NFL - NEWS & NOTES

The Jets were left for dead after Rodgers got hurt. You could see the drain of confidence right after. Somehow they pulled themselves out of the funk and spanked Josh Allen and the Bills. The Jets looked dead when Rodgers left but the defibrillators brought them back.

 

Crazy ass game.

Its well known Im not a fan of Rodgers on or off the field, but the injury does suck, Id never wish that on anybody. The Jets and their fans must be reeling and in total dismay/shock to see such an event unfold.

 

WEEK 1 is history...

 

Here's a look at, WEEK 2

 

Zach Wilson will use this as motivation to try to silence doubters. Will he?

 

Thats the $10,000,000,000 question. He certainly has his chance now... again.

As to the 'will he?' question... Im not so sure he can, but i dont know squat about his ceiling/potential, it just seems he's had a few shots and hasnt proven much... just my opinion.

 

Amusing stat after week one: Falcons QB Desmond Ridder has more receptions than his WR #1 Drake London, by a count of 1 to 0.

But London has his revenge in the form of having more receiving yards that Ridder, by a count of 0 to negative 6.

 

I've got London on a fantasy team. I'd like to see those numbers improve

 

Report: Diontae Johnson to miss a few weeks with hamstring injury

The Steelers’ bid to bounce back from getting blown out by the 49ers will be complicated by injuries on both sides of the ball.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that wide receiver Diontae Johnson is going to miss a few weeks after hurting his hamstring during the 30-7 loss to San Francisco. Johnson was injured in the second half of that game.

The news on Johnson came a day after word that defensive end Cam Heyward’s groin injury is going to keep him out for an extended period of time. Heyward may need surgery and a stay on injured reserve before he’ll be ready to return.

Johnson doesn’t appear to be set to miss quite as much time, but both absences would be costly ones as the Steelers try to get off the mat.

PFT

 

London definitely is a great target, he also needs to be targeted. Sometimes game flow dictates something different, but when all is said and done, London will be at the top the charts, in my opinion.

 

Defensive tackle Chris Jones and the Chiefs have a new one-year deal. We have the details of the deal.

Here they are, per a source with knowledge of the terms.

First, he’ll have his same base salary of $19.5 million, minus the lost game check for Week 1 (i.e., $1.08 million). He has an incentive package that pushes the maximum total value of $25.16667 million.

He gets $1 million for participating in 35 percent of the defensive snaps. He gets another $1 million for participating in 50 percent of the snaps.

He had an existing $1.25 million incentive for reaching 10 sacks. That now increases to $1.75 million if he has 15 sacks.


Also, he gets $1 million is he’s named a first-team All-Pro and if the Chiefs make it to the Super Bowl. He gets another $2 million if he’s named defensive player of the year and the Chiefs win the Super Bowl.

The $2.1 million in training camp fines were not waivable; he needs to make that back through his incentives — along with the lost game check. Thus, if he hits every incentive, he’ll end up with a net of $22.16667 million.

PFT

 

Just so everyone knows, the pass blocking in the first half was atrocious, particularly McGary on the right side getting eaten alive by Burns. Ridder was having to check down to the RBs on every throw, and whenever he tried to hold on and look downfield to London or Pitts, he was sacked. Atlanta had eight completions at halftime, but ZERO net passing yards at the half thanks to two passes for negative yardage and 24 yards in sacks.

The blocking did improve in the second half, but the coaching staff clearly needs to clean that up quickly.

 

New NFLPA executive director calls for all grass fields

The devastating torn Achilles tendon suffered by Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers in only his fourth snap with the team has prioritized the grass vs. turf debate.

NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell, in his first public comments of significance in his new position, has issued a statement calling for every NFL field to consist of real, actual grass.

“Moving all stadium fields to high quality natural grass surfaces is the easiest decision the NFL can make,” Howell said.

“The players overwhelmingly prefer it and the data is clear that grass is simply safer than artificial turf. It is an issue that has been near the top of the players’ list during my team visits and one I have raised with the NFL.

“While we know there is an investment to making this change, there is a bigger cost to everyone in our business if we keep losing our best players to unnecessary injuries. It makes no sense that stadiums can flip over to superior grass surfaces when the World Cup comes, or soccer clubs come to visit for exhibition games in the summer, but inferior artificial surfaces are acceptable for our own players.

“This is worth the investment and it simply needs to change now.”

NBC
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This is a F'ing no brainer, been stressed by players for a while, in all sports decades ago. The indoor stadiums in football and baseball went astro and its not only less safe, its a game changer on how you play on it and how it effects the ball, etc, etc. It figures it takes an injury to dear ol' Rodgers to get this up front again and thats total bullshit.

NFLPA is a day late and buck short, the NFL is clueless, so lets all hold our breath as they determine if this is the right way to go.

My pee-brained analogy of the situation says; 'what the fuck have you been waiting for'? Of course Rodgers goes down and it makes a splash.

Im willing to bet this blows over... indoor stadiums will say, wtf do we do and the beat will go on. Back in the day, so many years ago, men were men, snow and rain and mud was cool, the elements be damned, but some psycho's with money decided to do something different and its all been down hill since.

US Bank Stadium in Minny is a beautiful place and it has glass to let the light in... so start there and plant some seeds.

All NFL, MLB should be on grass, period...... the NHL gets a flyer.

The end.

PS - I should be on grass!!!!

 

All i can say is the superbowl was played on grass amd everyone bitched

The steelers play on grass and sometimes from to many events to close it sucks and everyone bitches

 

Wasnt that all coming out of the ground tho, like divots all over the place? I dont know, but everything ive read said the players (majority maybe) 'prefer' grass... maybe they meant smoking it?

 

Chris Jones wants to stay in KC, despite 1 year deal... "I'm glad to be back this year…I'm hoping we can get something worked out after the year for the long term,"

Jones added that while he held out not to be a distraction, he missed the time around teammates this offseason.

"When you have a lot of new guys, it's just kind of tough to be away, especially in the D-line room. Building that chemistry is important to be successful as a group," Jones said. "But, those are decisions you have to live with. I wouldn't probably change it. But I'm grateful for how it turned out. Thankful for the Hunt family and Brett Veach and coach (Andy) Reid working with my team closely to make sure that we come to terms that we both can agree on."

Jones said things never got personal with Veach or Reid during negotiations, and he's happy to dive back into the season.


"Listen, I'm happy to be back. The business aspect, you can't get personal into it," he said. "When you get personal, things can turn bad. I never took it personal."

Jones and the Chiefs will be back at the negotiating table next offseason, but for now, the DL is centered on getting things back on track in 2023.

"My focus right now is being the best me I can be for this team, for this defense," he said. "Being the best player on this defense, being the best player in the league, and anything less, I'd be a disappointment toward myself. So my focus right now is being the best me I can be."

In part; NFL.com

 

Bears HC Matt Eberflus discusses Chase Claypool's struggles vs. Packers; Week 2 status unclear

The offseason conversation in Chicago centered around an upgraded group of playmakers for Justin Fields entering 2023.

One of those playmakers didn't show up in Week 1. Receiver Chase Claypool had a forgettable, if not invisible day in the Bears' 38-20 loss to the Packers, seeing two targets, registering zero receptions, and providing little of anything useful on a per-play basis.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, head coach Matt Eberflus remarked on Claypool's lack of effort on perimeter blocks.

"You all saw the plays that ... and again, the perimeter blocking needed to improve for all of us," Eberflus said, per ESPN. "And we're gonna get that, work hard to get that done."

Eberflus added that he met with Claypool to discuss those plays in particular after Sunday's loss.

Perhaps it was a matter of Claypool -- a former second-round pick of the Steelers playing in his fourth season -- failing to adjust to live game speed. He certainly looked as if he was a step slow.

"He displayed good technique in practice," Eberflus said of Claypool, per Shaw Local News.

Claypool received an awful grade from Pro Football Focus for his Week 1 performance, posting a 43.2. He's had an occasional clunker each year in his career, but this performance stands as his worst, beating out his previous low of 43.5, earned back in Week 7 of his rookie season back in 2020.

Claypool is years removed from just getting his feet wet in the NFL. One could suggest his struggles could have been health related, seeing as Claypool went to the medical tent during the game, but Eberflus shut down such thoughts Wednesday, explaining the medical staff never reported an injury for Claypool.

Eberflus remained cagey when asked whether Chicago might consider entering Week 2's game against the Buccaneers (1-0) without Claypool on the active game-day roster, delivering a general response that the staff was evaluating everything.

After a blowout loss to a Packers team that was finally supposed to be beatable, everything should be on the table for the Bears.

We'll see if change is ahead for Chicago in Week 2.

NFL.com

 

I’m sure glad we were able to fleece the bears for a second rd pick for Claypool.

 

As I said in a post on the bears board the concerning thing is the blocking in the WR Screen that everyone got a good look at during the live broadcast. Claypool is a former Steelers WR and for the most part they all know how to block. Sure they are not all Hines Ward but they are all better than the effort he made in that play and that includes him.

 

I'll be interested to see the comments players make over the course of the season about the new artificial surface that the Titans are introducing this year. Instead of the usual rubber pellets, it uses an organic infill that retains moisture. The team already switched to this new surface at their indoor practice facility last year.

Tennessee had been playing on a grass field, but they still experienced a high rate of lower body injuries. After a review, they believe their previous turf was a factor and that this new form of synthetic turf will actually be safer for the players.

They were on the road at New Orleans last weekend, so Sunday's game will be the first regular season test of the new field. It has hosted preseason and college games already though, and so far the feedback has been positive.