Footballguys Daily Email - Volume 9, Issue 46 (Sunday, June 8th)
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Hi Folks,
Good Monday to you. Hope you had a nice weekend and now we're ready to jump into the week. It's an exciting week for us as the Footballguys Strategy Guide Magazine rolls off the press today. We're set to pick them up Tuesday and then we'll be sending them on their way to you folks early next week. Order now and be the first guy in your league to have a copy. And of course we've got the News and Notes you'll want to keep up with. Let's get to it. JSITE NEWS
A.
Footballguys Strategy Guide Magazine - Almost Ready
Great news as the Footballguys 2008 Strategy Guide is almost here. I've got the freight truck scheduled to pick up the magazines at the printer Tuesday and they'll ship out to David and he'll start filling orders. You can click the link in the headline to pre order and make sure you'll have your copy well in advance of the non sharks in your league that have to wait until they arrive on the newsstand. Check the link to see all the extra stuff you get when ordering the magazine online. If you're going to buy one magazine this year, this is the one and this is the way to buy it.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1. BUF - Further Complications Arise In Bills RB Lynch Case2. CHI - Bears Management More Than Frustrated With RB Benson
3. DET - Frustrations Growing For Lions WR Williams?
4. TB - NFL, QB Plummer To Meet With Arbitrator Wednesday
5. MIN - Vikings QB Jackson Showing Better Command
6. MIA - Dolphins Searching For Right Combo With OL
7. MIA - Dolphins HC Sparano Indicates QB Henne In The Mix
8. NYG - Giants TE Shockey Undecided On Minicamp
9. NE - WR Welker Back To Practice
10. KC - RB Johnson Takes Day Off
11. MIN - TE Shiancoe Slims Down
12. DEF - MIA - Dolphins DE Taylor And Parcells Not Exactly On Same Page
BUF - Further Complications Arise In Bills RB Lynch Case
Source: Dan Herbeck and Gene Warner, Buffalo News
District Attorney Frank J. Clark says charges remain possible against Buffalo Bills football star Marshawn Lynch in a hit-and-run accident last Saturday. "I would not be at all surprised if he is charged early next week with a misdemeanor count of leaving the scene of an injury accident," Clark said. And according to legal experts, the accident could cause other problems for the Bills running back. Potentially, even a misdemeanor conviction could complicate Lynch's efforts to cross the border into Canada for two Bills games scheduled in Toronto, experts said.
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That's the trouble with trouble - the ripple effect often causes some other things to get crossways. Expect this to move pretty quickly early in the week. I'll be surprised if Lynch's side doesn't make the next move and try to be preemptive before charges are actually made. We'll see.
CHI - Bears Management More Than Frustrated With RB Benson
Source: Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo gave a pretty strong indication yesterday that he has reached the end of his rope with running back Cedric Benson. "Hard to believe," Angelo said. "We are certainly going to take this very seriously. I'm not going to sit here and tell you we are not extremely disappointed and frustrated with this. Anybody would be in this situation. "Disappointment is too much an often-used word when we're talking about Cedric, and the No. 1 lesson for every player is protect your job. So we're all held accountable for our actions." When asked by reporters if the latest mess will "weigh against" Benson, Angelo reacted pointedly. "It doesn't weigh very well."
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The Bears will take a deep breath here and see how this shakes out a bit. But Angelo is clearly tired of what is quickly becoming a pattern with Benson. You know what I'm going to say by now - grab Matt Forte.
DET - Frustrations Growing For Lions WR Williams?
Source: Michael Rosenberg, Detroit Free Press
Wide receiver Roy Williams missed the Detroit Lions' organized team activities two weeks ago. He said he missed Monday's workouts because he accidentally booked his flight a day late. He missed Tuesday's workout because of bad weather. And then he figured, why come for one day? So he skipped Wednesday. Williams is in the last year of his deal and has not been offered an extension. It will be interesting to see what happens if Williams has a pretty good but not great year and the Lions are bad. Will he want out? Will they overpay him, as they have done with others? The Lions will have the upper hand because they can slap the franchise tag on him.
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I'm not worried about this one. Williams will be fine. He's making a ton of money this year and knows that if he wants to keep making that kind of salary, he needs to keep performing. He'll be fine.
TB - NFL, QB Plummer To Meet With Arbitrator Wednesday
Source: Stephen F. Holder, St. Petersburg Times
On Wednesday morning former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer will sit at a conference table at NFL headquarters in New York flanked by attorneys trying to stave off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers efforts to collect more than $7-million from a player who never donned a Tampa Bay uniform. Across the table will be general manager Bruce Allen and league attorneys, each convinced Plummer should pay up. An arbitrator will hear arguments and decide the outcome.
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Just for you guys that care about players who aren't going to play...
MIN - Vikings QB Jackson Showing Better Command
Source: Sean Jensen, Pioneer Press
Through two days of minicamp, Minnesota Vikings second-year starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson clearly is in better command of the offense than he was last season. Although he has had bouts of inconsistency, Jackson has connected on several long passes with his receivers, namely Bernard Berrian. As the second-stringer, veteran Gus Frerotte has been a quick study, and he doesn't seem to have any issues with his role on the team.
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Don't get too excited yet. It's all relative when you say that Jackson is better this year than he was last year. But there does seem to be a pretty good consensus among most people that Jackson has improved. If it's enough to make a real difference is the real question. I'm not convinced just yet.
MIA - Dolphins Searching For Right Combo With OL
Source: Harvey Fialkov and Omar Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano is utilizing several different offensive line combinations, and opened with rookie Jake Long at left tackle, Justin Smiley at left guard, Samson Satele at center, Trey Darilek at right guard and Vernon Carey at right tackle. Most of the previous practices featured Smiley at right guard and rookie Shawn Murphy at left guard. At one point Ike Ndukwe was also working with the starting unit at left guard. Sparano stressed the team is looking for the "right pieces," and the plan is to keep moving the linemen around till they find the right five.
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Coach Sparano is taking advantage of the flexibility some of these players have as moves them around. It's still plenty early and there is time to fit the pieces into the right spots.
MIA - Dolphins HC Sparano Indicates QB Henne In The Mix
Source: Harvey Fialkov and Omar Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
For those assuming the Miami Dolphins' quarterback competition was a two-man duel between John Beck and veteran Josh McCown, think again, coach Tony Sparano says. Sparano made it clear rookie quarterback Chad Henne is in the mix for the starting job after watching him take snaps with the first team in the first of Saturday's two practices. Beck and McCown had previously split the first-team snaps because of their experience edge and knowledge of the newly installed offense. That is until now.
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Interesting words from Sparano. Is this more "motivation" for Beck and McCown? I don't really think so. I've seen Beck and McCown - they don't need to assume anything.
NYG - Giants TE Shockey Undecided On Minicamp
Source: ESPN
If tight end Jeremy Shockey shows up for the New York Giants' minicamp this week, it sounds like it will be a last-minute decision. "Who knows? I might go to see my mother in Texas. I have no idea," Shockey said. "Unlike the Giants, I'm going to be quiet," he said. "They've released multiple things about myself and if you look back into the media, there's always a source. Well, I'd like to know who this source is and we'll go over here and we'll deal with it ourselves, because I haven't said one negative thing toward the Giants in the newspapers."
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Please. Is anyone else tired of this? Show up or don't show up. Just stop the whining. And yeah, I admit I'm pulling for Kevin Boss to have plenty more 45 yard up the middle receptions as he did in the Super Bowl...
NE - WR Welker Back To Practice
Source: Mike Reiss, Boston Globe
Welker did not practice Friday and Saturday, presumably due to something health related. But whatever held Welker back doesn't appear to be anything serious. Welker lined as a receiver as the offense went over specific plays and formations, and, like his teammates, either walked or jogged as the play unfolded.
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This doesn't seem like any big deal here. And even if it were a big deal, we wouldn't hear about it from the Patriots.
Source: Herm Edwards
Q: You had a few guys not working today.
EDWARDS: "Yeah, [Damion] McIntosh was sore, Larry [Johnson] we took out. Brian [Waters] is still sore with a groin. Donnie [Edwards] is still sore with the hamstring. Patrick [Surtain] we gave a rest. He got his senior card today. They've been going for four days and this was the fifth day. The same thing will happen in training camp. There will be some guys who will go three or four practices in a row and you'll give a couple of them off - especially if they're veteran guys."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
No worries here. Edwards is a guy that doesn't mind rewarding his veterans a little and that's all this was for Johnson it would appear.
Source: Tom Powers, St. Paul Pioneer Press
Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe became determined to run faster, more precise routes in 2008. I guess he figures that he'll be so wide open that the quarterback will have to throw him the ball.
"I'm a lot slimmer and a lot faster," he said. "I'm down to 243, and I'm running cuts really well. We've been catching balls after practice. I'm a lot faster. The way I change directions, it's crazy."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
Shiancoe was a guy I was hoping for much bigger and better things from last year. Will shedding a few pounds make the difference? I think it may. Coupled with improved play from QB Tarvaris Jackson will help as well.
DEF - MIA - Dolphins DE Taylor And Parcells Not Exactly On Same Page
Source: Jeff Darlington, Miami Herald
In a meeting Bill Parcells scheduled, Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor and the vice president of football operations held an amicable in-person talk away from the team's complex to discuss Taylor's concerns about his future with the team, two sources said Friday. Although it might have been cordial, it also was ultimately ineffective. Taylor, according to both sources, left the meeting without any better feelings about his situation. He still prefers to be traded. And he told Parcells he still believes it can get done. That's where both sides apparently disagree.
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Jason Taylor needs to stick to football and dancing. Bill Parcells will stick to making trades and running the football team. I hate to break it to Taylor, but what he thinks about whether or not a trade can be done really doesn't matter. Bill Parcells makes the trades in Miami. Not Taylor.
Taylor has to be very careful. He said last week that if they couldn't get a trade done, then he was a Dolphin. "They shopped the trade," Taylor said during his news conference. "They did shop it and all that. They had a chance to do that, and they didn't get the value. I'm fine with that. . . . If it doesn't work out, then I'm a Miami Dolphin. "I love this place. I love Miami. I love the fans. If [a trade] doesn't work out, then I'm here." Bill Parcells is basically saying they can't get the value they want for Taylor in a trade. So in other words, a trade isn't getting done. But Taylor seems less than anxious to jump into the role of being a Dolphin as he said he would.That'll do it for today, Folks. Have a great Monday and we'll see you tomorrow with the update.
J