Hit the road tomorrow, and it will be different …
• One thing you’ve seen consistently over the last few days: the order of the Patriots quarterbacks taking snaps. It has been Brian Hoyer, doe Jarrett Stidham, doe Cam Newton. I would not read anything about it, otherwise Bill Belichick stick to his own way of dealing with these kinds of things – this is submitted in the same category as rookies who have to wear ugly numbers (in their 50s and 60s) during camp, and Tom Brady played out in meetings in his forties. That place is always set up to be a meritocracy, with all your money in the building not coming to achievements anywhere else, but what you did there in your time. Newton, at the moment, does not have any of that money. In time it will come. I would be quite surprised if he is not the starter in September.
• LSU DB Kary VincentThe case will be an interesting one. And so will that of Oklahoma RB Kennedy Brooks. Both chose the season. Vincent therefore explained for the concept. Brooks has not yet, but that’s likely, seen him go professional last year. And none of these guys are considered first-rounders. Vincent, as it stands now, is a very good athlete, and specifically a nickel cornerback, who had a shot at shooting his forehead this fall, playing in an LSU secondary that loses 2020 day 2-picks Grant Delpit en Kristian Fulton. However, as it exists? Maybe a third-rounder. Brooks is a Day 3. Prospect that seeing how it fits into every man’s design – and this is not a critique of any of the decisions, because in this climate, those can be personal – we need to show something how. ‘ t these perspectives are assessed. Frisian talents like Micah Parsons en Greg Rousseau knowing that their wait will not be long in April. Guys like Vincent and Brooks are much more of a gray area.
• While we’re at the concept, I tweeted Monday about a host of 2011 celebrations entering the 10th year in the NFL. My intention was to name the performance – fewer players than you might think makes it a decade in the pros, so getting me is pretty remarkable, in my mind. And in the process, I got another reminder of how off the charts that class was. JJ Watt, Von Miller, Julio Jones, Richard Sherman en Tyron Smith are very serious Hall of Fame candidates, and there are others, as well AJ Green en Patrick Peterson, that are not far behind them. Then you have Cam Newton, Cam Heyward, Kyle Rudolph, Ryan Kerrigan, Robert Quinn … you get the picture. Lots of great players, and a lot of guys who are still playing at a high level. Now, consider this: Back in 2011, with training camps shortened, we said the same thing we are now. In essence, These rookies are screwed. Turns out, those rookies weren’t. And the rookies of 2020 can take some of that.
• For what it’s worth, I was told that Washington had a beautiful moment Alex Smith at practice on Sunday, and that was it really. Smith, it seems, just wants to narrow down and become part of the team again, which would not surprise anyone who knows him. But there was a pretty cool message he sent, through an interview with the team’s website: “We all have too little adversity in life. It comes in various forms. Should I talk about it or be about it? However this may be, I’ll be better off for it. I keep going with profits. I’m getting better, even in these last few weeks. For me, that keeps me excited so I can keep pushing. At some point I will find out what my limitations are, but I have not found them yet. “Smith’s story, to be sure, is incredible. Overlooked recruiting, even as a teammate from Reggie Bush High School; to die quarterback for Urban Meyer in Utah, leading the Utes to a Fiesta Bowl title; to no. 1 general select; after adopting bust after having six coordinators in his first six NFL seasons; to the center of Jim Harbaugh’s first assault in San Francisco; defeated by Colin Kaepernick during a Super Bowl run; to the Kansas City Renaissance pilot of Andy Reid; to create placeholder for a potential all-time great in Patrick Mahomes; to Washington’s replacement for Kirk Cousins after the Cousins’ situation became chaotic; to Joe Theismann 2.0; to … a miracle back. Either way, a few players can claim to have had that kind of ride. Here’s hoping he gets a nice final chapter.
• While we’re in Washington, I’m excited to see some new team chairmen Jason Wright can do with what has become an ever-lowering canvas. There will be an opportunity to recall the image of the team, and how it is viewed, and that a 38-year-old ex-NFL player is now the one with the brush should the following steps be more interesting to make. And since I do not know Wright, I made a few conversations on Monday to find out more about him. One of them was the executive director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance Rod Graves, who spent the last two years of Wright’s playing career as Cardinals GM (2009-10). “He’s a wonderful young man,” Graves said. “Very, very competent, very professional. I really expect him to do very well for the team. He’s the kind of person, if you meet him, you see it – he’s written about him everywhere. ‘Graves, it turns out, got an idea of where Wright would go in in 2011. He tried to bring Wright back for a third year, and Wright explained to him his plans to go to business school. A few players would choose that over another year in the NFL. But Wright was not just another man. “He told me he was interested in going to nursery school, and you hear that from a man like him, you just feel like their priorities are in line to set up a successful career,” Graves said. “We really liked Jason, he is a very intelligent person, he worked on it, he gave us all the trouble we could ask for. He was excellent in all respects. “And after the few months that the franchise has had, there is no question that Washington can use someone like him to pair with the revamped football action.
• If this is it for Gerald McCoy– and the question should be on the table for a player who broke his quadriceps at 32 years old – the ex-Buccaneer and Panther had an end to a run, winning six Pro Bowls and first-team All-Pro three times made. But I also think he’s going to be one of those guys, like the man set up one place for him, Ndamukong Suh, where I wonder how much more was possible if he went to a more stable franchise out of college. Sometimes, that’s the price to go so high in the concept. The teams that pick there are usually not in the best shape.
• It’s funny to see the attention Joe Judge gets it for making Giants players round for mistakes for practice. That has been in Foxboro forever, and Judge is not the first man to go anywhere else and ruffle some feathers for doing so. Some guys think it’s humiliating. Others do not. My? I can not believe that anyone thinks it a great deal.
• The league-wide number of players on the COVID-19 list is now down to 12 – with three more out, and no one going through Monday at 4 p.m. That’s fantastic news, and it’s crystallizing the importance of daily testing really, at least for me. It’s also why the low cost, rapid results and accessibility of the upcoming test could be a game changer not only for football but for all sports. As it becomes possible for university programs to test daily, their chances of starting and ending a season all change together. That’s why I think all major conferences were smart to gather, agree to take a deep breath and gather again to see where all this is on 1 sept.
• I would pay attention to something Kyle Shanahan says about Brandon Aiyuk. I do not think there is a better referee than developer of receivers in football than the coach of Niners, so he already speaks so loudly of the rookie saying something. And San Francisco needs Aiyuk to come as advertised, with Jalen Hurd out en Deebo Samuel hobbled.
• Finally one remnant of my conversation with Chargers coach Anthony Lynn … He told us in the MMQB that one by-product of the disclosure of his case on COVID-19 was up Hard knuckles was a lot of texts and calls from those who took the news the wrong way – and thought Lynn was still sick. (Of course he is not.) And then others saw something almost as overwhelming. Turns out, some of his old buddies in Texas were not happy with the scene where Lynn was eating out with his wife. “There was something good about barbecuing,” Lynn said and laughed. ‘Some people at home who can actually cook better than me, they were embarrassed that I used a gas grill. Like, where’s your smoker? “If you know people from there … it’s probably a ridiculous question.
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