Sports

[sunshine45]

marquise brown.....126 mph? why are you doing this just at the start of football season?

wondering if the ravens got rid of him just in time?

will miss the hall of fame game tonight......getting ready to travel.

[gardenman]

Yeah, there's speeding and then there's stupid speeding. Going 126 MPH is stupid speeding.

[gardenman]

And the first preseason game is in the books. What did we learn? Not a lot. Doug Pederson focused on a vanilla offense and defense to hide his regular season plans. (The same as he did in Philly.) The Raiders came out with their full playbook and many more starters and dominated. 

The Jags' first-round pick Travon Walker looked good in his time on the field. He showed a nice combination of speed and power but got a little lucky also. On one stunt he collided with the DT and them running into each other confused the o-linemen who didn't pick up the block on him afterward. You can't count on that happening in real games. They need to work on their d-line stunting game a bit more. 

I watched it on NFL+ on my phone to see how that would work and it went okay. It was a little confusing to get it on, but I figured it out. It looked good on the phone. A 6.8" phone a foot from your face is pretty much the same as a 120"  TV across the room.

I believe the Eagles have today off and then a regular practice tomorrow then the only open practice for fans on Sunday night. Next week we get the full slate of NFL preseason games, so that should be fun. The Eagles face the Jets, Browns, and Dolphins in the preseason. We'll start to learn then if our defense is as good as it looks in camp, or if our offense is bad.

[teganslaw]

The Raiders offense looked good last night, and that was without most of the starters. Travon Walker had a nice game for the Jags; that might have been a good draft choice, depending on how well his other games are. 

Sean McVay shared bad news: Matthew Stafford has 'very bad tendonitis" and an "abnormal" elbow injury for a quarterback. The type of injury Stafford has is the kind that MLB pitchers often get. The team isn't used to seeing this injury in football, so they're playing it by ear. I don't know any more details about this. 

[Spurt]

Another one bites the dust at ESPN---and is now working for NBC Sports

Matthew Berry, ESPN’s longtime fantasy sports guru, is leaving the network. Berry tweeted Monday---“Here is a sentence I never thought I’d write. I can confirm that after 15 amazing years, I am leaving ESPN,” . 

ESPN replied, “Matthew Berry expressed a desire to explore new opportunities beyond ESPN. After discussing it with him, we agreed to support it,” the network said in a statement Monday. “Since joining 15 years ago, Matthew has provided a distinctive and creative voice and been a catalyst in the proliferation of fantasy sports.”

Berry’s departure represents the end of an era at ESPN.

Fantasy sports is a lucrative business for the network, and Berry was, in many ways, the face of that enterprise. Berry’s takes on fantasy sports drove eyeballs and traffic to ESPN airwaves, digital platforms and podcasts.

For example, “The Fantasy Focus Football” podcast, which Berry hosted alongside Field Yates and Stephania Bell, has been the company’s “top-rated podcast on a yearly basis,” according to ESPN.

🤔

@teganslaw 

I know you play fantasy football....so what do you think? 

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

Well for the first preseason game the Raiders looked pretty good even without their starters...BUT afterall it was the FIRST preseson game and the Jags dont want to reveal their new playbook .....

On the Washington front TE Cole Turner and basketball player turned NFL player, Sammis Reyes, are dealing with hamstring issues.....😮

[teganslaw]

@Spurt , I read about Matthew Berry  but never followed him much or watched his fantasy podcast.  The ones I followed are Michael Fabiano (now with Sports Illustrated) and the podcast fantasy headliners. I also watched podcasts with Adam Rank (though IMO he's not very accurate in fantasy) and Kimmi Chex besides a few others. 

Apparently, Berry will getting his own show on NBC. 

[gardenman]

Stafford's elbow will be an issue. Those injuries tend to be wear injuries more than inflammation. Once the wear is there, it's there to stay. It could close the Rams playoff window pretty quickly. Tommy John surgery can fix it, but it's a year-long recovery, and at his age, can the Rams wait a year? He'll try to manage it and play the year, but it'll be a challenge for him.

[gardenman]

Oddly enough, you're starting to hear whispers of Jimmy G to the Rams should the Niners cut him loose. The issue with Stafford's elbow might just have the Rams in the market for a very good backup/potential starter. Their current backup QBs aren't an especially impressive group with John Wolford, Luis Perez, and Bryce Perkins. The Rams are a pass-first team with great receivers, so they need a QB who can throw the ball.

Stafford's injury is one of those wear and tear injuries that don't get better on their own. They flare up and calm down a bit, but once there, they're there. The surgical repairs typically take a year to eighteen months to recover from and it's not a sure thing type of surgery to recover from. Adding Jimmy G to their roster would solidify things for them going forward. It would be a smart move if they could afford it.

I would expect a bidding war between the Rams and Seahawks for Jimmy G if he were to be released. (Maybe throw in a few other teams also?) The Niners have to do something at some point. They aren't having him practice with the team, and he's working off to the side on his own at practice. He's clearly not in their plans.

[gardenman]

And the rumors of the Rams being interested in Jimmy G now has Stafford assuring everyone that he's fine and it's just a little soreness. Okay, then.

The Eagles have their only open practice tonight. A $10 donation to charity gets you in that stadium to watch. I get nervous for this practice as we've lost guys for the season a couple of times in the open practices. Injuries happen but the open practices always seem to bring one or more on. 

AJ Brown continues to impress the media attending practices. He stiff-armed a DB on a long catch and run the other day. He's become the favorite target for Hurts.