NFL: Thursday’s News, Notes, and Observations
There have been a couple of new developments over the past day or so around the league. Another team makes a quarterback change while another sticks with what they have. Jeff Fisher is set to make a decision today on who his quarterback will be. Walter Jones is officially done for the year and possibly his career, Larry Johnson is officially suspended and more.
Johnson Out, Freeman In
Josh Freeman led the first team offense in Tampa Bay’s first full practice since returning from London and head coach Raheem Morris announced Freeman will be the starter when the Bucs take on Green Bay in week 9. It comes as no real surprise that Morris decided to pull the plug on Josh Johnson after he completed just 9 of 26 passes and threw three interceptions against the Pats last weekend. In Johnson’s four winless starts the offense never scored more than 14 points in a game with Johnson throwing 8 interceptions.
One should not expect too much out of Freeman being a rookie quarterback on a bad team. But, to be honest, I do not know that I will ever expect much out of Freeman. He just felt like a guy that teams fell in love with because he has a rocket arm, but, he was never terribly accurate in college and tended to really struggle against the better teams in the Big 12, and the Big 12 has not been known for its stalwart defenses the past few years.
Who knows maybe he will turn out to be a good quarterback, but I just do not see it.
Delhomme the Man
Much to the dismay of Carolina Panthers fans head coach John Fox announced Jake Delhomme will remain the starting quarterback for the time being. On the surface the decision seems rather dumbfounding given how atrocious Delhomme has been at times this year. Only Josh Johnson, JaMarcus Russell, and Derek Anderson have lower passer ratings this season and Delhomme leads the league with 13 interceptions.
The problem is the alternatives are Matt Moore and A. J. Feely. Moore had a handful of starts back in ’07 when Delhomme went down with an elbow injury and did nothing to leave the impression that he was ever going to be anything more than a serviceable backup in the NFL. Ultimately the only reason Feely was even signed was because Josh McCown went down with a season-ending injury in week one. They simply needed someone to be the emergency quarterback in the event Moore and/or Delhomme go down to injury.
One wonders if McCown had stayed healthy if Delhomme would still be the starter in Charlotte this weekend. If McCown were healthy one has to think he would be starting this week against Arizona.
Will it be Young or Collins?
Head coach Jeff Fisher has yet to reveal who the team’s starting quarterback will be this Sunday when the Titans take on the Jags. It is being reported this week that team owner Bud Adams is leaning on Fisher to get Young out there more than he has. One has to think that if Adams is seriously giving Fisher heat about not playing Young that Young will be the starter this weekend. If Collins draws the start then one has to think Young will see significant time at some point on Sunday.
LJ Suspended
Larry Johnson was officially suspended Wednesday and will not play in the Chiefs next game against the Jaguars on November 8th. Johnson has said he will file an appeal but it seems rather fruitless. Regardless of his claims that he is intent was to promote his father and not disparage his coach one has to wonder what he thought would happen. You cannot openly criticize your coach the way you did and not expect some repercussions. One cannot go around and openly criticize their employer and not expect to be punished when the higher ups find out about it.
There has been rampant speculation the Chiefs will merely cut Johnson loose when his suspension and/or appeal is resolved. They are probably further ahead simply cutting him loose rather than having around the team where he can be potentially toxic to a team that is trying to rebuild itself.
Walter Jones Done
The Seahawks put All-Pro tackle Walter Jones on Injured Reserve this week officially bringing his season to an end. There is also a lot of speculation that Jones’ career is over in Seattle. He says he still wants to play next season and is rehabbing with that goal in mind. It sounds as though Jones’ heart is not listening to his body just yet.
Brian Westbrook Update
Brian Westbrook has been officially listed as a game time decisions for the Eagles Sunday. I am still leaning towards him not playing this weekend.
Trent Edwards Done in Buffalo?
The fact that the Bills brought Patrick Ramsey in for a tryout earlier this week makes one wonder how bad Trent Edwards’ concussion was. He was ruled out of this week’s game prior to Monday. One of the first injury updates I heard about this week was that Edwards would not play this weekend. Given the concussion was a week-and-a-half ago and Edwards is nowhere close to returning to the practice field makes one think Edwards is not coming back any time soon.
The fact that Ramsey, a former Bills quarterback, was brought in this week makes one wonder if the Bills think Edwards will be back on the field at all this season.
