most brilliant offseason moves, and in that order. Whit, Woods, and Sully as FA's come next. Aubrey Pleasant will be considered another gem find.

I see a 10-6 record.

I see playoffs as a distinct possibility, probably as a wild card.

I know that I've missed some, but I do feel fairly strongly about the above selections, tbh.

Who did I miss? Or rather, who did I overestimate? Lol.

The Uniform Poll thread got me thinking this morning. If the Rams organization is really listening to fan input into new Uniforms/Colors, etc, it wouldn't hurt to throw my idea into the mix. I played around in Photoshop this morning, and here is what I came up with. I know it won't be for everybody, but I like it a lot. I wanted to stay true to what I grew up with, but do something to make it pop (without overdoing it). I would love to hear any critical feedback. I am a blue & yellow guy, through and through.

I created different color face masks, and I really like the Black/Charcoal, but I thought it would be fun to put up a poll and see what everybody likes. I really like the subtle highlight and Shadow on the horn. It gives the helmet a touch of a 3D feel. I hope you guys like it.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/08/05/p...on-terrell-davis-morten-anderson-kenny-easley

Talking Football with the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductees
In Canton, Ohio, our Kalyn Kahler caught up with Jerry Jones, Jason Taylor, Kurt Warner, LaDainian Tomlinson, Terrell Davis, Morten Anderson and Kenny Easley to talk about their football journeys and what they’ll say in their speeches
KALYN KAHLER



CANTON, Ohio — What would your dad think of you getting into the Hall of Fame? What would he say to you? A reporter asked Terrell Davis these questions during his press availability, just a few hours before he received his gold jacket. Davis paused and took a deep breath.

He shook his head, struggling to find words. His father, Joe, died of Lupus when Terrell was just 14 years old. “Y’all are trying to take me there,” Terrell said, fighting back tears. “I hope my dad would say he is proud. That’s it. I grew up with my dad and I just want to play for him, you know?”

Terrell’s bloodshot eyes marked the start of an emotional weekend for the former Broncos running back, and for the rest of the Hall of Fame Class of 2017. The enshrinees spoke to the media on Friday afternoon and reflected on how far they’d come over their careers and how many editions of their speech they’ve written. Here are some highlights of what the newest crop of Hall of Famers had to say.

THE MMQB: Have you had a wow moment yet this weekend?

KURT WARNER: The awe moment with all of this, is to realize these guys that you tried to emulate, that you grew up watching, that were your heroes growing up, they actually know your story. You come into this and you feel like, I don’t really think that I belong, I don’t belong in this room. But then these guys come up to you and tell you what your career meant to them—guys that you tried to be like.

It’s hard to put that into words and I think that is the awe part of it. When you don’t understand how you fit in, and people start to tell you how you impacted them, it starts to sink in. Oh, I guess that’s why I am here. It’s not only fans and people watching, but guys that did it as well as anybody has ever done it, and maybe even before you that were inspired.



KENNY EASLEY: It’s been a big hug fest. That’s the thing about these Hall of Famers, when you make it to this level, whether you deserved it or not, to these guys it doesn’t matter. You’re here. And they hug you hard, because they are so happy you are here. That’s the thing that has been most interesting to me, guys who have been in the Hall of Fame for 30 years will walk up to me and say, Are you Kenny Easley?

And I say, Yeah, and they will give me a bear hug, like, I’m glad to see you. And I really didn’t expect it! I really didn’t expect from the guys who have been here for a long time, I expected them to be standoffish, but it’s not like that. It’s like, We’ve been waiting for you.

JASON TAYLOR: Walking that gauntlet yesterday at the Hall of Fame game seemed like a mile and a half, walking across that football field. I remember I stood on that field for the Hall of Fame games I played in, and I watched those guys walk, never did I think that I would one day make that walk. It’s pretty crazy.

THE MMQB: What was the lowest point in your football life, a time when you would never have expected you’d end up in the Hall of Fame?

TAYLOR: In 1992, when I first got to Akron, as a homeschooled kid, the NCAA pulled my scholarship and declared me ineligible. I had to leave school, so that was probably the low point. I thought I wouldn’t have a chance to play college football and I certainly couldn’t pay to go to school. That was certainly the low point.

LADAINIAN TOMLINSON: I was always a pretty good athlete, and one of those fast kids, faster than most of the kids my age. But when I was in the sixth grade, I broke my foot, and I lost of a lot of my skills. I really was depressed at that point. I couldn’t play football that season, and when I came back the next season, I was no longer a starter.

I was basically a guy sitting on the bench, just cheering for my teammates. So, certainly at that point, you are like, Man, I used to be this good athlete and was out there playing and now I don’t get a chance to play much anymore. You doubt yourself, even if you are going to be good enough to play in high school.

DAVIS: There were a few points, but the first one was when I lost my dad. When I lost my dad, I quit playing football. There was no way I saw myself here when that happened. That’s one. I mean, that would be it.

MORTEN ANDERSEN: I never thought I would be here, honestly. That was never on my radar screen. My most important thing was, How can I get better? Because next year there are going to be guys younger than me, cheaper than me and maybe close to being as good as I am, and they want my job. There are 32 jobs of what I did in the world. There are no backups; it’s not like a linemen where you have backups. This was it.

You have 32 jobs, so job security was paramount for me. And the only way I knew how to do that was to be as good as I could be every single year so that it was undeniable. They had to keep me, no matter what the salary situation was. This is our best option at this position. They can slide that nameplate in and out of those lockers really, really fast.

THE MMQB: When you see the latest report about CTE having been found in 110 of 111 deceased NFL players who donated their brains for research, how do you feel? Are you concerned for your own future?

DAVIS: I can’t lie. We’re all scared, we’re all concerned. We don’t know what the future holds. When I’m at home and I do something and I forget something, I have to stop and think, Is this because I am getting older? Or am I just not using my brain? Or is this an effect of playing football? I don’t know that.

Yeah, I’m scared. I try to stay as active as possible and try to keep my mind as sharp as possible. I also know that the game has gone through great lengths to change the game from Pop Warner to the pros. People ask me the question, Would you let your kids play football? It’s like, yeah, I will.

Now, 10 years ago, I may have said something different, but now the way they are teaching kids to tackle, the fact that they identify concussions a lot faster, they sit you out of plays, you don’t practice as long, all that stuff is helping the game of football. But back to your question, yes, I’m concerned.

TAYLOR: Yeah, the research is out there. The data, however it is collected or disseminated, is still real. The effects of this game are real. It is a very violent and physical sport. In coaching now I tell people, there is a 100 percent chance you are going to get hurt playing this game. Whether it be banging a finger or something worse. We take that risk in playing this game.

We appreciate the things they are doing to try to make it safer. You want to continue to make this game as safe as you can, regulating practice and structure around preparing for Sundays. Sundays, you can’t stop violence, it is a tough game. So am I concerned? Sure. You have to be. I played with teammates, a former teammate of mine, a Hall of Famer that is no longer with us [Junior Seau] because of some of those things, and that’s really hard.

THE MMQB: How many drafts of your speech did you write? What will it be about?

WARNER: You’ve got to wait for that one. I’m not giving anything away. It was just one constantly moving draft. I took a long time before I even started my speech. I had ideas, I had thoughts, and I wanted to shape my thinking before I started writing it on paper. But then once I wrote it down on paper, there were a number of drafts. I would take it paragraph by paragraph, point by point, and I would just try to shape it.

One part that they kept telling me was make it shorter, make it shorter, so I had to try to cut things out. It was about getting the wording right more than anything. From when I first laid it out, the primary structure is the same, but how it is being said now is a little bit different. Even though I started late, I put a lot of time into it.

I really went over it and thought about it and prayed about it. More importantly for me, even than thanking the right people, is sharing the right message. This is going to be my last moment, so to speak, on this kind of stage. I want to share the right message that goes along with the entire journey.

ANDERSEN: I wrote two or three drafts. I wrote the speech over a period of the summer. I started in June, and I spent a couple months on it. It’s going to be about, if I account for crying and maybe a smattering of applause here and there . . . we are under 15 minutes, so I feel pretty confident I can land the plane in 14 minutes.

TOMLINSON: [My speech will be about] family history and what my last name means to me, and how important it is to me and my family to have this legacy in Canton . . . [I’ve been] doing it in front of the mirror, standing up, speaking, looking in the mirror speaking.

But of course I work in the studio all the time, so I have that experience. But for me it is about driving home some of the stories I really want to tell and have that emotional impact, for people to understand where my feelings are coming through.

JERRY JONES: You’re all going to be—knowing me and the times we’ve interviewed—you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.

THE MMQB: Terrell, you were a Hall of Fame finalist for three years, and there was debate over whether your three best seasons were enough to qualify you for the Hall. Do you think that your inclusion will have an impact on other guys who have short careers?

DAVIS: I hope so, because for me, Gale Sayers was that guy, that everybody compared me to. Now, the precedent is set. The voters are now looking at careers and the quality of it, not necessarily how long you have played, which is a great thing for the Hall of Fame. It should be based off quality, how well you played while you were playing.

Priest Holmes was nice, Priest was nice, and he’s never talked about. The injuries didn’t help, but you look at the numbers, and I think they are comparable to mine. Not necessarily the postseason numbers. I certainly hope so, I like Priest. I root for him and hopefully one day he will be wearing that gold jacket too.

THE MMQB: Kurt, will you address St. Louis Rams fans who are still your fan, but no longer Rams fans?

WARNER: I’m not necessarily going to address it in my speech. I think for me, there are so many people and so many fan bases and so many groups that went into me getting here. Hopefully in other opportunities I will get a chance; up to this point I have tried to do that. I think for me, [the speech] is more about being inclusive with everybody and letting everybody know as a whole, their part in this.

It wasn’t necessarily one person or one group or one team more than another . . . the fans in St. Louis were instrumental to where I’m at, to where my family is, and how much we love that community. Those things I am going to try to stay away from, because I think there is a time and a place for all of that, and I think St. Louis knows how much they meant to us.

THE MMQB: LaDainian, what does it mean to you to be going into the Hall as a San Diego Charger?

TOMLINSON: When you think about the history of the organization and 56 years in San Diego, it’s pretty significant. At the luncheon we just had, seeing Ron Mix and Kellen Winslow and Dan Fouts, and guys like that, and being welcomed in at the luncheon as another San Diego Charger that is here. I’m honored, emotions are really starting to run crazy, but I’m so happy I get this opportunity.

THE MMQB: Jerry, what lessons have you learned in your time as owner of the Cowboys?

JONES: There’s no short list. I underestimated how hard it is to win ball games. I had spent a lot of my life in the discipline of business and you can be very successful in business, tremendously successful, and you can come in 15th or 20th, and you can get a lot done and take care of your family, and get a lot of pat on the backs. In our game, in the NFL, you stay out of the one hole very often and you don’t get a lot of credit, that’s the Super Bowl. So the bottom line is, it’s tough.

You guys have heard it described a lot of ways, but that really creates a challenge. I believe in driving across the lake, rather than laying up and shooting straight to the hole. And you get your ball in the water a lot of times. Seriously, I am still founded in risk-reward. I like to think my experience has given me better judgment on how much risk to take for the reward.

The fallacy there is if you take a huge risk, and the reward wasn’t worth it, that’s not smart. I like to think I can do better with risk and reward. But what I have learned is if you don’t do something that has some risk to it, you will never move, you’ve got to stretch out.

THE MMQB: How would you describe your career in one word?

ANDERSEN: That’s always hard to put one word on it, but . . . long. It’s been a career of will and will winning over all the other characteristics that sometimes come forth. The one single most important thing I’ve had throughout the years, when it didn’t look good, was will. Will to excel and will to do it for as long as I can, at the highest level.

I'm posting these up for @VeteranRamFan ... and there's a bunch of them.

We're trying to see if his incredible pics can be posted to show more detail.

And... I just want to say how thankful I am to @VeteranRamFan for all of these.

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Brown Eager to Keep Role at Right Tackle

Have you ever kept a notebook?

A notebook to collect your thoughts, maybe center yourself at the end of the day. A place where you can keep track of what’s gone on, positive or negative, so you can look back and see how far you’ve come.

Until recently, Jamon Brown had never done such a thing before. But when his wife put a journal in this year’s version of her “training camp survival pack,” he decided to take up the activity.

“I was actually like, ‘What do you want me to do with this?’” Brown recalled of his first reaction to the journal. “But at night, when the day is done, it’s kind of come to a close, I lay down in the bed and I kind of just put my thoughts on the pad. And I think it’s been helping me keep my mind clear, helping me stay positive, and helping me move forward each day.”

Generally, Brown is a positive guy with a lot of energy. He’s the kind of player who walks onto the field with a smile on his face, always eager to get better within the day’s session. That was his body language even when he came into OTAs as a backup. But it’s become more pronounced as he’s entered camp as the starting right tackle.

“That most definitely is motivation,” Brown said. “And just battling, battling and being able to kind of get in the spot where I can play, that was most encouraging. So coming in and being the starting right tackle, I’m trying to make sure I stay the starting right tackle.”

It’s been an up and down road for Brown to get to this point. Selected in the third round of the 2015 draft, Brown was one of a handful of offensive linemen the Rams brought in that year to stabilize the position group. While he initially worked at right guard in tandem with fellow rookie Rob Havenstein at right tackle, Brown worked at left guard that year, too. He started the first nine games of that season before suffering a season-ending leg injury.

Then Brown began last season splitting time at right guard with Cody Wichmann. He ended up starting one game at that spot before suffering a fracture in his left hand during the week of practice in London. He ended up starting four more games in 2016, all at left guard.

So entering this season, Brown wasn’t necessarily on the radar for a starting role. But that changed once the coaches saw what he was capable of during the offseason program.

“I think what you like about Jamon is his demeanor. I think he’s got a great disposition where he’s willing to be coached,” head coach Sean McVay said back in May. “He’s got good movement for a big, physical player. And when he gets his hands on people, he certainly does a nice job of securing the line of scrimmage — whether that’s in the run game or in protection when he jump-sets people. But what he showed last week was very encouraging.”

Brown wasn’t even working at tackle during the initial stages of the offseason program, which makes his ability to get back into the position as he has that much more impressive. He said this experience has reassured him of his ability to adapt and adjust.

“From making the switch from college to the NFL — going from tackle to guard — and then now being in the NFL going from guard back out to tackle, just kind of reassured me that I can adjust and adapt. And I’m good to be on this level,” Brown said.

Part of Brown’s ascent has come from working with new offensive line coach Aaron Kromer. The Louisville product complimented Kromer’s ability to teach, saying the coach’s attention to detail in answering questions helps set him apart.

“Being able to pick his brain about different thing that happen to me on the field — what do I need to change? Do I change this? And he’s able to kind of give me what I need. It’s been great,” Brown said. “And I think it’s been a big help for all of us.”

Brown also credits offensive line free agent additions Andrew Whitworth and John Sullivan for helping to bring some stability and improvement to the unit.

“You look at those guys and how they go about their business day in, day out — they approach it the same, they attack it the same. So you kind of feed off their energy of how to be a pro,” Brown said. “Whenever we’re out on the field, I go to Whit, he’s able to give me different things — maybe fix this, kind of turn this a little smidge. He’s able to give me things that he sees and that’s helped him have success. And I think that’s just all across the board for everybody.”

“Jamon’s a young, talented guy,” Whitworth said this week. “He’s going to be a good football player for this organization. Looking forward to watching him grow, too.”

Being a center, communication is a significant part of Sullivan’s job description. And according to Brown, the way Sullivan makes calls at the line has made him better.

“He’s decisive,” Brown said. “And that, I think, allows the people around him to be more confident and just be more confident in themselves. It’s, ‘OK, if I make a decision, I’m going to go with it.’”

The Rams’ moves to improve their defense have had consequences for Brown, too. Playing right tackle, Brown often squares off with veteran outside linebacker Connor Barwin when he pass rushes.

“Going against Connor has been huge to me because he’s such a pro. He’s been doing it for a while,” Brown said. “And he allows me to be able to work at thing that I’m going to have to do in the game — I’m going to need in the games. And there’s no better look than a guy like that. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

“And yeah, there’s times where he gets the best of me. But, you know, I’m a competitor,” Brown continued. “So I come right back and I’m not afraid to step back at the plate and get ready to take another swing.”

It’s a baseball metaphor, but it’s the way Brown has gone about his entire NFL career so far. When he’s had his opportunities, Brown doesn’t often appear to make the same mistake twice. During the offseason program, McVay complimented Brown’s willingness and ability to be coached. And so when Brown names what he’d like to improve about his game before the end of camp, there’s a sense he’ll be able to realize his goals.

“Just working hand in hand with my hands and my feet. Just making sure if I’m punching, I keep my feet moving. Or of my feet or moving, I’ve got to make sure I’m using my hands. So just kind of making sure they go together and I’m not doing one more than I’m doing the other,” Brown said. “I think that’s what will make me be really successful.”

And it’ll make a fine journal entry at the end of the night.