NFL - NEWS & NOTES

By the way... your phone should be noticeably heavier when its fully charged.

 

lol, he cant see past his wallet !!!

 

Patriots officially release JuJu Smith-Schuster

If today’s news that the Patriots planned to release receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was aimed at getting someone to trade for him, the phone didn’t ring.

The Patriots have officially parted ways with the veteran receiver.

Making a trade impractical was his $7 million salary in 2024, which is fully guaranteed. That said, a team could have offered the Patriots a low-level draft pick, with New England picking up most of his salary.

Smith-Schuster, 27, signed a three-year, $25.5 million deal with the Patriots in 2023. It paid out $16 million, fully guaranteed.

PFT

 

The Falcons are sitting most of their starters for tonight’s preseason game against the Dolphins.

Coach Raheem Morris announced during joint practices with the Dolphins that first-round quarterback Michael Penix would get most of the snaps against the Dolphins.

Starting quarterback Kirk Cousins is one of 22 players who will not see action in the preseason opener.

The other offensive players not playing are RB Bijan Robinson, RB Tyler Allgeier, WR Drake London, WR Darnell Mooney, WR Ray-Ray McCloud, TE Kyle Pitts, TE Charlie Woerner, LT Jake Matthews, LG Matthew Bergeron, C Drew Dalman, RG Chris Lindstrom and RT Kaleb McGary.

The defensive players not playing are DT Grady Jarrett, DT David Onyemata, ILB Nate Landman, ILB Kaden Elliss, ILB Troy Andersen, CB A.J. Terrell, CB Mike Hughes, NB Dee Alford and S Jessie Bates III.

 

The 49ers released veteran tight end Logan Thomas on Friday, the team announced.

Thomas, a former quarterback, had 55 catches for 496 yards and four touchdowns last season for the Commanders. He also has played for the Lions, Bills and Cardinals, totaling 219 receptions for 2,002 yards and 16 touchdowns in 94 games.

 

Christian McCaffrey gives an update on his calf injury

“Yeah, I feel great,” McCaffrey said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Friday, via 49erswebzone.com. “Very cautionary stuff. If we had a game, I would play, but just trying to be smart right now. But still training, still getting a bunch of work in, so that come Week 1, we’re ready to roll.”

 

Im streaming 2 games at the moment. Even tho its preseason, its sure nice to see some real football. Sorta kinda real.

 

Stroud to Dell, no problem there... 7-0, Texans... now get them outa there, lol.

 

Yeah before some freak azz sh*t happens

 

Finals from Friday Night Football...

 

On Tap for today...

 

Falcons HC Raheem Morris: Michael Penix 'had a really good night' in preseason debut

Michael Penix Jr. made his long-awaited preseason debut for the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night in Miami, and while the length of his participation didn't offer much room for highlights, he lived up to expectation.

The well-seasoned collegiate star stepped onto the field and proved his greatest strengths made the jump with him from Washington to the NFL. Penix looked comfortable in the pocket, delivered most of his passes on time and unsurprisingly relied on his live arm to get the job done, whipping on-target throws on his way to a 9-for-16, 104-yard performance in Atlanta's 20-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

"It felt good to go out there and compete with my brothers," said Penix, who the Falcons took eighth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. "Just having fun out there and playing the game I've been playing since I was 5-years-old. So, no nerves, no jitters, just ready to go."

Penix's only struggles came in red zone situations, in which Atlanta's staff asked him to attempt a couple of fades, and Penix answered by throwing them out of the reach of his intended targets.

"He wants one of those throws back that output he threw on the sideline, but he was able to through some progressions," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said. "He was able to progress. We get a little pass happy with him since he's a first-round quarterback. It was fun to see him go out there and execute some of the pass plays and we were able to get some of the stuff done. ... Pretty much, a really good night for him and I was really pleased with what he was able to do."

NFL.com

 

Mike Tomlin: Fumbles negated good things Justin Fields did

Steelers quarterback Justin Fields and center Nate Herbig have been working together throughout training camp, but it didn’t look that way when they took the field for Friday night’s preseason opener.

Fields and Herbig botched two snaps in the team’s first seven offensive plays against the Texans. They didn’t lose either fumble, but they cost the Steelers chances to run plays and head coach Mike Tomlin said that they mitigated any positives he saw from Fields in his three series of work.

“I thought he did some nice things,” Tomlin said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “But obviously he was a component of the C-Q exchange, and from my perspective that’s dual responsibility on the center and the quarterback. It negated a lot of good things going on in those first couple of drives.”

Fields was 5-of-6 for 67 yards and he ran three times for two yards while also taking two snaps and failing to lead the Steelers to points before exiting the game. Russell Wilson’s return from a calf injury has been progressing and full participation would mean a move back to the second team for Fields in the near future.

PFT

 

Steelers rookie Troy Fautanu, the 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft, made his preseason debut on Friday night. At some point while playing, he suffered a knee injury.

Via Jeff Hathhorn of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, Fautanu’s left knee was wrapped after the game against the Texans.

Coach Mike Tomlin said the team will have more information on the situation when the Steelers return to practice on Sunday.

For now, the severity of the injury isn’t known.

Fautanu appeared on the team’s first depth chart of the preseason as the No. 2 left tackle, behind Dan Moore Jr.

 

Most major networks have reported that the 49ers and Aiyuk were talking again and that the 9ers were serious in working with Aiyuk to get him extended, then Aiyuk says this... Kinda cocky, in my opinion and counter-productive.



And there's also this... Aiyuk turned down $32M from the Patriots. Yot got to be kidding me.

As it turns out, it’s not all about the money for Brandon Aiyuk, after all.

The San Francisco 49ers star receiver reportedly turned down a lucrative contract extension from the New England Patriots that would have made him one of the five highest-paid WRs in the NFL, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reiterated the same thing Thursday on “The Rich Eisen Show,” stating New England offered Aiyuk a deal that would have paid him $32 million per year but he rejected it.

“Aiyuk in his mind feels like he’s a No. 1 (WR), and when I get evaluations around the league they say, ‘Well, he’s a 1B. Like, he’s on the bottom of that tier, but we consider him a [No. 1],’” Garafolo said. “And in his mind, he’s saying, ‘Well, I’ve at least got to be at the [$28M] that some of these other guys are at, and the Niners weren’t there and the Patriots were willing to split those two tiers. I’m telling you no matter where he signs, no matter where he gets traded, no matter where the next deal comes from…it’s not going to be [better than the Patriots’ offer].”

I am waiting to laugh my ass off when Aiyuk blows all this up in his own face by his own greed.

 

Jayden Daniels looks sharp early vs the Jets. Nice deep ball for 42 yards. Robinson looks good on the ground also.

 

Daniels first series as a pro was very impressive. A bunch of run plays, but the 42 yard bomb was beautiful and on play-action he waltzed into the endzone for 6.

 

Going to look at the Bears game for a bit and see what Caleb Williams looks like.

 

It's mind blowing dumb the game he's playing...he better hope it don't blow up in his face

 

Caleb Williams, 4 of 7, 95 Yards, Williams also rushed for a TD. Wheeler, 5R 43YDS 2 TD's. Velus Jones JR, 6R 34YDS 1 TD... Bears D got to the Bills QB, 8 times.