NFL Information
will be constantly updated!
Thursday, August 10,
2006
Browns-Eagles
Tribune Chronicle
Browns coach Crennel doesn’t
plan to play starting quarterback Charlie Frye too long against the Eagles.
Frye is expected to play most of the first quarter before taking a seat on the
bench.
Philly News
The Eagles might have to add a running back before
Thursday’s preseason game at home against the Browns, Reid agreed. He said Ryan
Moats (knee) might be a week away from returning. Correll Buckhalter, trying to
come back from three knee surgeries in 4 years, has seen only limited contact
work in camp and probably isn’t ready to play in a game. Right now, behind
Brian Westbrook, the Birds have Reno Mahe and
fullback Thomas Tapeh, who can move over in a pinch.
That’s not a comfortable situation.
Colts-Rams
Indianapolis Tribune Star
“It’ll be, I think, a good test for us. We have some
defensive guys that aren’t going to play. But that means the younger guys are
going to have to step up. But I’m anxious to see them in those game
conditions,” Colts Coach Tony Dungy said Monday. “Our offense is pretty much
hitting at full strength. And I feel like we’ve got a lot of stuff in and
rolling pretty good. Defensively we’ll just have to see how the young guys do,
but I think we’ll be ready to play well.” Dungy expects the first-team offense
to see limited action at the beginning of the game. The first-team defense may
get a little longer look, though. “Probably about 15 plays,” Dungy said of the
amount of time he expects the Colts’ first-team offense to be in the game.
“Defensively, I’m not sure how we’ll go. We don’t have a lot of substitutes, so
our guys are probably gonna go a little bit more.”
Dominic Rhodes will start the game at running back and is also expected to get
an extended look. Backup quarterback Jim Sorgi, who
has been bothered by a sore right shoulder since late May, should be able to
play against the Rams. Sorgi has been limited to just
one practice per day by team medical personnel. He showed no ill-effects from
the injury, however, in Saturday’s controlled scrimmage and was able to go
through a full workout on Monday morning.
Indy Star
Quarterback Peyton Manning and the No. 1 offense are
expected to be on the field for approximately 15 plays against the Rams.
Veteran Dominic Rhodes likely will start at tailback, but rookie Joseph Addai will shoulder a heavy workload with the No. 1 and No.
2 units. The defense probably will be short-handed. Among the players expected
to miss the game are safeties Bob Sanders (shoulder) and Mike Doss (calf) and
tackles Corey Simon (knee) and Montae Reagor (knee).
Keep our information free by using one or more of our APPROVED sportsbooks,
casinos and poker room. We’ve
compiled a perfect
combination of sportsbooks for your line shopping including sharp and slower lines, low juice, free ½
points and more. Most importantly, all
have been vetted and approved. Also
remember the objective rundown of
who is hot and who has the big plays among the nation’s elite sports
services is DAILY on the Handicappers
Sampler.
Friday, August 11,
2006
Jets-Buccaneers
Orlando Sentinel
The Bucs open the pre- season Friday night against the New
York Jets at Ray mond James Stadium. They’ll spend a
little time during practice this week reviewing the opposition, but Week 1 of
the preseason will be more about getting looks at young players. Rookie draft
choices like OG Davin
Joseph, Trueblood and QB Bruce Gradkowski
can expect a nice share of reps in their pro debuts.
Tampa Bay
Online
Bucs QB Chris
Simms is expected to start Friday night’s game and play a couple of
series.
Newark Star Ledger
But nothing is certain with coach
Eric Mangini, who hasn’t announced his quarterback
rotation, and he may just decide to hold Pennington out of the game.
Our advanced news and notes are brought to you by the
Greek Sportsbook as they release lines before anyone else. Click here to sign up now.
Welcome Greek to the JoeDuffy.net family of endorsed books Get a 21
percent bonus on your first deposit.
Broncos-Lions
Denver Post
In a stunning development, Broncos undrafted
rookie free agent Mike Bell has catapulted into the starting lineup in Monday
morning’s practice. Bell has
leapfrogged Ron Dayne and Tatum Bell. Bell
remains the No. 2 back. Dayne has fallen from No. 1
to No. 3. Bell will start against Detroit
in the preseason opener Friday. Meanwhile, rookie QB Jay Cutler has replaced Bradlee Van Pelt as the No. 2 quarterback. Shanahan said
Cutler will come in after Jake Plummer’s start Friday against the Lions.
Detroit Free Press
Lions running back depth: Even
though he’s healthy and slimmed down, running back Artose
Pinner likely won’t be in a Lions jersey when the
regular season begins. Pinner, the Lions’
fourth-round pick in 2003, faces an uphill climb in making the roster this
season. Kevin Jones is the established starter. Arlen Harris played for
offensive coordinator Mike Martz in St. Louis.
Rookie Brian Calhoun has had a good camp, and it’s highly unlikely the Lions
would cut a third-round pick. Plus, Shawn Bryson, who will
likely back up starting fullback Cory Schlesinger, can play running back if
needed.
Patriots-Falcons
Macon Telegraph
Tight end Alge Crumpler would be surprised if coach
Jim Mora told him to wear a uniform when the Atlanta Falcons open the preseason
against the New England Patriots on Friday night. Without Crumpler,
Dwayne Blakley probably would take most of the snaps
with the first-team offense. Blakley, at 6-foot-4, is
a visible target for quarterback Michael Vick, but starting skill players
rarely play more than the first two or three series in the first preseason
game.
Providence Journal
Belichick said this week will be a mixed week in that the
team will spend part of its time continuing work it needs to do for the regular
season, but also mix in some preparation specifically for the preseason opener
at Atlanta Friday. “The Atlanta
game is an interesting game for us because it will give us a look at a lot of
things we haven’t seen that much from ourselves,” he said. The Falcons play
one-gap defense, do a lot of zone blitzing, run the stretch play offensively,
have a mobile quarterback and do a lot of bootlegs, none of which are featured
with the Patriots.
Associated Press
The Atlanta Falcons may have sustained their second major
injury of training camp when running back Butchie
Wallace went down in practice Wednesday. Coach Jim Mora said the 25-year-old
free agent appeared to hurt an Achilles’ tendon during the first of two
workouts, the sort of injury that would likely end Wallace’s long-shot bid to
make the Falcons backfield. Atlanta
already lost Brian Finneran, their leading receiver
in 2005, to a season-ending knee injury. Now, the Falcons will be without
Wallace when they play their first preseason game Friday night, hosting New
England at the Georgia Dome. QUARTERBACK ROTATION: Matt Schaub will play most of the first half. Brian Randall and D.J. Shockley will split time after halftime. And Michael
Vick will barely play at all. Falcons coach Jim Mora
said Vick will play only one or two series in the preseason opener against New
England. That’s just fine with Vick, who broke his leg in a 2003
preseason game and missed a good part of the regular season. “I’m not really a
big fan of the preseason,” Vick said, grinning. Schaub
will play the rest of the first half, then turn the
team over to the two guys battling for the No. 3 spot in the quarterback
rotation. Mora and his coaches were still trying to sort out the playing time
over the final two quarters, but both Randall and Shockley will get a chance to
take snaps.
Giants-Ravens
New York Daily News
Tim Hasselbeck
and Jared Lorenzen
will get the first shots at winning the backup quarterback jobs behind Eli
Manning. Rob Johnson’s Giants
debut will have to wait another week. That was the decision announced by Tom Coughlin yesterday, when he
revealed his quarterback rotation for tomorrow night’s preseason opener in Baltimore.
Eli Manning will start, but is
unlikely to play more than a quarter. Hasselbeck and then Lorenzen
will come in next.
Bears-49ers
Suburban Chicago News
At the Bears’ current rate of attrition, just fielding a
team for Friday’s preseason opener in San Francisco
might be a bigger challenge for them than playing the game. Wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad and linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer
on Monday joined the growing list of injured, although neither injury is
expected to be serious. Running back remains the biggest worry, with results
due today on the MRI Cedric Benson received for a
shoulder sprain he suffered in practice Friday. Meanwhile, the pulled hamstring
running back Thomas Jones suffered while taking a physical prior to the first
practice could finally be improving. Jones hasn’t practiced yet and a return
date remains uncertain, but finally at Monday’s practice he did something on
the sidelines besides stand. “I can’t say the second preseason (game) or when
he will be back,” Smith said. “I just know that you probably saw him doing some
running earlier here today and that’s a good sign. Besides the backfield, the
Bears have been particularly hard hit at wide receiver and defensive tackle. At
receiver, they were down to their third and fourth receivers Monday because of
Muhammad’s absence and Bernard Berrian is still
nursing a hip flexor strain.
Contra Costa Times
The 49ers plan to play at least three of their four
quarterbacks in Friday night’s exhibition opener against Chicago, and backup
quarterback Trent Dilfer is the most likely candidate
to sit the game out. Nolan said Alex Smith would start and play at least a
quarter, possibly more. Either Jesse Palmer or Shaun Hill would follow.
Get the Universal Pass: You can now purchase TOTAL
ACCESS to the top three sites on the Net, the Bet It Trinity Stevie’s
Vincent’s Knockout Picks, top
sports service plays at Alliance
Handicapping, and the world’s greatest sports service God’s Picks for more than 50 percent off
the daily price. You get access to all
three. Buy here or at
any of the Bet It Trinity sites.
Saturday, August 12,
2006
Steelers-Cardinals
Beaver County
Times
Still no word on Ben Roethlisberger’s
chances of playing in the preseason opener. But it looks more and more
like two other Pittsburgh Steelers stars won’t play. Joey Porter, a Pro Bowl
linebacker, definitely won’t play Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals. He’s
yet to take part in a training camp practice because of a knee injury that needed
off-season surgery. Hines Ward, a Pro Bowl wide receiver and MVP of Super Bowl
XL, probably won’t play either. On Monday, Ward missed his second straight day
of practice with a tender hamstring.
Verdein Independent
Now with healthy bodies reporting to training camp along
with a couple new faces, including a new defensive line coach, the Cardinals
are looking better than ever and feeling energized for the new season. The only
snag so far is the broken hand of King, who will sit out the next four to six
weeks while he recovers. The new defensive line coach is Larry Brooks, who
enters his 21st season as an NFL assistant coach and his first with
the Cardinals. Brooks worked the past 12 seasons as a defensive line coach
including the previous two seasons with the Detroit Lions. The offensive line
was really the Cardinals weak spot last year. This year’s changes which include
a new offensive line coach, the Cardinals are looking to up their performance
and protection of first-string quarterback Kurt Warner, who took a beating last
year and ended up on the injured list. Steve Loney
takes over as offensive line coach for the Cardinals. The Cardinals still look
very strong in their passing game with the return of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, who are prepped to
have another stellar season. Both wide-receivers caught over 100 passes last
year for over 1400 yards apiece. With the new addition of Loney,
the offensive line looks to be whipping into shape so that they can have more
of a running game, which is the goal of Cardinals’ third-year head coach Dennis
Green.
Jaguars-Dolphins
Boston Globe
Quarterback Daunte Culpepper has progressed so well in his recovery
from knee surgery that he could play in the Miami Dolphins’ exhibition opener
Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Cowboys-Seahawks
Boston Globe
Terrell Owens said
yesterday that his nagging hamstring injury likely will keep him out of the
Dallas Cowboys’ exhibition opener Saturday night in Seattle.
HeraldNet
Seattle Floyd Womack, the starting left guard, strained
his right hamstring during the morning session and was replaced by rookie Rob
Sims. Backup center Chris Spencer finished the practice at left guard, and coach Mike Holmgren said either
Sims or Spencer will probably start Saturday’s preseason opener against the
Dallas Cowboys.
DallasCowboys.com
While most are wondering whether veterans Drew Bledsoe and
Terrell Owens will play in Saturday’s preseason opener against Seattle, Cowboys
head coach Bill Parcells wants to find out how his rookies and younger players
will respond to live competition. “I’m going to try to get a couple players,
the guys I really want to see, as much as two-and-a-half quarters in this game,”
Parcells said. “And that’s going to be at the expense of some other people.”
Parcells on Wednesday reeled off a long list of players
who will receive extensive playing time against the Seahawks. Aside from
drafted rookies like linebacker Bobby Carpenter, tight end Anthony Fasano, defensive end Jason Hatcher and safety Pat Watkins,
Parcells also wants to take a long look at first- and second-year guys like
tight end Tony Curtis, Lousaka Polite and Tyson
Thompson.
Chiefs-Texans
Wichita Eagle
When the Chiefs failed one of their first offensive tests
of training camp Tuesday,
coach Herm Edwards—that famed defender of the defense—wasn’t happy about it. The
Chiefs couldn’t generate a first down when running the so-called four-minute
offense, a term for the mode used when a team is leading late in a game and
wants to control the ball and run out the clock. In what was an even bigger
crime to Edwards, they stopped the clock by throwing an incomplete pass on
third down. The situation was yet another sign of the transition the Chiefs
face as they move from the continual attack mode of the Dick Vermeil-Al
Saunders era to the conservative, ball-control philosophy favored by Edwards. The
Chiefs were using mostly backups at the time. Green, Gonzalez, fullback Ronnie
Cruz and guards Will Shields and Brian Waters were either sitting out the
morning practice or injured. The series ended when Casey Printers threw a wild,
incomplete pass on third down and eight after
two unsuccessful running plays.That the
Chiefs used backups mattered little to Edwards.”The
backups will have to play Saturday,” Edwards said, referring to the preseason
opener against the Texans in Houston.
“I’m not going to change the game plan because they’re going in there, and I’m
not going to say, ‘Now we’ve got to throw passes because we’ve got a new left
tackle or a new guard.’ Are you kidding me?
Bellview News Democrat
Jonathan Quinn might start demanding the Kansas City
Chiefs bring him in for all of training camp. The journeyman quarterback’s name
was among those tossed around by coach Herman Edwards
on Wednesday, as injuries force the Chiefs to go searching for a last-minute
signal-caller for the second straight year. Backup Damon Huard
did not practice during Wednesday’s morning session after spraining an ankle,
and third-round draft pick Brodie Croyle
has been practicing only in running drills while he works his way back from a
shoulder injury. That leaves Trent Green and Casey Printers – who missed
Tuesday afternoon’s practice after taking a hit in the morning – healthy enough
to take snaps in Saturday’s exhibition game against the Houston Texans.
Saints-Titans
Clarion Ledger
Drew Brees, who is coming off
shoulder surgery, will see his first game action since tearing the labrum in
his throwing shoulder in the San Diego Chargers final game last season. Brees signed with the Saints in March. He expects to play
through the first quarter Saturday against the Titans. was
the seventh time in 12 days the Saints have practiced under a heat index of 110
or more. With Wednesday’s additions, the Saints are up to 11 players who are
sidelined with injuries. P Mitch Berger (groin/hip); LB Cei
Grant (knee); OG Montrae
Holland (knee); LB E.J. Kuale
(ankle); DT Rodney Leisle (knee); KR Michael Lewis
(knee); Jermane Mayberry (shoulder); CB Mike McKenzie
(hamstring); LB Tommy Polley (shoulder); OG Chad Setterstrom (knee); DT
Willie Whitehead (ankle).
Jackson Sun
The
first preseason game.
This is a bit outside the box for Fisher. He normally talks about
using training camp and the four preseason games to get ready for the season
opener and the 15 games that follow.
Pet phrase: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” But this is
no time for jogging. Back-to-back losing seasons – not to
mention whispers about Bud Adams’ reluctance to extend Fisher’s contract – make
this a very abnormal preseason for the Titans in general and Fisher in
particular. Fisher won’t play Billy Volek and
Chris Brown the entire game. Keith Bulluck and Albert
Haynesworth figure to play a half, max. The Titans
will unveil Vince Young, who will get more than a handful of snaps, each of
which will be overanalyzed by media and fans. “We want to make a statement,” Bulluck said. The Titans begin stating their case on
Saturday.
Nashville City
Paper
By the end of Wednesday morning’s practice, three-fifths
of the Tennessee Titans’ starting offensive line was out of commission. Center
Kevin Mawae and guard Benji
Olson did not practice due to back spasms, and guard Zach Piller
left the workout early because of a rib strained that clouded his status for
Saturday’s pre-season opener against the New Orleans Saints. Piller was visibly ailing as he emerged from the tunnel
from the locker room and was taken to be examined. X-rays showed no major
damage, however. Piller was already bothered by a
shoulder injury, and the Wednesday’s setback compounds the veteran guard’s
woes. As for Olson and Mawae, Coach Jeff Fisher said
both players were being monitored at this point and that they had not been
ruled out for Saturday night’s game with the Saints.
