admin / May 31, 2018

Bottom line: Detroit will have to be better in one-score games against an improved NFC North across the board. The Lions were 3-4 in one-score games last season — albeit with one loss coming on a controversial finish in a 30-26 loss to Atlanta. This record could go either way a game or two, but it is best to start in the middle given the tough road patches. Record prediction: 8-8

Especially with the high likelihood that when the 2018 season kicks off in less than four months, President Donald Trump will almost certainly attempt to seize upon kneeling again, renewing his attacks on the NFL and some players.

“They’re so thorough in all their search,” Ross said of NFL teams’ investigations of potential hires. “It was unfortunate. Thank God he’s cleared and can (coach). Hey, that’s life today. Everybody’s looking at everything. You guys, you look under every leaf and you’re going to find something and it’s unfortunate for people. But I understand, he never even slept with her.”

Ross was circumspect about how he got his information.

According to an ESPN report, league officials met last week to discuss the incident and determined the situation is “not subject to the personal conduct policy as the allegations occurred well before Patricia’s affiliation with the NFL.”

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, explained he wanted to make sure the proper regulations were in place. He vowed to move quickly and, as of now, both chambers of the Legislature are slated to send Gov. Phil Murphy a bill on June 7.

If that happens, it’ll amount to a less than two-week delayed opening wait for Monmouth Park.

But for Christie, who’s four months out of office and is no longer able to call the shot’s from the governor’s office, enough time has been wasted already. So let New Jerseyans place their bets, he argues.

Bryant caught 69 passes for 838 yards and six touchdowns last season. Jason Witten, Bryant’s former teammate with the Cowboys, said earlier this month he expected the wide receiver to sign with Green Bay.

admin / May 25, 2018

Orlando Brown Jr. has a new home in a familiar place, and now he has a contract to go with it.

Sporting News was first to report that Witten was interested in TV. Fox Sports auditioned Witten for “Thursday Night Football” before he took the ESPN job.

Months ahead of Witten’s first regular-season “MNF” broadcast with Tessitore, McFarland and sideline reporter Lisa Salters on Sept. 10, SN asked on-air-talent, executives and agents why, exactly, former Cowboys will dominate NFL TV this fall and why they get the top broadcast jobs instead of, say, former Redskins, Giants or Patriots. Here are some of the reasons given:

They’re known commodities. When a network lands a Cowboys game, it inevitably sends its No. 1 broadcast/production team. That means current Cowboys players get to mingle with the best broadcasters, producers and directors in sports TV. They spend hours at production meetings. They meet the top network executives. That pays off when it comes time for them to hang up their cleats

Los Angeles was rumored to be a possible landing spot for Beckham if the Giants decided to trade him this offseason, but for now it appears Big Blue wants to keep him. Giants co-owner John Mara told reporters this month he was hopeful the franchise could sign OBJ to a long-term contract extension.

In May of 2003, Titans wide receiver Derrick Mason was playing in a charity golf tournament when he hit behind the ball and into the ground while teeing off. He told The Tennessean that his hand started to swell immediately, and he “knew (he) had done something wrong, (he) just didn’t know what.”

An X-ray revealed a fractured bone, and Mason was forced to miss about a month of football.

”I’ve been telling people I was rescuing my dog or something and I slipped and fell,” Mason said after the accident. ”I could see getting hurt in other sports, but not that one. Hey, things happen. It was just bad luck.”

admin / May 22, 2018

Falcons running back Devonta Freeman may not be 100 percent healthy now, but he feels good about the progress he’s made this offseason.

Freeman injured the posterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the regular season finale, and played through it in postseason games against the Rams and Eagles.

Freeman scored a massive contract last summer but had a down season by his standards, finishing with 865 rushing yards and 317 receiving yards and eight combined touchdowns. He missed two games with a concussion.

Pederson is writing the book with NFL writer Dan Pompei. “Fearless” is due out on August 28.

Pederson told the Associated Press in a statement that he always considered himself an “underdog.” The Eagles certainly grabbed onto that mantra last season, sporting “underdog” masks for playoff games after the team was mostly written off following the loss of Carson Wentz to an ACL injury in December.

Report: Russ Brandon “deceitful” when confronted about inappropriate relationships

More details are emerging regarding the abrupt resignation of Bills and Sabres president Russ Brandon. And the details help explain why Brandon is suddenly out after 20 years in Buffalo.

Tim Graham of the Buffalo News reports that Bills and Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula informed Brandon on Friday that an internal investigation was being conducted regarding allegations of inappropriate relationships with female employees. Per Graham, Brandon denied any such relationships when confronted by Kim Pegula. The internal investigation showed, according to Graham, that Brandon “was deceitful about that and other job-related issues that were uncovered.”

admin / May 20, 2018

The Rams announced seven rookie free agent signings Wednesday.

USC receiver Steven Mitchell, Southeastern receiver LaQuvionte Gonzalez, Georgia Tech receiver Ricky Jeune, San Jose State guard Jeremiah Kolone and Weber State defensive tackle McKay Murphy were reported Tuesday.

The Rams also signed Southern Miss defensive back Curtis Mickell and Indiana linebacker Tegray Scales.

Big Ben doesn’t appear as though he likes the pick, but the reality is he’s 36 years old, he hasn’t made it through a full season since 2014, and he has speculated publicly about his retirement multiple times in recent years.

It would have been irresponsible for the Steelers to continue to operate without a high-upside young signal-caller on the roster, and the big, accurate and reliable Rudolph has the ability to become a franchise quarterback.

After a visit to Haiti last year, Wentz said, “I felt called that I needed to go serve and find a way, and get myself out there, get out of my comfort zone.”

He has some improvement to do in the pass pro, without a doubt, and I think he’ll be the first one to tell you, Redskins coach Jay Gruden said, per ESPN’s John Keim. That’s something that sometimes in college, with only 20 hours of practice a week, some of the fundamentals as far as pass-blocking sometimes gets swept by.

Said Gruden: He’s more of a first-, second-down banger. But I’ve seen him at his pro day catch the football. He can catch the football fine, but really, our role for him is quite easy to see. It’s first, second down.

Not exactly what fantasy football heads want to hear, but the earth will spin on without their consent.

Besides, those early down duties are easier to define on paper with the presence of Chris Thompson, Washington’s versatile, marvelous pass-catching back who led the team in receiving before breaking his right fibula in November.

admin / May 18, 2018

The Patriots have three 2015 first-round picks on their roster heading into the 2018 season and they’ve chosen not to exercise their option on any of their contracts for the 2019 season.

Add that all up, and she paid roughly $2,240 each year to maintain her look.

While listing all the associated expenses, Davis confesses,You’re probably looking at it and I made no money.

In Miami, Ware says that coaches told them they were the highest paid cheerleaders in the NFL.

She’s not comfortable disclosing her hourly wage, but she says it still wasn’t enough to live on.

She worked three other jobs, as a fitness instructor, resort activities manager and at a massage therapy studio.

The Cardinals also cut cornerback C.J. Goodwin, who joined the team late last season and appeared in two games. Goodwin transitioned from wide receiver to cornerback with the Falcons and played 12 games with them in 2017 before being released.

Cornerback Jarell Carter, running back Darius Victor and long snapper Drew Williams were also let go on Tuesday. The Cardinals have four more cuts to make in order to have room for all their incoming rookies.

New Orleans Saints players are beginning to deal with the realization they won’t have the team’s leading rusher, Mark Ingram, for the first four games of the 2018 season.

Linebacker Shaquem Griffin was a feel-good story in the NFL draft, but there’s more to it than his inspiring story.

Griffin is also a very good player, and it would be no surprise if he’s a steal for the Seattle Seahawks as a fifth-round pick.

admin / May 17, 2018

The woman who accused Reuben Foster of domestic violence earlier this year has since recanted, but prosecutors are sure to use the details of the initial police report in trying to make a case against the San Francisco 49ers star. Among the disturbing allegations is one that sounds like animal abuse.

Bucannon has not set the world on fire, but he’s had enough success to inspire the Rams to trade for Mark Barron, the Falcons to draft Deion Jones early in the second round and, most recently, the Steelers to take a big flyer on Virginia Tech safety Terrell Edmunds late in the first round.

Troy Niklas battled injuries early on and never became a factor. Bruce Arians’ scheme wasn’t the most tight end-friendly, though if Niklas had been what they’d hoped, Arians would have found a role for him. Kareem Martin and Ed Stinson provided decent depth for a few years but never carved out distinct roles. John Brown did: deep threat. But after a tumultuous 2016 (health problems) and a quiet 2017, he’s now a Raven. Grade: C Atlanta Falcons Round 1 (6 overall). Jake Matthews, T, Texas A&M 2 (37). Ra’Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota 3 (68). Dezmen Southward, FS, Wisconsin 4 (103).

It’s a break for the Giants, who now will face the Saints in Week 4 with only half of the NFL-best tandem of Ingram and Alvin Kamara, the 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Giants defensive end Josh Mauro also will miss the game after receiving the same suspension as Ingram.

I would never condone any of the behavior that was alleged and will always respect and protect the rights of anyone who has been harassed or is the victim of violence. My priorities remain the same — to move forward and strive to be the best coach, teacher, and man that I can possibly be.

When contacted this week by The News, the Lions acknowledged they had not been aware of the incident.

Owner Martha Ford, general manager Bob Quinn and team president Rod Wood released a joint statement Monday night.

admin / May 11, 2018

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Herschel Walker told TMZ Sports he understands why teams won’t hire free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick based on his choice to protest social injustice and racial inequality during the national anthem.

I read where they asked him if he would still kneel if they hired him, and he said he wasn’t sure or he may, and that tells you right there that he doesn’t want to work, Walker said. My point is: I think what he was doing was great. I think what he stood for was great. Black lives matter.

Right now I think he’s got to remember that you have teams saying, ‘If you do what we ask you to do, you may have a job.’ But he don’t wanna do it. … I own a chicken company. If the guy that I hire don’t want to do what I ask him to do, why do I hire him? And I think that’s the problem right there, you know.

The move created $500,000 of cap space for the Lions.

Edge rusher: The 49ers were tied for 26th in the NFL with 30 sacks last season. The hope is Thomas can convert his freakish skill set into dominance, but it would help to have another young, viable threat to take the blocking attention off him.

While Fitzpatrick or James would be a nice piece to round out the secondary behind Thomas and Foster, those players could also use some extra support up front. The 49ers still have remnants of their old 3-4 base up front with Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner. While Buckner has settled nicely in as a 4-3 tackle, Armstead needs to be replaced to lead the rotation opposite Thomas.

Texas-San Antonio’s Marcus Davenport is among the intriguing pass rushers gaining steam and moving up the board late in the draft process. Boston College’s Harold Landry is also in play to go ahead of his mid-first round projections.