MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell designates former NJ attorney general Peter C. Harvey to hear appeal of Deshaun Watson's six-game suspension

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday designated former New Jersey attorney general Peter C. Harvey to hear the league's appeal of Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson's six-game suspension for violating the league's personal-conduct policy, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported.

"Mr. Harvey served as the Attorney General of New Jersey and is now a partner at the Paterson Belknap firm in New York," the league said Thursday in a statement. "He has also served as a federal prosecutor. He has deep expertise in criminal law, including domestic violence and sexual assault, and has advised the NFL and other professional leagues on the development and implementation of workplace policies, including the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. Mr. Harvey has also served as the Commissioner's designee in other arbitrations."

Harvey served as the New Jersey attorney general from 2003-2006.

The NFL announced Wednesday it would appeal disciplinary officer Judge Sue L. Robinson's ruling on Watson. The NFL Players Association, which on Sunday stated it would not appeal Robinson's decision, has until Friday to respond to the league.

Robinson, a former federal judge, ordered Watson's six-game suspension on Monday, writing in a 16-page report that the NFL successfully "carried its burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Watson violated the (personal-conduct) policy" by engaging in "sexual assault; conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety and well-being of another person; and conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity of the NFL."

According to Robinson's report, the NFL argued Watson should be suspended for at least the entire 2022 season. Robinson, however, wrote that she was "bound 'by standards of fairness and consistency of treatment among players similarly situated'" in her decision.

NFL Network's Judy Battista reported Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the appeal, that the league again is seeking a one-year suspension for Watson.


"The NFL's appeal addresses whether, based on the findings made by Judge Robinson, the discipline should be modified to include a professional evaluation and treatment as determined by medical experts, an appropriate fine, and a longer suspension," the league said Thursday. "Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Mr. Harvey's written decision 'will constitute the full, final and complete disposition of the dispute and will be binding upon the player(s), Club(s), and parties' to the CBA."

Per the league's personal-conduct policy, the appeal will be processed on an expedited basis and will be based on a "review of the existing record," meaning that no new evidence or testimony will be permitted.

Watson's three-day disciplinary hearing before Robinson concluded on June 30 in Delaware.

Watson has previously denied any wrongdoing and maintained any sex with the women was consensual. Two grand juries in Texas declined to indict Watson on criminal complaints filed by 10 women.

NFL.com

 

Kevin Stefanski: We have to be ready for every scenario with QBs



Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has been suspended for the first six games of the 2022 season and that ban could grow thanks to an appeal by the NFL, so head coach Kevin Stefanski has some decisions to make about divvying up reps in training camp and the preseason.

Stefanski has to decide how much work to give Watson and how much to give Jacoby Brissett, who is set to start in his place during any suspension. There’s also the possibility of a lawsuit challenging the appeal ruling to further cloud the issue of when Watson might be available to play.


Stefanski said “all of these scenarios you have to be ready for” and that means finding ways to make sure that both quarterbacks are ready to play.

“We’ll let that play out, but we’ve got to get Deshaun ready to play,’’ Stefanski said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “He hasn’t played football in a year. We’ve got to get Jacoby ready to play. He’s potentially going to be playing early for us and starting and we’re going to be counting on him.

PFT reported that the team plans to play Watson in preseason games despite the suspension. Stefanski didn’t confirm that, but said the preseason offered valuable reps in front of a defense and it will likely be quite some time before Watson can get any of those in the regular season.

PFT

 

NFLPA files reply brief to NFL appeal of Deshaun Watson

Another step toward the hearing of the NFL’s appeal of the six-game suspension given to Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson took place on Friday afternoon.

The NFL Players Association announced that it has filed a brief replying to the league’s appeal. Friday was the deadline for the NFLPA to file that brief.


The NFL is believed to be looking for an indefinite suspension of at least one year as well as a fine. The initial ruling by Sue L. Robinson did not include any monetary penalty for Watson.

Former New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey was selected to hear the appeal by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Harvey has served on advisory committees for the league and consulted with the league on the Personal Conduct Policy that was used to suspend Watson.

The policy calls for an expedited decision on appeal, so Harvey’s ruling should come in the near future and provide the Browns with clarity about when they might have their big acquisition of the year in the lineup.

PFT

 

In all fairness to the Browns football team, it is very important and necessary for this to get done ASAP. The Cleveland Browns arnt the guilty party, Watson is and the Browns deserve to know, now that Camp has started, who is going to be their freekin QB. No more lolly-gagging, but time to get er done!

 

Have to disagree there. They did very little to vet Watson and then claimed that they did. And the structure of the contract, which itself was a big middle finger to the 24 victims suggests they expected he would be out a significant amount of 2022 games.

 

Unless you were a Browns front office employee, you can't possibly know how much or how little they did to vet Watson.

 

But like beach said they structured the contract as if they expected a big suspension.

 

They did. But that has nothing to do with vetting Watson to begin with.

 

You could argue the structure of the contract points to the fact they vetted him.

 

The contract structure had nothing to do with a pending suspension, it is how they structure all of their contracts.

That said, the Browns don’t “deserve” anything, they traded knowing full well what they were getting into.

 

Pete Carroll: Geno Smith is still leading the quarterback competition



When Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made a temporary exit from practice due to a COVID diagnosis, Geno Smith was leading the quarterback competition. Now that Carroll is back, Smith continues to hold the top spot on the depth chart.

Carroll addressed the quarterback competition with reporters on his first day back with the team. He confirmed that Smith remains the frontrunner, for now.


“They keep doing stuff every day, and they’re making plays,” Carroll said of Smith and Drew Lock. “They both make plays every day. I’m watching to see how it swings; if it goes heavy one way, heavy the other way. The guys are doing a nice job. We’re working hard to match up the reps with the guys that play up in front, and the receivers, we’re working to get that done, and that’ll happen, and you’ll see how it happens again tomorrow, how the reps are handed out, just so that we can make it a really even competition.

“Geno continues to be on top, he’s ahead, he’s been in the lead for all the obvious reasons, and he’s holding onto it and doing a really good job of battling. Both guys are communicating beautifully, they’re learning well, we don’t have any issues with anything we’re trying to do. There are no issues here where we have to ‘Oh, we can’t quite do this or that with this guy or that guy,’ it isn’t like that. They’re very talented arm-wise, and the ability to throw the ball down the field is there. So, let the games begin. Getting out there, now we’re in the middle of it, and we’ll see what happens. It’s a really big day tomorrow. It’ll be a really big day tomorrow.”

So why is Geno still the No. 1 guy?

“He’s just doing things right,” Carroll said. “He handles the system, he’s making the checks at the line of scrimmage, he’s able to control the protections and working with

Austin [Blythe], those guys are hitting it really well, and he’s just really talented. He’s made great throws every day. I’m still looking for them to really come in, and really own it, and put days together where they don’t have any negative plays, the plays that they wish they had back. So, in a sense, there’s been openings for both guys by not having the complete day, getting everything done, and finishing the day close to perfect.”

This implies that there’s still a path for Drew Lock to win the job. What does he need to do to make it happen?

“Just stay out there,” Carroll said. “He just needs to stay out there and show us how he’s going to make his decisions when the big opportunities come. He’s made a ton of plays already. He’s made a ton of good throws, he really runs well, he’s elusive, he has a really quick trigger, his ability to release the football shows up, he has a lot of talent now. So we just need reps. We need turns, we just need to see more situations to really find any reason to see a difference between the guys. There’s just not enough stuff yet.”

Plenty of that stuff will come in the preseason, apparently. The Seahawks continue to keep the timetable for making a decision for the Week One return of Russell Wilson close to the vest. It will be interesting to see who starts each of the first two preseason games, and whether the Seahawks will run the competition all the way through the third exhibition.

Vaguely looming over the competition is the possibility that the final answer will be “none of the above,” with an effort to pursue someone like 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo if he’s not traded to another team. Eventually, he’ll be cut. By then, however, there won’t be much time for Garoppolo to walk through the door and prove himself to be the best option — even if on paper he’s arguably a better choice than Smith or Lock.​

PFT​

 

Fair enough, but in my opinion you can't use the word extensively in describing your investigation when you didn't speak to a single victim or their attorney.

 

Panthers won’t decide on starting quarterback until after second preseason game



When the Panthers traded for quarterback Baker Mayfield, many assumed he’d be the Week One starter, when the Browns come to town. And he quite possibly will. But it’s not a decision that will be made for a couple of weeks, at least.

“I’m not putting a timetable on the quarterback position until after we get back from the Patriots week,” coach Matt Rhule said after Saturday’s scrimmage, via David Newton of ESPN.com. “The Patriots week is a true litmus test for us. That will really show us where guys are.”


The Panthers face the Patriots in New England on Friday, August 19. Next Saturday, the Panthers play the Commanders in Washington.

Newton writes that neither Mayfield nor Sam Darnold had a clear advantage during Saturday’s scrimmage, so the competition continues.

The longer this lasts, the fewer the opportunities both quarterbacks will have to get properly prepared for Week One. Even if it’s ultimately Mayfield, the sooner the Panthers go all in with him, the sooner he can go all in to get ready to face the Browns.

Still, it’s up to Mayfield to seize the job. Once the locker room knows he’s the better choice, he’ll have the job. And if he doesn’t, things could get very awkward for the Panthers.

PFT

 

Well hell... run them both out there and call it the quarterhalfback formation.

 

49ers willing to wait for Jimmy G trade

Rapoport reported Sunday that there's no teams right now who are obvious candidates for a trade to acquire Jimmy Garoppolo from the 49ers. There's still a few weeks left before Garoppolo (shoulder) is anticipated to pass his physical, but after that two main issues which could delay a trade are the lack of teams in need of a starting quarterback right now and the high salary Garoppolo is owed which a team would need to take on. Rapoport said the 49ers are willing to hold on to Garoppolo for as long as possible to get the best trade deal, even willing to hold on to him all the way until the cut-down date of Aug. 30, by which time a trade partner could emerge as players suffer injuries or don't develop as planned.

NFL.com

 

With the media and fans alike watching Matthew Stafford closely to make assessments about his throwing arm, the Rams quarterback had one message for them: just watch him throw.

"I don't know if you guys were watching, I felt like I could make any throw I wanted to today," Stafford said. "I'm just trying to be smart when I get those opportunities to make sure I can come out here, cut it loose, turn it loose like I did today and go from there."

Throughout the offseason Stafford has been dealing with a lingering elbow injury which required an anti-inflammatory shot and stopped him from throwing in the spring. And now with the season just weeks away, questions are still swirling over how Stafford will be able to manage the pain and just how much it could affect him throughout the season.

But head coach Sean McVay, who earlier this week said the Rams were giving Stafford a lighter workload in light of the issues, still said the team is not worried at all about Stafford's ability to play at his best come Week 1, and he reiterated Stafford's claims that anyone who watched him throw Saturday could tell he was doing fine.

"He threw it all over the yard today, looked really good, felt good. We're very much on track with what we had hoped and I think you could really see," McVay said. "The ball was jumping out of his hand, making all types of throws, and so I think he was trying to show you guys that there's probably not many questions you can ask him either based on how he felt in the way he was throwing it around today."

While Stafford and McVay both downplayed the injury when talking on Saturday, with the quarterback saying it was just "a little soreness," the issue could actually be more severe, with NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reporting that Stafford is dealing with bad tendinitis, also known as "thrower's elbow." Rapoport said that while Los Angeles doesn't appear to be worried about the long-term effects, when it comes to a franchise quarterback any issue with a throwing arm is taken seriously, which is why the Rams have been so careful to limit the number of reps Stafford takes.

As the preseason ramps up in anticipation of the start of the season, and with it the possible strain on an injured elbow, we'll have to see how Stafford holds up and whether his reassuring words prove true. But in the meantime, after watching Saturday's practice McVay said he at the least is not worried at all about his QB.


"I do know this, the way that he looked today, I don't think you would know that anything was going on," McVay said. "He felt good. So, I know that I'm going to sleep better tonight."

NFL.com

 

If I was a browns fan I would rather say my club didnt vet Watson at all rather than say hey we did our homework saw that he exhibited predatory behavior and traded for him anyway.

 

I think they thought he would be ok after no criminal charges were brought against him. The problem with filing criminal charges is that they need evidence that isn’t available a lot of the time.

 

To often people think no charges means innocent and that isnt the case at all.

 

That is 100% accurate, The burden of proof is much higher in a criminal case than it is in civil case. In Watson's case, neither Grand Jury felt the prosecutor meet that burden of proof. Going back to your earlier post . . .

I still believe the Browns did their due diligence before making the final (and successful) trade offer. I find it hard to believe the Browns weren't privy to, at least, most of the details in the NFL's investigation. That plus the fact that two seperate grand juries declined to indict Watson only underscored their decision to proceed with the trade. Had there been any hard evidence other than statements from the women, he may have, in fact, been indicted.

Where the Browns went wrong was thinking the NFL would actually abide by the decision and resulting suspension from Judge Robinson. One only has to look at the Ray Rice incident. He was initially only suspended for two games. And then the video of the incident went public, the NFL looked at the public opinion and then revised the punishment to an indefinite suspension. Ray Rice hasn't played in the NFL since. The very same Personal Conduct Policy used by Judge Robinson to determine that Watson did, in fact, violate the policy, also provides guidelines for the length of suspension. The Browns should have known that Goodell would, once again, react to public opinion, appeal the decision and attempt to get the suspension they wanted in the first place.

I will predict that Peter C. Harvey comes out with an indefinite suspension (plus a fine) requiring Watson to apply for reinstatement after the 2022 season concludes.