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  • in reply to: Barrett Jones – Back Injury (he had surgery) #4169
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    http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-notes-pead-out-for-season/article_f63991d7-69d7-5f38-8d25-702a688b380f.html

    Jim Thomas

    … even before Saturday’s preseason contest against Green Bay, they lost center/guard Barrett Jones for an extended period — possibly for the season — with back surgery.

    … Fisher confirmed that Jones, a highly-decorated lineman at Alabama and a fourth-round draft pick in 2012, underwent back surgery. Jones experienced lower back issues earlier in training camp, and the Rams tried to see if the back would settle down. But he underwent surgery about a week ago, and now the Rams must decide what to do with him roster-wise. They have a couple of weeks to decide.

    They can place him on the injured reserve list ending his season. They can place him on the injured reserve/designated for return list, in which case he would be eligible to return sometime during the second half of the season if healthy. Or they could simply carry him on the 53-man roster.

    Jones’ rookie season in 2012 amounted to the NFL version of a redshirt year because of foot surgery that occurred after Alabama’s national championship victory over Notre Dame. He reported to training camp this year with improved upper body strength and less body fat, with the potential to push for playing time at both center and guard.

    The back surgery puts all that on hold. Mizzou product Tim Barnes is next in line at center behind starter Scott Wells, who saw his first action of the preseason Saturday.

    “Tim’s done well,” Fisher said. “Tim did well last year when Scott was down for a while. He’s had a great camp; a little setback with neck spasms the last couple days but all indications are that he played pretty well (vs. Green Bay).

    “We got Scott back in for 15-20 plays,” Fisher said. “And Mike Person got some snaps, too, at center.”

    Person started the Green Bay game at left tackle, then switched to left guard, and finished at center. The Rams also have center Demetrius Rhaney, a seventh-round pick from Tennessee State, but Rhaney suffered a knee injury in practice Thursday and it’s not known when he’ll return.

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    Hey. I moved a couple of your posts to the Green Bay Game Reactions thread. I think Bradford in that game, ie. this post, merits it’s own discussion thread though.

    I agree with you that Bradford has looked good so far. As good as he has looked in his best games over the last couple of years.

    To me it’s as if he time travelled straight from the Carolina game, just before the injury.

    Here btw is a vid of Bradford’s 2nd drive, the entire thing: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/vid-rams-2nd-drive-v-gb-816/

    in reply to: Green Bay game reactions #4159
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    I saw it watching NFL Network when they switched back to the St Louis feed.

    They have a highlight of it at espn. Late in the vid.

    http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=400554722

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    in reply to: Green Bay game reactions #4151
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    Regarding A. Donald ; I am not sure if it was an experiment, bet they had Donald lined up between the Center and Left Guard on almost every play of the Packers first 2 drives. He essentially was playing Nose Tackle. He was being double teamed by the Center and LG on almost every play. And, next to him, they had Langford playing in the 3-Tech. Langford was singled up on the RG on most plays and didn’t do much. I don’t know why they did this. I thought they should have had LAngford tieing up the C & LG and let Donald go against the single blocker (RG).

    Looks like they deliberately did nothing with him and just put him at NG in place of Brockers. Let him sweat out his snaps the hard way.

    in reply to: Green Bay game reactions #4144
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    Still watching, but did m Sam play at all?

    Yes. Got a sack. But they dropped the feed when switching from the St. Louis to the Green Bay broadcast, I think, and didn’t show it. I heard it discussed.

    in reply to: Do they have to keep Barksdale after this season? #4132
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    The question might better be “Can the Rams keep Barksdale after this season.” “Assuming that he isn’t injured and keeps playing well if not better…” I am sure that the Rams would want to keep him around for more years. A bird in the hand is worth more than one in the bush. But the real question is at what price? Barksdale will be a free agent after this year. How much will other teams be willing to pay Barksdale? Will that be more than the Rams will be willing to pay him. Demoff will set a price for Barksdale. If he wants or can get more than that the Rams will let him go.

    My view is, unless they lose Long, having up to possibly 4 2nd-or-more contract guys on the same OL is a lot to ask.

    With the current starters, Robinson is good for 10 years, Saffold should be good for another 5 or so and is they resign Barksdale he would be good for another 6 or so years. Wells is nearing the end of his career (maybe next year) and Long could have from 2 to 4 years left. That would be a good mix and would allow the Rams time to draft and develop replacements. I really hope that if Barksdale does well this year that the Rams could retain him.

    My whole take on this comes from the idea that OL continuity as we used to know it in the 70s and 80s died with free agency and the cap. According to Pasquerelli, teams change starting O-linemen on the avg. of 1.7 a year or at least 3 every 2 years. It becomes cap prohibitive to put that much in terms of cap resources into one unit.

    Would Barksdale command a lot on the market? Would he take a Hayes-style lesser deal just to be a Ram? I dunno, but I do know that Boudreau linemen are sought after on the market (see Wms and Smith).

    I also know that ROT is easier to replace than LOT.

    I see teams these days as keeping 2, MAYBE 3 core linemen and then constantly looking for replacements for the others. So you need an OL coach who can develop them, and who can coach them to be flexible. I think the Rams 2 core linemen for the next few years will be Robinson and Saffold. I see Long, Wells, and Barksdale all dropping off one by one as the next couple of years go by, and having to be replaced.

    in reply to: Chat Room? #4125
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    Thanks ag.

    But, it’s done. We have a chat room.

    Thanks to RM.

    in reply to: Rams News Recap: August 15 #4120
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    ESPN’s Jane McManus reports that the NFL is expected to toughen its standards on domestic violence.

    Hmmm. Hard to feel much conviction that they’ll actually do much, but they damn well should.

    I can see disciplining performance enhancing drugs, but recreational drugs should be a non-issue for the league unless there are prosecutions and/or convictions.

    Meanwhile, they should come down very hard on DUI and domestic violence. The football culture teaches guys to think of women as conveniences, and the league should try to be in the lead in changing that.

    A player who beats his wife or girlfriend should be out for half a season at least. Make him feel some sense of consequences.

    There;s more on that in the most recent post in this thread.

    http://theramshuddle.com/topic/ray-rice-2-games/page/2/#post-4032

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    and also to add to that. i don’t expect tavon to become more physical this year. to be able to break tackles and be a complete route runner capable of taking on physical cornerbacks.

    but i do expect him to become a better route runner. to have more confidence. to think less. and more than anything else to have better hands. those things alone should be enough to make him a significant contributor.

    i’m hoping for around 65 catches 700 yards receiving. 30 rushes 300 yards rushing. that combined with punt returns could provide the rams with some explosiveness.

    last year he had 569 yards from scrimmage over 13 games. projected to a 16 game season that is 700 yards. so i think 700 receiving and 300 rushing is a realistic goal from year 1 to year 2.

    Okay that’s how I see it too, generally speaking.

    My own view of this is that TH was just remarking on things he saw Austin doing in camp practices. But, my intuition is that they won’t be using Austin during the season the way they do in camp practices, and that at the same time they are not going to show those plays during camp. I think they will integrate Austin lots of different ways but that it will be gameplan specific, game by game, and not something an observer will see during the summer.

    And besides, I have no problem with him being a combined yards weapon and not, strictly speaking, a receiver per se.

    Last year he was clearly held back by rookie head-swimming syndrome. I don’t think it had anything to do with Schott. There’s 2 ways to approach that issue. McD just had rookies go out and do what he drew up, regardless. That led to 2 of the surest hands on the team–Kendricks and Pettis–being confused, overthinking rookies with the dropsies. (In fact, so much so, that to this day a few don’t even realize Kendricks is surehanded. That’s how strong an impression his rookie confusions left in some minds.) Or there’s the Schott way, which is don’t ask them to do it if they can’t. If that’s all true (as I think it is) then Schott will be using Austin in more ways this year.

    I see over and over, people saying, Schott had to figure Austin out. I doubt that, personally. Well no wait. I am sure that’s true to an extent, but not how the critics are presenting it–as something more than the ordinary. But in principle Schott would be no different in that regard than any other coordinator with a new, head-swimming player. If anything, Schott already had a near-Austin type in New York–Leon Washington. Washington was a back who returned kicks and caught passes, while Austin is a receiver who runs out of the backfield and returns kicks, so they are cousin species. Either way Washington was a multi-purpose weapons guy and heavier than Austin, but still there were similarities, and Schott found all sorts of ways to use Washington. So none of this was extremely new. So to me, it was never a problem of Schott figuring Austin out (that is more than the usual figuring a rookie out thing), it was more of a problem of yet another rookie (almost)receiver struggling SO Schott’s solution was to limit what he did, at first. (Especially since Schott’s offense depends a lot on sight adjustments, and most rookie skill players don’t arrive in the NFL already capable of reading defenses well enough to be comfortable with that.)

    Anyway the combined yards thing is fine with me. Even with rookie syndrome and 3 missed games, Austin had 1246 combined yards (or so…that’s from memory), which was on pace for 1530 something.

    And, I am more than okay with that.

    .

    in reply to: setting up the Packers game: articles #4087
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    From “The Takeaway: Green Bay Packers vs. Tennessee Titans”

    http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2014/8/10/5987723/the-takeaway-green-bay-packers-vs-tennessee-titans

    Strong first showing for new look offensive line

    Mike McCarthy’s proclamation that the 2014 offensive line could be the best of his Green Bay tenure is looking good so far.

    The Packers already knew what to expect from the guard tandem of Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang, and after starting 16 games as a rookie David Bakhtiari appears primed to take a jump in performance as well. The only question marks hovered over oft-injured right tackle Bryan Bulaga and new starting center JC Tretter.

    Saturday’s game marked Bulaga’s first non-intrasquad game since November 4, 2012. In the roughly 21 months since, the offensive lineman has endured a significant hip injury as well as a torn ACL. Other than the bulky brace on his left knee, Bulaga looked like the same player who dominated at right tackle in 2011 and ’12. In the three runs to Bulaga’s side, the Packers accrued 18 yards.

    JC Tretter, the offensive line’s newest addition, also had a strong 2014 debut. Like Bulaga, Tretter’s last true live snaps came back in November 2012. However, Tretter’s appearance Saturday was his first at center, a position he hadn’t played until coming off the physically unable to perform list midway through last season. Tretter seemed to create a push on nearly every snap with the starting unit. He also landed one of the key second-level blocks on James Starks’ 20-yard touchdown gallop that put the Packers ahead 7-0.

    It’s worth noting that the Titans are in the midst of a transition to a 3-4 defense and are experience growing pains because of it. It’s also true that the Packers’ offense only attempted one pass before pulling most of the starters, making it impossible to evaluate the pass protection. That said, Green Bay has to be encouraged by the early returns from its new look offensive line. If the group follows the Tennessee game with another strong performance, they’re going to make their head coach look very smart.

    The offensive backfield is already looking crowded

    Eddie Lacy spent Saturday night on the sidelines and James Starks was pulled after the opening series, but the Packers have to like what they saw out of their running back depth. DuJuan Harris opened the game with a 40-yard kickoff return. Add in a nifty 11-yard run behind the No. 2 offensive line, and it appears Harris has reclaimed the form that earned him so much praise following the 2012 season. Rajion Neal came into the game with considerably less fanfare, but the undrafted rookie amassed 39 yards on only five carries including a 12-yard touchdown run. Though he left the game with an undisclosed injury, the 5-11 220 lbs. Neal fits the mold of a Packers ball carrier.

    Counting fullback, the Packers may retain as few as four backs during the final cut down. With John Kuhn and the aforementioned Lacy and Starks taking up three of those jobs, Harris and Neal find themselves in a heated competition for a roster spot.

    ==============

    Rodgers didn’t play last week but they could run:

    i

    i

    in reply to: Get ready for the Legion of Boom rule #4081
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    a media report from off the net

    ————

    max

    I heard D. Jeremiah say recently that with the new rules its virtually impossible to defend certain routes and passes, like the back shoulder fade. All you need is an accurate QB, good pass protection and a decent WR and you offense can’t be stopped.

    It appears that the only recourse a defense has now is not to let the QB make accurate throws by either getting tremendous pressure or knocking him out of the game somehow. I wonder how that will affect defenses that have better secondaries than DLs. You’d think they will have a harder time.

    in reply to: Athlon Sports Rams 2014 Team Preview and Predictions #4080
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    I sat on the Egyptian/Israeli border, half the time on a base camp and half the time on two different outposts, for 6 months in 1988 waiting for the stars and stripes edition that provided 3-4 lines of print about each game so I could feed, even that tiniest bit, my craving for Rams information.

    And we have a winner. 2q

    Where are you stationed now? Or can you say?

    .

    in reply to: Camp Report 8/14/14 + follow-up #4076
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    CoachO sounds purty optimistic. Seems to be saying
    the only thing that will stop these guys is
    key injuries.

    w
    v

    I really expanded it. The “2nd follow-Up” post.

    in reply to: Athlon Sports Rams 2014 Team Preview and Predictions #4068
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    Just had a flash of memory with this post.

    For a number of us nomads, the Rams were never home. We followed them from all parts of the nation. I started following them growing up in Chicago (horns + Fearsome Foursome + Roman Gabriel + boring Bears) and then moved to Minny from where I have remained faithful for decades.

    Which meant that media coverage of the Rams was nearly unavailable. Neither the Tribune, Sun Times, Pioneer Press, or Star/Tribune ever covered the Rams. Neither did local radio or TV. There was no ESPN nor, of course, was there a web.

    And that meant that, at season’s end, I would go for months with no Rams news. Until, finally, the preseason previews came out. Just like this one.

    SI would have pigskin previews with thumbnails on each team. And the dedicated season preview pubs would come out with–gasp!–a couple of pages on each team! I’d finally be able to hear a bit about draft picks, acquisitions, and prognosticators’ take.

    Then, when the season started, there’d be write-ups of the games–AP thumbnails for the Rams unless they had played the Vikings. And that would basically be it. The sum total of my media-acquired learning about the team.

    Now, I look at a preview like this and, besides remembering what it was like to depend on these blurbs, I am astonished at how pedestrian it is. I mean, with the Web and ESPN and NFL Network, we know vastly more than this. There isn’t a bit of information here that we haven’t hashed over for weeks or more. There isn’t an analytical angle we don’t know by heart.

    It’s a throw-back to another era. A simpler one, perhaps a better or worse one, certainly one less jaded. But I wonder how an outfit like this can still sell copies? Lots of nostalgic old buffers like me I guess.

    I remember those days. Then adding PFW to the list. I would go weekly to Borders, sit in the coffee shop, and read PFW and the USA Today weekly game preview edition. In the late summer along with the coffee I would stack up a couple of those season preview mags.

    Before sports bars, after I no longer lived in southern California, nomads like me were dependent on nationally broadcast games. Which at one point meant years of Monday nighters where they played Atlanta, season after season.

    Then, in 98, it was the net.

    in reply to: Camp Report 8/14/14 + follow-up #4064
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    some more follow-up…ongoing

    ====

    CoachO

    Laurinaitis has been out of the boot for over a week. His situation is mostly precautionary. I believe he had a procedure in the offseason, that landed him a walking boot then, so this injury is more about not aggravating it any further. IF he has shown one thing in his career, he WILL be on the field on Sundays. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not he will play in any of the preseason games. But my guess, if he does, it won’t be until Miami.

    As to Brockers, he has been getting in some work on the side with Reggie (Head Trainer) and should be back for next week’s game in Cleveland.

    I think with Hayes, they are just taking things slow with him, like they are with a few of the other guys. He apparently had some neck and shoulder issues taken care of in the off season, and with him being a veteran, he doesn’t need the same time and reps to be ready for Sept. 7th. Now if he doesn’t start working his back into a regular rotation in the next week or so, then there may be more to it than that.

    Rhaney suffered a knee strain, and according to Fisher’s post-practice comments, it isn’t as serious as they thought. An MRI is scheduled. My guess is he won’t be playing tomorrow. Don’t be surprised to see Mike Person getting more than a few token reps at Center in tomorrow’s game.

    The biggest thing about the Barrett Jones injury, is it exposed how short handed they are with the younger UDFA’s just not being where they need to be.

    *

    I believe that Person will get the reps while Bradford is in the game. Then Van Dyk may get a look at LT. Not sure how much Wells will play, so Barnes and Person may finish the game at Center. Hooey will get his reps at RT, with the 2nd unit, then may slide over to LT with the 3’s.

    [At]…RT, I’m thinking Sean Hooey gets the first nod. They seem to like what he brings, and the kid has made some nice strides in camp this year. Boudreau seems to like the tall tackles, with the reach hat Hooey at 6’9 can provide. While he can at times have problems with a speed rush, being on the right side, he isn’t as likely to come up against that quite as much as he would on the left.

    As far as Washington, I have a feeling his days have been numbered since camp started. He is the perfect example of a player who has managed to stick around because he was the “best” of an otherwise very weak core of depth guys. They have “out drafted” him with the guys that have been brought in the last year. But Joseph’s signing kinda sealed his fate.

    *

    As much as I love the Joseph acquisition, when Saffold is in there, this unit has the potential to have an overpowering running game. Joseph has been good, Saffold could be special.

    *

    They do have a 2nd unit for kickoff coverage, but honestly, it changes practice to practice, with all the players sitting out. It’s difficult to even chart it. My suggestion is to keep an eye on the telecast tomorrow, to get a better idea of who it is THIS week.

    *

    McLeod looks to be coming on. He is more often than not, in the single high safety position, and has showed to be quite comfortable, and is reading routes and making breaks on balls in the air. Again, he just needs to clean up his tackling, and I think people may be pleasantly surprised.

    The 4 Safeties who IMO are safe, are McLeod, McDonald, C. Davis, and Alexander.

    …what I have seen of Bryant, I like. He seems to play with a certain “balls to the wall” mentality. He just needs to get up to speed in the defense.

    *

    My biggest fear is the fans all jumping ship if this team doesn’t get off to a 3-1 start. They need to stay the course, and let a Jeff Fisher team improve as the year goes on. As most of his teams have shown they will. A fast start would be very helpful,, ,but if they can be around .500 at the halfway point, they could very easily win 6 of the last 8 to make their playoff push.

    *

    I think our base did a pretty good job in limiting the damage last year of the read option. None of the teams that tried to run it, including Washington in Week 2 had much success. With the addition of Ogletree and McDonald, IMO, these players are perfect fits, lined up on opposite sides of the formation to run down a Wilson or Kaepernick, while not compromising the interior of the defense by losing one of the DTs.

    *

    I think you have to look deeper at some of the reasons that screens are successful against our defense, and why on offense, they don’t seem to be nearly as effective, even when they try to run them.

    From a schematic point of view, teams use these screens to exploit the Rams biggest strength. The aggressive nature of our defensive front, which tends to be in a constant “rush the passer” mode, plays right into the hands of an team running effective screens. The defensive front tends to run themselves out of the play, creating a numbers mismatch against the back 7. Especially when teams can run off the safeties, leaving maybe 3 or 4 defenders to stand up to the screen.

    Conversely, other teams propensity to play mostly zone schemes against our offense, doesn’t create the same sort of mismatches for our offense. Trust me, it’s not that they don’t work on the screen game in practice. They work on it a lot.

    But when teams tend to be more passive in their approach vs. our offense, especially when we don’t show the ability to stretch the secondary, they will out number us at the point of the screen more often than not.

    …while it would be nice to have in the arsenal [on offense], I’m not sure it something “needs to fix”. Play calling as a rule, is more about taking advantage of the matchups the defense gives you. And when teams take the approach they have taken as a general rule, running screens just isn’t the way to attack it. But it also opens other things to take advantage of.

    One example I like to point out from last year, is the Indy game. compared to other games. Fans are always complaining about Schottenheimer’s “failure” to get Austin the ball in space. But by design, when teams are playing primarily zone, you have to attack the open spaces and find the windows. Which means most of the time, the receiver has to settle into that void, and is standing still when the ball is delivered.

    Now, to use the Indy game, they played primarily man to man defense, and you saw they difference. Austin caught the crossing route in stride, and was off to the races. Even Chris Givens, who rarely runs them, had a couple of big plays on similar crossing routes.

    This is how OC’s change their play calling based on the defense. And screen passes are just another tool in the drawer when the opportunity present itself.

    On defense, it becomes a “pick your poison” sort of decision. In most cases, they choose to pressure the passer, and it can make them susceptible to the screens.

    But that’s where having an experienced DC can make all the difference in the world, And actually GAME PLANNING, which you are not likely to see much in the preseason. Down and distance, and scouting tendencies, will allow Williams to have a better feel when to get after the QB, and when to back off and force them into throwing into coverage.

    .

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    Cosell on Ross Tucker Show (RTFP #77: Greg Cosell, 8/13/14…Greg Cosell joins today’s show to evaluate rookie QB’s after their preseason week 1 debuts including: Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater) : http://tunein.com/radio/Ross-Tucker-Football-Podcast-p510832/

    On Tucker, Cosell starts at about 3:07 in

    Cosell On ESPN: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=10456385

    in reply to: Pizzly Bears #4051
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    coyotes, native to the Great Plains, began pushing eastward and mated with the refugee wolves. Their descendants in turn bred with coyotes and dogs. The result has been a creature with enough strength to hunt the abundant woodland deer, which it followed into the recovering Eastern forests. Coywolves, or Eastern coyotes, as White prefers to call them, have since pushed south to Virginia and east to Newfoundland.

    I’ve seen a couple of em in my time here. Or at least I think that’s what they were. 1

    1

    from an article: “Coywolfs are most often found in the North East, and in Maine, most the coyotes caught and studied were actually to some degree or another, Coywolves. A study in Maine of one hundred coyotes found that out of the one hundred, twenty two of the individuals studied were actually more wolf than coyote.”

    in reply to: E.J. Gaines "I'm ready to put on for the fans." #4048
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    I would say that as of right now, on the basis of this vid alone, Gaines leads all Rams rookies in the number of times he has said “it’s a blessing.”

    in reply to: Scenes From the NFC West/ Pompei #4043
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    ON WMS: “He has so much in his defense,” Quinn says. “He can switch it up on you so fast. If people focus on me there are going to be 10 other guys out there who could be coming. With Gregg being here it’s going to be a lot harder for teams to focus on me.”

    It;s going to be interesting to see how that works.

    ..

    in reply to: Guardians of the Galaxy #4035
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    ih

    Ronan, the rogue Accuser of the Kree Empire Accuser Corps, defies the treaty ending generations of war and instead serves a purer form of ancient Kree justice by bringing a holocaust of blood to his people’s old enemy. He will do this by obtaining a source of power few but those like him can safely wield.

    First, though, he hastah check out his text messages.

    Hey Ronan man you go dude soak em in blood bro

    in reply to: Ray Rice – 2 games #4032
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    The Washington Post

    NFL considering tougher penalties for future domestic violence cases, including possible one-year ban

    By Mark Maske August 13

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2014/08/13/nfl-considering-tougher-penalties-for-future-domestic-violence-cases-including-possible-one-year-ban/

    The NFL is considering toughening its penalties for players who commit acts of domestic violence, including a potential one-year ban for a second offense, according to multiple people familiar with the league’s recent deliberations.

    The prospective new policy, if it is implemented, could establish guidelines for a suspension of four to six games without pay for a first offense and potentially a season-long suspension for a second incident, according to those with knowledge of the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic and because no final decision has been made by the league on implementing the policy.

    The contemplated changes, if they are made by the NFL, would come after the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell have been criticized heavily for the two-game suspension imposed on Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for allegedly striking Janay Palmer, the woman who is now his wife. Many media members and other observers have called Rice’s suspension insufficient and said it sends the wrong message about the league’s attitude toward domestic violence.

    It was not clear if the potential new policy faces any significant obstacles to being put into effect.

    “We need to have stricter penalties,” said one person with knowledge of the league’s deliberations on the matter. “I think you will see that. I believe the commissioner and others would like to see stricter penalties. We need to be more vigilant.”

    That person said Goodell and the league “tried to stick with precedent” from previous NFL disciplinary measures when deciding on the length of Rice’s suspension.

    “A lot of us were disturbed by what we saw” in the Rice case, the person said. “I think you will see something in probably the next few weeks. A first offense could be four to six games, definitely more than two. A second offense might be a year.”

    AdvertisementA second person who had been briefed on the matter confirmed that the increased penalties are under consideration. That person said he did not know if it is definite that the new policy will be enacted nor when the new policy, if implemented, might go into effect.

    The NFL declined to comment through a spokesman.

    Two people with close ties to the NFL Players Association said the union was not involved in the deliberations.

    Rice’s suspension resulted from an incident in February in which he allegedly struck Palmer, then his fiancée, in a hotel elevator in Atlantic City. Video became public showing Rice pulling an apparently unconscious Palmer from the elevator. The couple later married. Rice pleaded not guilty to a third-degree aggravated assault charge and avoided trial when he was accepted into a pretrial intervention program.

    Rice was suspended from the Ravens’ first two games of the upcoming season without pay and was fined an additional game check based on last season’s salary. He will lose about $529,000 from the NFL’s penalty.

    Goodell has defended the length of the suspension. When he spoke to reporters while in Canton, Ohio, for the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, he said that the punishment “has to be consistent with other cases, and it was in this matter.”

    ==========

    NFL considering stiffer punishment in abuse cases amid Ray Rice uproar

    By Eric Edholm

    https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-considering-stiffer-punishment-in-abuse-cases-amid-ray-rice-uproar-161850996.html

    The NFL oh-so carefully has allowed word to leak out that it plans to get tougher on players who commit acts of domestic violence in the wake of the backlash of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s suspension.

    The Washington Post, citing league sources, said the NFL is looking to toughen player bans for as much as a yearlong suspension for a second offense. A first offense could garner a suspension in the range of four to six games, according to Mark Maske’s report.

    Rice’s abuse case and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s perceptibly light sentence — a two-game suspension — has caused some uproar in league circles, as well as from fans and media members. The message, they have said, is that the league has taken a lenient stance towards physical abuse.

    “We need to have stricter penalties,” one person told Maske of the NFL’s discussions on the matter. “I think you will see that. I believe the commissioner and others would like to see stricter penalties. We need to be more vigilant.”

    That’s classic NFL, isn’t it? There’s vocal opposition to an issue, and quietly — through leaked sources — the league lets it be known that changes are in store. Savvy PR folks they employ there. At least they are open to some change and listening to some of the outrage.

    Nothing like slamming that barn door shut after the first flock has gotten out. Goodell had defended the discipline process and the sentencing on Rice, citing league precedents on past cases. It appears he and the league officials in charge of disciplinary matters are seeing things differently now.

    Fair or not, apples to kumquats notwithstanding, observers comparing Rice’s discipline and those of marijuana offenders and recreational-drug takers are having a field day with the apparent lack of justice. Heck, Terrelle Pryor once was docked five games for a violation he committed while still under the NCAA’s umbrella … in a tattoo scandal! By that comp, at the very least, Rice skated.

    “A lot of us were disturbed by what we saw [in the Rice case],” the source told the Post. “I think you will see something in probably the next few weeks. A first offense could be four to six games, definitely more than two. A second offense might be a year.”

    Rice was indicted on a third-degree aggravated assault charge for striking his then fiancée, now wife, Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City casino in February. He since has apologized and taken full responsibility for his actions. Rice will miss the Ravens’ first two games of the season, against the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsbugh Steelers. He’ll be eligible to return to the Ravens’ active roster prior to their Week 3 game against the Cleveland Browns.

    in reply to: name 3 players you will watch Saturday #4031
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    With both Jones and Rhaney down, I am switching to Bradford, center (Wells, Barnes, Person) and Mason.

    in reply to: Ferguson #4030
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    Turmoil, tear gas give way to hope in Ferguson

    Associated Press

    By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

    http://news.yahoo.com/turmoil-tear-gas-way-hope-ferguson-053336976.html

    FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — County police in riot gear and armored tanks gave way to state troopers walking side-by-side with thousands of protesters as the St. Louis suburb where an unarmed black teen was shot by a city police officer overwhelmingly avoided violence Thursday after nearly a week of unrest and mounting public tension.

    The dramatic shift came after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon assigned oversight of the protests to the state Highway Patrol, stripping local police from the St. Louis County Police Department of their authority after four days of clashes with furious crowds protesting the weekend death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

    “All they did was look at us and shoot tear gas,” said Pedro Smith, 41, who has participated in the nightly protests. “This is totally different. Now we’re being treated with respect.”

    The more tolerant response came as President Barack Obama spoke publicly for the first time about Saturday’s fatal shooting — and the subsequent violence that shocked the nation and threatened to tear apart Ferguson, a town of 21,000 that is nearly 70 percent black and patrolled by a nearly all-white police force.

    Obama said there was “no excuse” for violence either against the police or by officers against peaceful protesters.

    Nixon’s promise to ease the deep racial tensions was swiftly put to the test as demonstrators gathered again Thursday evening in the neighborhood where looters had smashed and burned businesses on Sunday and where police had repeatedly fired tear gas and smoke bombs.

    But the latest protests had a light, almost jubilant atmosphere among the racially mixed crowd, more akin to a parade or block party. The streets were filled with music, free food and even laughter. When darkness fell —the point at which previous protests have grown tense — no uniformed officers were in sight outside the burned-out QuikTrip convenience store that had become a flashpoint for standoffs between police and protesters.

    “You can feel it. You can see it,” protester Cleo Willis said of the change. “Now it’s up to us to ride that feeling.”

    Nixon appointed Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who is black, to lead the police effort. Johnson, who grew up near Ferguson and commands a region that includes St. Louis County, marched alongside protesters Thursday, joined by other high-ranking brass from the Highway Patrol as well as the county department. The marchers also had a police escort.

    “We’re here to serve and protect,” Johnson said. “We’re not here to instill fear.”

    Several people stopped to shake hands and even hug Johnson and other officers, thanking them by name. At one point, Johnson spoke to several young men wearing red bandanas around their necks and faces. After the discussion, one of the men reached out and embraced him.

    At the QuikTrip, children drew on the ground with chalk and people left messages about Brown.

    “I know emotions are raw right now in Ferguson, and there are certainly passionate differences about what has happened,” Obama said. “But let’s remember that we’re all part of one American family.”

    Residents in Ferguson have complained about the police response that began soon after Brown’s shooting with the use of dogs for crowd control — a tactic that for some evoked civil-rights protests from a half-century ago. The county police had taken over the investigation of Brown’s shooting and security at the request of the smaller city.

    Nixon vowed that “Ferguson will not be defined as a community that was torn apart by violence but will be known as a community that pulled together to overcome it.” The governor was joined at a news conference by the white mayor of St. Louis and the region’s four state representatives and the county executive, all of whom are black.

    The city and county remain under criticism, though, for refusing to release the name of the officer who shot Brown, citing threats against that officer and others. The hacker group Anonymous on Thursday released a name purported to be that of the officer, but the Ferguson police chief said the name was incorrect.

    Like the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, social media brought international attention to the tragedy. Ferguson spawned a proliferation of hashtags and has been a dominant subject on Twitter, Facebook and other sites. Journalists and protesters offered real-time pictures, videos and updates, and the world responded.

    Police have said Brown was shot after an officer encountered him and another man on the street. They say one of the men pushed the officer into his squad car, then physically assaulted him in the vehicle and struggled with the officer over the officer’s weapon. At least one shot was fired inside the car. The struggle then spilled onto the street, where Brown was shot multiple times.

    Dorian Johnson, who says he was with Brown, has told a much different story. He has said the officer ordered them out of the street, then grabbed his friend’s neck and tried to pull him into the car before brandishing his weapon and firing. He says Brown started to run and the officer pursued him, firing multiple times.

    Attorney General Eric Holder has said federal investigators have interviewed witnesses to the shooting. A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said federal authorities have interviewed Johnson. Holder spoke by telephone Thursday with Brown’s family.

    In St. Louis, Brown’s mother appeared briefly Thursday night at an anti-brutality gathering near the city’s Gateway Arch, urging through a relative for peace to prevail. The observance was among many staged nationwide, each with a minute of silence for Brown and others affected by alleged police brutality.

    in reply to: Camp Report 8/14/14 + follow-up #4021
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    Moderator

    some follow-up

    ====

    CoachO

    Austin looks fine. If its possible, he is playing faster this year. Which tells me he has a better understanding of the system.

    But in all honesty, he isn’t the first option very often. And depending on the personnel grouping, he will be sharing reps with Kendricks if they stay with Quick and Britt on the outside. They are working him out of the backfield much more this year, than last. And today they ran him on a reverse that was very well set up. He came in motion, and took the toss, so it was virtually a toss sweep.

    I do expect him to get reps in the 2 WR sets, but that may not be until Bailey gets back. Until then, look for him in the slot most of the time.

    The whole key for me, as it pertains to Austin, Briitt and Quick have to make an impact. And that will come from the play action game. If defenses have to account for the intermediate routes, that both can be so effective running, that will open things up underneath for Austin. By holding the LBs in play action, and forcing the Safeties to honor Quick and Britt, those crossing routes by Austin are now BEHIND the LBs instead of in front of them. Even if its only a couple of yards, it will give him plenty of room to turn the play up, rather than being in front of the LBS who can string the play out and not give him the room he needs to turn it up.

    *

    Brandon McGeee has been banged up with one thing after another. He will practice one day, and then miss the next two. IMO, Gaines has passed him up. McGee will make the roster, and will be a core ST player. But Gaines is much better in coverage already.

    *

    Robinson is working exclusively at LG, with Long being back, and taking all the LT reps. For the moment, the ONLY starter not practicing is Saffold, with Joseph taking all the RG reps.

    They have been working more on the running game, with Robinson, (both guards for that matter) pulling and he just buries guys when he gets to the 2nd level. His biggest issue will be when pulling, knowing when to look inside, and when to go ahead and get to the 2nd level. He has a tendency of running past a guy because he is so focused on the LB. That’s where lining up between Long and Wells should be invaluable.

    You will have Wells, Barnes and Person all on the 53 man roster.

    They will have Joseph, Barnes and Person who all can play guard. And that doesn’t even mention Bond, if he makes the team

    This is shaping up like a typical Boudreau unit, versatile, but much more talented than they have had in recent memory.

    *

    Emory Blake has a couple nice catches, and seems to be separating himself from the next group of WRs.

    *

    If you watch any of the other games, you will see the same issues in tackling that you saw last Friday. Its a direct by product of the new CBA.

    The biggest concern is the lack of depth at LB. As long as they can march Laurinaitis, Dunbar and Ogletree out there week in and week out, then this defense will be VERY good. They are woefully inexperienced at LB, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them add some experience once the final cuts are made.

    *

    The secondary is not gonna be as much of an issue as many think it will. Again, barring any major or widespread injuries, the top 4 CBs are gonna be fine, as will the top 3 Safeties. With the front seven playing up to its potential, teams just aren’t gonna have the time to exploit the young secondary.

    Avatar photozn
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    Two linebackers with blocking pads engage one linebacker who has to fight through the other two. They have driven those guys this week about taking the right angle toward tackling this week.

    Interesting. Sounds like an interventionist fixer type.

    BTw, from what you’ve seen, do you have a take on Barnes? Is he showing signs of stepping up over last year?

    Avatar photozn
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    Williams spent an awful lot of time over there during their unit drills, more so than I would say any other individual unit

    You said in particular they were working on getting off blocks?

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    St. Louis Rams “Nexium Player to Watch”- WR Tavon Austin. Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt break down Tavon Austin, their 2014 St. Louis Rams “Nexium” Player to Watch.

    in reply to: reporters at practice, Day 15: Wagoner, etc. #4010
    Avatar photozn
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    Fisher said left tackle Jake Long will not play this week against Green Bay but they are targeting next week against Cleveland to get him some game action. That falls in line with the plan for him from the beginning. … Cornerback Janoris Jenkins got back to work Thursday and though he might not play this week, he went through team drills and is close to ready. … Rookie center Demetrius Rhaney had the scariest moment of the day when he stayed down after his knee buckled on a field goal drill. Rhaney had to be taken off on a golf cart. Fisher said the initial indication was that Rhaney’s injury wasn’t as serious as first feared but he would still need an MRI. … Fisher also said right guard Rodger Saffold is “close” to returning from a stinger injury.

    The ups and downs of the long ongoing minor injury saga.

    ..

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