NFL News

[Futureshock]

Mackensie Alexander arrested for battery on man who last saw his missing father

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 26, 2020, 8:55 AM EDT

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Bengals cornerback Mackensie Alexander, who left training camp to help search for his missing father, has now been arrested after a confrontation with the man who was last with Alexander’s father.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports that Alexander was arrested on Tuesday night on one count of battery.

According to the report, the Collier County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office arrested Alexander after he confronted the man who left Alexander’s father, Jean Odney Alexandre, behind on a berry-picking trip.

The search for Alexandre has involved sheriff’s deputies, officers from the Florida Wildlife Commission, search dogs and helicopters. He has been missing since Monday night.

[Futureshock]

Bears plan to keep two kickers all year, as COVID-19 insurance

Posted by Darin Gantt on August 26, 2020, 8:33 AM EDT

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The Bears couldn’t get enough kickers last offseason. Now, they’re planning on keeping an extra one around all year, just in case.

Bears coach Matt Nagy said yesterday’s signing of Cairo Santos was more than just temporary help for the injured Eddy Pineiro. They want to keep two kickers all season, as insurance against a COVID-19 outbreak.

“Cairo is here because of the plan that we had all along, which is to have a backup kicker,” Nagy said, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “And then if something does happen to Eddy, we feel very good with Cairo. That’s the ‘why’ part.”

Pineiro still hasn’t kicked this summer, as he works through a slight groin injury. And since Nagy has familiarity with Santos from his days in Kansas City, having a known commodity offers him some comfort.

“When Eddy feels like he’s ready to get out there and start kicking again, that’s what we’re going to do,” Nagy said. “Now if it gets to a point where we feel like he’s not ready, then we feel comfortable with Cairo being our kicker in Week One if that’s the case. We’ve just gotta see.”

Both kickers are eligible for the practice squad, so they could stash one there if need be. But after having as many as nine guys kicking in minicamps last year as they tried to replace Cody Parkey after his playoff double-doink, the Bears clearly don’t mind buying in bulk at the position.

[Futureshock]

Man, those ex-Pat coaches are something...


Joe Judge considering taking away Daniel Jones’ red non-contact jersey

Posted by Charean Williams on August 25, 2020, 9:42 PM EDT

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Daniel Jones absorbed 38 sacks last season. None, of course, were at the hands of teammates.

But the second-year quarterback’s first hit this year might come from one of his friends.

The Giants want to better protect Jones this season, but he won’t wear a red jersey in games like he does in practice. So Joe Judge is considering taking away Jones’ non-contact jersey in practice to get his young quarterback ready for games.

“I don’t think we’re going to throw him in any Royal Rumbles, or anything like that,” Judge said Tuesday, via Matt Lombardo of NJ.com.

Without a preseason game, Jones otherwise won’t take a hit until the regular season.

Judge said, if done correctly, Jones can benefit from getting the first hit out of the way in practice.

“We’ve talked about it,” Judge said. “With quarterbacks, you want to be calculated with how you bang them around. At some point, we’ll pop his pads a little bit in a controlled environment.”

It is an unconventional move, but Judge has done some unconventional things in his first training camp. Players and assistant coaches have run laps for making mistakes, and defensive backs have taped tennis balls to their hands to keep from holding.

“I’m not in a hurry to just beat the hell out of him, but at some point, we want to prepare his body for what it’ll take in the first game,” Judge said.

[Futureshock]

Bears release statement, share outrage at shooting of Jacob Blake

Posted by Charean Williams on August 25, 2020, 6:46 PM EDT

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The Lions canceled practice Tuesday following a discussion about what they could do in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Bears released a statement after their coach and players addressed it privately and publicly.

“The Chicago Bears are deeply disturbed by yet anther instance of a police officer using excessive force against a Black person, this time on Sunday evening in Kenosha, a community just up the road from Halas Hall,” the team wrote on Twitter. “Jacob Blake is the latest name added to a list that tragically continues to grow. We will continue to use our voice and resources to be a proponent of change and we support the efforts of all those who are peacefully fighting for equality and the end of systemic racism in our communities. Our thoughts are with Jacob and his family and we pray for his recovery.”

Halas Hall is 31 miles south of Kenosha, and Blake attended Evanston Township High School, which is 22 miles south.

Bears coach Matt Nagy huddled with Bears after practice to discuss the shooting.

“Being so close to where we are at right now,” Nagy said, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times, “we’re thinking about him and his family and want nothing but the best for him.”

Left tackle Charles Leno Jr. said he’s trying to “heal with the community” as the Bears use their platform to push for change. Leno said he would work with the team’s community relations department to reach out to citizens of Kenosha.

“Honestly, this has been a problem,” Leno said. “We know it’s been a problem. We just need more awareness and to spread more awareness. And within that awareness, we need to spread compassion and understanding for others. I think that’s one of the biggest things, and within that will come love, and we need more of that in this world.”

[Futureshock]

Florida and Texas...



Jerry Jones: It’s “absolutely fair” some teams will have fans and others won’t

Posted by Charean Williams on August 25, 2020, 6:10 PM EDT

USA TODAY Sports

The Cowboys will begin the season in Los Angeles, opening SoFi Stadium against the Rams sans fans. They will return home for a game against the Falcons on Sept. 20 with fans in the stands.

They are one of the few teams expected to open their home schedule with a limited capacity.

Unlike baseball, the NFL is not taking a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and Bills coach Sean McDermott have taken issue with the lack of uniformity, with Zimmer calling it a “competitive disadvantage” and McDermott referring to it as “ridiculous.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sees it differently.

“Absolutely [it’s fair],” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday. “The benefit of crowds are important to sports. On the other hand, is it possible to have great games without it? You saw one the other night in basketball. But it’s fair. We’ve made up our minds that this thing isn’t going to be one way or the other, surely, about evening up everything that could be competitive. You’ve got to have to adapt to the virus. Attendance being one of them. And to the end that we can get fans enjoying these games with the experience similar to the thing they’ve become accustomed [to] is a big step in the right direction.”

Jones plans to have fans for every 2020 home game. The team, though, has not announced what percentage of tickets to AT&T Stadium it will try to sell.

The latest directive from Gov. Greg Abbott limits occupancy to no more than 50 percent of a stadium’s capacity.

“We’re excited about it. He’s excited about,” Jones said of Gov. Abbott’s OK. “I’m excited that he’s excited about it. We all know the importance of leading the way. Certainly, we’ve got the ability to lead the way to a more normal type of activity throughout it, whether it be economic or it be social. This is a great opportunity to do that in a very safe way. We’re very unique in our stadium relative to just space. As I said the other day, we’re going to really take advantage of it.”

The state’s biggest college teams, Texas A&M and the University of Texas, both have stadiums that seat in excess of 100,000. Both will start at 25 percent capacity.

The Cowboys have led the league in attendance since the stadium opened in 2009. Last season, the Cowboys averaged 90,929 for their eight regular-season home games.

[Futureshock]

As more teams announce they’ll have no fans, the competitive imbalance grows

Posted by Mike Florio on August 25, 2020, 4:25 PM EDT
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The deal between the NFL and NFL Players Association that allowed the 2020 season to proceed prohibits players from attending professional sporting events (other than, you know, their own games), unless they’re in a separate seating section, like a suite or owner’s box, with no more than 10 people present. But that’s not keeping the league from preventing teams from having however many fans present that state and local laws will allow.

More and more teams can’t secure permission from state and local authorities to host fans for the early games of the season. This creates even more of a competitive imbalance for the teams that are able to have partial, or possibly in time full, capacity.

The reason for the imbalance is obvious; the league wants to minimize the financial losses from a season with no fans. For some reason, the league won’t just come out and say that.

Football is business. (They say “football is family,” because saying it is good for business.) And that’s OK. We can enjoy professional football while also acknowledging that football enjoys the money it makes from our enjoyment of it.

Here’s the real question. If, in the end, just a handful of teams ultimately have fans present for games, does the money that will be earned justify the competitive imbalance? The league already has decided that it will, that it does, no matter how great or small it may be. And the policy surely won’t be changing.

But that doesn’t mean coaches like Mike Zimmer of the Vikings and Sean McDermott of the Bills have to like it. And it doesn’t mean they have to keep their disdain for this policy to themselves.

Unless and until the league issues a memo telling coaches, General Managers, owners, and other executives that any complaints about the inherent competitive imbalance resulting from some teams having fans and others having none will result in a fine or other discipline, coaches, General Managers, owners, and other executives should be willing to point out that a season that may have unavoidable competitive imbalances due to the pandemic is getting started with an avoidable one.

[Futureshock]

I was hoping the Lions would give him a shot. Then I remembered who the GM was...


Browns claim Curtis Weaver off waivers

Posted by Josh Alper on August 25, 2020, 4:20 PM EDT

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The Dolphins waived fifth-round pick Curtis Weaver with an injury designation on Monday and had a spot waiting for him on their injured reserve list for when he went unclaimed on the waiver wire.

Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Weaver didn’t go unclaimed. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Browns have claimed Weaver off of waivers.

Weaver was named the Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year in 2019 for his work as a pass rusher at Boise State. He had 13.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss on his way to winning that prize.

The Browns can wait to put Weaver on injured reserve without going through waivers after the cut to 53 players. He’d also be eligible to return during the regular season if that happens, but it’s unclear if that’s going to be a consideration for the Browns.

[Forsh]

I was hoping the Lions would give him a shot. Then I remembered who the GM was...

Yeah there was hype on both him and Anae for the Lions going in to the draft ... but they sure didn't seem interested

[Cody_Russell]

Yeah Curtis Weaver had day 2 projections. Would have been a nice waiver claim.

...

Reading up about other teams to get prepped for fantasy football... I have been able to read some news about other 1st Rd picks. For what it's worth:
- Chase Young. Sounds like he is the real deal. Looks very good.
- Tua Tagovailoa. Struggled week 1. Improved drastically week 2.
- Jedrick Wills Jr. Growing pains similar to Okudah, but in place to be the starting LT. Browns are keeping Myles Garrett away from Wills Jr for now.
- CJ Henderson. Ups and downs. Standard for a rookie CB.
- AJ Terrell. Receiving the most praise for any of the 1st Rd rookie CBs. Already battling with Julio and Ridley.

[Futureshock]

Yeah Curtis Weaver had day 2 projections. Would have been a nice waiver claim.

...

Reading up about other teams to get prepped for fantasy football... I have been able to read some news about other 1st Rd picks. For what it's worth:
- Chase Young. Sounds like he is the real deal. Looks very good.
- Tua Tagovailoa. Struggled week 1. Improved drastically week 2.
- Jedrick Wills Jr. Growing pains similar to Okudah, but in place to be the starting LT. Browns are keeping Myles Garrett away from Wills Jr for now.
- CJ Henderson. Ups and downs. Standard for a rookie CB.
- AJ Terrell. Receiving the most praise for any of the 1st Rd rookie CBs. Already battling with Julio and Ridley.

For goodness sakes man, somebody tell that rookie to keep his helmet on at all times.

[Futureshock]

Wait... What?



Report: Bills ban in-house reporter for violating reporting policy; marketing staff quits

Posted by Curtis Crabtree on August 27, 2020, 1:54 AM EDT

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The Buffalo Bills have benched their own team reporter for the remainder of training camp for violating the team’s media policy, according to Tim Graham of TheAthletic.com.

Additionally, the team’s three-person marketing staff has collectively quit the organization just two weeks before the scheduled start of the regular season.

Chris Brown, employed with the organization since 2006, has been serving as the team’s radio host and web reporter. With no fans at practices and no preseason games for opponents to scout this year because of COVID contingencies, teams around the NFL have tried their best to lock down reporting about their practices.

After distributing the new media policy on August 16 that prohibited reporting on game strategy, snap counts and unit participation, Brown supposedly discussed many of those items during his radio show with former Bills receiver Steve Tasker.

The recordings of those segments have been taken down from team radio partner WGR’s website, though they are quoted in TheAthletic.com report. Brown has been absent from practice ever since, hasn’t utilized his twitter account in a week, and allegedly hasn’t been involved in any video conference interviews either.

On the marketing side, Vice president of marketing Shaena Kershner, marketing coordinator Alex Compton, and marketing manager Kelly Baker have all chosen to leave the organization over the last two weeks. Kershner resigned two weeks ago, Compton shortly after and Baker will depart at the end of the week.

The departures would be the latest in a number of changes to the business side of the team since the start of the year.

[Futureshock]

Dolphins cutting Kalen Ballage

Posted by Charean Williams on August 26, 2020, 9:10 PM EDT

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Running back Kalen Ballage left practice early Wednesday and didn’t return, Josh Tolentino of TheAthletic.com reports.

Now, we know why.

The Dolphins have informed Ballage that they are releasing him, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.

The Dolphins made Ballage a fourth-round choice in 2018. He played 12 games as a rookie and had 45 touches for 247 yards and a touchdown.

In 2019, Ballage had 88 touches for 198 and three touchdowns.

He played 344 offensive snaps and 292 on special teams in his two-year career with Miami.

[Futureshock]

JORDAN LOVEQB, GREEN BAY PACKERS

The Athletic's Matt Schneidman wrote that Jordan Love "has yet to even provide a glimpse at why the Packers traded up to draft him in the first round."


Love was featured in the "Falling Stock" section of the Packers' training camp recap, largely because of his arm. Schneidman writes, "Nobody expected him to take the world by storm in his first nine practices, but every throw he makes seems like a touch pass and he’s had some accuracy issues early on." Love was a highly debated prospect coming out of Utah State for this exact reason. While he made unbelievable plays at times, Love had notable accuracy and interception issues on tape. The Packers likely have two seasons to groom Love with Aaron Rodgers' contract essentially preventing him from leaving before that, but it appears they have their work cut out with development. Love's raw tools are what made the Packers trade up for him in the later portion of the 2020 first round.

SOURCE: The Athletic
Aug 26, 2020, 3:52 PM

[chemiclord]

Oh, by Year 3, I'm sure Love will be fitting the football into keyholes and fastballing passes through three defenders.

[Marko69]

No joke....... just scrolled up to read the NFL news on this page,....... there was a very small piece of grit on my phone face which was changing Curtis Crabtree (reporting Bills news) to Cuntis Crabtree.
Juvenile I know, but had to laugh out loud slightly.
“Ok so that’s the Lions news, and we’ve got Cuntis on the line for Bills news, over to you Cuntis...... what’s ‘appenin’ in Bills land?”