National Football Post Diner News

                  20 AUG 2008 QUOTE OF THE DAY…. "He hates to lose more then he loves to win."  Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Patrick Crayton talking about quarterback Tony Romo.    FROM CHUCK LUDWIG OF THE DAYTON DAILY NEWS… Wide receiver Chris Henry gushed with appreciation for being back in the NFL.  He hopes fans "will allow me the chance to gain their trust back." Then he closed his 12-minute news conference Tuesday night, Aug. 19, by thanking his guardian angel — Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown. "I spoke with him and thanked him in person for giving me this opportunity," Henry said. Brown is responsible for re-signing Henry to a two-year contract, four months after the club released him in the wake of his fifth arrest in three years. Head coach Marvin Lewis and Henry's teammates support the decision. "The owner has the final say," Lewis said. "Mike has wanted to give Chris this opportunity and asked we do the best job we can to prepare him and get him ready to play. That's what he asked me to do, and that's what we're going to do." The hardest thing for a head coach to do is something YOUR team knows you had nothing to do with.  Head coaching is already extremely difficult, and having to deal with something like this only makes it more so.  Bringing back Henry is a kind gesture on Mike Brown’s part, but this underminds the authority Lewis may have in the locker room.  Lewis has openly talked about not wanting Henry back and the Bengals need to clean up their off the field behavior.  There has to be a culture inside the locker room that can handle these types of situations and turn them into something positive.  Right now, the Bengals don’t have that solid culture.  One thing I learned from my days working in the Hotel, when the owner wants to do something, they just do it.  This is not good for Lewis, regardless of how one spins the public relations.  FROM JASON LA CANFORA OF THE WASHINGTON POST… New defensive end Jason Taylor said he and counterpart Andre Carter have been changing sides at times in practice, alternating as they see fit, but Blache is forbidding it in games.  Taylor said during his Pro Bowl career in Miami it was common to alternate sides based on matchups, but players do not have the freedom to flip-flop in Blache's system. Taylor, speaking to reporters before practice, chuckled when asked if the coaches had given the ends the liberty to switch sides on their own, saying: "We'd just do it anyway. What are they going to say? They can yell at us." Blache has deployed Carter and Taylor on the left and the right -- they have changed sides at the coach's request each series thus far in the preseason -- and said any such maneuvers during games will be at his discretion only. "We do control playing time," Blache said. "And if they don't do our defense the way we want it done, then they can sit down and watch it. And that's Jason, that's Andre, that's any of them. They don't have the leeway to do what they want. It's bad on their part, and it's erroneous on their part if they think so." I am a matchup personnel man.  I agree with Blache that you don’t want to let the players run the meetings and the game, but that is about all I agree with him on regarding this switching of sides.  If you are the Skins and playing the Eagles, I want Jon Runyan to spend ALL afternoon dealing with Jason Taylor.  The key is to match your best rusher on their worse blocker.  The offensive linemen cannot move, so your advantage is to move people and tilt the matchup in your favor.  I like Taylor against Marco Columbo, not Flozell Adams of Dallas.  The best coaches in the NFL understand the matchups in the line and use them to their advantage.  The Skins have a blue-chip rusher in Taylor, they need to get the right match on him each week.  FROM NFL NETWORK BRETT FAVRE TALKS ABOUT LEARNING THE SYSTEM… I just love Brett’s honesty and his ability to just say what is on his mind.  He knows this system is tough to learn at this point in his career and is different from what he has learned.  He said something very interesting in this piece: “It’s all football and there are only so many ways to run a play, but a 1000 ways to call it.”  In the end, having Favre will help the Jets clean up their terminology and the Jets will tag plays with words that help Favre understand the concepts.  The Jets have some very smart coaches and they will find ways to make it simple for Brett.  Sometimes simple is better, and Brett the “play caller” will have enough resources to make the offense work well.  The key for the Jets is to give Favre the freedom at the line to make calls and use his experience to its full advantage.  The key responsibility when you are coaching a great player is to make the game easy for him.  FROM BARRY JACKSON OF THE MIAMI HERALD… The Dolphins continue to shop John Beck and indicated they would like a fourth-round pick in return, but are unlikely to get that, an NFC executive said this week. 'I could see them getting a late-round pick, maybe conditional,' a second NFC executive said. 'Last year was a disaster and he [turns] 27' on Thursday. As perspective, one official noted Cleveland received a sixth-rounder last September from Seattle for former starter Charlie Frye, the 67th pick of the 2005 draft. Beck was drafted 40th in 2007. ESPN's John Clayton said that although Miami has called teams to gauge interest in Beck, they have not done so with Josh McCown, who has no idea if he will be here this season. NFL Network's Adam Schefter has mentioned Dallas has an interest in Beck. The ONLY teams that will be interested in Beck are the teams that have a quarterback coach who worked out Beck and liked him or have very good scouting reports on him from college.  The only way you can trade for Beck is to have liked him coming out of college.  So, the Dolphins shopping list will be limited and what they will receive depends only the market.  Frye had played enough for teams to know what to expect and it was clear the Browns were dumping him.  With Beck, if the Fins can generate a two-team interest, they will improve the draft choice.  Just don’t expect them to get more than a fifth-rounder for him, at best.  As for Josh McCown, he will be a waiver cut.  No team is going to trade for his services, but there will be teams interested enough to give him a look and a workout.  FROM MIKE GARAFOLO OF THE NEWARK STAR LEDGER… Through all of training camp and the first two preseason games, Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield have been disruptive up the middle for opposing offenses. Against the Browns on Monday night, Robbins and Cofield flat-out dominated, allowing the ends and linebackers to make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage.  "Cofield played well, penetrated and did a nice job, and Fred has had a good preseason," coach Tom Coughlin said on a conference call with reporters yesterday. "He's been very quick off the ball, penetrating and forcing some issues. ... Both of them have refocused and want to do a better job of controlling the inside with the run game." I thought these two players were very dominating inside and pushed around the Browns offensive line this past Monday.  Cofield played big and he was active down the line.  These two guys might not get the level of hype that the Vikings' tackles get, but if they play this way each week they will be hard to block.  Right now, people cannot handle the Eagles or Skins inside. FROM VITO STELLINO OF THE FLORIDA SUN TIMES… Del Rio lauded Groves' work on special teams. "He's been a guy willing to run down on kickoffs and punt coverages," Del Rio said. "He's been involved in all four of our special-teams units, and he's working hard at it." Groves doesn't want to get a reputation for just being a pass-rusher. "They didn't bring me in here just to be a pass-rush specialist," Groves said. "I think they saw a guy down the road who could be an every-down defensive end. I thank them for the opportunity they gave me [against Miami]. I wish I could have better capitalized on the opportunity. If you look at yourself like that [a pass-rusher], teams think he's one-dimensional and can't hold up against the run." Groves, who weighs 260 pounds, wants to eventually get to at least 270 to make it easier to be an every-down player. Groves said his confidence wasn't eroded against the Dolphins. "My confidence level is always to the sky," Groves said. "I expect every time I go into a game to make a play. Right now, I feel I'm the kind of person [that] I don't need a certain play to keep my confidence up. Right now, I feel like I'm right where I need to be, steadily learning, steadily progressing not trying to put too much added pressure [on his shoulders]. My balloon wasn't burst." The key for players like Groves is to make a contribution in the kicking game and grow as a player.  I felt Groves was very unsure coming off the ball in week one.  He was not wired to the ball and there was hesitation in his play.  He looked more active and flashed very good athletic movement and skill in week two.  One thing young rushers have to do is develop “a move.”  There has to be one move you can execute every time you hit the field, one you keep using.  Once that move is perfected, others can be established.  Offensive linemen have to know you have a fastball rush move, they have to fear A move.  When a rusher tries to do too much, he ends up doing nothing.  FROM BILL COATS OF THE ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH… If the 6-foot-7, 315-pound Barron can stabilize his performance, he'll fulfill a goal set as the team's first-round draft choice in 2005, Linehan said. What he needs most, the coach said, is "consistency ... just doing things right all the time." "He's been really having a very good camp for us and has played pretty well the last couple of games," Linehan added. "If he can continue to do that, and do it every practice and every week, then we've got something." Then perhaps Barron can establish himself as the heir at left tackle once Pace, 32, decides to retire. That would result in more recognition, as well as a lot more money, for Barron. Barron has been too soft in his career.  He has a hard time bending and does not handle the power rush move very well.  The best way to handle the power move is to be consistent and perfect with your technique and set work.  Playing offensive line in the NFL is like trying to have the same golf swing every time.  You have to keep working on it and attempt to do it the same way every time.  Barron has skill, but he has to play with more power and toughness.  FROM ADAM TEICHER OF THE KANSAS CITY STAR… But the Chiefs think Tyler, in his second season, has more potential and has earned the spot. Edwards will play as part of the defensive line rotation. The Chiefs now line up with Tyler and Glenn Dorsey at tackle, and Tamba Hali and Turk McBride at end. Hali, in his third season, is the senior member of the group.  Alfonso Boone, who was displaced as the starting left end early in camp by McBride, comes in at tackle on obvious passing downs, replacing Tyler. The Chiefs also replaced middle linebacker Napoleon Harris with Pat Thomas. This is a very good defensive front.  I think Alfonso Boone had a great year last season.  Sure, he wore down at the end of the year, but he was a force inside.  Moving him to end was not the best decision.  He can create problems from an inside position.  I always wanted to have a left end that could rush and had speed to create matchup problems for the slow-footed right tackles.  Moving Tamba Hali to the other side forces him to face better left tackles.  Hali is the key, he has to get pressure or the secondary of the Chiefs will be exposed.  All that said, this is a good front and they will be able to control offensive lines in the NFL.  Getting a legitimate Mike backer on the field will really help.  Harris has no instincts and made the defense look slow last year.  Pat Thomas has more natural linebacking skills and will make a huge difference.  FROM MARY KAY CABOT OF THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER… The Browns' Josh Cribbs suffered a high ankle sprain Monday night against the New York Giants that could keep him out until the Sept. 7 opener, a source told The Plain Dealer on Tuesday, and quarterback Derek Anderson suffered a mild concussion that will keep him out for the next preseason game or two.  Cribbs, a Pro Bowl kick returner, underwent X-rays and an MRI on Tuesday, which revealed no fracture or tear. He will sit out Saturday's third preseason game in Detroit and probably the final preseason game Aug. 28 at home against the Bears. Cribbs will be evaluated day-to-day for the Chicago game, but starters usually play sparingly in the final tune-up anyway. If the injury is a high ankle sprain Cribbs is going to find it difficult to recover in time for the opener.  He will struggle to plant and cut.  For a player with his role and skill, it's the type of injury that just takes time to heal fully.  This news has to make everyone involved with special teams happy in Dallas.  Instead of having to deal with Cribbs, the Cowboys' special teams will likely face Syndric Steptoe, who, by the way, looks just as explosive as Cribbs.  Even though the Browns specials teams do a great job of blocking for returns, losing Cribbs is still a huge challenge.

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