MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

So, all these ticky-tacky rules that have been added to keep the QB's safe aren't working so well huh?

 

Me too but it's fantasy related lol

 

Thats one way to look at it, or without the rules, all the QB's would be dead?

 

Falcons to start QB Desmond Ridder for next game vs. Saints

The Falcons are making a QB change and are going back to their original starter in Week 12.

Sources say Desmond Ridder, who began the season as Atlanta's starter, is expected to resume that role on Nov. 26 against the Saints. Ridder has been the backup to Taylor Heinicke the last two games, both losses.

Ridder, just 24 years old, was evaluated for a concussion in Week 8 against the Titans. Heinicke replaced him at halftime of that game and started the following two weeks.

Ridder is 4-4 as a starter this season, with plenty of big moments. The hope is that the two-game break during which Heinicke started serves as a reboot for Ridder.

Falcons head coach Arthur Smith had said prior to this weekend's bye that naming a QB during that week was a "little premature," but added that he considered the hamstring injury that Heinicke suffered against the Cardinals to be a low-grade one. In short, the QB decision would be made, injury or not. Now, it's slated to be Ridder.

The goal for Smith and Atlanta has been to name a starter and stick with him the rest of the season rather than go back and forth. Allowing Ridder to settle in should help.

Ridder's best performance of the season came during the Falcons' last-second win over the now-red-hot Houston Texans on Oct. 8, throwing for 329 yards with a touchdown and zero turnovers. That's the Ridder the Falcons want to see.

Following the team's last-second loss to the Cardinals on Nov. 12, receiver Drake London said of losing, "I don't want this to become a habit of ours. We just need to switch some things up. That's it."

With their original starter back, and a week to get rested and healthy, it all should help for the Falcons. Ridder looked solid when he stepped in for Heinicke to end last week's game, completing 4 of 6 passes for 39 yards.

"Sometimes you need a fresh perspective," Smith said this past week of Ridder. "That's what I think helped him. The reset, the refocus and working on things that I thought could help him, he's done that."

NFL.com
________
___________________

May as well start Ridder. You gotta ask yourself, is he the future or not?

Or, You gotta ask yourself, did he fire 6 shots or only 5?

 

Joe Flacco will join Browns’ practice squad on Monday

Joe Flacco is back in the AFC North.

PFT has confirmed that former Ravens quarterback, and Super Bowl XLVII MVP, will sign with the Browns’ practice squad on Monday.

He worked out on Friday. Per a league source, the Browns regarded the session as “very impressive” (as evidenced by the fact that they gave him a job).

Flacco, 38, has been interested in playing this year. Until last week, he had not drawn any significant interest. The Bengals showed no interest after learning on Friday that Joe Burrow would miss the rest of the season.

The Browns currently have Dorian Thomson-Robinson as the starter and P.J. Walker as the backup. Last Wednesday, the Browns announced that starter Deshaun Watson is out for the rest of the year with knee and shoulder injuries.

A first-round pick in 2008, Flacco has played for the Ravens, Broncos, Jets, and Eagles.

PFT

 

Head coach Arthur Smith fired six shots. This whole spin that Smith benched Ridder for two weeks as a "reset and refocus" is mind-boggling. You can't just tell your QB to stop pressing so hard and remind him it's a team game? Instead you have to bench him for two weeks and lose two easily winnable games without him?

More importantly, you went from leading the division to essentially having your season on the line in your next game.

This is the kind of crap that gets a coach fired, and if the team implodes down the stretch, Arthur Smith quite frankly DESERVES to get the boot.

 

One thing that might actually be working isn't specific to QBs. The Titans changed the turf at Nissan Field, getting rid of the natural grass and changing to a new form of synthetic turf. It sounds odd to go away from natural grass, but after a certain point in the fall it gets harder and harder to grow real grass or to protect sod. The consistency of the field simply isn't there later in the season.

The Titans believed that a large number of injuries their players experienced each year were lower body injuries where the grass was a factor, so they made the switch.

So far it looks like it might be working. The team had set a record for most players used in a non-strike season in 2021 and had a large number of injuries again in 2022. But at this point the Titans only have seven players on IR or PUP, and we're now hitting the point of the season where they believed the old field was causing the most problems.

The new synthetic stuff seems to be off to a good start. This could be a real difference-maker around the league, especially for stadiums currently using less safe forms of artificial turf.

 

Thats interesting to see. With all the hype of stadiums NEEDING to go grass instead of turf, based on injury research towards grass vs turf, you'd think with 2023 technologies, they could actually create in one form or another a surface thats deemed safe for all stadium's to utilize whether domed or outdoors. People flying around space, but we cant get a safe surface on the ground?

 

Arthur Smith: We think Desmond Ridder gives us the best chance

The Falcons are back to rolling with Desmond Ridder, as head coach Arthur Smith made the expected announcement that the 2022 third-round pick is back as the club’s QB1.

After starting Atlanta’s first eight games of the season, Ridder will start again when the Falcons host the Saints on Sunday.

The Falcons are coming off a Week 11 bye. While Taylor Heinicke started against the Cardinals in Week 10, Ridder had to come back in and finish the game because Heinicke suffered a hamstring injury. Heinicke is still sidelined to begin the week, Smith said.

“Des did a nice job having to come back in that game, gave us a chance,” Smith said. “Situation is where it’s at, so we think Des gives us the best chance. And then on top of that, Taylor won’t practice this week. We’ve got to assess throughout the week to even see what his role is going to be on Sunday.

“So we’ll just monitor that as it goes, but we have a lot of confidence in Des. We think the last couple of weeks, he’s handled it really well — a lot of things going on. I think the reset will be very beneficial for him.”

Ridder has completed 65.4 percent of his throws for 1,740 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions this season. He was benched midway through the Week 8 loss to the Titans for Heinicke, who has completed 41-of-74 passes for 498 yards with three touchdowns and one pick in his three appearances.

The Falcons would surely like Ridder to solidify himself as the club’s quarterback of the future in the last seven games of the season. But Ridder has plenty to prove over that span, particularly with the NFC South divisional race still completely up in the air.

NBC

 

Derek Carr remains in concussion protocol; Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore to miss time

The Saints are back from their bye week, but there’s been no change to quarterback Derek Carr’s status.

Carr left the team’s Week 10 loss to the Vikings with a concussion and head coach Dennis Allen said at a Monday press conference that Carr remains in the league’s concussion protocol. There was no word on how far along Carr might be on the path back to the lineup, so Wednesday’s practice report will be an indicator of what direction things are going.

In addition to losing Carr, the Saints also saw wide receiver Michael Thomas injure his knee and cornerback Marshon Lattimore hurt his ankle in that loss. Allen said that he expects both players to miss some time, but declined to say whether injured reserve was a possibility for either player.

The Saints will be in Atlanta next Sunday and a win will keep them is sole possession of first place in the NFC South.

PFT

 

Jets bench Zach Wilson for Tim Boyle

Zach Wilson is no longer the Jets’ starting quarterback.

Tim Boyle will start for the Jets on Black Friday against the Dolphins, according to multiple reports.

Wilson was awful against the Bills on Sunday, and eventually got benched for Boyle. Jets head coach Robert Saleh has insisted since the moment Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles that the Jets believe in Wilson, but Saleh has clearly decided that enough is enough.

Whether Boyle can do anything with the Jets’ offense remains to be seen. He has started three games in his NFL career, all for the Lions, all losses. Overall Boyle has a 60.8 percent career completion rate, 607 passing yards, three touchdowns, nine interceptions and a passer rating of 50.9. Those are not good numbers.

But could he possibly be worse than Wilson? Saleh doesn’t think so.

PFT

 

Kevin Stefanski: Joe Flacco’s role is to support the team, Dorian Thompson-Robinson starts

The Browns have officially added quarterback Joe Flacco to the practice squad, but it doesn’t sound like the team is planning for him to start in the near future.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said in his video conference on Monday that things will remain status quo at the top of the depth chart with Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

“Dorian will start,” Stefanski said, via Scott Petrak of the Chronicle-Telegram. “Joe’s role is to support this team. We were able to add a guy with a ton of experience. He’ll be great for that room, he’ll be great for this team.”

The MVP of Super Bowl XLVII back in the 2012 season, Flacco was most recently with the Jets. He started New York’s stunning 31-30 comeback victory over the Browns in Week 2 of last year, throwing for 307 yards with four touchdowns and no picks.

In five total games with four starts in 2022, Flacco completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,051 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

Thompson-Robinson had an up-and-down performance against the Steelers on Sunday, but came through for a game-winning drive at the end of the contest. He finished 24-of-43 passing for 165 yards with an interception. He also rushed three times for 20 yards.

The Browns will play the Broncos on the road in Week 12.

PFT

 

Not only replaced by Boyle, but listed as QB3 on the Depth Chart behind Boyle and Siemian.

 

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll optimistic Geno Smith (elbow) will play Thursday vs. 49ers

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is optimistic quarterback Geno Smith will play in Thursday night's Thanksgiving showdown against the San Francisco 49ers.

Carroll told 710 Seattle Sports on Monday that he thinks Smith will be able to play on the short week despite being knocked out of several drives during Sunday's road loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The coach noted that Smith returning from a right elbow injury for the final drive spearheads the optimism this week.

"I would think so," Carroll responded when asked if Smith would play in a huge matchup against the 49ers, per The Seattle Times.

Carroll added that Smith got hit on the tendon on the bottom of his triceps/elbow, suffering a contusion, but at this point, the QB appears to have avoided further damage. The Seahawks will have to manage the swelling in the coming days for Smith to play on Thursday night.

"There's no structural issue there, but he's got a sore elbow," Carroll said later Monday in his media availability.

Smith got crushed by Aaron Donald late in the third quarter in L.A., injuring his elbow. The starter was seen on the sidelines trying to get loose and, at times, wearing a wrap on the arm.

After backup Drew Lock led three fruitless drives, including a fourth-quarter pick that helped allow the Rams to turn a nine-point deficit into a one-point lead, Smith returned to the game for the final possession. The QB's arm didn't look affected on the final drive, zipping his first pass to Tyler Lockett and later finding DK Metcalf for a 21-yarder to set up a potential game-winning field goal that Jason Myers pushed wide right.

Sunday's loss was a big blow for the Seahawks, who fell a game behind San Francisco in the NFC West. Seattle enters the gauntlet stretch of their schedule, facing the Niners on Thursday, Dallas, San Francisco again, and the Eagles over the next four games.

If the Seahawks are to remain in the division hunt during that stretch, having Smith on the field will be vital.

NFL.com

 

It would have been really nice if he had figured this out three weeks ago.

 

I thought exactly the same thing. He's taking the self-justifying approach.

 

What took so long

 

Chiefs have a league high 26 drops this season

 

Aaron Rodgers isn’t slowing down rehab, despite Jets’ struggles

When it comes to making the playoffs, the Jets by all appearances are done. When it comes to his effort to play again this year, quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not.

In his weekly appearance with Pat McAfee, Rodgers was asked whether he’ll potentially slow down his rehab efforts given the team’s struggles.

“No, not at all,” Rodgers said. “I mean, I find those two are mutually exclusive. You know, my speed at which I’m doing the rehab has been kind of the same from the beginning. It’s ‘push it as hard as we can, every single day.’ And, you know, as long as we’re not stretching the Achilles, we feel like we’re in a good place.”

But how can anyone feel like the Jets are in a good place?

“Listen, there’s been some 4-6 teams that have made runs over the years,” Rodgers said. “Back in 2016, there was a team in the NFC North that people were counting out that went on a run . . . That won eight in a row and went to the NFC Championship game. There was a team in 2009 in the Big Apple — well, Jersey — that was 4-6, finished 9-7, went to the AFC Championship game.”

He’s referring to the 2016 Packers and the 2009 Jets. But the 2023 Jets don’t have Rodgers, or Mark Sanchez. They’re down to Tim Boyle, who will start on Friday against the Dolphins.

“The season is definitely not over,” Rodgers said. “It’s not dead. There’s a lot left to play for. I’m excited about where I’m at in my rehab. And things are progressing as quickly as I thought they would, once I’ve been able to jog on a treadmill and excited about getting back to the team and seeing where I’m at.”

Regardless of where he’s at, there’s a good chance the team will be taking up residence in a town known as Mathematically Eliminated, Unincorporated.

PFT

 

You might try putting a jets emblem on the article for a jets player. I know that he barely played, but just saying