Player Notes

INSIDE SLANT · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Tennessee TitansQB Mariota hopes to be healthy for Sunday Tennessee Titans starting quarterback Marcus Mariota was held out of Wednesday's practice, but still hopes to make the start in Sunday's win-and-in game against the Indianapolis Colts. Mariota exited last Saturday's pivotal win over the Washington Redskins with a neck stinger and did not return. Backup Blaine Gabbert rallied ...

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Minnesota VikingsPLAYER NOTES --LB Eric Kendricks was held out of practice again Wednesday with a hamstring injury. Kendricks, who leads the team with 108 tackles, missed last week's game with the injury. --CB Xavier Rhodes was one of six players held out as the team returned to practice on Wednesday. Rhodes was added to the injury report with a groin injury. --DT Linval Joseph ...

NOTES, QUOTES · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Minnesota Vikings--Win and in, that's Minnesota's position heading into the final week of the regular season. If the Vikings (8-6-1) win, they will clinch a playoff berth. If Minnesota loses, it can still get into the playoffs with a loss or tie by the Philadelphia Eagles, who play at Washington. --Running back Latavius Murray was named the winner of the Korey Stringer Good Guy ...

INSIDE SLANT · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Minnesota VikingsVikings look for QB Cousins to come up big Two years ago, the Washington Redskins were 8-6-1 heading into the final week of the regular season with Kirk Cousins at quarterback and a playoff berth on the line. History is repeating itself for Cousins, only this time with the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota is 8-6-1 as it hosts the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. ...

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Tampa Bay BuccaneersWith wide receiver DeSean Jackson now nursing an Achilles strain, he could be replaced by rookie Justin Watson Sunday against the Falcons.PLAYER NOTES --WR DeSean Jackson, who returned at Dallas Sunday after missing three games with a hand injury, has an Achilles strain and did not practice Wednesday. --DE Carl Nassib has a shoulder injury and did not participate ...

NOTES, QUOTES · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Tampa Bay Buccaneers--It's been a very good year for defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who leads the Bucs with 11.5 sacks. He's the first Tampa Bay player to post double-digit sacks since Simeon Rice in 2005 - and while he's been held without a single sack or quarterback hit over the past three weeks, this year's sack total is his best since 2014. What's more impressive is that he ...

INSIDE SLANT · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Tampa Bay BuccaneersBucs simply playing out the string It's hard to find two teams with more disappointing seasons than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons. Tampa Bay is 5-9 and head coach Dirk Koetter knows his job is in jeopardy. The Falcons are 6-9, having won two games in a row but still far from achieving their expectations. Sunday's season finale could determine ...

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Seattle SeahawksPLAYER NOTES --RB Rashaad Penny, who sat out two games with a sore knee, was a full participant in Wednesday's practice and the Seahawks expect him to be ready to suit up on Sunday as long as he makes it through the week without any hitches. --LG J.R. Sweezy left Sunday's game with a foot injury. Head coach Pete Carroll simply called him "sore" and didn't have ...

NOTES, QUOTES · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Seattle Seahawks--It's been nearly three months since the Seahawks first faced the Cardinals in Glendale, but quite a bit has changed for Arizona during that time, including a mid-season coaching change on the offensive side of the football. Head coach Steve Wilks opened the season with Mike McCoy as his offensive coordinator, but after the Cardinals stumbled out of the gate, he ...

INSIDE SLANT · Dec 27, 2018

NFL Team Report - Seattle SeahawksSeahawks aim to shake recent home struggles Already in the playoffs following last week's victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, it'd be easy to understand why the Seattle Seahawks would choose to rest some of their key players in the season finale. But taking the foot off the gas pedal isn't in head coach Pete Carroll's DNA, and with the fifth seed in the NFC still ...

Recent Stories

NFL roster madness explained

Something always has to have a nickname. Like “Black Monday” in the NFL, when head coaches are fired the day after the end of the regular season, it was only a matter of time before someone slapped a name on the cutdown in the NFL. Some have called it “Black ...

CeeDee cashes in, sets stage for rookie WR class

Now that the Dallas Cowboys finally quieted the daily discussion about wide receiver CeeDeee Lamb with a massive contract, there is no doubt the trend is to covet these pass catchers second only to the almighty quarterback. The prolific All-Pro wideout agreed ...

Must-see 2024 NFL rookie QB battles

After the first 12 picks in this year’s draft were complete, the 2024 quarterback class was destined to be forever linked to that celebrated 1983 draft, which also saw six quarterbacks, including three Hall of Famers, taken in Round 1. With the countdown to the ...

Rookie IOLs with mettle to medal

Amid the Summer Olympics, the NFL season has officially begun with a full slate of preseason games. This is the time of year when the attention is typically on the skilled position players as fantasy football degenerates are fine-tuning their draft strategies to ...

When Life Choices Become Grave Mistakes

I'm deeply saddened to hear about the tragic "accident" that claimed the lives of three young men: Khyree Jackson (24), Isaiah Hazel (23), and Anthony Lytton Jr. (24). These childhood friends shared dreams and aspirations of becoming professional athletes. They ...

Running back: Devolution of a proud position

In this, the first in a series on the state of running backs, we discuss how a dramatic evolution has negatively impacted a once proud position. The series will look back at RBs selected in the 2024 draft, ahead to a 2025 class that seems loaded with runners and ...

Trump's forgotten charge: Killing the USFL

July 11, 2024, is already etched in history as the day former President Donald Trump will be sentenced for 34 felony convictions. Regardless of the outcome, I am reminded of July 29, 1986, when he actually won his battle in a New York court and lost the war. Trump ...

Larry Allen: A long road to respect

Arguably the most dominant offensive lineman in football history, Larry Allen died Sunday while on vacation with his family in Mexico. He was 52.   His life story redefined perseverance. It could have been the original plot line for Straight Outta Compton, but ...

Controversy: Are punters, kickers NFL-draft worthy?

Kansas City Chiefs’ placekicker Harrison Butker made an impression in 2023 by making 33 of 35 field goals. Last week, he made quite an impression at Benedictine College, where Butker, shall we say, pushed his commencement speech wide right.   Controversy and ...

Jim Otto, the original Mr. Raider, dies at 86

The original Mr. Raider has passed. Jim Otto, the first Raider to touch a football, died Sunday at his Auburn (CA) home, with his family at his side. He spent most of his 86 years sneering at the inevitable, enduring last rites three previous times. Otto is survived ...

2024 Draft: A next-gen affair

As we look forward to watching the 257 draftees selected last week in the 2024 NFL Draft, we also gaze in the rear-view mirror at those relatives who preceded them and established the family name long ago. Fathers, uncles, and brothers with names everyone ...

Calculating the 2024 Draft grades of all 257 picks

 2024 DRAFT: 32 TEAMS AND 257 PLAYERS GRADED Exhale. The 2024 NFL Draft did indeed conclude when Mr. Irrelevant, Jaylen Key (DB, Alabama) was drafted by the New York Jets with the No. 257 selection. We can break out the calculators and over analyze the selection ...