· Although the Jaguars are happy with the development of
rookie quarterback Byron Leftwich, they are growing concerned about
his penchant for turning the ball over. Coach Jack Del Rio admitted
this week that the thought of yanking Leftwich crossed his mind
during this week's loss to the Ravens when he coughed up the ball
on two consecutive series in the fourth quarter.
· Keeping with the Jags, they extended the contract of center
Brad Meester this week, signing the converted guard to a 5-year,
$13-million extension. Meester was shifted from guard to center
during the off-season and has made a smooth transition back to the
center position, where he played in college.
· Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is the teflon coach, seemingly
immune to criticism for any of his questionable personnel decisions
so we take a shot whenever possible and he provided plenty of opportunities
for us this week. With the Broncos up late in the fourth quarter
and Clinton Portis running the ball effectively, Shanahan called
a number of unsuccessful pass plays on the team's last two possessions.
Had Shanahan stayed with the run, the Broncos would have run enough
time off the clock that New England would have got the ball with
less than a minute left on Monday night and the outcome would almost
certainly been different.
· Keeping with Shanahan, let's take a look at his past four
1st round draft picks. This year's pick offensive tackle George
Foster has yet to even dress for a game while last year's pick wide
receiver Ashley Lelie has plenty of talent but lacks consistency.
The 1st round pick form 2001 was defensive back Willie Middlebrooks
and he has been bounced from cornerback to safety and back to cornerback
but whose main contributions have come on special teams. In 2000,
they took cornerback Deltha O'Neal whose lack of consistency has
landed him a spot in Shanahan's doghouse more than once. Expect
him to spend some more time there after he failed to catch a the
free kick in this week's game against the Patriots and then gave
up the winning score on defense.
· Great call by Pats coach Bill Belichick to give up a safety
in this week's game to get better field position.
· The Cards extended the contract of left tackle L.J. Shelton
a week ago and it looks like there is a decent chance all five starters
along the offensive line will be with the team in 2004.
· The Falcons placed left tackle Bob Whitfield on injured
reserve this week because of a broken leg. Although Whitfield's
play was often criticized this season, look for him to be back with
the team next year provided he accepts a salary reduction in the
off-season. Look for Kevin Shaffer, a 7th round pick in 2002, to
take his place in the starting line-up although there is a chance
practice squad call-up and CFL refugee Dwayne Morgan could take
over at some point.
· Keeping with the Falcons, coach Dan Reeves is now being
criticized for his roster management with grumblings being heard
that he has kept players around who haven't been contributing. Although
it's not unheard for teams to keep young players on the active roster
to develop them for future years, the problem in Atlanta is that
the team has suffered a tremendous number of injuries this season,
making roster spots precious and providing ammunition that players
such as receivers Terrence Edwards and LaTarence Dunbar, tight end
Sean Brewer, safety Siddeeq Shabazz and especially utility man Woodrow
Dantzler should have been axed weeks ago.
· Seattle was very pleased with the early season play of
rookie 2nd round pick Ken Hamlin and the talk was he was a future
Pro Bowler. However, Hamlin has struggled so much recently that
he recently lost his starting spot to Damien Robinson although there
is a chance he could regain the spot after spending a couple of
games on the bench.
· The Titans are so tight against the salary cap that if
another player suffers a season-ending injury the team may be forced
to keep them on the 53-man roster.
· Keeping with the Titans, the team has apparently decided
that Robert Holcombe will remain Eddie George's primary back up,
even if rookie running back Chris Brown overcomes his hamstring
problems. Holcombe has run well in limited opportunities and the
team feels he has earned the job.
· Rams defensive end Grant Wistrom is scheduled for his first
crack at unrestricted free agency after the season but don't look
for him to get a large contract from any team unless he picks up
his play in the 2nd half of the season. After registering 11 sacks
in 2000 and nine in 2001, Wistrom has sack production dropped to
four and a half last year and this year he has just one sack.
· Staying with defensive lineman who are expected to be free
agents, there is precious little being heard about Warren Sapp's
situation in Tampa. Sapp has picked up his play over the last four
games after a lackluster start to the season but his improved play
has not provided Tampa management with an impetus to get him signed.
A small signal to be sure, but a signal nonetheless.
· Panthers receiver Steve Smith didn't enhance his chances
of getting the large contract extension he has been asking for when
he took a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty this week. With the Panthers
trailing the Texans by four points with just under seven minutes
remaining, Smith caught a 7-yard pass on 1st down to get to the
Texans 31-yard line. Then he promptly kicked the Texans defender
who had tackled him in the back. The misconduct penalty made it
2nd and 18, the Panthers never made the 1st down and were forced
to punt and they didn't get the ball back until there was one second
left. Oh, Smith apologized a couple of days later.
· Don't look for Seattle's Ken Lucas in the starting line-up
anytime soon. Rookie Marcus Trufant and veteran Shawn Springs have
played well as the starters and the coaching staff is reluctant
to make a switch at this point.
· The Dolphins place offensive tackle Mark Dixon on injured
reserve this week and it's likely the veteran will retire after
the season. He has made noises in the past about hanging up his
cleats and the team planned for that possibility when it picked
Wade Smith in the 3rd round of this year's draft.
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