National Football Post Diner News

                   19 AUG 2008 QUOTE OF THE DAY... Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing. ~ Warren Bennis  FROM THE NEW YORK POST... Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said Gholston learning a new position has him "a little out of his comfort zone." "He's converting from basically being a down end to a stand-up outside linebacker," Sutton said. "There's a transition there that happens. The longer he is here and the more comfortable he gets with the system, he's going to be fine." Mangini said he's seen some signs of the player Gholston can be. "There's been some times where you see the pass rush ability, the raw power," Mangini said. "He's got very strong hands. He's got a great ability to control the line of scrimmage. Those traits just naturally come out especially [in] a one-on-one drill or something where it's less processing, but you want to see it translate into the game and into the practices, and it will come.  "When you're doing it for the first time, it's all new [and] it's just a lot of stuff to process. You keep chipping away at it and eventually the fog clears and things look a lot better." What worries me, and I am sure it worries all the coaches in their building, is that Gholston has not shown any ability to rush the passer and make a difference in any aspect of the game.  It is understandable for him not to have the instincts or feel for the linebacker position, but all the fanfare and hype of him being the next great rusher should manifest itself on the field pretty quickly.  Rushing comes naturally.  The ability to feel and play off the rush is an instinct and normally that skill will show up early.  If it turns out that he is incapable of rushing and dominating the game, why was the sixth overall pick used on him?  You can find guys who are stout at the line and strong with their hands, they are all over the league.  However, rushing the passer is what actually matters, and Gholston cannot rush right now.  FROM THE BOSTON GLOBE... "Same side of the body, and same leg, but not the same injury," said Brady. He said it also wasn't related to an Aug. 2 bump during practice, when running back Sammy Morris accidentally kicked him during a drill.  "I spent some time this weekend getting treatment on it, and hoping that it responds quickly like it usually does," said Brady. "The key is not to go out there and aggravate anything when I'm not ready to go," said Brady. Obviously I'd love to be out there with my teammates, but Coach made the decision that that's not the smartest thing to do right now." The quarterback wasn't sure about his status for Friday's third preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. "I'm not sure," said Brady. "I'm trying to get treatment this week, and I'm feeling better every day. It's going to be up to Coach, what he wants to do. I think he's been coaching long enough to know that the first game in September is the most important game for us." Someone must have fallen on Brady’s leg during practice.  I sure he will appear on the injury list all season with his leg injury.  In the Super Bowl, it was clear to me that Brady did not have the slide ability in the pocket.  He looked bothered by the ankle and he is too much of a competitor to ever admit it might have been the reason for the bad game.  The Patriots are realists, they know what they have at backup quarterback and will work the next few weeks to improve in this area.  Could Daunte Culpepper come back?  I would say no for the Pats, but if I was Culpepper’s agent I would be begging the Patriots to give him a chance to learn the system.  It would clearly enhance his career.  FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL... "One thing you talk about with preseason I'm looking at is the ability to move your feet, get in and out of his backpedal, his release," said Reggie McKenzie, director of football operations. "I'm looking at, does he have the arm to get it where he's supposed to? Is he making the right decisions? Can he escape? Can he create with his feet? "I've seen that. I'm not discouraged by what his passer rating is or his stats are or anything like that." McKenzie is talking about Aaron Rodgers and his footwork in the pocket.  I think the one thing that every great quarterback has to have is the ability to be quick-minded. All this talk about feet, backpedal, and arm, are meaningless if the mind does not make quick decisions.  I’d rather have a quick mind over quick backpedal any day.  What Rodgers is going through right now is the learning curve. More importantly, what the Packer coaches are going through is learning what Rodgers can do now to help them win and what can be put off for awhile.  It’s only going to get worse as the pressure and the new blitzes start on opening day.  Right now the whole Packer playbook is not at the disposal of the Packer coaches.  They have to go slow and bring Rodgers along.  This is a new era for everyone.  Rodgers needs to improve his ability to make quick decisions.  And don’t forget the ten-game rule for evaluating quarterbacks.  It will take us ten REAL games to really know what Rodgers can and cannot do.  FROM THE DETROIT NEWS…MIKE O’HARA... From what I hear, coach Rod Marinelli and team president Matt Millen are quietly high on quarterback Drew Stanton (Michigan State). I've said and written before that I never bought in to instant predictions -- many coming from folks with Ann Arbor connections and an axe to grind -- Stanton was a bad choice as a second-round pick in 2007. He didn't look great in drills, but on the field, he's a player. He's an athlete-quarterback who makes plays. Players need to know their quarterback doesn't have to follow the dotted lines to make plays, and Stanton has done that for two games. He's still behind Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky , and could remain the No. 3 quarterback. But he's making a move with quality play, not because others are collapsing. Sometimes guys are not very effective in practice.  Stanton is one of those guys who, although he rarely throws a clean ball and does not always look good before the game, can find a way to move the offense once the game starts.  Knowing whether Stanton can become a quality starter will be critical for Detroit's future.  Stanton needs to play with the first team and find out if he can handle the level of competition.  And this would be the best week to give that experiment a look. FROM THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC... Rosenhaus declined comment, but a source close to negotiations said Boldin is unhappy, does not talk to coach Ken Whisenhunt and wants out of Arizona. It's possible Boldin could walk out of training camp, the source said, even though he is under contract for three more years and subject to fines of $15,000 a day. Boldin said he believes Whisenhunt became too involved in negotiations. "At this point we have no relationship, and I don't see that changing," Boldin told NFL Network on Monday. "It's just gotten to a point where I think lines were crossed. If you ask me, coaches should be coaches, management should be management, and I don't think those lines should be crossed. But when you cross those lines, you put yourself in position for things like this to happen." I think what Boldin said is dead on.  The coaches cannot get involved in the negotiations.  When that happens, it never turns out well.  Someone always gets angry about the money, and when that occurs it can be difficult for the coach to have a relationship with the player.  I am certain Whisenhunt was working to be proactive, trying to fix a bad situation between the player and the front office.  Unfortunately, all he did was anger the player.  I have been there before and I think Whisenhunt had the best of intentions, doing what he thought was right in order to help the team.  These things need to be handled by the General Manger so that if a player gets mad at someone, it's the GM and not the coach.  A great coach in the league once told me, you can either be very good at your job, or you can try and have the players love you.  But you can’t have both.  FROM THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES PICAYUNE... Quarterback Drew Brees said he was looking forward to getting in more on-field work with Shockey. "This will be good," Brees said. "I look forward to our time together and being able to kind of get on the same page. I know he has been studying the offense and trying to get the mental reps, even though he hasn't been in there physically. Now we'll have the opportunity for him to run some full-speed routes, me throw to him, get a feel for body control, body language. All that stuff is important for quarterbacks-receivers-tight end relationships." This Saints offense is really explosive in the passing game and once Shockey comes back, it will be even more deadly.  Shockey will his make plays in the red area if teams try and play a lot of cover-two against the Saints.  Reggie Bush cannot run with power and until he proves he can hammer the inside the Saints will have to beat a form of cover-two.  Shockey is  a wonderful weapon to attack that type of coverage.  I still believe the Saints need a pounding back and I was happy to see Bush make a play.  At least he made one.  FROM THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION... Matt Ryan, the first-round draft pick selected third overall out of Boston College, will start Friday’s preseason game against visiting Tennessee, coach Mike Smith said. “I talked to Coach Smith about that before and that’s exciting to go get out there right away,” Ryan said after Atlanta’s practice Monday afternoon. “We’re going to have a good week of preparation and hopefully play well Friday night.” Having a week to prepare for the game is critical for Matt Ryan.  Facing the Titans and their defensive front will put a ton of pressure on him and he will need a full playbook of protections and formations to help him attack the Titans' defense.  Ryan looks poised and confident, like he knows he can handle the job.  He has been very impressive.   FROM THE BALTIMORE SUN... Question of the day: If the Ravens have a quarterback competition but they don't have a winner, was there really a competition? The Ravens' starting quarterback will be decided by default. After nearly four weeks of practicing, which includes two preseason games, coach John Harbaugh still won't name a starter for Saturday night's game against the St. Louis Rams. Is it Kyle Boller or Troy Smith? Harbaugh said yesterday that he knows who the starter is going to be but isn't ready to announce his decision yet. Let's get realistic here...Kyle Boller does not belong on the field.  No matter what offense you put out there, Boller is a turnover waiting to happen.  There is no decision here.  Either start Smith or go and sign Culpepper.  This one is not a difficult choice to make.  Boller does not even play well when he is in a preseason game with vanilla coverages and schemes.  I have seen more than enough of Kyle and I am sure the Raven coaches feel the same way.  FROM THE FLORIDA SUN TIMES... Hayward's possible return to the starting lineup comes at what seems like perfect timing for the Jaguars, who showed little pass rush in a 19-14 home loss to Miami last weekend, and remain thin at defensive end. With the Jaguars locked in a contract impasse with first-rounder Derrick Harvey - whose holdout reached its 24th day Monday - James Wyche out for the season (Achilles tendon) and Jeremy Mincey (wrist) not expected to be available until the opener, unproven players such as Kenny Pettway, Alex Boston, Bo Schobel, Mkristo Bruce and rookie Quentin Groves received extensive action at practice and in preseason games. Yet none may be capable of delivering consistently. If the Jaguars don’t find a way to improve the edge rush of their defense, they won’t catch the Colts and might not hold off the Texans.  It is a good thing they hired Greg Williams to help with adding more scheme to the defense.  Not having Harvey hurts the team and when he does sign, they should forget about giving him a playbook and just spend time getting him ready to rush.  Teach him the defense in the off-season.  Just spend every day working on improving his rush technique as a nickel rusher.  FROM THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER... The Bengals had no official comment, public relations director Jack Brennan said Monday night. But multiple sources confirmed the pending deal to The Enquirer. Henry will be no immediate help to the team's wide receiver problems. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Henry for the first four games of the season for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Starting wide receivers Chad Johnson (shoulder sprain) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (hamstring) might not practice until the regular-season opener Sept. 7 at Baltimore. Rookie receiver Andre Caldwell was on crutches Sunday night after sustaining a toe injury in a preseason loss to Detroit at Paul Brown Stadium. Henry, 25, has been working out and is expected to arrive in shape. He would be allowed to practice under terms of his suspension and play in preseason games. How does this move help the Bengals?  I can understand another team making this move, but the Bengals have to look each player in the eye and justify this move.  It could cause them to lose the entire team.  Players will be all warm and fuzzy toward Henry and the signing, but the reality and the prevailing feeling in the locker room will be "nothing has changed."  I just don’t get this one, especially since his being on the roster does not help their current injury history.  It reminds me of one of my favorite lines in a Bruce Springsteen song, "Sometimes I can’t tell my courage from my desperation." The Bengals are desperate.

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