Category Archives: New York Jets

New York Jets

Roger Goodell breaks silence on sports betting

Roger Goodell has long maintained a public opposition to legalized sports betting, but is making adjustments in the wake of last week’s historic Supreme Court ruling.

We have spent considerable time planning for the potential of broadly legalized sports gambling and are prepared to address these changes in a thoughtful and comprehensive way, including substantial education and compliance trainings for our clubs, players, employees and partners. These efforts include supporting commonsense legislation that protects our players, coaches and fans and maintains public confidence in our games. We are asking Congress to enact uniform standards for states that choose to legalize sports betting that include, at a minimum, four core principles:

Last Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that a federal ban on state-sanctioned sports betting is unconstitutional, opening the door for legalized gambling nationwide.

Statements from the NCAA, NBA, NHL and MLB have been released in recent days since the decision was announced, all stressing the need to quickly devise a plan in order to protect their respective sports.

Drawing the NFC West on top of the AFC West will keep the travel manageable, with the exception of the Raiders “hosting” the Seahawks in London on Oct. 14. Here’s a look at all the Raiders’ games in 2018 and how well they are positioned to navigate through a overall weak slate.

Toughest tests: The Raiders were terrible on the road last season, going only 2-6 after they went to the playoffs with a 6-2 mark the season prior. They’ve got to get back to grinding for Gruden and winning close games away from the Black Hole. Opponent-wise, the Rams and Steelers plus their difficult AFC West foes make the home schedule more daunting in what could be the final season in Oakland. Denver, Kansas City and Los Angeles round out what’s arguably the league’s best division.

Biggest breaks: The Browns and Colts look like they would be breaks, but really, the most favorable matchups are on the road against the Cardinals, Bengals and Dolphins. Those five games are critical for the Raiders to return to the playoffs.
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So maybe everything is going to be hunky-dory in Pittsburgh after all.

Mason Rudolph, the Steelers’ third-round pick last month — and the apparent heir apparent to one Ben Roethlisberger — met with reporters at the team’s rookie minicamp Friday. He offered a much different perspective on the quarterbacks’ relationship than might be expected in the wake of Big Ben’s recent commentary, which partially questioned why the front office would select Rudolph.

I think the media got it kind of twisted around a little bit, Rudolph said. He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. He’s a competitive guy. That’s what I would expect. He’s a longtime starter.

I’m sure when we get in this building, in this room, we’re going to be friends, and I’m going to let him do his thing and pick up what I can from him but not bother him.

The Steelers community and sports world at large has been sending get-well wishes via social media to Shazier ever since he suffered his injury making a tackle in Monday night’s game against the Bengals. Steelers coaches and players told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review they’re more concerned about Shazier’s ability to lead a normal life than his football career.

“I’m not worried about him playing for us again,” Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “I’m more worried about him. … The thing that we’re hopeful for and prayerful for is he comes back and is going to be OK. The football stuff is secondary. His life is a lot more important than being a football player.”

Fellow Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats told the Tribune-Review, “After seeing him on the field like that, I just want to see him walking. That was scary to see happen.”

As the team started its final set of draft meetings, head coach John Harbaugh affirmed to GM Ozzie Newsome, assistant GM Eric DeCosta and the scouting side that his staff indeed had a plan that would work for both incumbent Joe Flacco and, should they be in position to take him April 26, Jackson.

And that was necessary—at some point, the scouts were going to need to have the coach basically say,We can win with him.

Harbaugh was willing to say it, which was the result of a plan he worked on with offensive coordinator Marty Morhinweg, senior offensive assistant Greg Roman and quarterbacks coach James Urban.

Quinn had an incredibly productive final season in college, with an NCAA-leading 114 receptions for 1,236 yards and 13 touchdowns.broncos_051_3015b50e640cfe9f-180x180

Dan Morgan To Join Bills’ Front Office

Dan Morgan looks set to follow other high-ranking former Panthers staffers east. Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports (on Twitter) the Seahawks’ director of pro personnel will join the Bills as a high-ranking member of Brandon Beane‘s front office.

Rlley Ferguson, QB, Memphis. Ferguson at 6-4, 215 pounds has prototypical, Brady-like size with the natural accuracy and efficiency from the pocket the Patriots demand. He’s a little thin and needs to improve his footwork, mechanics and delivery, but those are coachable aspects of his game. Although other positions would provide the Patriots more short-term help, all eyes will be on who New England tabs as Brady’s new successor.

From The Ringer’s Danny Kelly: “This feels like a big reach: Hurst is a high-floor guy who seems likely to develop into a dependable pass-catching option in the Ravens offense, but he isn’t special in any one area, lacks top-tier athleticism, and will be a 25-year-old rookie. Baltimore had too many other needs to invest in a tight end at this spot.”

Hurst to Baltimore isn’t a bad pick by itself because the Ravens needed a tight end, and this selection gives them that. But even though they traded down twice, it still feels like the Ravens reached on this one.

The guy can block, he can catch and he can do both of them at an elite level, which make him to me in my mind a 100 percent complete tight end –something you don’t see nowadays anymore, Gonzalez said during a Thursday interview that will appear on NFL Up to the Minute on NFL Network.

What could have been: The Browns and coach Mike Pettine could have re-signed hometown hero Brian Hoyer — who had a 7-6 record as a starter in 2014 — instead of signing Josh McCown and hanging on to second-year quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Does it matter? Hoyer started nine games for the Texans before throwing four interceptions in a wild-card loss to the Chiefs before moving on to Chicago. The Browns went 3-13 behind McCown, Manziel and Austin Davis. Pettine was fired and Manziel was released after the season.

In December, Shazier underwent spinal stabilization surgery.tigers_047-115x115

Horse named after Rob Gronkowski will not run in Kentucky Derby

The horse named after New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will not run in the Kentucky Derby.

Phoenix Thoroughbreds ownership group announced Monday that Gronkowski the horse developed a fever over the weekend and is unable to make the journey to Churchill Downs.

Gronkowski, who is part-owner of the horse, tweeted about his namesake.

“There are just different things that are more important to me at this stage of my life.”

Australian basketball fans now have the opportunity to see Bogut wear a Kings uniform in the NBL, achieving the dream he once had as a child. And because of Bogut and the players who followed him, Australian children can now dare to dream of playing in the NBA.

After lasting just two innings against the Boston Red Sox on April 18, Ohtani showed no signs of the problem in Tuesday’s start against the Houston Astros, when he allowed four runs on six hits and five walks in 5⅓ innings.

In those last two starts, Ohtani has an 8.59 ERA after allowing seven runs on 10 hits and seven walks with just seven strikeouts. That’s quite a contrast to his first two starts against the Oakland Athletics, in which he allowed just three runs in 13 innings (2.08 ERA) with just two walks and 18 strikeouts.

His next scheduled pitching start hasn’t been determined, but likely would come Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles.

Pujols’ home run was his 58th against the Astros, the most all-time by any player against the franchise. It was also his 31st career homer at Minute Maid Park, the most ever by a visiting player at the stadium.

Pujols played a decade against the Astros as an NL Central division rival when he was with the Cardinals — hitting a memorable, monster home run against Houston in the playoffs — before moving to the Angels and the AL West in 2011. Two years later, the Astros shifted to the AL West and again saw him more frequently.
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Sloppy Sixers sneak past Miami Heat for 3-1 series lead

Ben Simmons had the first playoff triple-double by a rookie in nearly 40 years, JJ Redick scored 24 points and the  Philadelphia 76ers outlasted the Miami Heat 106-102 on Saturday to move within a victory of the second round.

And then a 23-foot jumper over Ben Simmons to seal the win with 47.9 seconds left, trash-talking comedian and Philadelphia native Kevin Hart afterward.

“That’s what defines Dwyane Wade,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve seen that so much before over his career, and he’s not going to be logging the 40 minutes a game that he used to. But in these compact minutes, he can settle the group with his experience and his level of experience just to add a little bit of calm for some of our young guys.

“It was meant to be this kind of game for every single minute tonight; he needed to reach back and have one of those games. He has a great maturity and great presence to understand that it might be different the next game — and facilitate, he will do that as well. It was a very calming effect on the rest of our guys.”

Heat veteran Udonis Haslem sits at the locker next to Wade. On Monday night, he marveled at the throwback performance.

“He’s a guy that lives in moments,” Haslem said. “When you think about the career that he’s had, there’s those moments. And when we’re in those moments, there’s no person I’d rather have on my side than him.”

“In the old days, people would shoot you in the head (for taking a guard). You were considered brain dead and they’d drag you out by your toes,” Gettleman said.

“Is it ever too early to take a great player? You know my philosophy: Big men allow you to compete and you have to build your lines. I’m going to build this team from the inside out. ”

It’s not just the Redskins that Gettleman sees as smart in the NFC East Division.

The rival  Eagles won  Super Bowl LII on the strength of depth along the offensive line — surviving an  injury to left tackle Jason Peters — and a defensive line that never tired.

“Both fronts, let’s go,” Gettleman said. “Because again, those three truths don’t change: You’ve got to run the ball, you’ve got to defend the run and rush the passer. So, everyone else wants to talk about skill guys, and I want to talk about hog mollies.” steelers_050

Ozzie Newsome: Robert Griffin III had a good workout, will sign next week

Robert Griffin III is coming back to the NFL.

Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome confirmed today that Griffin worked out in Baltimore, impressed the team, and is ready to become a Raven.

“He came in last week, worked out, had a real good workout, and we were able to come to an agreement late yesterday,” Newsome said. “He will probably be here early next week to sign the deal.”

“They gave him something that’s violating all the rules. It is an abusable drug.” says Ege, the above-mentioned manager at Sober Living in Delray. “And not only is it an abusable drug, it’s a drug that will make you black out while you’re wide awake. So the unfortunate thing for Jamie in that week that he passed away, he might have blacked out and made a decision that killed him.”

“He was just pale white and as soon as I saw him, I knew that he was gone,” Potter says.

While most put Jackson at the top of the next tier of quarterbacks behind those four, the Browns want to get a thorough evaluation on Jackson as well.

“I’m going to do my due diligence on him,” coach Hue Jackson said. “I mean, we have to. The guy had a tremendous career at Louisville, so we’ll know about him as well.”

While it would be a surprise for Jackson to be the Browns’ pick, it’s also smart to do the preparation, if only to make sure they feel strongly about the one they ultimately choose.

KEN DANIELS WAS wrapping holiday gifts when the police officer showed up on his doorstep on Dec. 7, 2016. Daniels, the Detroit Red Wings play-by-play voice for more than two decades, had gotten to know many of the officers on the Birmingham, Michigan, police force through his job. But this one he didn’t recognize.

“He said, ‘Are you Ken Daniels?’ and I said, ‘Yes. What did he do?'”flames_005

Rams told Donald of Suh signing before finalizing contract

Before shelling out $14 million to Ndamukong Suh, the Los Angeles Rams consulted fellow star defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who’s eagerly awaiting a big-money extension. Before we did all this, we sat down with Aaron and let him know, Rams general manager Les Snead told Alex Marvez of Sporting News. He’s well aware we’re going to work to get something done this spring. But we (said), ‘Oh, by the way, we’ve got the chance to acquire Ndamukong.

Despite a promising end to his rookie season, Patterson never emerged as much more than a return man and occasional target on screens for the Vikings. He moved to the Raiders in 2017 and lasted one year before this deal. Patterson certainly has the speed to serve as a downfield weapon, but the Tennessee product has averaged a mere 10 yards per reception as a pro, ranking 106th among the 109 wideouts with 100 catches or more over that time frame. He also has six touchdowns as a runner and is a useful threat on the jet sweep.

A number of players were injured during the 2017 season as a result of helmet-to-helmet hits and plays in which the helmet was the primary point of contact. With so much focus on player safety and limiting the number of concussions in the sport, adding such a rule was the next logical step. Goodell said he has received lots of support from coaches, who support the use of instant replay on potential ejections for violating the rule. He added that coaches will have to instruct players to work on changing their instincts. We believe that this rule is actually going to be very easy for us to officiate and bring clarity, Goodell said, according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

With three years and $39.5 million remaining on his deal, it didn’t seem likely that the Giants were looking for a trade partner for their longtime edge rusher, let alone that they would find one. Enter the Buccaneers, who have a long-standing need for pass-rushing help. Tampa’s six defensive ends combined for 8.5 sacks last season, which makes modest production from Pierre-Paul suddenly look appetizing. Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht also loves contracts that don’t have long-term complications, and the JPP deal has nothing guaranteed after this season.
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The current pitching landscape also makes things way more complicated in formats with an innings or games started cap.

There’s less margin of error, since you can’t look to overcome one bad choice by compensating for it with a high volume of better choices.

Jones then helped add two more for the Blue Jackets, giving him four goals — three of them game-winners — and three assists in his last three games. He set up Wennberg’s tip-in goal at 7:51 and scored his own at 14:03, his 14th this season. Jones’ 48 points are three short of the franchise record for a blueliner, set in 2013-14 by James Wisniewski.

I can do a USA tour, whether it’s Portland, Seattle, Chicago or wherever, and I’m not getting these crowds, Thompson said. But I’m taking a five-city tour in China and there’s thousands of people waiting to see me, and I can’t believe it. The hunger from these people just to see one of their favorite basketball players is so cool. Knowing I’m 7,000 miles away from home and I can just shake their hand or give them a smile and they freak out, it’s unbelievable.

The Bills have the picks to get their quarterback in the draft. With the first and fourth overall picks, the Browns still control the board, but Buffalo now has the 12th pick and the 22nd, the only other team with two picks in the opening frame, more than enough trade capital to move up higher into the first round for a quarterback.

Dealing Glenn also means there’s one less team looking for a left tackle on the free agent market. That’s either good news for the handful of squads still looking for veteran blind side help, and potentially bad news for players like Nate Solder or Chris Hubbard.

But after spending two years in that 3-4 under Pettine and replacement Ray Horton, the Browns moved to a 4-3 under defensive coordinator Gregg Williams last season.

Shelton is never going to rack up big stats, but he was an effective piece in a Browns run defense that quietly finished fourth against the run in DVOA in 2017.

Splitting out individual pieces of a run defense is nearly impossible, but during Shelton’s career in Cleveland, the Browns were far stouter with him on the field.

Cleveland allowed 3.9 yards per carry and 20.6 percent of rushes to turn into a first down or a touchdown with Shelton on the field.

With the former 12th overall pick off the field, the Browns allowed 4.7 yards per rush and a conversion 26.2 percent of the time.
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J.J. Barea on John Wall: ‘I don’t think his teammates like him’

Mavericks guard J.J. Barea is no longer a fan of Wizards point guard John Wall.

Barea’s Mavericks blew out Wall’s Wizards 98-75 Monday night in Dallas. Barea scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists while Wall finished with 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Pominville also showed he hasn’t lost his touch against Toronto.

Re-acquired by the Sabres in a trade last summer after a four-plus-season stint in Minnesota, Pominville now has 19 goals and 50 points in 51 career games with Buffalo against Toronto.

“Wow,” the former Sabres captain said. “I should play them more often.”

Leo Komarov had two goals and Mitch Marner also scored for Toronto.

Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots in allowing five goals for the second consecutive outing after being yanked midway through a 5-2 loss to Washington in an outdoor game played at the U.S. Naval Academy on Saturday.

“It just happened. It really hasn’t set in. To sit here and say I grasp what happened tonight, I’d be lying. I was just determined. I was just locked in, tuned into what was going on out there. These points tonight mattered. We needed them. The points I put in the basket were instrumental. It means a lot more.

“We have four days off coming up here, and I would have been sick as a dog if we would have lost this game. I just wanted to step up and inspire us to play well, and it turned into something special. To put on a show like this for the fans here in LA is truly something special. I grew up in front of these people, and now they are seeing me as an older, young man.”

With this performance being so iconic, people can’t help but point out how Jalen Rose was mostly guarding Bryant the entire game. Rose has been mocked for this ever since it happened, so in a video for Grantland (RIP), Rose shared his side of the story.giants_145

Leaders of the NFL Players Association, including executive director DeMaurice Smith, also participated.

The league and union issued a joint statement that said: “Today owners and players had a productive meeting focused on how we can work together to promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities. NFL executives and owners joined NFLPA executives and player leaders to review and discuss plans to utilize our platform to promote equality and effectuate positive change. We agreed that these are common issues and pledged to meet again to continue this work together.

A high-ranking official with one NFL team said in recent days that the owners would like to see the NFLPA support players standing for the anthem.

Another person familiar with the sport’s inner workings cautioned that Tuesday’s conversations between players and owners likely would focus on league support of player activism and might not address the anthem so directly. That appeared to be the case as the meeting concluded.

The Eagles and Vikings ranked 1-2 in run defense during the regular season. The Vikings were No. 1 in both total and scoring defense; the Eagles were No. 4. Offensively, the Eagles had the No. 3 rushing offense, while the Vikings ranked No. 7.

That means, down to the QBs, everything is pretty even with a trip to Super Bowl LII on the line. Will the Vikings “bring it home” as 3 1/2-point favorites, or will the Eagles hold serve at home for a second consecutive week?

When the Celtics lost to the 76ers last week without Irving, the thought was that when he returned he would revitalize the offense. Irving brought his own mega offense when he returned, but the rest of the team didn’t respond as anticipated. Jaylen Brown was solid with 17 points and seven rebounds, but Al Horford and Jayson Tatum combined for only 18 points on 22 shots to sink the unit. chargers_006