Wellness

[cindyinfl]

Good morning! This is my first post on this forum. Both my DH & I are retired and live in Jacksonville, Fl. and are big NFL fans.

Yep, we live in the home of the hapless Jaguars, We are hoping that the team does a little bit better this season, with the signing of QB Bortles. Although he is rookie, the team seems to have high hopes for him this year as backup behind Chad Hennie. In Jacksonville, hope springs eternal for the Jags, so maybe this season they can produce!

I am originally from Dallas, so the Cowboys are in my DNA! My stepfather had season tickets to the cowboys games back in the late 60s, early 70s, so I used to go with him to most of the games. I even remember Dandy Don Meredith, Danny White & Roger Staubach, which were all my favorites. I still follow the Cowboys.

Things have certainly changed with the teams over the years, and IMO, some not for the better. Now it seems to be about big business & money instead of the game itself.

My husband was born in Cleveland, OH, so we will be watching the Browns this year with great interest since the acquisition of Mr. Football. Actually, my favorite team is the gutsy Seattle Seahawks. We also like New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and the Houston Texans. We look forward to preseason, and then the start of regular season. Fall & football season are our favorite time of the year.

I enjoy reading your posts & talking football. Come on August!!!!

[teganslaw]

Welcome to the board, Cindy! I'm a fan of the Indianapolis Colts. Since they play Jacksonville twice a year, I'm familiar with the Jaguars. They have played some tough games against Indy. No matter what, I don't take any NFL team too lightly. It will be interesting to see how the teams have changed this season. Only three weeks until the first preseason game.

[gardenman]

Welcome, Cindy! The fun thing with the NFL is you can go from first to worst and then back to first in a short period of time. An injury here or there can decimate even the best teams. A bad team can get lucky on a late round draft pick or free agent and have them become the last piece/pieces they need to become great. You just never know what will happen from week to week.

[gardenman]

DeMarco Murray says this is the best Cowboy's team he's ever been on. He might be right offensively, but that defense is a bit scary looking and not in a good way for Cowboy fans. They've lost three of their best defensive players and the defense wasn't all that good even with those guys last year. The offensive line is better, Romo could be good if he can stay healthy, Dez Bryant is maturing and becoming a star, so on offense there's reason for optimism, but that defense has little reason for optimism. The players they've got this year are a better fit scheme-wise, but the talent level has dropped considerably. I suspect we'll see a lot of Cowboy games this year like the Broncos game last year where it's just a run and gun shootout and the team with the ball last wins. This is one of those years where it's likely the Cowboy offense can't have a bad game and have any hope to win.

The Eagles are just about a week from opening camp and everyone is still wildly enthusiastic about this season. I'm a little paranoid that the media is so positive this year. The Philly media is never positive. Hardly a single negative word is being heard and that's just not normal in Philly. Maybe it's because all of the other Philly sports teams are so bad that the press is looking for a reason to be positive.

[cindyinfl]

Thanks for the warm welcome to the board.

I enjoy reading your comments and insights about your teams. And you all are right, in the NFL, things can change in a flash. An injury, or new team player acquisition, can make a world of difference. That's one reason I enjoy pro football, you never know from week to week. We can't wait for preseason to start. Although here in NE Florida, it is still unbearably hot & humid in August, to me for some reason, the start of preseason signals the beginning of exciting times ahead. Finally something to look forward to on Sunday afternoons, and Monday & Thursday evenings. The only complaint I have is footballl is too short for us. The season just starts, and then it's playoffs & Super Bowl. I wish they played year around.

Jags training camp opens today, so we'll be following with interest. Will keep you posted.

Hope everyone has a great week. Come on August!!!

Cindy

[cindyinfl]

Sorry, I mean to insert season after football - football season is too short for us. DUH. I'm sure you all could figure it out! My mind and my typing are not together most of the time.

Cindy

[Sheltie Mom]

Hello again! Thought I better check in before I get too far behind as usual, lol!

Hi Cindy, it's good to meet you! And as your last post noted, a team's forturnes can change quickly with injury.

The Bills have already lost Kiko Alonso, our star rookie MLB from last year to an ACL. He will be out for the year... sigh...

But I went to the opening of training camp last night and Brandon Spikes seems to have things under control. Our acquisition from the Pats is definitely our new field general. Actually everyone looked sharp under the lights except for EJ. Our quarterback still needs to get on the same page with his receivers. Sammy Watkins looked good though.

So did Bryce Brown, our new running back. gardenman, he looked good last night, that young man has some speed!

Thank goodness it's football season again! And the Bills will kick-off the pre-season at Canton the day after Andre Reed gets his induction into the HOF! Whoohooo! Go Bills!

[gardenman]

Sheltie Mom. Yeah, Bryce Brown is like lightning. He's got a ton of potential. Last year with the Eagles he kept trying to break everything wide instead of making one cut and taking it up the field. When he makes one cut and goes, he's like lightning. He's just got to get the mental part of the game down. Two years ago as a rookie he kept fumbling all of the time. The Eagles worked on him all last off season and he did much better with that, but then he got into the habit of trying to outrun the defense to the sideline and that just doesn't work. While you can outrun a linebacker/defensive end to the sideline, there's usually a corner or safety there waiting for you to make the tackle. Find a crease and go straight up the field is the best running strategy. If the Bills can get Bryce back into the one cut and go mode, he'll be a beast for them. Expect to see him get lots of repetitions at that in training camp so it becomes second nature to him again. Very rarely can you outrun a defense to the sideline no matter how fast you are. They've already got people where you're going, so you're better off finding a seam and taking it.

The Giants offensive line just got a bit shakier with Chris Snee deciding to retire. Apparently his off season elbow surgery wasn't as successful as he'd like so he's giving up the game. That's not good news for Eli Manning heading into training camp. They were hoping Snee would be back at full strength.

[gardenman]

And naturally, just before training camp starts one of the Eagles more brain-dead players gets himself arrested. Safety Keelan Johnson shoved a police officer the other night while intoxicated and got himself arrested. He was already a bit of a long-shot to make the roster and this sure won't help him any. Luckily no major injuries resulted. The officer bumped his head on a tree, but that was the extent of any injuries. Chip will not be happy about this and Keelan better blow Chip's socks off in camp, or he's not likely to make the roster.

I'm pretty sure every coach in the league breathes a big sigh of relief when camp opens and they get the guys all back somewhat under their control.

In news around the league, the Browns who had already named Brian Hoyer their starting quarterback are now saying they'll name their starter by the third exhibition game. Uh, guys? Didn't you do that like a month or two ago? I'm pretty sure I saw it said that Brian Hoyer was the starter. Manziel mania may have taken hold of the Brown's coaching staff. I'm not sure if that means Manziel was impressive in the OTA's and Hoyer wasn't, or if they're just trying to keep everyone in suspense. If they're starting Manziel then they'd better make sure Hoyer get s a lot of reps as he'll be playing sooner rather than later. Manziel won't survive many weeks playing in the NFL if he plays like he did in college.

[gardenman]

It's a good year to be a rookie linebacker with the NY Giants. Jon Beason broke his foot earlier, but they'd signed Jameel McClain as an insurance policy in case Beason got injured, now McClain has gone down with a foot injury. McClain's injury may not be serious, initial x-rays were negative, but there's a lot that can go wrong with a foot that doesn't show up on x-rays. Since they had to cart him off the field it doesn't look good. If it's still bothering him today (and it probably is) they'll do an MRI and see what's really going on.

Rookie linebackers will be getting pretty much all of the reps for the Giants now and this is a great opportunity for them to shine. As a rookie you hate to see the vets go down, but it opens a door that might not have been open before. Whoever was third in line for reps is now first in line for reps and that's huge for a kid. Getting first team reps, and a lot of them, is a dream come true for a rookie as long as he's had his head in the playbook. It's kind of a nightmare for coaches and personnel guys, but for the kids, it's the best thing ever.