NFL updates.....may 9th- may 16th

[IE]

AP reports the Cincinnati Bengals have named Chuck Bresnahan assistant coach.


AP reports QB Kurt Kittner has been waived by the Cincinnati Bengals, less than two weeks after the team claimed him off waivers from the Atlanta Falcons.

The Star-Tribune reports Vikings LB Chris Claiborne's ability to bounce back from right heel surgery and stay healthy is a slow process. Claiborne clearly isn't 100 percent and is the only player practicing once a day during mini-camp. He said he's sore because he's still breaking down scar tissue, but he is encouraged because the pain is gone. "The doctor went in there in January and took a bone spur off of my Achilles' that was half the size of a golf ball," he said. "That was a relief. The pain got so bad last year that I had to cut the back of my shoe off and then tape it on." He missed four of the last five games in 2003 because of heel and shoulder injuries. He said his shoulder is healthy. He said he needs to lose about 5 pounds to get to his playing weight of 255, and he expects to be ready to practice twice a day when training camp begins.


The Sacramento Bee reports following offseason shoulder surgery, rumors were rampant that 49ers starting OT Kwame Harris had lost a considerable amount of weight. Harris set the record straight Saturday, saying he lost only 15 pounds and was already back to 305 pounds, his playing weight last season. Harris said he is hoping to be between 315 and 320 pounds when the season begins.


The San Francisco Chronicle reports 49ers WR James Jordan will convert to a tight end. Jordan, who has been mainly a practice squad player the last three years, is 6-2, 235 pounds. Erickson said he will have to gain more weight. The former target of QB Tim Rattay at Louisiana Tech, Jordan missed this minicamp with a knee injury, but should return next month. CB Ahmed Plummer (hamstring) was held out of practice but might return today.

The Tribune-Review reports Steelers CB Chad Scott (ankle) and LB Kendrell Bell (groin) missed both practices yesterday. WR Brian Robinson injured his knee in the morning, but returned for the afternoon. TE Jay Riemersma, who had right shoulder surgery in the offseason to repair a torn rotator cuff, skipped both practice sessions after unexpectedly going through all the drills on Friday. His rehabilitation is ahead of schedule. Rookie TE Robert Blizzard left the afternoon practice with cramps.


The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Bengals rookie RB Chris Perry continued to impress coaches with his moves and receiving talent during the rookie mini-camp this weekend. Perry, a running back from Michigan, was the team's first-round draft pick. Even though players don't wear pads and there is no tackling, Perry has shown to be shifty in traffic and quick turning the corner on outside runs and swing passes. The experience is invaluable. "I don't know how I would manage at training camp with being here," he said Saturday.


The Boston Globe reports rumors abounded last week that the Giants are interested not only in pursuing soon-to-be-ex-Rams QB Kurt Warner, but also Raiders QB Rich Gannon or Tampa Bay QB Brad Johnson. Factoring in age, Gannon makes the most sense because he is near the end of a long career and would not likely stand in Manning's way for long. Neither Gannon nor Johnson is a free agent, but recently released QB Kerry Collins could land in Oakland, and that would make Gannon expendable.
The Giants will wait to see which quarterbacks become free agents after June 1, when the on-the-book bonus money can be spread over two years.

 

[IE]

source:

May 09, 2004
Ron Dayne + Tiki Barber = thunder & lightning?
Tiki Barber said he wouldn't be surprised at the return of thunder & lightning. Dayne is reported to wiegh 241 pounds, meaning he lost 20 pounds over the off-season.


"He has done an outstanding job from a conditioning standpoint," Coughlin said. "There's a young man who voluntarily had an opportunity to work long before anybody else even was on the job (in January). He's been on the bike and in the weight room since way back when. And he has proven to me that he's pretty serious about his football.

As Giants fans we can be skeptical of Dayne's ability to perform this season, but we have to admit that we were better running the ball with both of them then with only Tiki Barber. With an unknown QB situation, we need a solid running game. If Dayne can be a part of that the Giants will be a better team.

 

[IE]

Steelers Notebook: Polamalu takes big step forward
Monday, May 10, 2004

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The ebony curls fell out of the rear of his helmet, cascading onto his back and shoulders, a sight that wasn't the most noticeable thing about Troy Polamalu at minicamp.

"You look at Troy," coach Bill Cowher said. "I think Troy's almost stepped up to take a little bit of a leadership role. You can see the way he's approached it out here with all the calls he's making and the comfort. I think Troy Polamalu in this camp has kind of flashed. As he feels more comfortable he's going to have to take a more active role, which I think he's kind of welcomed."

Polamalu, the Steelers' first round draft choice last season, did not start a game as a rookie but has been taking charge in his new role as starting strong safety.

Hope, a free safety, has been playing with the first team and Deshea Townsend starts at right cornerback, a job he earned midway through last season. It's nearly an entirely new secondary on a team that needed one.

"It's good," Polamalu said. "We're all able to grow together. I don't think there's any excuse for inexperience. The two Super Bowl teams had some starting rookies on their defense. It really doesn't matter. As long as we come together, play hard together and do what we're coached to do, we'll be fine."

Inexperience, though, is what kept Polamalu out of the lineup last season, even though the Steelers traded away draft choices in the third and sixth rounds to move higher in the first round to take Polamalu with the 16th pick and were desperate for safety help.

He started slowly and picked up steam in the final third of the season to finish with two sacks, three passes knocked away and one forced fumble.

Return date


With the end of minicamp yesterday, the next organized workouts resume May 18. The Steelers are permitted to have 14 sessions that are conducted the way practices were in minicamp, only they are voluntary for the players and virtually everyone participates.

But will Plaxico Burress be there? After all, he skipped all five minicamp practices and they were mandatory.

"We're hopeful we'll have everybody here," Cowher said. "They're voluntary, but we've stressed their importance."

Duce Staley missed training camp in Philadelphia last season.

"I don't know if the situation is similar. I don't even know what's going on, but we do miss him," Staley said. "He's a very exciting player. I'd love to play with him. Hopefully, he can work out his business soon and come back. I'm excited about being here with him."


Impressive beginning


Cowher's take on rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's first five practices:

"I was impressed that it wasn't overwhelming. I was very encouraged by the way he was able to comprehend things.

"There's still a lot of learning to take place. It's going to get faster but I think for the most part it was encouraging to see."


Second opinion


Safety Janssen Patton of Bowling Green started three games against Roethlisberger of Miami (Ohio) and also came away impressed.

"If he's anything from what I've seen he'll do real well," said Patton, an undrafted rookie. "He knows exactly what he wants to do with the football."

Patton was a cornerback at Bowling Green and he might have been drafted had he not run such a slow time in the 40-yard dash.

"One scout said I ran a 4.69 or something like that," said Patton, who said he was timed at 4.53. "I know I can run faster than that, but I can't really worry about that now."

The Steelers have him at free safety and consider him among the best of the 13 rookie free agents they signed after the draft.


Blitzburgh returns


There should be no doubt after watching minicamp that defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau will try to put more heat on quarterbacks next season. Blitzes were coming fast and furious over the weekend.

"It's good to have coach LeBeau back," Cowher said. "He's excited. We threw a lot at those defensive guys. There's a few blitzes in there. It was active, and at the same time [offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt] threw enough shifts and motions in there. This isn't like the old days, where you just come out in two-back sets early."


Scott injured


Cornerback Chad Scott missed the final three practices after his right ankle was sprained on the first day.

He's wearing a protective boot, but Cowher said he should be ready to resume drills at the start of the coaches sessions May 18.

Steelers Minicamp: Bettis, Staley make it friendly competition
Monday, May 10, 2004




Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley. Or will it be Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis? It could even turn out double Duce with a little Bus on the side.

However the competition goes at halfback with the Steelers, the NFL's sixth-leading rusher promises to again put to work a lesson he learned 11 years ago in Anaheim, Calif.: He will never become Cleveland Gary.

Bettis was a rookie fullback with the Los Angeles Rams in 1993, a first-round draft pick from Notre Dame. Gary, a first-rounder in 1989, led the Rams with 1,125 yards rushing in 1992 and saw Bettis as a threat to his job.

"I came up in a very turbulent situation my rookie season," Bettis said. "It was Cleveland Gary. He didn't help me at all. He thought I was coming in to take his job. He turned his cheek to me, and I promised myself I would never do that to a kid coming in, whether it was to take my job or not."

At 29, Staley's no kid and he's not necessarily here to take Bettis' job. Amos Zereoue did that last summer and now he's gone and the job is up for grabs. Staley and Bettis could share it, but most likely one will grab the starting role and the other will have to get his carries when he can. Both players and their coach can foresee Bettis and Staley happily sharing the load.

"When one gets tired, the other one goes in," running backs coach Dick Hoak said . "If something happens to one, you have the other guy. They're both big backs. It doesn't make any difference which one is in there in the last quarter. You'll wear the defense down. They're both strong.

"I think the big thing this year is to try to keep them fresh. We'll get them both in there."

That's OK with Staley, who received a $4 million signing bonus to come here from Philadelphia, and Bettis. Staley said the perception that he escaped the Eagles because he shared duties in the backfield is wrong and that he has no qualms with splitting time with Bettis.

"I never feared that," Staley said. "That was never the problem in Philadelphia. The problem was communication. When I came here, coach Cowher and I had a chance to talk. He set it straight, put it on the table. He let me know his goals, his plans. I come to find out we had the same goal, the same plans."

Winning. That's what they all want, especially two backs whose trips to the Super Bowl were thwarted a step short three times apiece.

"I'm happy to be in the situation I'm in," Staley said. "We have a lot of great players around here. I'm playing with a future Hall of Famer with Jerome and I can learn a lot from him. We're just going to continue to push each other and challenge each other."

They started in a three-day minicamp that ended with one practice yesterday morning. Each took turns running with the first team -- Bettis on the first morning of practice, Staley that afternoon and so forth. The two have lockers near each other and quickly became friendly. Bettis took Staley to a friend's house to play cards shortly after the two arrived in April for workouts, and each says he is learning from the other.

"You get an opportunity to see everything from a different light," Bettis said. "He's a very accomplished running back. Just watching the way he catches the football, some of the little things he does, you can gain from him. You'd be a fool not to look at him. I've been watching him, trying to pick his brain, see what he thinks about certain things."

Staley actually came away impressed that Bettis watches so much.

"He knows a lot. He's been around here for a long time, but he still pays attention," Staley said. "He's still learning, even in the meetings. On the field, besides coach Hoak, he's our coach. You see him out there teaching all the guys, telling them what's right and what's wrong. There's nothing like it coming from a player."

That was the lesson Gary did not know he taught Bettis in 1993. And Gary's fears were on target. Bettis did take his job. The Rams moved Bettis to halfback and the Bus was on his way to 1,429 rookie yards, toward climbing over Jim Brown with 12,353 career yards rushing and counting. Gary was on his way out the door. He ran for 293 yards that season and was an ex-Rams player by 1994, his last in football with about 10,000 fewer career yards than Bettis.

"We developed a relationship, if that's what you want to call it," Bettis said. "It wasn't much. He never helped me with a play or told me anything about where to go or not to go. It was cordial at best.

"I just made a point I would never be like that because I knew how difficult it was for me."

Ever since, Bettis has been friendly, if not friends, with fellow tailbacks, from Erric Pegram to Zereoue and he sees no reason why that will not continue with Staley.

"I think it's important because you don't want any kind of division to separate the team," Bettis said. "It's very important. I think if the team sees you're in unity then they'll fall in place."

 

[Vegas Dave]

Do you a specific site for this info?

 

[IE]

nope, just scour the net looking at articles everywhere...

 

[IE]

AP reports the Denver Broncos have waived QB Steve Beuerlein.


Officially this leaves the backup quarterback job to QB Danny Kanell, with free-agent pickup QB Mike Quinn a possible challenger. And while adding another veteran quarterback after cuts June 1 remains a possibility, Denver's coaches and front office appear comfortable with the current setup. The Broncos failed to win a game QB Jake Plummer didn't start at quarterback last season. "Danny had a great camp," quarterbacks coach Pat McPherson said. "He had a really good mini-camp. And he's got that year under his belt where he's comfortable with what we're doing. And he's been busting his butt in the off-season program, so he's in real good shape. He's been working on his feet. He's a solid backup."



The Star Tribune reports Vikings LB E.J. Henderson's knee swelled Sunday after he stepped on another player for the second time in a week; the first instance occurred during development camp Wednesday. Henderson will undergo an MRI today and, in a worst-case scenario, could have partially torn cartilage. If a tear is revealed, he could undergo surgery and recover in time to participate in part of the Vikings' June development camp. Second-year player LB Max Yates and rookie LB Rod Davis were Henderson's backups during minicamp.



In an interview of the team's official website, Philadelphia Eagles HC Andy Reid was pleased with what he saw from new WR Terrell Owens. "I just think he conducted himself so well. He performed well on the field, as we expected," said Reid. "He's got a bit of a transition to make going from the 49ers offense to ours, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. He got better every day. He picked up on the difference in practice tempo. In the locker room, I think he fit right in. He was part of the group."



The Star Ledger reports new Giants LB Carlos Emmons, a nine-year veteran and former Eagle, watched from the sidelines Sunday as he continues to rehabilitate his left leg after fracturing the fibula in December.



The Kansas City Star reports the side-arming, dinking and dunking style of Oakland Raiders QB Rich Gannon may be a thing of the past. Gannon, who missed the second half of the 2003 season because of a shoulder injury that required surgery, looked like a different passer during the Raiders' first minicamp under new HC Norv Turner. Instead of throwing with his familiar, three-quarter delivery, Gannon displayed an almost exaggerated overhand motion. On the first day of Oakland's minicamp, Gannon was charted throwing 86 passes (including warm-ups) during a 90-minute practice, and only four of his throws touched the ground as he hit his receivers in stride. ?I knew I could come back,? Gannon told reporters. ?I knew a lot of people wrote me off. And I'm telling you, I feel as good as I have ever felt.? The Raiders are sticking with Gannon, who at 39 is the NFL's oldest starting quarterback. ?Obviously, I still have a couple, three months to continue to get healthy,? Gannon said. ?I'm feeling stronger. I feel like I'm getting real close. I don't have any restrictions. I can throw most of the routes. But put 10 or 12 of them back to back? it's like a pitcher coming off the DL. You can't expect me to go out, first game, and throw nine or 10 innings.?