Wellness

[Spurt]

RG Chris Chester was blown off every play last season, so rookie Spencer Long has a good opportunity to make the team and could be a potential starter...a battle to watch...

[Spurt]

On 5/28/2014 gardenman said:

And forget that potential six month recovery time for Sean Lee. Later (still unconfirmed) reports indicate a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus damage. That slows everything down a ton. Nine months (at best) is a more optimistic recovery timeline for that level of an injury.

Word is that the Cowboys wanted Ryan Shazier, the Ohio State linebacker, in the draft but the Steelers nabbed him just before the Cowboys could make the pick. The Cowboys then went with Zach Martin instead and now in the first day of practice Zach Martin has taken out their starting all-pro linebacker Sean Lee leaving a rather large hole in the middle of that Cowboy defense. That's not a great way for this preseason period to kick off for the Cowboys. Romo had best bring his "A" game this year as it looks like the Cowboys will be in a lot of shootouts. I don't see them winning a lot of defensive battles this season.

GARDENMAN---and that was the one of the worst blows that the Cowboys could ill afford to have.....their defense was bad and now made worse. And with Eagles and Redskins going with wide open offenses doesn't look good for the Cowboys. Yes Romo will have to "keep up" and if he doesn't the fans will be on his back (pardon the pun) since he was not popular with the Boyz fan base to begin with and weren't happy about Jerrah giving him big bucks it could be an especially long season for Romo....and look who they have for a backup---Weedon---but who knows what the season will bring or what other injuries will crop up for the other teams in the NFC East...

And its not going to help that Dez wants a contract extension and wants to be among the highest paid WRs....and the team certainly has serious needs on defense...the Cowboys need to go D with their cap space....

[teganslaw]

The Colts signed former basketball player, Erik Swoope, who played for the Miami Hurricanes. He had never played football, but was signed last month as TE. Pagano is impressed with his abilities at minicamp, and has stated that the team may found a "gem" in this guy. He won't be starting soon, but with enough training will have a chance to go far. His performance has been listed as "off the charts", so Swoope is one name to definitely keep in mind.

There also is speculation as to whether the Colts' first draft pick, Jack Mewhort, is ready to start. He would be left guard. My feeling is that Mewhort will have to prove himself a bit more before being offered a starting job. He is looking good, though.

Jim Irsay was charged with two misdemeanor counts from his March arrest. I'm not sure what Goodall has in mind as far as punishment; haven't heard yet. Irsay's next hearing is the middle of June.

[gardenman]

Those former basketball players can turn into pretty good football players. San Diego's Antonio Gates started out that way. Swoope might end up on the practice squad for a year before making the full roster, but those kind of guys can develop into really good pros. The Eagles have a couple of developmental guys like that who are physical specimens, but have very limited football experience. If you can hide them on the practice squad for a year and get them an extra year of practice/experience, you might just be able to exploit their physcial capabilities down the road. There are a lot of subtleties for a player in the NFL and learning those subtleties can take some time.

Irsay will definitely pay a price for his offenses. I don't think it will be huge, but there will be a price to pay.

In an odd twist, Sean Lee's injury may be good for Dez Bryant. Dez needs a new contract and the Cowboys will need to do something this year to show a commitment to winning, so Dez could get a showy new deal. The Cowboys will have to rework a bunch of contracts to find the cap room, but they've done that before and will have to do it anyway after the season, so they might as well do it early and give the fans/team some hope. That Cowboy defense is a bit of a mess right now though.

[Spurt]

On 5/28/2014 gardenman said:

Those former basketball players can turn into pretty good football players. San Diego's Antonio Gates started out that way. Swoope might end up on the practice squad for a year before making the full roster, but those kind of guys can develop into really good pros. The Eagles have a couple of developmental guys like that who are physical specimens, but have very limited football experience. If you can hide them on the practice squad for a year and get them an extra year of practice/experience, you might just be able to exploit their physcial capabilities down the road. There are a lot of subtleties for a player in the NFL and learning those subtleties can take some time.

Irsay will definitely pay a price for his offenses. I don't think it will be huge, but there will be a price to pay.

In an odd twist, Sean Lee's injury may be good for Dez Bryant. Dez needs a new contract and the Cowboys will need to do something this year to show a commitment to winning, so Dez could get a showy new deal. The Cowboys will have to rework a bunch of contracts to find the cap room, but they've done that before and will have to do it anyway after the season, so they might as well do it early and give the fans/team some hope. That Cowboy defense is a bit of a mess right now though.

GARDENMAN, but I think the Cowboy faithful (at least those that are around here) would prefer Jerry invest in a YOUNG QB for the future as a showing to a commitment for a brighter future......rather than giving Dez a huge contract.....And no Johnny Manziel would NOT have been a good pickup at #16......BUT perhaps one of the other QBs in a later round would have at least given them hope because the Romo hate keeps escalating.....

And suspended Giants DB is claiming it was "second hand smoke" and not his fault---the League did not buy it and he will be suspended 6 games.....

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/31/will-hill-blames-latest-positive-test-on-second-hand...

[gardenman]

That "second hand smoke" argument never works. Josh Gordon of the Browns just keeps getting in deeper trouble all of the time too. He wasn't using drugs this time when caught speeding, but one of the idiots in the car with him had marijuana on him. When your whole career is on the line, it's probably not a bad idea to stay away from idiots who are likely to get you in more trouble.

I'm not sure JJ has a real plan for the Cowboys right now. They are bringing in players this year who fit their 4-3 Tampa Two defense, so that's a step in the right direction. (They should have done that last year.) They've still got another year or two to go to really get the right player fits on defense though. The middle of that defense looks pretty vulnerable right now and there are a lot of good tight ends and slot receivers out there just dying to exploit the middle of that Cowboy defense. On offense JJ seems to be hoping the offense catches fire one last time and drags the team to the playoffs. Romo's getting up there a bit though and does seem a tick prone to making the big mistake at the worst possible time. Jason Witten's probably only got a year or two of playing time left. Their running backs don't really scare people a lot. They are improving the offensive line which is important. Dez Bryant is a legitimate game breaker when he's on his game, but he's not always on his game. They need someone opposite Dez though and I'm not sure there's another wide receiver on their roster that really scares defensive coordinators right now.

The Cowboys are a bit talent deprived right now and still in a bit of cap trouble. I kind of suspect this might be Jason Garrett's last shot at getting the Cowboys to the playoffs. I suspect he's actually a pretty good coach, but he's saddled with an inept GM. To consistently win half the games with the roster he's had is an accomplishment. I suspect JJ will ultimately go back to the Jimmy Johnson formula and find a young, aggressive college coach and bring him in and let him gut the roster and start over. I'm just not sure who that coach would be at this time.

The Eagles seem to be catching a few breaks early. Most of the teams we'll be facing in the first half of the season are having starters suspended for one sort of violation of league rules or another. Almost every day you're seeing another guy who would have been a thorn in our sides get suspended until after we play them, so things are looking a bit better. The schedule is also a bit more favorable this year. Last year we had three games in something like eleven days and for a young team with a new head coach that was a challenge. This year the games are spaced a bit better and the team knows how to function. (Reports indicate the offense is running plays as quickly as ten seconds apart in practice. That's nearly twice as fast as last year.) We might just get off to a really good start this year.

[gardenman]

SPURT. Bucky Brooks of NFL.com has named the Redskins receiving corps as the best in the NFL. There are also stories floating around of RGIII being the player most likely to win "Comeback player of the year" this year. This will be a good test for how well RGIII can handle playing under pressure. The press is piling expectations on the kid unlike anything I've seen in recent years. If the Redskins aren't special (and with a brand new head coach/staff there's a pretty good chance they won't be) then RGIII will be the lightning rod for the fans and he's likely to get roasted. Talk radio will have a field day if he has a bad game. "He's got the NFL's best receivers, he's a full year after his injury, he's got a new coach after helping to get the old one fired, there's no excuse for him to have a bad game. We gave up a boatload of draft picks for this?"

From an outsider's perspective, watching Washington will be pretty interesting this NFL season. DeSean Jackson will have his issues throughout the year. The offensive line still isn't all that good. The defense is a big question mark. The Redskins have an unproven new rookie head coach and a patched together staff of some of the old guys and the new guys. But, all of the credit or blame for this season is being placed on RGIII's shoulders. It's so much fun being an NFL quarterback.

Oddly enough the press in the Philly area is giving Nick Foles an easy out. They insist there's no way he can match what he did last year. They keep talking about how the Eagles gave away his most valuable receiver (DeSean Jackson.) They talk about how the league now knows Nick Foles and will adjust to what he's good at, so expectations should be lower for him this year. It's kind of interesting living between the two cities and seeing/hearing the expectations being piled upon the two quarterbacks. In Philly the press is giving Nick Foles all kind of escape routes from scrutiny and taking pressure off of him, while in Washington the press is putting the entire fate of the football team on RGIII's shoulders. It's going to be an interesting year to see how this all plays out, but right now, I'd rather be Nick Foles than RGIII.

[Spurt]

On 6/2/2014 gardenman said:

SPURT. Bucky Brooks of NFL.com has named the Redskins receiving corps as the best in the NFL. There are also stories floating around of RGIII being the player most likely to win "Comeback player of the year" this year. This will be a good test for how well RGIII can handle playing under pressure. The press is piling expectations on the kid unlike anything I've seen in recent years. If the Redskins aren't special (and with a brand new head coach/staff there's a pretty good chance they won't be) then RGIII will be the lightning rod for the fans and he's likely to get roasted. Talk radio will have a field day if he has a bad game. "He's got the NFL's best receivers, he's a full year after his injury, he's got a new coach after helping to get the old one fired, there's no excuse for him to have a bad game. We gave up a boatload of draft picks for this?"

From an outsider's perspective, watching Washington will be pretty interesting this NFL season. DeSean Jackson will have his issues throughout the year. The offensive line still isn't all that good. The defense is a big question mark. The Redskins have an unproven new rookie head coach and a patched together staff of some of the old guys and the new guys. But, all of the credit or blame for this season is being placed on RGIII's shoulders. It's so much fun being an NFL quarterback.

Oddly enough the press in the Philly area is giving Nick Foles an easy out. They insist there's no way he can match what he did last year. They keep talking about how the Eagles gave away his most valuable receiver (DeSean Jackson.) They talk about how the league now knows Nick Foles and will adjust to what he's good at, so expectations should be lower for him this year. It's kind of interesting living between the two cities and seeing/hearing the expectations being piled upon the two quarterbacks. In Philly the press is giving Nick Foles all kind of escape routes from scrutiny and taking pressure off of him, while in Washington the press is putting the entire fate of the football team on RGIII's shoulders. It's going to be an interesting year to see how this all plays out, but right now, I'd rather be Nick Foles than RGIII.

Hey GARDENMAN---WOW!! the press is just so fickle!!!! A few months ago, they were complaining although the Redskins made a great pick up in De Sean Jackson, the receivers were all a bit smallish and smurflike and that the Redskins should have drafted a tall receiver .....Your right, I think they are building the team up, just to knock Robert down....there are still a lot of holes to fill.....Although Morgan Moses was a nice pickup he might not even be ready to start this year and Chester and Polombus were question marks on the line and need to be replaced....And a new coach and a new system will take time to learn. Although our defense still needs some work I think Haslett's new schemes will help to turn Rak and Kerrigan loose---and Kerrigan played injured all season and is now healthy so that will help. Ryan Clark is a temporary band aid for the secondary---not sure how much he has left in the tank. We still need some upgrades on the defense. I DO think our Special Teams will be 100% improved which will help the defense since we won't be giving our opponent half a field to work from, nor allow all those TD's from kickoffs......I agree with Rick Snider---a record of 7-9 or 8-8 is realistic....still got some work to do.

I think the pressure is going to be much greater from the local press conferences and media. The pressure will be more and more difficult for Robert when the team struggles, and there will be lots of no-shows at the games if the expectations are not met adding to what the media starts saying..... Shanny is gone, and the burden is now played in the hands of Bruce Allen, who has tried to set the expectations that the 2014 draft is not meant to cure all and is looking more towards the 2015 season---the draft picks have to have time to learn and this draft did not fix all the needs. The DC press particularly the Washington Post will be there to light any negative fire too....they just don't like Snyder and will take every opportunity to knock the Redskins and in particular Robert down that's for sure! Now if Gruden can take a cue form the Spur's Popovich and put a little fear in the hearts of the media, perhaps that would resolve the issue.... Because of our controversial name I think some of the national media tends to ignore us---but I can hear them saying that Robert is healthy now, has the tools in the WRs, a good running back, and if Jordan Reed stays healthy a good TE, so what's the problem.....but they will ignore the fact we still need to improve our OL which is the most important key....

BTW I think that Eli will also be under pressure this year---there was talk by their front office and coaching staff as to whether Eli was done after their disappointing season.....

I say the Eagles will take the Division, and Chip will tweak the offense and put in some wrinkles to confuse defenses....From what I am reading the Eagles secondary is still room for some concern, but I think the offense will be humming....

If you want a good laugh read this, this guy thinks the Cowboys will win the NFC EAST

http://thelandryhat.com/2014/06/02/dallas-cowboys-will-win-nfc-east-2014/

Of course, the Cowboys DO have an innovative training technique-

<h3>DALLAS COWBOYS</h3>

The Dallas Cowboys have installed ballet bars outside their locker room. First off let me just say that I realize that these bars will probably be great for stretching and decrease injury… I just don’t care.

Cowboys are in a state that cheers on people who carry AR-15s into Chipotle, a State thats execution budget is bigger than its education budget.

A state with Hank Hill, Chuck Norris, a state whose motto is “don’t *&^$#@ mess with us.” In this manly wish it was the 1800's state you’re going to put up ballet bars? How is there even a ballet in Texas? I imagine the Texas ballet is just a monster truck jam set to Tchaikovsky.

I can’t wait to see Tony Romo getting limbered up on the ballet bars, wearing leg warmers, thinking of how he’s going to blow this game.

I will pay seriously good money to the first person to get me a picture of Tony Romo on the ballet bars. That picture is going to be what brings down the internet.

[gardenman]

SPURT. I wouldn't rule out any team winning the NFC East this year, but I'm still optimistic that the Eagles will pull it out. The Eagles' players seem very confident and happy this year. I'm not sure I've ever seen a more optimistic group of players in the off season. Even the local press, who manage to find clouds on the sunniest day, are having a hard time finding many weaknesses. You know when they're focusing a lot of their attention on the kickers that things are going pretty well with your team. (We've got a kid kicker with the nickname "Murderleg" competing with Alex Henery this year and the press is really focused on that supposed battle for a roster spot.)

Back to the NFC East for a minute, the Giants won (I think) seven of their last eight (maybe six of the last seven?) and almost sneaked into the playoffs. The Cowboys were alive until the final week. The Redskins won the NFC East the year before and were reasonably competitive much of the time last year. Pretty much any of the teams could win it this year. I'm not wild about the Cowboys defense, but Romo could drag them pretty far if he has a big year.

[gardenman]

Wow! Colin Kaepernick got a six year extension worth $126 million with $61 million guaranteed. That's some serious money for a guy who doesn't have the best numbers.