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| Wednesday, August 4, 2021 |
| Howdy-do everyone! It's Wednesday, which can only mean one thing, you're getting your weekly dose of me, Cody Benjamin. |
| Just kidding guys, it's actually me, John Breech. Although Cody is usually in charge of the Wednesday newsletter, my understanding is that he partied too hard celebrating Tom Brady's birthday last night so he he couldn't be here today... or he's on vacation. It's one of the two, I can't remember. |
| Anyway, what all of this means is that you get a bonus day of me, which is like getting a bonus piece of cake: You probably don't need it, but you'll still probably like it. Alright, I'm going to stop talking so we can get to the rundown. We've got a full newsletter today that includes a possible Philip Rivers return plus Jonathan Jones explains why the Giants brawl might have actually been a good thing for them. |
| As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them. |
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| 1. Today's show: Edgerrin James talks about his upcoming HOF induction in the 'All Things Covered' takeover |
| We don't have a new episode of the Pick Six Podcast today, but we do have something just as fun: A full takeover by the guys over at the "All Things Covered" podcast. If you don't listen to that, you should definitely start right now. The show is hosted by two-time Super Bowl winner Bryant McFadden and Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson, who are highly entertaining together (Although Peterson wasn't on today's special show). |
| For today's episode, McFadden decided to celebrate this week's Hall of Fame induction by bringing on a guest who is going to be inducted and that is Edgerrin James. The former Colts running back was actually supposed to be inducted last year, but his ceremony got pushed to this year after the HOF was forced to cancel the 2020 festivities due to COVID. |
| The upside for James is that it means he's now going to be inducted with Peyton Manning, who was his teammate for seven years in Indianapolis, and he's pretty excited about that. |
| "When there's a chance to be a Hall of Famer, that's big enough," James said. "But then all of the sudden you say 'I get to go in with my man [Peyton]' you know that's the icing on the cake." |
| James wanted to stick to his Colts roots for his Hall of Fame induction, which is why he chose Colts owner Jim Irsay as his presenter. |
| "I think it's the right thing to do," James said. "For me, it's a no brainer." |
| The fact that James was being interviewed by McFadden for today's show definitely added a fun twist and that's because the two guys played in some epic games against each other. During Pittsburgh's Super Bowl season in 2005, McFadden's wild-card Steelers knocked off the 14-2 Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs. That loss ended up being James' final game with Indianapolis. |
| After James signed with the Cardinals in 2006, the two guys met on the field two years later in the Super Bowl. Once again, McFadden got the best of James as the Steelers beat the Cardinals, 27-23, in Super Bowl LIII. |
| To hear James talk about his Hall of Fame career and to listen to today's entire episode, be sure to click here. |
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| 2. Philip Rivers hints at possible NFL comeback |
| Philip Rivers hasn't even been retired for seven months yet and he's already thinking about making an NFL return. The quarterback, who officially announced his retirement in January, is leaving the door open for a possible comeback during the 2021 season. |
| During an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, Rivers made it clear that he might not stay retired. |
| "I'm just going to stay ready," Rivers said. "I want to make sure I'm very clear: I'm not predicting I will play in December or January, for that matter. One, you've got to have somebody who wants you, and two, it's got to be right. But I have not completely ruled that out." |
| Rivers' return timeline |
| If you're wondering why Rivers would mention "December or January" as a possible return date, that's probably because he doesn't want to give up his day job. The former NFL quarterback is currently going into his first season as the head coach of the football team at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama and it's likely he wants to finish the season with them before potentially making an NFL return. |
| If that's his timeline, it means that Rivers could be looking to return as soon as November, assuming St. Michael's doesn't make the Alabama state playoffs (The school's final regular season game is on Oct. 29). The good news for Rivers is that if he's not planning to come back until November, that will give him plenty of time to get into shape, which is apparently time that he definitely needs. |
| "I'm not quite there," Rivers said of being in football shape. "I'm getting back there. I wouldn't have made weight if I had to report last week, that's for sure. But I am getting back into the lifting and running, and shoot, I occasionally throw a ball around out here in this heat. It's not too hard to get a good lather going." |
| Unfortunately for a team like the Colts, this won't help their situation right now. However, if another team loses its quarterback late in the season, they know who to call. Rivers spent 17 seasons in the NFL, including 16 with the Chargers and one with the Colts. |
| 3. Vikings roundup: Minnesota cuts 2020 first-round pick, team's owners concerned about low vaccine rate |
| You know it's been a rough 24 hours for a team when they get their own roundup in this newsletter and that's what's happening with the Vikings. |
| Here's a look at what Minnesota is currently dealing with: |
| Vikings cut 2020 first-round pick. The Vikings made the decision to release cornerback Jeff Gladney on Tuesday after he was indicted on a charge of felony assault in Texas. Gladney was the 31st overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. "Following our review of today's indictment against Jeff Gladney, we have decided to release Jeff immediately," the team said in a statement. "As we have previously said, we take these matters very seriously and condemn all forms of domestic violence." For details on his case, you can click here. Gladney not happy with the Vikings. After being released, Gladney's agent, Brian E. Overstreet, called out the Vikings for not waiting to see the corner's legal situation to the end, "It's a good thing that innocent until proven guilty still exists in this country. Unfortunately, the Vikings don't view it the same way," Overstreet wrote in a statement. |
| In non-Gladney news, the Vikings are also dealing with the fact that they have the lowest vaccination rate in the NFL, which is something that team co-owner Mark Wilf finds concerning. |
| "We're very concerned," Wilf said Tuesday, via ESPN. "I think it's safe to say that our No. 1 priority is the health and safety of our players, our coaches, our staff and, ultimately, the entire community. From that standpoint, we really are encouraging people to take the vaccines, to get vaccinated. |
| According to the Washington Post, just 64.5% of the Vikings roster is fully vaccinated (That number jumps to 70% when you include players who are in the process of being vaccinated), which means there are roughly 25 players who aren't vaccinated at all. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is worried about the competitive disadvantage that comes with having unvaccinated players. |
| "Probably won't be happy we lost the game, first, and I probably won't be happy we could've prevented this," Zimmer said of what will happen if the Vikings lose a game because several unvaccinated players weren't able to play. "Like I said, these guys, some of them just won't do it. I shouldn't say it, but some of the things they read is just, whew, out there." |
| Vikings corner Patrick Peterson, who is vaccinated, explained why he chose to go that route on this week's All Things Covered podcast. |
| "I know it's personal preference, but if you're trying to win a championship, I want to put myself in the best position possible, period," Peterson said. |
| Kirk Cousins hasn't been able to practice this week due to the fact that he was a close contact with Kellen Mond, who tested positive for COVID. If this had happened during the regular season, Cousins would have had to miss a game. |
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| 4. Dak Prescott and Ben Roethlisberger won't be playing in the Hall of Fame game |
| If you were hoping that the Hall of Fame game on Thursday might feature some future Hall of Famers, I have some bad news for you: Both teams will likely be keeping most of their starters on the bench. |
| Two starters who definitely won't be playing are Ben Roethlisberger and Dak Prescott. |
| Mike Tomlin announces Big Ben is out for the HOF game. There's no mystery about whether Ben Roethlisberger is going to play. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin announced on Tuesday that Big Ben will be sitting out and that Mason Rudolph will get the start. Dwayne Haskins is also expected to get plenty of playing time. In somewhat exciting news, Tomlin did also say that rookie running back Najee Davenport WILL be getting snaps against the Cowboys. Big Ben news part II. The 2021 season might not be Roethlisberger's farewell tour after all. Although the feeling has been that Big Ben would be retiring after this season, Steelers owner Art Rooney II isn't ruling out the possibility that he'll return for another season, "It's not written in stone that this is his last year," Rooney said Tuesday, via ESPN. Dak still dealing with shoulder injury. It's now been a week since Dak Prescott's shoulder started bothering him and unfortunately for the Cowboys, things haven't gotten any better. As a matter of fact, Prescott has actually "taken a step back" according to coach Mike McCarthy. What all this means is that Prescott won't be on the field for the Hall of Fame game and he likely won't be throwing the ball in practice for the next several days. "We just want to make sure this doesn't turn into something bigger," McCarthy said of the injury. |
| Although the Hall of Fame won't feature many starters, it's STILL FOOTBALL, so we'll be covering it more extensively tomorrow with a look at key players for each team who could make a name for themselves in the game. |
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| 5. Why the Giants all-out brawl could be a good thing for the team |
| Things got kind of crazy at Giants training camp on Tuesday and that's mostly because there was an all-out brawl that involved nearly the entire team. Our Jonathan Jones was actually in East Rutherford where he had a front row seat to the brawl. |
| Jones' biggest takeaway from all the chaos is that the brawl might actually end up HELPING team chemistry. The most surprising participant in the brawl was quarterback Daniel Jones, who somehow ended up on the bottom of the pile. Our Jones says the Giants' Jones earned some serious street cred in the locker room by taking part in the fight. |
| "Nearly every Giants player who spoke with media afterward ultimately said it probably wasn't the smartest thing for Jones to be anywhere near the fight, but even Clement couldn't deny that it earned the QB a little street cred in the locker room. |
| Jones has had the reputation of being this mild-mannered young guy, and seeing him get in the mix with his teammates may very well be the sort of ego boost and swagger he and the offense need going forward. |
| And it came on a day that was the offense's best in training camp so far. Jones was surgical in one-on-ones, team drills and red zone all day. I'm struggling to think of one bad pass he threw the entire day. He even ran in for a touchdown during red-zone drills that had everyone in blue jerseys hyping him up. |
| That's the sort of stuff that matters for a quarterback who didn't take the step up he needed to from Year 1 to Year 2. It's that sort of chutzpah the Giants will need from the leader in a long season." |
| If Daniel Jones has a huge season, we might see him purposely start a brawl in training camp next year. To check out Jonathan Jones' take on the Giants wild day at training camp, be sure to click here. |
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| 6. Rapid-fire roundup |
| It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. |
Kenny Golladay appears to avoid serious injury. The Giants wide receiver suffered a slight hamstring pull during camp on Tuesday, according to NFL.com . The good news is that it's a minor injury, but the bad news is that it can take some time for hamstring injuries to heal, so it won't be surprising if Golladay sits out a few days of practice. Panthers keeping an eye Deshaun Watson. The Panthers have been one of the few teams connected to Watson this offseason and although they now have Sam Darnold, that doesn't mean they won't try to pull off a trade for the Texans QB. According to Pro Football Talk , the Panthers are watching the situation closely and "could be inclined to make a move if Watson's contract can be secured at a reasonable amount."Quenton Nelson hoping to play in Week 1. The Colts offensive lineman underwent foot surgery on Tuesday that will keep him out for five to 12 weeks. Nelson is eyeing an early return and has made it clear he plans to be ready for the opener, which means he would only be out for five weeks.
Rams get good news on Matthew Stafford. The Rams QB had to leave practice on Monday after banging his thumb on a teammate's helmet, but it appears he was able to avoid a major injury. Although there was a small contusion on the thumb, Stafford was able to practice on Tuesday after x-rays didn't find any serious damage. Saints add linebacker. The Saints have re-signed Kwon Alexander, who was released by the team in March. Alexander celebrated his birthday yesterday by inking a one-year deal with New Orleans worth up to $3 million. It's been a busy week for the Saints, who have also signed Prince Amukamara, KeiVarae Russell, Adonis Alexander, J.R. Sweezy and Devonta Freeman over the past few days. Tyreek Hill dealing with tendonitis in his knee. Hill had to leave practice early after his knee starting hurting. According to coach Andy Reid, the tendonitis just showed up for the first time on Tuesday. Although it's an injury that could linger, the Chiefs aren't concerned with it right now, according to NFL.com. Jets player OK after being taken to the hospital. There was a scary moment at Jets training camp on Tuesday that ended with Cameron Clark being taken to the hospital. The team announced that the offensive lineman suffered a spinal contusion, but is expected to make a full recovery. Jets sign Josh Johnson. Going into training camp, the Jets didn't have any experienced quarterbacks on their roster, but that changed on Wednesday when they added Josh Johnson. He'll give them a veteran presence, but probably won't provide much else considering he hasn't taken an NFL snap since 2018. |
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