NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Josh Gordon is officially back.

Shortly after the Browns announced that they had moved Gordon from the “did not report” list to the active roster, the league confirmed that Gordon is eligible practice and play in games.


That was unclear from the Browns’ announcement, which said only that Gordon was going to participate in walk-throughs. It’s still not known whether the Browns plan to put Gordon on the field either for their final preseason game or their regular-season opener, but as far as the league office is concerned, there’s nothing standing in the way.

Gordon announced just as training camp was starting that he would not be there because he needed to attend to his health. Gordon has had multiple violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy and has played in just 10 games over the last four seasons... (PFT)

 

Jaguars wide receiver Marqise Lee suffered what looked like a serious knee injury during today’s preseason game against the Falcons.

Lee took a low hit directly to the knee and stayed on the ground for several minutes before he was put on a cart and taken to the locker room. The Jaguars quickly announced that he had been ruled out of the game.


Falcons safety Damontae Kazee was penalized for lowering his helmet into Lee’s knee on the play.

The 26-year-old Lee is heading into his fifth NFL season. Last year he started 14 games for the Jaguars and was the team’s leading receiver with 56 catches for 702 yards and three touchdowns.

If Lee is out for a significant period of time, it would represent a major loss to the Jaguars, playoff contenders who were counting on Lee to be a starting wide receiver again. The Jaguars would likely begin to look for a veteran wide receiver if Lee’s injury is serious. (PFT)

 

I hear Dez Bryant is still available.

 

Jaguars' Ngakoue fined for 'Hingle McCringleberry' celebration
Reuters 9 hours ago

FILE PHOTO: Jul 26, 2018; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (91) runs a protection route during training camp at the Dream Finder Homes practice facility outside of TIAA Bank Field. Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue was slapped with a $13,369 fine by the NFL for invoking an infamous comedy sketch while celebrating a sack in a preseason win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Inspired by Hingle McCringleberry, a fictitious receiver made famous in a "Key & Peele" comedy sketch, Ngakoue gave three pelvic thrusts after making the sack and was hit with an excessive celebration penalty on the field.

In the comedy sketch, McCringleberry is penalized for doing the same thing, despite the rule book dictating that two pelvic thrusts was the maximum allowed.

Following the game, Ngakoue said he didn't realize he would draw a penalty or that it was considered an obscene gesture.

"I did not know that would be a penalty, but you know, it is what it is," said Ngakoue. "You learn from it, and you got to move forward."

Ngakoue, 23, is in the third year of a four-year, $3.48 million deal and will make $735,101 this season ... assuming he can keep his celebrations under control.

A third-round pick by the Jaguars in 2016, Ngakoue has 20 sacks, 10 forced fumbles and 53 tackles in 32 games (31 starts) as a pro.
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I think it's fucking awesome that he actually did the "McCringleberry" in a game.

 

Key and Peele was good. The Substitute Teacher is one of the all time great skits.

 

AyAyRon!

 

He gets it

 

1st Sunday NFL action this year has a couple interesting games on...

 

I've been noticing a lot "Roughing the QB" calls this preseason. Along with the new helmet rule, it appears NFL defensive players are facing new challenges when it comes to making adjustments of these new ways.

Chiefs’ Tanoh Kpassagnon: NFL making it “physically impossible” to tackle
Michael David Smith,ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports 17 hours ago

Chiefs pass rusher Tanoh Kpassagnon was baffled with his controversial roughing the passer penalty today against the Bears.

Kpassagnon, who was flagged after a sack of Bears quarterback Chase Daniel, said the NFL’s new rule preventing tacklers from putting most of their weight on a quarterback when bringing him down, makes it impossible to do his job.

“I think it was just landing on him with the tackle. I don’t know,” Kpassagnon told Pro Football Weekly. “I guess they kind of want me to do something that a lot of people think is physically impossible.”

Kpassagnon said he believes the new rule against landing with your weight on the quarterback is going to be even harder to adjust to than the new rule against lowering the helmet to initiate contact.

“Helmet rule, it’s just keep your head up,” Kpassagnon said. “We’ve all been taught it’s safer for both players — I understand safety of the game. Everybody wants to keep their head safe, their body completely [safe]. It’s a lot harder than just the helmet rule, on both sides, calling it and trying to fix it. Still, football is football.”

Football is football, and football is a rough game. The NFL is trying to legislate a lot of the roughness out of the game, but that may be impossible without fundamentally changing the game.

 

I was having this conversation the other day with a co-worker regarding the changes in the NFL. He was saying due to the new helmet rule, you'll probably see more knee injuries.

Jalen Ramsey: Blame NFL helmet rules for Marqise Lee’s knee injury
Michael David Smith,ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports 7 hours ago

Jaguars wide receiver Marqise Lee left Saturday night’s preseason game with what looked like a serious knee injury, and his teammate Jalen Ramsey says the NFL is to blame.

Lee was hit directly on the knee by Falcons safety Damontae Kazee, and Ramsey said Kazee was just doing what the NFL tells defensive backs to do: Hit receivers low, rather than high.

“You can’t be mad at 27 [Kazee],” Ramsey said, via ESPN. “You have to be mad at the NFL; not mad at them, but that is how the rule is. People are scared to tackle normal because I guess they don’t want to do helmet-to-helmet and get flagged. . . . Game-changing stuff could happen. You don’t really want to blame anyone, but you feel bad for him. I don’t know, man, that’s just tough to see it happen to one of my teammates, period, but you can’t really blame 27.”

Kazee was flagged for lowering his helmet into Lee’s knee. Kazee said after the game that the hit was unintentional and he plans to reach out to Lee.

 

***BREAKING***



Mass shooting at Madden tournament in Jacksonville...

A Madden NFL video game tournament has become the site of our nation’s latest mass shooting.

According to WJXT-TV, at least 11 have been shot and at least four have died at a shooting at the Jacksonville Landing in Jacksonville, Florida. Via CNN, the shooting occurred during a Madden tournament.

In a video of the tournament posted on social media, the sound of shots being fired plainly can be heard.

We will provide updates as this story unfolds. (PFT)

 

Can the Giants afford to be trading away OL?

 

Pacman Jones signs with the Denver Broncos, terms not released.

Denver Broncos Sign Veteran Cornerback Adam Jones to One-Year Deal
Emily Caron,Sports Illustrated 2 hours 47 minutes ago

The Denver Broncos have signed veteran free-agent cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones to a one-year deal, the team announced Sunday.

Jones, 35, had been an unrestricted free agent since the Bengals didn't pick up his contract option in March. He spent eight seasons in Cincinnati from 2010 to 2017.

The two-time Pro Bowler only played in nine games last season between a groin injury and a one-game suspension by the NFL for a violation of the league's personal conduct policy because of an arrest last January.

Jones was drafted sixth overall in the 2005 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans. The West Virginia product has 494 career tackles, three sacks, 16 interceptions, seven forced fumbles and 12 fumble recoveries. He has also returned 182 punts for 1,922 yards and 121 kickoffs for 3,147 yards.

The specific terms of the deal were not released.

 

Eric Decker retires.

Eric Decker retires after a solid eight-year career
Decker’s retirement shouldn’t have come as a shock, considering he looked like he lost a step last season with the Titans. He knew it was time to step away.

Decker finishes with 5,816 yards and 53 touchdowns, a fine career for the third-round pick from the 2010 draft. His peak came in 2013 when he scored 11 touchdowns and had 1,288 yards for a record-breaking Broncos offense, and helped the team win an AFC championship.

 

So your going to take someone who doesnt make the best decisions when his brain gets full oxygen and put him in a city where it will get less oxygen?

 

Its being rumored the draft pick was a 7th rounder making it even more head scratching

 

Seeing it live, my first reaction was that if the refs go strictly by the "lowering the head" part and throw the flag based on that, it's now impossible for anyone to leave their feet in that last-ditch effort to make a diving tackle on an opponent about to break away.

The other thing that grabbed me is how bad the inconsistency really is in calling it. In the first two weeks of preseason, my general take was just that they were intentionally overcalling it to get the message out and make everyone emphasize safe tackling. I was okay with them throwing some "bad" flags now to make everyone safer later. It's just preseason, so go for it.

But that idea fell apart in this game, as there were at least two similar tackles later (involving tacklers from each team) that did not get penalized.

That's quite different. Nobody was being kept safe by this crew. These were OBVIOUS candidates for the flag that did not get called. One of the young tacklers even injured himself by leading with the head, yet somehow his head-first tackle was perfectly fine according to the refs.