|
Sports Illustrated - 11/21 - 11:18 AM EST  Tony Dungy has been mentioned in rumors regarding the Bills' head coaching job, but he's happy right now.
"People can't understand that this is what I want to do right now," Dungy told Dan Patrick. [READ] |
|
|
Star-Telegram - 11/21 - 9:42 PM EST  Cowboys coach Wade Phillips isn't focused on the fact that he's in the final year of his contract.
Dallas owner Jerry Jones has an option for next season, but has chosen to let the season end before addressing the coach's future.
"That's the way I've always coached," Phillips said. "Way back [in Denver], when we were 10-6, 10-6, 11-5 and went to two AFC Championship Games and we got fired, I realized that, hey, you can do a great job and for whatever reason, you can be gone.
"So I stopped worrying about all that and worry about coaching, trying to do the best I can do to help the team win. That’s all I really think about."
The Cowboys are 6-3 and in sole possession of first place in the NFC East. [READ] |
|
|
NFL.com - 11/21 - 9:15 PM EST  Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth probably won't play against the Cowboys on Sunday.
Haynesworth is officially listed as questionable with a sprained ankle, but a league source told NFL.com that he won't play. [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/21 - 9:09 PM EST  Titans wide receiver Justin Gage will miss the team's game against the Texans on Monday night.
Gage has not practiced since breaking the transverse process bones in his back at San Francisco on Nov. 8.
[READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/21 - 9:07 PM EST  Texans running back Steve Slaton will start on Monday against the Titans.
Slaton, who has lost five fumbles this season, was replaced by Ryan Moats in the starting lineup on Nov. 8 against the Colts.
"I had an assumption that I would start, but nothing was concrete until now," Slaton told the Houston Chronicle. "I'm happy about it. It's an opportunity I have to take full advantage of." [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/21 - 9:03 PM EST  Saints running back Reggie Bush and defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis did not travel with the team to Tampa Bay.
A team spokesman said Saturday that the pair of players had been downgraded from doubtful to out with knee injuries. [READ] |
|
|
Dallas Morning News - 11/21 - 11:30 AM EST  Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams will wear a visor on his helmet for Sunday's game against the Redskins.
Williams wears the visor because of his contact lenses.
He was hit in the face mask with a ball during last Sunday's loss to the Packers because the visor clashed with the lights at Lambeau Field.
"That [visor] is really bright," Williams said. "You can see the lights in my vision. That ball hit me dead in the face. Show me any other [pass] when I've gotten hit dead in the face." [READ] |
|
|
North County Times - 11/21 - 11:27 AM EST  Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is looking to improve on his completion percentage.
Rivers has 2,476 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions, but wasn't happy with his 60.6 completion percentage heading into last week's game against the Eagles.
In that game, a San Diego win, Rivers went 20-for-25.
"That's one area I felt I could be better in," Rivers said after Friday's practice. "I needed to throw more completions. The percentage has been a bit lower than it has in the past. I generally don't buy into all these stats, but a high completion percentage is important. That means you're moving the chains and making things happen. I'm not afraid to throw the ball away, but if you're connecting at a high rate it certainly helps establish a rhythm and helps the team get first downs." [READ] |
|
|
Yahoo! Sports - 11/21 - 11:23 AM EST  Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce is out indefinitely with a bulging disk in his neck.
An MRI revealed the injury on Friday.
Pierce originally sustained a burner when the Giants played Arizona on Oct. 25.
"I'm shocked with what I heard from the doctors this afternoon," Pierce said in a statement released by the Giants. "I had no idea that what happened a few weeks ago could keep me off the field. I didn’t think it was that serious.
"I'm going to do everything the doctors tell me to do so I can get back out on the field as soon as possible." [READ] |
|
|
Tampa Tribune - 11/21 - 11:16 AM EST  Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Bryant is expected to start on Sunday against the surging Saints.
He has missed the past two games with a knee injury.
"It's encouraging. There is no guarantee (about his progress)," coach Raheem Morris said. "There is nothing that is going to happen overnight as far as the knee. We've just got to be hopeful and wishful, but it was an encouraging week for Antonio compared to the last couple."
Bryant had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee in August. [READ] |
|
|
Charlotte Observer - 11/21 - 11:14 AM EST  Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers has been limited since injuring his hand against the Saints earlier this month.
Carolina coach John Fox wouldn't discuss the severity.
"I could say," Fox said. "But I probably wouldn't."
Linebacker Jon Beason told reports that the hand is broken.
"Without being too telling, it does affect your play," Fox said. "But he'll work through it and we'll work through it." [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/21 - 11:12 AM EST  Steelers safety Troy Polamalu won't play on Sunday against the Chiefs.
He did not practice all week because of a lingering left knee injury.
Polamalu may miss the Nov. 29 game at Baltimore as well. [READ] |
|
|
AP - 11/21 - 2:48 AM EST  The death of the mother of Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been ruled a suicide, according to an Associated Press report on Friday.
Mina Brees, an attorney from Austin, Texas, died August 7 while visiting Colorado. Grand County coroner Brenda Bock concluded this week that the 59-year-old Brees died of a prescription drug overdose and ruled the death a suicide. [READ] |
|
|
RealGM Staff Report - 11/20 - 5:26 PM EST  On November 19, 2009, RealGM’s resident NFL expert Jeff Risdon was featured on Mitchell Clemons’s NFL Midseason Review. Risdon, Clemons, RealGM columnist Matthew Gordon and others discussed the fallout of Week 10, the league’s safeties and quarterbacks, the NFC’s second-half outlook, and early playoff projections.
Click on 'Read' below to listen to the podcast.
[READ] |
|
|
Chicago Sun-Times - 11/20 - 5:19 PM EST  Bears general manager Jerry Angelo isn't happy with the team's play this season.
"We are a passionate city," Angelo told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We have high expectations. We expect to win. I love it. I appreciate it."
As concerned as Angelo is with winning, he isn't ready to waive the white flag.
"I am not alarmed," he added. "If we have to go on with this football team, I am fine with that. There is nothing wrong with continually developing and coaching and bringing your players along. There is nothing wrong with that at all.
"Our football team is still a good football team. We just have to play better. And we can, and I am counting on that. ... I am not worried about the end of the season [to get better]. We can do that right now."
Angelo's comments can be interpreted in a number of ways, but the Sun-Times wonders if he's starting to tire of head coach Lovie Smith. [READ] |
|
|
Kansas City Star - 11/20 - 5:14 PM EST  Chiefs wide receiver Lance Long has a fan in veteran teammate Chris Chambers.
Lance, who is generously listed as 5'11", is a hard-worker.
"Blue-collar guy, you know?" Chambers told the Kansas City Star. "He's a small white guy who can catch. ... He doesn't make a lot of mental errors. That's what you want. You want a guy who doesn't make mistakes on the field."
Long spent last season on Arizona's practice squad under then offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who now coaches him in Kansas City.
He has 12 catches for 104 yards in his career, all this season, but could play an expanded role with Dwayne Bowe suspended for four games. [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/20 - 5:08 PM EST  Bears running back Garrett Wolfe will miss the remainder of the season with a lacerated kidney.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the season-ending injury.
Wolfe suffered the injury on Nov. 8 against the Cardinals. [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/20 - 5:03 PM EST  Redskins running back Clinton Portis traveled to the University of Pittsburgh on Friday to have his concussion checked out.
The same doctors evaluated Eagles running back Brian Westbrook.
Portis suffered a concussion two weeks ago against the Falcons and hasn't played since.
"We're going to make sure we take care of all the details. We're for Clinton getting well," coach Jim Zorn said. "Each day Clinton's done a great job of communicating how he's felt, and that's what it's going to take.
"I want to be involved with those conversations, not so much to see 'how fast can we get him back,' but just to make sure the young man is improving and getting better." [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/20 - 5:01 PM EST  Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton's status for Sunday's game against the Chargers won't be determined until right before kickoff.
Orton missed practice for the third straight day on Friday because of a sprained left ankle.
"If Kyle is completely able to do what we're going to ask him to do in the game plan, and can do it at a level that allows us to be successful, then we could give him an opportunity to play," coach Josh McDaniels said. "If he's not capable of playing at that level, or doing some of the things that we need him to be able to do, then you go with the guy who practiced."
If Orton can't play, Chris Simms will start for Denver. [READ] |
|
|
Twitter (Jeff McLane) - 11/20 - 4:58 PM EST  The Eagles will be without running back Brian Westbrook for at least the next three weeks.
"Reid: Westbrook likely out for the next three weeks," Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote on his Twitter page.
Westbrook suffered two concussions within a matter of weeks and his career is believed to be in question. [READ] |
|
|
Baltimore Sun - 11/20 - 12:18 PM EST  Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, Michael Oher's adoptive parents, revealed that he has not yet seen the movie 'Blindside', which is based on his personal life story.
"Michael is playing football. He is not going to movie premieres; he is not going to movie theaters. He is not going anywhere," Sean Tuohy said during a teleconference this week to promote the movie.
"We respect that and we would hope other people would respect that."
'Blindside' is based on a book by Michael Lewis. [READ] |
|
|
Dallas Morning News - 11/20 - 12:14 PM EST  Jerry Jones wants to involve Felix Jones more heavily in the Cowboys' offense.
"I certainly understand balance," Jerry Jones said on Thursday. "But I'd sure like to see him with the ball more."
The owner sees no concerns in the health of his second-year running back.
"We need to get him in situations outside, or where he has a little space, and we'll see some of that," Jones said. "It's not a frustrating thing. It's a tactical thing."
Jones said he has not demanded coach Wade Phillips and the offensive staff make any changes because all concerned agree with him on this. [READ] |
|
|
Mercury News - 11/20 - 12:12 PM EST  Michael Crabtree has been San Francisco's most targeted wide receiver in each of the four games he has appeared in, but he isn't laying claim to the title of number one receiver.
"If everybody is making plays, then that's teamwork," Michael Crabtree said.
"I think that kind of stuff really gets teams in trouble," coach Mike Singletary said about number one or number two receiver labels. "You start thinking more about, 'I'm the go-to guy.' And we don't want that. We want the team concept, and we are going to keep that concept going forward." [READ] |
|
|
Yahoo! Sports - 11/20 - 9:31 AM EST  Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith was in a minor car accident prior to Thursday's game against the Dolphins.
A Carolina official said that somebody "bumped into" Smith's car on his way to the stadium, but he wasn't hurt and continued to the game.
Smith had seven receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Miami. [READ] |
|
|
Cincinnati Enquirer - 11/20 - 9:25 AM EST  Bengals running back Cedric Benson is unlikely to play against the Raiders on Sunday.
Benson did not practice for the second straight day on Thursday with a hip flexor.
Larry Johnson, who was signed earlier this week, will be asked to handle some of the rushing load.
"It's a new offense and they have to get comfortable with trusting me to step in there," said Johnson. "The plays are the same handing off and right now the exchange has been pretty good between Carson (Palmer) and myself." [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/20 - 9:13 AM EST  Redskins running back Clinton Portis has been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Cowboys.
The missed game will be his second consecutive. He is still recovering from a concussion.
Portis has not been able to practice since he was injured in a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Falcons. [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/20 - 9:11 AM EST  The NFL Players Association has requested the removal of a doctor as co-chairman of the league's committee on concussions.
According to The New York Times, the NFLPA claims the doctor is too biased to lead the group.
Dr. Ira Casson has tried to discredit evidence linking NFL careers with heightened risk for dementia and cognitive decline, claiming that more research is needed. [READ] |
|
|
ESPN - 11/20 - 9:08 AM EST  Saints running back Reggie Bush has missed two practices this week to rest his left knee.
It's the same knee that Bush had surgery on last December to repair cartilage.
New Orleans coach Sean Payton is hopeful that Bush can practice on Friday. [READ] |
|