NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Aaron Donald needs to chill and get some brains. You get in a fight at practice, ok, i get that, but when you weaponize things by swinging a helmet, your outa control. No place for that shit. If the NFL is going to continue 'joint practices' they need to ensure safety and discipline. The NFL, coaches and players need to step in and up.

 

I expect them to make some sweeping changes this off season. There are always a lot of skirmishes, but this went way beyond any I have seen in the past. Hell, a player was suspended 6 games for a less violent version of this same thing in a game. This single day from the same two teams saw multiple helmet infractions.

 

The good news is that it was really just two sets of teams that made all the major headlines, with only about six players who were idiots. The other 28 teams did pretty well in keeping things under control, and they have been managing these joint practices (and scrimmages before that) for decades.

The disturbing thing is having Aaron Donald downplay it like it was nothing. Swinging a helmet at someone in a practice is not "just a practice". The more accurate term is "attempted assault". The consequences need to be severe enough to make him care - and more importantly, to make next year's idiots actually think about what they're doing before they get out of control.

I get that the league doesn't want to get into disciplinary actions like fines and suspensions for practices. But that's not the only option. If you have too much contact in non-contact minicamp and OTA sessions, you lose practice sessions next year and lose draft picks as well for repeat offenses. If the Rams were potentially losing a fifth round draft pick and two full contact practice sessions in next year's training camp, they'd be taking much more significant actions against Donald.

 

Roquan Smith says he’s all-in on Bears’ season, not thinking about contract



Bears linebacker Roquan Smith sat out practices and requested a trade during training camp, but now he says he’s all-in on the Bears’ 2022 season.

Smith, who is heading into the final year of his rookie contract, said he’s not giving any thought to his contract and will wait until he hits free agency after the season to worry about it.


Asked if there’s any chance he and General Manager Ryan Poles might get together and talk about a contract extension, Smith answered, “No. No. I’m not focused on that right now. It’s already in the back of my mind. It just came to the front when you mentioned it.”

Smith said that while he wanted a new contract or a trade during the offseason, that’s all in the past.

“I’m not focused on that, if I’m being completely honest,” Smith said. “My focus is on making this year the best year I can and then go from there. I don’t want to look forward too much to the future or anything like that. I’m just focused on now, having the best year I can with my teammates and playing the game I love. That’s what means the most to me.”

In talking to reporters, Smith came across as sincerely excited about the season, and not the least bit upset with the Bears failing to trade him or extend his contract. He’s focused on winning in 2022.

PFT

 

Helmet swinging should be an automatic suspension when it’s against another team. I doubt many players would do that against their own team in practice. The suspension should be as many as Garrett got so players have a good reason to stay away from it.

 

Pretty sure helmet swinging is assault and not football.

 

Your right it is an assault and not football

 

"It was just a practice. It was football," Donald said Wednesday in an interview for an upcoming episode of the AP Pro Football Podcast. "I don't really want to go back to nothing negative that happened and talk about something that happened in a practice. My main focus is Buffalo."

I love watching Aaron Donald play football. I think he's pound for pound the best player in the game. During the SB when there was some pushing and shoving after a player I looked at my wife and said that's the last player the Bengals want to piss off right now because he will disrupt the remainder of this game. And he did. He wanted and needed a ring and he did everything in his power to get it.

But...practice or no practice....swinging a helmet at someone can cause serious injury. And doing it in a practice is not less severe than doing it in a game.

I don't understand how he isn't suspended.

 

I cannot hear his name without hurting just a little bit at how he was one pick away from being a Bear.

That said, I agree. Can't try to hurt someone like that and not have a consequence. If the NFL doesn't have anything to regulate that, then they seriously need to, and it just further speaks to the general management incompetence of the league.

 

Report: Marcus Maye is arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm

With the start of the season 10 days away, the Saints have a fresh off-field issue.

Starting safety Marcus Maye has been arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football.


Maye, 29, signed a three-year, $28.5 million contract with the Saints in March, after spending five years with the Jets.

He’s the second Saints player to be facing active criminal charges. Running back Alvin Kamara is accused of felony battery for an incident that happened in Las Vegas during Pro Bowl weekend.

The Saints have listed Marcus Maye as their starting strong safety.

PFT

 

The Eagles got center Jason Kelce back on the practice field on Wednesday and another key member of their offense returned on Thursday.

Running back Miles Sanders was dressed for practice and going through drills as the team continued preparing to face the Lions in Week 1. Sanders has been out of action for the last few weeks because of a hamstring injury.


Sanders’ return to the field came after head coach Nick Sirianni addressed Sanders’ status for the opening week of the season.

“He’s getting better every day . . . We’re hopeful and we’ll see what happens,” Sirianni said, via Tim McManus of ESPN.com.

Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott are the other backs on the 53-man roster in Philly.

PFT

 

Titans RB Derrick Henry gets $2M raise for 2022 season, making him highest-paid RB in NFL

The King is getting a raise.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday the Tennessee Titans reworked Derrick Henry's contract, giving the running back a $2 million raise, per a source informed of the situation.

Henry was slated to make $12 million this year. The $2 million bump to $14 million makes him the highest-paid RB this season in terms of 2022 cash -- leapfrogging Ezekiel Elliott, who is due $12.4 million.

The 28-year-old signed a four-year, $50 million contract in 2020. With no more guaranteed money on the deal and Henry slated to be a free agent following the 2023 campaign, an extension remains likely after this season. In essence, the Titans are giving Henry a bump in pay with eyes on redoing the deal in the offseason, assuming he has another monster campaign.

Henry is coming off an injury-plagued 2021 campaign, missing nine games due to a foot fracture. He returned for the Titans' postseason game against the Bengals but didn't look like his normal dominating self.

Following back-to-back rushing titles, Henry was on his way to another 300-plus-carry campaign before going down with injury. In eight games, he generated 937 yards and 10 touchdowns on 219 carries. Despite missing nine games, Henry still finished in the top 10 in the NFL in rushing yards, carries and rushing TDs. Henry led the NFL with 117.1 rushing yards per game in 2021.

While the Titans drafted Hassan Haskins in the fourth round to help take some totes off Henry's plate, The King will still eat plenty well in 2022.

NFL.com

 

It's amazing the DUMB stuff never ends

 

Unreal. The Saints just handed this moron a $6 million signing bonus this year, a $5.8 million guaranteed roster bonus next year, and $1,35 million in guaranteed salary both this year and next year.

 

Veteran tight end O.J. Howard has landed in Houston.

Howard signed with the Texans this afternoon after visiting the team today.


The well-traveled Howard played last season with the Buccaneers, then signed with the Bills in free agency only to get cut this week. He had been expected to sign with the Bengals after the Bills cut him, but he changed course and picked the Texans.

Before signing Howard, the Texans only have two tight ends — Pharaoh Brown and Brevin Jordan — on their active roster, so they needed help at the position, and Howard provides it.

PFT

 

This is ridiculous. Now we have two players with court dates in their future. This is not how the Saints do things. Starting to look like the Raiders back in the old days.

 

Change the name to the demons and get done with it.

 

Former Iowa Receiver Adds Needed Depth
Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who had been cut by the Minnesota Vikings, signed in Chicago where the receiver group is in shambles because of injuries.
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The injury depleted Bears wide receiver corps on Thursday had an unexpected addition.

Former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, a fifth-round pick in 2021 who failed to make the roster this year, signed Thursday in Chicago.

Smith-Marsette is 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and caught five passes for 116 yards in eight games and one start for Minnesota last year.

Bears fans will remember him from the final game last year as 103 of his receiving yards and three of the catches came against Chicago in the season finale. He caught a 44-yard third-quarter touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins that pulled Minnesota back within 14-10 after the Vikings initially trailed 14-3.

A former Iowa standout, Smith-Marsette ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash and had a 37-inch vertical leap. His four kick returns for a 20.8-yard average

Smith-Marsette didn't have great production at Iowa as a receiver until his junior year with 44 catches for 722 yards.

In his final season, 2020, he had 25 catches for 345 yards. He averaged 14.7 yards per catch for his career and scored 14 touchdowns on passes and four more on runs from scrimmage. He had three TD runs in 2019, when he averaged 9.8 yards per 11 rushes.

Smith-Marsette became expendable when the Vikings traded with the Eagles for Jalen Reagor.

For the Bears the move is for depth both at receiver and returner. Velus Jones Jr., their rookie receiver, missed practice again on Thursday and hasn't been involved since the team's second preseason game. Coaches haven't said what his injury is.

Jones is both their receiver and return man.

The Bears still don't have Jones, Byron Pringle (quad injury) or N'Keal Harry available and Tajae Sharpe is out for the year on injured reserve. On Thursday, they put Harry on injured reserve with the ability to return. He had surgery due to an ankle injury.

SI

 

I was surprised Smith-Marsette was let go... I thought the Vikings should have kept him and canned some other guy, but noooooooooooo. So, he lands with Da Bearsa!

 

I was surprised also the Vikings did not need Jalen Reagor IMO don't get this