MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

And I wasn't talking about Karma for the Eagles and/or Wentz, just you...

 

Makes no sense still.

Anyways I don't like Kizer and I don't like what they have been doing in Cleveland with their QBs for years, before, during and after they got the QBs. I do hope you guys find a QB, I don't chat about Browns QBs to make fun of them but because I want them to succeed. I'm not gonna bet on what I think is a losing horse. That being said, I was very impressed by Kizer today and I would like to see him prove me wrong and finish strong.

 

Plenty of factors complicate Aaron Rodgers’ potential return

As the Packers wait for final word from team doctors as to whether quarterback Aaron Rodgers will receive clearance to play on Sunday against the Panthers, several factors will drive the final decision. Let’s consider them, shall we?

1. Rodgers’ health: When he broke his collarbone on the left side four years ago, Rodgers went eight weeks between games. This time, he will have had a nine-week gap between games, if he returns on Sunday. That’s encouraging in isolation, but hardly dispositive. The real question is whether the bone, with 13 screws and a couple of plates, sufficiently has healed to allow Rodgers to play without significant risk of re-injury.

2. Medical input: Dr. Pat McKenzie will have a major role in deciding whether Rodgers will play. And despite his very good reputation for caring about players, the conflict of interest for doctors paid by teams to treat players is very real, as evidenced by the move to independent neurologists to determine when players can return from concussions. Two years ago, Cowboys doctors cleared Tony Romo to return from a broken collarbone — and he re-broke his collarbone in his second game back. There’s a subtle pressure to get Rodgers back on the field, regardless of whether McKenzie is actually influenced by it. For most teams, the truth remains that, if their doctors won’t give players the green light to play, the teams eventually will find doctors who will.

3. The team’s playoff chances: Rodgers said in early November that he’d return if he’s healthy AND if “it would make sense to come back.” So does it make sense to come back? At 7-6 and currently ninth in the NFC playoff picture, they need help in the form of one or more losses by the Seahawks and the Falcons in the final three weeks.

4. Perceptions of toughness: Four years ago, ESPN reported that Rodgers’ perceived toughness was a factor in when he’d return from a broken collarbone, given comparisons to his never-miss-a-game predecessor in Green Bay. Will those ghosts of Favre drive Rodgers to come back even if he risks re-breaking the bone?

5. Rodgers’ contract: Nearly five years ago, Rodgers reached the top of the quarterback market, with a $22 million-per-year deal. He now trails the likes of Matthew Stafford ($27 million), Derek Carr ($25 million), Andrew Luck ($24.5 million), and Joe Flacco ($22.1 million). Rodgers is clearly and obviously better than each of them, and yet the Packers haven’t done the right thing and given him a new deal. So without the financial protection that a franchise with no owner to line his pockets with profits should have given to its franchise quarterback, why should he put his health at risk unnecessarily? While Rodgers is smart enough not to ever mention this dynamic privately or publicly, he’s plenty smart enough to be aware of it. If the Packers were smart, they’d have signed him to a new deal by now.

Regardless of those factors, the thinking remains that Rodgers will be back this weekend against the Panthers. If he’s not, one of more of these factors will have decisively influenced the delicate play-or-no-play balance. (PFT)

 

Marcus Mariota dealing with hamstring, ankle injuries, may need surgery

Although the Titans shrugged off the left knee injury suffered by quarterback Marcus Mariota on Sunday, Mariota appears to be far less than 100 percent healthy.

Longtime Tennessee reporter Paul Kuharsky reports that Mariota is still struggling with the hamstring injury he suffered earlier in the season, and Mariota is also having problems with the ankle injury he suffered last season.

The ankle injury may require surgery, although Mariota can wait until after the season for that. The issue stems from the injury that ended his 2016 season almost a year ago.

Despite a disappointing loss on Sunday in which the offense couldn’t get anything going, the Titans remain well-positioned to make the playoffs. They have a one-game lead in the wild card race and trail the Jaguars by one game in the AFC South.

So the Titans expect to have at least four more games, and they’re hoping Mariota can tough it out through all of them. (PFT)

 

Brock Osweiler felt like a kid having fun in win over Colts

Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler had one of the best games of his career on Thursday night, entering to replace an injured Trevor Siemian and leading Denver to a win in Indianapolis.

After the game, Osweiler described it as one of the most fun outings of his career.

“I was a little kid having fun tonight,” Osweiler said. “That’s really what it was. You guys all know — I’ve been on a little bit of a roller-coaster ride for the last two years. Just to go out there, “Thursday Night Football” with my teammates who I love, I was just having fun. I was going to lay it all out there. We always talk about around our building, you never know when it’s going to be your last play, your last game in this business. So just enjoy every moment, and that’s really what I was doing tonight.”

Osweiler finished the game completing 12 of 17 passes for 194 yards, with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a career-high passer rating of 147.7. Osweiler, who will be a free agent this offseason, wants to prove he can compete for a starting job somewhere, and Thursday night’s game helped that cause.

 

Bills’ Tyrod Taylor to start, Nathan Peterman in concussion protocol

 

He looked like a competent QB out there. That TD run was nice, and his throws were on the money. nice showing from him.

 

Trevor Siemian done for the season...

Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian left Thursday night’s win over the Colts after taking a Barkevious Mingo sack on his left shoulder and it looks like that will be his final play of the year.

Mike Klis of KUSA reports that tests show that Siemian suffered a subluxation in his left shoulder. Per the report, Siemian will miss the rest of the season as a result and may need to have surgery to repair the injury.

 

Andrew Luck may need biceps tendon surgery

Colts owner Jim Irsay gave a brief update about quarterback Andrew Luck from the league meetings last week and said that there is “nothing ominous” in Luck’s right shoulder while adding that there’s no surgery planned at the moment.

That plan could reportedly change once Luck returns from his trip to Europe to get treatment on the shoulder.

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that Luck will begin a throwing program once he returns to the U.S. and that program will determine whether he needs “corrective surgery on his biceps tendon.” Mortensen reports that Luck is optimistic that things will go well, but that surgery will be an option if pain returns once he resumes throwing.

The surgery comes with a 3-6 month recovery timeline and they’d like to know if it’s needed by mid-January, which means Luck should be back on these shores soon with a better idea of his medical outlook after a lost 2017 season.

 

Aaron Rodgers' collarbone still not completely healed...

The CT scan results were not black and white. The decision for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to take the field Sunday against the Carolina Panthers after a broken collarbone wasn't simple.

Instead, a variety of experts weighed in -- medical people, Packers personnel, his agents and the quarterback himself -- to inform the decision that led to the return of one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

"It's not 100 percent healed," said one source involved in the situation. "But it's looking really good. Any time you're going through the final maturation, then weighing estimates and pixels on a CT scan or MRI, there's a decision. Everyone is concerned, as you can imagine. But everyone is ecstatic about the way the shoulder looks. There is a significant and robust enough physical response that we could put him in position to make a decision."

It wasn't solely Rodgers' decision to play, but no one pushed harder for it. Collarbones are fully healed after 12 weeks. It's been eight. Rodgers knows that.

He made sure he's out there.

"It's nice if everyone agrees," said another source directly informed of the situation. "But with a guy of this magnitude, and considering he's going to sign the biggest contract in NFL history this offseason, there were a lot of different voices. Trust me, no one is sleeping well on Saturday ... except Aaron."

Rodgers -- who the Packers will try to lock up with an extension this offseason -- did choose an aggressive surgical method, using two plates and 13 screws -- trauma-style. The hope was to be cleared by Week 15 in a way he would be protected.

 

Teddy Bridgewater “fortunate to pick up right where my dream left off”

Sunday was a memorable day in Minnesota for multiple reasons as the Vikings clinched the NFC North title with a rout over the Bengals that allowed them to give Case Keenum some rest while Teddy Bridgewater closed out the day at quarterback.

Bridgewater had not played in a game since the 2015 season due to the major knee injury he suffered in the summer of 2016 and his appearance on the field was greeted by an ovation loud enough to force Bridgewater to put his hands over his ears to hear the play call on his helmet radio. Bridgewater called it “amazing hearing the crowd chanting” and to see his teammates, including Keenum, joining in the response.

“We have a group of men in this locker room who uplifted their brother throughout a hard time in his life,” Bridgewater said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Usually when you have a dream and you wake up, you don’t remember what happened in that dream,” he said. “I’m fortunate to pick up right where my dream left off. Nothing tops that.”

Bridgewater threw a couple of passes, one that was intercepted and one that went for an incompletion, but the results were less important on Sunday than the fact that Bridgewater was back on the field.

 

Nick Foles looked great. Same with special teams (they blocked kicks were the difference between the Giants having to get a TD or trying a game-winning FG). The defense was another issue. Nigel Bradham dropped his 99th, 100th and 101th possible INTs of the season.

 

Browns confirm DeShone Kizer will start on Sunday...

Cardinals go back to Drew Stanton as starting quarterback...

 

Pete Carroll can’t explain why Russell Wilson played late in a blowout

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was at a loss to explain why quarterback Russell Wilson remained in Sunday’s game long after it was out of reach, exposing the franchise player to potential injuries in a blowout.

Carroll said he really isn’t sure why he and his staff didn’t pull Wilson from the game to keep him from taking more hits. Wilson was sacked seven times and the Seahawks lost 42-7.

“You probably all were thinking that too and I thought [to myself] why is he still out there? I agree with you. But he wants to keep battling and I gave him one more series. It’s just who he is,” Carroll said.

Wilson, who played deep into the fourth quarter, said he never wants to be removed from a game.

“I always want to keep playing,” Wilson said. “That’s just the mentality. It’s the competitor in me. I always think if there’s time on the clock, who knows?”

It’s understandable that a player wants to keep playing, but a coach needs to be smart enough to see a game is over and take his star quarterback out. A Wilson injury would have made Sunday’s ugly loss much uglier.
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Wow!

 

Packers place Aaron Rodgers on injured reserve

We won’t see Aaron Rodgers again in 2017.

The Packers announced on Tuesday that they have placed Rodgers on injured reserve less than a week after he returned to the active roster from another stint on the list. Rodgers missed eight weeks after breaking his collarbone and was less than 100 percent recovered when he made the start against the Panthers last Sunday.

The Packers lost that game and their slim playoff hopes went to none when the Falcons beat the Buccaneers on Monday night, which left little reason to risk further injury to Rodgers.

Brett Hundley will return to the starting lineup and the team announced that Joe Callahan is back on the active roster to serve as his backup. Fullback Joe Kerridge was also dropped from the roster on Tuesday.

 

Talking about Monday and Quarterbacks, the Raiders get an extra day to remember what Nick Foles did to them in 2013.

22 for 28, 406 yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs in 3 quarters before being benched.

 

Blake Bortles: If how I’m playing is trash, I’m fine with it

Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles has turned in three of the best performances of his NFL career in the last three weeks, but it hasn’t earned him the respect of his opponents.

Seahawks safety Earl Thomas called Bortles “subpar” after Bortles threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-24 win over Seattle in Week 14 and Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney called Bortles “trash” after the Jaguars humiliated Houston 45-7 last Sunday.

Bortles had 326 yards and three touchdowns in that game, which calls to mind the old saying about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure. It also makes “trash” a moniker that Bortles says he’s happy to have even if he’s not one to throw such words around when discussing his opponents.

“If how we’re playing and how I’m playing — if that’s trash, then I’m fine being trash,” Bortles said, via the Florida Times-Union. “I was always taught and I thought that you give praise to the people you’re playing when you beat them or they beat you. But guys are taught and believe different things. Not everybody is the same. They have the right to voice their opinion.”

Bortles has had some rough outings this season, but the seven-touchdown, zero-interception roll he’s on right now has him playing as well as anyone in Jacksonville would have hoped for at the start of the year. Should it continue into the postseason, it’s hard to imagine anyone down that way caring what any vanquished opponent has to say about their quarterback. (PFT)
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Bortles has been scary good... if he can find consistency, look out! Come too think of it... maybe he has. The Jaguars are going to be dangerous come playoff time and I'm still letting the fact that they are the 3rd best in the AFC record wise sink in.

 

Russell Wilson questions why Seahawks were fined

Russell Wilson doesn’t understand why he was sent to the sideline for a concussion check. He also doesn’t understand why the Seahawks were fined $100,000 on Thursday for failure to apply the concussion protocol to the quarterback in a November 9 game.

“I guess that’s what they decided to do,” Wilson said Thursday, via Gregg Bell of The News Tribune. “I thought that everything was done in the right way. There was a lot of confusion on why I was coming out of the game anyway.”

Referee Walt Anderson ordered Wilson out of the game after Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby hit the quarterback in the jaw. Wilson sat on the training table in the blue medical tent for what amounted to seconds before getting up, grabbing his helmet and returning to the game. He finished Seattle’s 22-16 victory.

“I was completely clear,” Wilson said. “My jaw was messed up, but other than that. . . . That’s what they decided.”

Since he doesn’t understand the reason for the Seahawks’ fine, Wilson didn’t understand why a reporter asked whether he would change anything the next time.

“What should I change?” he said. “More than anything it was just playing ball. I felt completely clear, so there’s nothing really to change, quite honestly.”

 

Nicky Six might not thrown 7 more TD passes, but the Birds are gonna stomp the Raiders.

 

I wish Chip gave him the extra 19 minutes. Greedy coaches like Carroll and Belichick would have. Could he have hit double digit TDs?