Sports

[gardenman]

@teganslaw 

Analysts get infatuated with the Cowboy's defense. Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith are two of the better young linebackers in the league. It's largely the play of those two guys that have many believing the Cowboys will be great. They've got some big issues too though. Safety isn't really a strength of theirs right now. They've once again managed to get two starting defensive linemen suspended. Their starting corners are good, but there's not a lot of depth behind them. Their defensive coordinator (well, coordinators as they have two guys Marinelli and Richards kind of sharing the job) are good.

The offensive staff is a huge question mark. Pretty much anyone who's played QB for the Cowboys is on their offensive staff. Garrett, Kitna and Moore are the offensive braintrust. Elliott's holdout could last the year. They say their guys are the best but only want to pay them top five money which after free agency next year may be more like top ten to top twenty money. Elliott's arguably the best back in the league and making him fifth highest paid now, and maybe tenth to twentieth highest paid next year isn't generally a great idea. They let Dak's safety valve in Cole Beasley go. Beasley was Dak's go to guy when he got in trouble. Jason Witten didn't retire because the game was too easy. Can he survive a full season and be effective?

The Cowboys are nicely built to beat the Giants with their short passing game. They should do okay against the Redskins. Stopping the Eagles' offense with DeSean Jackson heading deep, Zach Ertz and/or Dallas Goedert at tight end. Agholor in the slot and Alshon Jeffery on the other side, without a substantial pass rush, could be more challenging for them. Demarcus Lawrence has zero, not any, quarterback sacks against the Eagles and he's their best pass rusher.

The Cowboys have not done well in the playoffs either. I'm not wildly optimistic about their chances. If Elliott sits out long, they could be a 6-10 team. They've got some issues.

[JillyMarie]

The Antonio Brown saga continues.  It gets curiouser and curiouser.

Sources: AB says no football without old helmet

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By Adam Schefter
ESPN

Wide receiver Antonio Brown has told the Oakland Raiders that unless he can wear his old helmet, he will not play football again, league sources told ESPN on Friday.

League sources said Brown had a two-hour conference call with NFL officials on Friday in an attempt to argue why he should be allowed to wear his 10-year-old helmet.

A decision could come as early as next week, sources said.

Brown wants be allowed to wear the helmet he prefers, not one of the helmets that league rules mandate, league sources said. Brown believes the new certified helmet protrudes out and interferes with his vision as he tries to catch the football.

The Raiders have been sending Brown other approved helmets to wear, but at this time, he is not interested in wearing any of them.

League sources also told ESPN that Brown's recent absence from Raiders training camp has more to do with his helmet than with his feet. He suffered extreme frostbite on his feet as a result of not wearing appropriate footwear when he entered a cryotherapy chamber last month in France, a source told ESPN.

The helmet that Brown is comfortable in and has worn throughout his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers -- believed to be the Schutt Air Advantage helmet, which the company has discontinued making -- is no longer certified by the National Operating Committee for Standards and Athletic Equipment.

The NFL has a policy of not allowing players to wear helmets that are not certified by NOCSAE. NOCSAE's rule has been that no helmets older than 10 years can be worn.

It's the latest complication in what has become a complicated summer for Brown, from his head to his feet.

The foot injury has limited his practice time, and he has not been in camp recently as he meets with specialists. Other league sources, however, told ESPN that the helmet issue has been an ongoing battle since the start of training camp.

The NFL and NFLPA want players to wear helmets designed in the most effective manner to safeguard against potential head injuries.

The Raiders are "aware and supportive of Antonio Brown but [have] no further comment."

During the offseason, the NFL and NFLPA added 11 helmets to their joint list of approved equipment for this season while eliminating a grace period for other models that have fallen short in laboratory testing. By the end of last season, the NFL said 32 players were wearing helmets that now are banned. Brown was one, and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady -- who has openly complained about the rule -- was another.

Though the league and NFLPA have tested helmets since 2015, last year marked the first time they banned certain models. This season, the league is enforcing the rule and trying to make no exceptions, even saying that any player wearing a banned helmet will be subject to discipline.

[Spurt]

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@JillyMarie wrote:

The Antonio Brown saga continues.  It gets couriouser and curiouser.

Sources: AB says no football without old helmet

---

By Adam Schefter
ESPN

Wide receiver Antonio Brown has told the Oakland Raiders that unless he can wear his old helmet, he will not play football again, league sources told ESPN on Friday.

League sources said Brown had a two-hour conference call with NFL officials on Friday in an attempt to argue why he should be allowed to wear his 10-year-old helmet.

A decision could come as early as next week, sources said.

Brown wants be allowed to wear the helmet he prefers, not one of the helmets that league rules mandate, league sources said. Brown believes the new certified helmet protrudes out and interferes with his vision as he tries to catch the football.

The Raiders have been sending Brown other approved helmets to wear, but at this time, he is not interested in wearing any of them.

League sources also told ESPN that Brown's recent absence from Raiders training camp has more to do with his helmet than with his feet. He suffered extreme frostbite on his feet as a result of not wearing appropriate footwear when he entered a cryotherapy chamber last month in France, a source told ESPN.

The helmet that Brown is comfortable in and has worn throughout his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers -- believed to be the Schutt Air Advantage helmet, which the company has discontinued making -- is no longer certified by the National Operating Committee for Standards and Athletic Equipment.

The NFL has a policy of not allowing players to wear helmets that are not certified by NOCSAE. NOCSAE's rule has been that no helmets older than 10 years can be worn.

It's the latest complication in what has become a complicated summer for Brown, from his head to his feet.

The foot injury has limited his practice time, and he has not been in camp recently as he meets with specialists. Other league sources, however, told ESPN that the helmet issue has been an ongoing battle since the start of training camp.

The NFL and NFLPA want players to wear helmets designed in the most effective manner to safeguard against potential head injuries.

The Raiders are "aware and supportive of Antonio Brown but [have] no further comment."

During the offseason, the NFL and NFLPA added 11 helmets to their joint list of approved equipment for this season while eliminating a grace period for other models that have fallen short in laboratory testing. By the end of last season, the NFL said 32 players were wearing helmets that now are banned. Brown was one, and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady -- who has openly complained about the rule -- was another.

Though the league and NFLPA have tested helmets since 2015, last year marked the first time they banned certain models. This season, the league is enforcing the rule and trying to make no exceptions, even saying that any player wearing a banned helmet will be subject to discipline.

---

@JillyMarie 

😲......  words cannot describe AB......  Wanna bet Ben Roethlisberger is smiling....

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

Eli might as well retire. According to analysts, Daniel Jones was perfect and should be their top QB. Maybe he was impressive last night. See how he does the other games. 

I don't understand how ESPN has the Cowboys winning the NFC East. Elliott might sit out the season; Dak and Cooper's contracts aren't finalized. Jason Witten is back, but not sure how effective he'll be.  What statistics are they using? The Cowboys haven't even played yet and things are uncertain in their organization. 

---

@teganslaw 

They all believe Jerry Jones' hype.......

[gardenman]

The Eagles made a trade, not likely one that will impact the roster much though. They traded offensive guard Ryan Bates from Penn State to the Bills for defensive end Eli Harold. The Eagles have a ton of depth at offensive line and Bates would have likely been a practice squad guy at best. The Bills have a ton of injuries to their o-line and need bodies, but had good depth at defensive end where the Eagles have some injury issues.

The trade works for both parties and Bates might make the Bills' roster while Harold probably won't make the Eagles' roster. He's more of a 3-4 outside linebacker at 240+ pounds instead of a 4-3 defensive end. If he was twenty pounds heavier he'd have a shot, but at 240+ he's a liability in run defense. He's a competent pass rusher, but offensive linemen would likely blow him off the ball in the running game. Still, he's a body the Eagles can throw out there at defensive end and that's kind of what they need right now. He may show enough to be a situational pass rusher for them also on long yardage situations.

Harold has a decent resume. A third round pick of the Niners who had 84 tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble with the Niners. Then got traded to the Lions where he had four sacks in his one season there. (Traded because his rookie deal was expiring or some other reason?) Then he left the Lions and signed with the Bills in free agency this year. Red flags are the number of teams he's been on. He signed with the Bills in April so he was a guy they wanted, but now they're willing to let him go? Granted they signed him to a smallish contract of $895,000 so he wasn't viewed as a top free agent. He was apparently the third string guy in Buffalo right now, so they felt comfortable moving on from him and getting a competent offensive lineman in return. (At least four of their o-linemen are out with injuries right now.) 

I don't really see him making the Eagles' roster, but you never know. They liked him enough to bring him in. He's under-sized, this will be his fourth team in the league in four years. That's seldom a good sign. He's done some controversial stuff in the past (kneeling with Kaepernick.) I wonder if he got his sacks by beating an offensive lineman or was simply left unblocked? The Lions giving up on a guy who had four sacks and who left for under a million a year is kind of odd. I have a suspicion he'll just be a camp body. Defensive linemen typically take several years to grow into the job, so when multiple teams dump a guy early in his career it's a bit of a red flag.

[gardenman]

It kind of looks like the Eagles are going to be playing all backups all preseason. It's kind of an interesting concept. They're giving the starters nearly all the reps in practice then shelving them for the games against hostile opponents to keep them healthy for the regular season. I think it's next week they practice against the Ravens, so the starters can see different bodies but still under a controlled situation.

When the reporters asked Doug Pederson about it he said the practices were being run like a game so the starters are getting game experience in practice.

We'll have to see how that works once the regular season starts. Will the Eagles come charging out, or stagger out without having real playing time before then? It does help to keep the starters healthy while also giving the kids a chance to show what they can do. You just wonder how well the vets will play when they finally hit the field for real. Can they just flip that switch and start playing high caliber football after doing nothing but practicing?

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Hey the Cowboys only scored 9 points to our respective teams whopping 10 points...LOL!!!!

Zeke remains out of Cowboys camp and the team has been using rookie Tony Pollard as their top back in his absence.  Here's some more BS from Jerry Jones---

“He looks confident out there, we know he’s inordinately understanding of what he does and can do. We’ve seen him do it, we know he’s capable of, if he really needs to, carrying the whole load.” 

*******************************

Well the Redskins lost their 4th string QB Josh Woodrum to a pec tear and has been placed on IR....McClendon signed with the Ravens after going undrafted in April, but only spent a few days with the team before landing back on the street. He played in nine games and made one start for Baylor last year after enrolling at the school as a graduate transfer from N.C. State.

This is sad.....

The Steelers announced on Sunday morning that wide receivers coach Darryl Drake has died at the age of 62.

Drake was in his second year with the Steelers and also served as the wide receivers coach with the Bears and Cardinals before heading to Pittsburgh. He spent two decades in the collegiate ranks and had stints with Washington and Cincinnati as a player.  No cause of death was specified in a statement from Steelers president Art Rooney II.