Footballguys Daily Email - Volume 9, Issue 30 (Friday, May 23rd)

Hi Folks,

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

CLE - Browns RB Lewis Predicts More Than 1,500 Yards

Source: Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository

Cleveland Browns RB Jamal Lewis rushed for 1,304 yards last year, but he thinks he can go for quite a bit more in 2008. "I think 1,400 or 1,500 yards is an understatement," Lewis said. "I'd like to get more than that. I think I can get more than that. Missing two games ... I could have gotten more than that last year." However, Lewis realizes that winning is more important. "As long as this team can reach it's ultimate goal," he said, "my individual goal doesn't really matter."

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Typical fluff article from May. But we report those too every once in a while. Lewis is feeling confident and this is exactly the kind of thing we'd expect him to say. Delivering on it will be more difficult though...

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DAL - Cowboys WR Owens Not Sweating Contract

Source: Jean-Jacques Taylor, Dallas Morning News

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens, who has a year left on the three-year, $25 million contract he signed when he joined the Cowboys, said he's taking a low-key approach to his contract situation. "It's not a big deal. I don't even feel comfortable talking about it," T.O. said of his contract status. "It's easy for me because of the relationship. I met with Jerry my first year and talked to him on the phone more than I ever did with the owners in San Francisco and Philly."

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Terrell Owens being easy to get along with. Interesting. You don't hear much about it as the press loves to pick up anything negative he does but the reality is he's a solid part of the team these days.

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DET - Recovery Time Slowing For Lions QB Kitna

Source: Eric Lacy, Detroit News

Sacked an NFL-high 114 times the past two seasons, quarterback Jon Kitna of the Detroit Lions admits he doesn't recover from pain like he used to. "I try to go out and do the same workouts I've done my whole career, but my body has been saying, 'Slow down big fella,' " said Kitna, 35. "You have to be smart." The rest at this time of year is clearly needed to prepare for fall. It took Kitna more than three months to get full range of motion in his neck and to rid his body of an awkward numbing sensation on his right side.

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No surprise here - Kitna is human. And 35 year old quarterbacks don't recover from the sacks the way a 25 year old guy does. With that said, he's one of the tougher guys under center and we think he'll be able to gut it out another year.

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DAL - Cowboys Proceeding With Caution With WR Glenn

Source: azcentral.com

The Dallas Cowboys are counting on a comeback from wide receiver Terry Glenn, who missed nearly all of last season because of two knee operations and wasn't on the field for the start of voluntary organized team activities this week. "Just proceeding with caution," owner Jerry Jones said. "There is no medical reason right now that he couldn't come out," Jones said. "But we weren't going to ask him to win the Super Bowl out there. We don't want him to do that in training camp, but we do want him to get as much timing and as much work with Romo as he can. He's doing some receiving. And we want him to spend as much time with the young receivers as he can."

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May is the time of year when young players have to go all out and earn jobs. It's also the time that lots of veterans can coast a little. That's the case with Glenn. Dallas knows what they have in their veteran WR. Don't look for them to push Glenn much until they really need him.

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TB - Bucs HC Gruden Avoiding QB Garcia, RB Graham Contract Talks

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Jon Gruden declined to be drawn into the stalemates surrounding two of his best offensive players -- quarterback Jeff Garcia and running back Earnest Graham -- and their requests for contract extensions. "Their situations will work themselves out," Gruden said following Thursday's organized team activity practice at Raymond James Stadium. "Every team that I know of has a couple guys going through their own personal situations." Garcia has maintained perfect attendance for offseason workouts, while Graham has not shown up for any.

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We're taking pretty much the same attitude as Gruden here - we're not too worried as these things work themselves out. There is simply too much money at stake for these players. They'll be fine.

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TB - Bucs Bring In WR Moulds, WR Gilmore For Visits

Source: Rick Stroud, St. Petersburg Times

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought in free agents wide receiver Eric Moulds and wide receiver Bryan Gilmore for a visit on Monday. No word is available as to whether the team plans to offer either player a contract.

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In 2002, Eric Moulds was the 4th ranked WR in the league with 10 TDs. Things move pretty fast around here...

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DEN - X-Rays Reveal No New Damage To Left Foot Of Broncos TE Scheffler

Source: Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

X-Rays on Thursday revealed that Denver Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler has not suffered any new damage or breaks to his left foot. "We know there's not another break in there," head coach Mike Shanahan said. "You can see that on the X-rays. But there's something in there that keeps him quite sore, and, hopefully, with a couple weeks in the boot, he'll come back full speed and we don't aggravate the injury."

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Don't sleep on Scheffler's injury here. It's nagging and it's honestly something that's starting to worry us. He just continues to experience soreness with it. They'll put him in a boot for a couple of weeks and then see. But if that doesn't do it, we'll really start to worry.

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TEN - Titans Bring In Free Agents RB Jones, OL Snell For Visits

Source: Terry McCormick, Nashville City Paper

The Tennessee Titans recently brought in free agents running back Kevin Jones and offensive lineman Isaac Snell for visits. No word on whether the team is planning to offer either player a contract is currently available.

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I'll ask the same thing with Jones that I did when the Titans brought in Ron Dayne for a workout: Is this just proactive intelligence gathering or is there really a worry that the team needs another back up for LenDale White? I tend to think the former but we'll see soon enough.

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Free Agent TE Kinney Retires From Professional Football

Source: Terry McCormick, Nashville City Paper

Free agent tight end Erron Kinney has formally retired from professional football.

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Best wishes to Kinney as he moves on to whatever is next for him.

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GB - Packers WR Schroeder Announces Retirement

Source: NFL.com

The Green Bay Packers announced on Thursday that wide receiver Bill Schroeder has announced his retirement from professional football.

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Schroeder caught 9 TDs in 2001 but had been on a downward slide since then. Best wishes to him in whatever he finds himself doing next.

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DEF - MIN - Vikings CB Winfield Healthy And Optimistic

Source: Don Seeholzer, Pioneer Press

Coming off a frustrating season in which he missed six games because of injury, Minnesota Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield is looking forward to a happier and healthier 2008. He also has a guarantee. "There's no way we're going to finish last in the league in pass defense," he said Thursday. "We definitely expect to be a lot better." The offseason addition of defensive end Jared Allen and safety Madieu Williams are two big reasons for that optimism. Winfield missed four games in the second half of the season because of a hamstring injury and the last two because of a torn pectoral muscle.

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Winfield should be healthier this year and that bodes well for the Vikings and their defense. Jared Allen will have a lot to say about that as well.

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DEF - ATL - Falcons Not Interested In LB Thurman

Source: Steve Wyche, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Former Georgia linebacker Odell Thurman, who was released by the Cincinnati Bengals Monday after being suspended the past two seasons for substance-abuse violations, will not be pursued by the Atlanta Falcons. "We are pleased with our linebackers," Falcons' general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "We'll move forward with the players we have on our roster."

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Not a big surprise here. Thurman was bad enough for the Bengals to cut loose. It makes sense that other teams would pass as well. He'll likely land somewhere as there's always a team that thinks they can "change" the troubled guy. But it looks like it won't be Atlanta.

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DEF - DAL - Vegas DA Seeking Felony Arrest Warrant For Cowboys CB Jones

Source: Jeff German, Las Vegas Sun

The Las Vegas district attorney’s office is seeking a felony arrest warrant for suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones for failing to repay $20,000 in gambling debts to Caesars Palace. Chief Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski, who runs the bad check unit, forwarded the request, along with a two-count criminal complaint charging Jones with fraud and theft, to Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure on Thursday. Bonaventure had not signed the warrant as of late Thursday.

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Adam Jones in trouble again? I'm stunned. This probably isn't the best timing as Jones prepares for his meeting with Commissioner Goodell to convince him that Jones should be reinstated in the league.

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That'll do it for today, Folks. Have a great weekend and we'll see you tomorrow with the update.