Sports

[Spurt]

OMG--Brenda Warner, Kurt's wife put the gold jacket on Kurt, she looks like she has a John Riggins hairdo............and it happens to be John Riggins birthay today too! Happy Birthday Diesel.....he's 68...........

John's looks have changed..........

[gardenman]

Doug Pederson has been keeping things light at the Eagles camp. He's been tossing in trick plays (tackle eligible passes to a tackle, halfback option passes, etc.) and also giving the players chances to earn later curfews, one of which was done by having Jason Peters and Fletcher Cox each field a punt. The players all seem happy and are enjoying camp. They even practiced a touchdown celebration where the ten other offensive players lined up like bowling pins while the scorer rolled the ball at them knocking them down for a strike. 

We've had no real fights, just some minor shoving incidents. The vets are helping the kids. The kids are pushing the vets. Everyone seems to be bonding nicely. Things seem to be going well in Philly and the fans are optimistic.

Fans in other cities are not as optimistic. Dolphin fans are stressing over Tannehill's knee. Colt fans and Panthers fans are stressing over their quarterbacks' shoulders. Raven's fans are stressing over Flacco's back. Some teams (Broncos, Jags, Jets, Texans) still don't know what they've got at QB. And despite all of that, Kaepernick is still unsigned.

[Spurt]

@gardenman

And you forgot one thing .................  and Redskin fans continue to truck along despite their uncertainty at QB after this year and their dysfunctional front office...............

In an effort to speed up their hands and their movement so the Redskin linemen are  doing some boxing exercises, although this isn't supposed to be an asset if there are any brawls between opponents on the field, Ziggy Hood said the team would be OK in that aspect too (BTW Ziggy is said to have the hardest punch)!

The biggest camp battles for the NFC East are seen as:

Cowboys---who is on the O line between Smith and Frederick. at LG? ---  Chaz Green and Jonathon Cooper are battling for that position.  With Green suffering a muscle strain the edge so far is Coopers...........

Giants---With Eli getting older, backup QB is their key battle........Geno Smith and Josh Johnson are vying for the backup position.  Johnson has the edge so far with a full grasp of the playoff, while Smith is coming off an injury and needs to pick up the plays quickly........

Eagles---Cornerback is the position to watch for Philly. DC Jim Schwartz  said he needs a couple players to step up to solidify the position...............Jalen Mills, Patrick Robinson, Ron Brooks, and rookie Rasul Douglas are trying to earn a starting job..............

Redskins---owner/frontoffice (just kidding_but one can hope ) ......But nose tackle is the position of interest and remains the most uncertain on the roster.  Joey Mbu, Phil Taylor and AJ Francis all have been given a shot and there is the possibility that all may be cut and Stacy McGee can play end or nose and may be moved there..........

Here's another QB contract issue ...........this time with the Lions and Matthew Stafford..........

Stafford has $16.5 million this year, and he’s in line for a franchise tag of $26.4 million next year, a franchise tag of $31.68 million for 2019, and a franchise tag of $45.162 million for 2020. That’s nearly $120 million over four years, if Stafford chooses to take it one year at a time — and if the Lions choose not to expose Stafford to the open market by not applying the franchise tag in 2018, 2019, or 2020. The last time he negotiated a new deal with the Lions, Stafford didn’t push his leverage as far as he could have maybe seeing the Kirk Cousins situation he will this time..............

[gardenman]

There are two other names in the Eagles cornerback fight you might hear spoken a lot more in coming weeks. CJ Smith and Aaron Grymes may both be a starter before long. CJ was a classmate of Carson Wentz and impressed the team last year. By all accounts, he's better this year. His strength is in always keeping the receiver in front of him. He never gets beat deep. That's kind of important for a corner. He may give up more short passes, but not the kill shots.

Aaron Grymes was a CFL guy who had the roster made last year then injured a shoulder in the last preseason game. He's back and playing well. Those guys may not have the pedigree of others, but they've played well when given the chance.

The Eagles have a lot of 'guys' at corner, the question is, are they the right guys?

[yellowBeetle]

@gardenman

As a fellow fan of the Eagles I just want to say "thanks" for your detailed and interesting posts about our team! I always learn so much!

[gardenman]

There seems to be a lot of hype building around Nelson Agholor, the Eagles third year wide receiver, whose career until now has been disappointing. Mike Quick, former great Eagles wide receiver, has proclaimed him the most talented wide receiver on the roster. Bear in mind Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith are on the roster along with Jordan Matthews so that's saying a lot.

Others are jumping on the hype train and building the kid up as a potential superstar. He's had a good spring and summer so far, but we still haven't played a game. I fear they're setting the kid up and raising expectations to the point where he can't live up to them. We need to see him playing well in games before we submit his application to Canton for the Hall of Fame.

The guy the media have been quiet about so far in camp is Derek Barnett, our first round pick this year. He's been able to stay out of the media spotlight somehow and allowed to just go about his job. I guess that means he's doing okay. If he was getting crushed on every play we'd have heard about it, likewise if he was dominating on every play we'd have heard about it. Since we've hardly heard his name mentioned it implies he's neither disappointing nor amazing the media.

[Spurt]

So did anyone watch the Hall Of Fame ceremony?????    

I thought Morten Anderson was a hoot the way he described his first experience with American football!!!---great speech!!!

Some gave some really heartfelt and shared some poigiant moments on their journey to the Hall Of Fame.............but as a Redskin fan I was almost hysterical with laughter 

Jason Taylor got around to acknowledging the Redskin's owner, Dan Snyder, whom he played for just one season before returning to the Dolphins. 

"Dan Snyder -- I had a good talk with Dan last night -- thank you for the opportunity to come to Washington," Taylor said. "I know I didn't give you much -- 2.5 sacks -- stole a lot of money from you, but I appreciate it.

"Hey, I'm just being honest," he continued. "We talked about this last night at Jerry [Jones'] party.  Redskins owner at the Cowboys party. Me feeling awkward because I stole so much money from Dan. But he was very gracious, and Dan Snyder, thank you so much for what you did for me and my family and the opportunities."

Taylor is short-changing himself a little, as he had 3.5 sacks in his year in Washington in 2008.

And a personal word from me to Snyder--- HEY DAN YOU BLEW ALL THAT MONEY ON TAYLOR, PLEASE SHOW THE SAME GENEROSITY AND GET A LONG TERM DEAL DONE WITH COUSINS!!!!   And Taylor wasnt the first player you wasted your money on----remember Wilber Marshall, Bruce Smith, Albert Haynesworth to name a few......

[gardenman]

It looks like Ryan Tannehill will have knee surgery now. The Dolphins have dragged Jay Cutler out of the broadcast booth and signed him to a ten million dollar contract with up to three million more in incentives. I strongly suspect Tannehill's surgery will take place soon to give him the longest recovery time possible.

[yellowBeetle]

@gardenman

Just wanted to pass on that Eagle enthusiasm is very high! My husband and I went into Philly today (we live in the the suburbs) and saw tons of people wearing Eagle shirts! Now I know that the team had the event this morning where people could come see them practice, but we were downtown in the afternoon. Maybe some were holdovers from the morning, but whatever the reason, we saw lots and lots of Wentz, Cox, Sproles, etc. shirts plus some oldies like Dawkins, McCoy, and Westbrook at Reading Terminal, the Art Museum, and Penn's Landing! Fun! ( And, no, my husband and I were not among those who showed their support for the Eagles - but we'll wear ours next time!)

[gardenman]

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@yellowBeetle wrote:

@gardenman

Just wanted to pass on that Eagle enthusiasm is very high! My husband aprnd I went into Philly today (we live in the the suburbs) and saw tons of people wearing Eagle shirts! Now I know that the team had the event this morning where people could come see them practice, but we were downtown in the afternoon. Maybe some were holdovers from the morning, but whatever the reason, we saw lots and lots of Wentz, Cox, Sproles, etc. shirts plus some oldies like Dawkins, McCoy, and Westbrook at Reading Terminal, the Art Museum, and Penn's Landing! Fun! ( And, no, my husband and I were not among those who showed their support for the Eagles - but we'll wear ours next time!)

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@yellowBeetle

Thirty six thousand fans showed up for today's practice, so yes, enthusiasm is high in the Philly area right now. There's been no negative news about the birds so far. No players have been suspended, arrested, had serious injuries, and the team has looked very sharp in practice. The lack of anything else resembling a professional sports team in Philly probably helps the Eagles too. The Phillies are a disaster. The Flyers and Sixers are rebuilding. The Eagles are the only real hope we have these days.