NFL - NEWS & NOTES

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa appears closer to making his season debut Sunday against visiting Denver, although Bosa and the team won't definitively say if he'll be active.

While discussing the pain he knows he will have to deal with to his left foot, Bosa said he figures it will be sore Monday morning, alluding to the aftereffects of what should be a physical game against the Broncos.

"They said that for up to 12 weeks, and honestly until I'm done playing this year, I'll be experiencing soreness and discomfort," Bosa said before taking part in his second practice of the week Thursday. "I'm sure after the game, next Monday, it's going to be pretty tough. It's something you have to manage with ice and volume."

Getting Bosa back would be a significant boost to the Chargers, who have won six straight games and have a 7-2 record. Bosa is a dominant pass rusher who has racked up 23 sacks in his first two seasons. He is set to join a defense that ranks ninth in the NFL in sacks (26).

Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said Thursday that Bosa is on a rehab plan prescribed by team doctors. Bradley wouldn't say if Bosa was playing, let alone how he could be used or how much. He was limited in practice Wednesday as well as Thursday but both were non-padded. Bosa said he took part in some full-team drills.

Bosa said he has been wearing an orthotic for arch support and will continue to do so through the remainder of the season.

Bosa looked spry going through bag drills (in which he stepped over blocking dummies and cut in various directions) in the portion of practice open to media Thursday. Bosa said that he has "fresh legs," adding that practices at this point of the season aren't nearly as strenuous as training camp. (NFL.com)

 

Mike McCarthy on the hot seat after punting away Packers’ last chance...

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy’s job security has been a story all season, but the final chapter may have begun with Thursday night’s loss in Seattle.

Specifically, McCarthy’s decision to punt on fourth-and-2 with the Packers trailing 27-24 with 4:20 left in the fourth quarter is being heavily scrutinized after the Seahawks ran out the clock from there and won the game. Although McCarthy said after the game that he “played the numbers” when he decided to punt, it’s hard to imagine what numbers he was thinking of. Anyone with a passing understanding of analytics would say he should have gone for it.

The Packers were down to one timeout at the time, and McCarthy blowing his timeouts early in the game has been a longstanding issue. Perhaps if the Packers still had all three timeouts, punting would have been more justifiable. But with one timeout, the decision was inexcusable.

McCarthy acknowledged that it was a game the 4-5-1 Packers needed.

“I think it’s obvious. We have five losses and we have not won on the road yet,” McCarthy said.

This may have been the loss that sealed McCarthy’s fate. (PFT)
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Mike McCarthy made several mistakes throughout that game, even Rodgers on his last possession looked terrible... he was missing wildly. (Im happy to report )

 

I blame the 4.20 left on the clock. 4.20? In Seattle? Why would you consider punting in that situation? Silly mistake, coach.

 

You are all eating up the media hype... It wasn't just 4th and 2, it was 4th and 2 on their own 33 yard line. If they don't get it, then they are handing the Seahawks a FG attempt, even if they don't gain a single yard.

2:00 is an eternity for Aaron Rodgers, even with NO timeouts. That would have been the minimum if the defense did it's job and stopped the Seahawks offense.

I don't care what the talking heads, whose job it is to drum up talk, says...McCarthy made the right choice punting. Where he fails as a coach is getting his defense to live up to their job of stopping a team with 4:11 remaining on the clock. They didn't allow ONE first down, they allowed TWO first downs, which gave the Seahawks all they needed to run out the clock.

Stop them on either of those first downs and the Packers have a chance to tie or win.

They certainly didn't lose the game because they chose to punt on their own 33 yard line with 4:20 remaining.

 

The article simply mentions he is also an author. That's an obvious understatement. He has written and published over three dozen books - probably more than most current and former NFL players have read in their adult lives.

 

. . . And, if he HAD gone for it on 4th and 2 from their own 33, and didn't make, these very same talking heads would would STILL be ripping him a new ass. Its what they do.

 

I could hear Troy Aikman now..."What was he thinking there with that call to go for it on 4th down?" (as the Seahawks kick a FG with 2:00 to go) "If he punted it away, his defense gives one of the most talented QBs to ever play in Aaron Rodgers a chance to tie or win this game"..."Unacceptable"...

LOL, you are absolutely right Lym, there is NO winning for a losing coach these days. The media is so large, that the scrutiny has to sting that much more from one to the next, to the point that the public starts seeing it through their eyes.

 

I agree that its just 'Monday Morning Quarterbacking' by the media, but the Pack lost anyway, what could have made a difference is keeping that drive alive, even if it was from the 33.

Rodgers wasnt on the field in the end and that isn't jiving too well with folks.

Not only are the media hypes critically attacking McCarthy, Williams truly expected and considered it a 'no-brainer' to go for it on 4th down.

 

Does anyone see the irony in him stating: "We don't want to put it in anybody else's hands."

This is your starting CORNERBACK, one of the players called upon to get the football back into the hands of that QB.

Let's deflect the fact "I" didn't do my job, or help those around me to do so, by throwing it back to ONE play that the coach made a decision on...Again, they had a chance at 3rd and 2 in that situation and that same QB threw a ball into the ground where his receiver had no chance to catch it.

Tramon Williams is a long term veteran, throwing your coach under the bus when YOUR side of the ball let the team down is what should be scrutinized here...


(edit) It was Williams that let Wilson get 8 yards on 2nd and 5 on the First 1st down on that last drive...

 

I agree. In my opinion, its all just wishful thinking after the fact. Fact, they lost, so lets use the no try on 4rd n 2 as a scapegoat and the head of the goat is McCarthy. "Woulda, coulda, shoulda, comes to mind.

 

If you dont get it yes you hand the Seahawks a shot at a field goal. Which if they hit it put them up 30 to 24 but you likely get the ball back with enough time on the clock to go down the field with Rogers and score a TD. Punting likely gives you one shot to win the game by going for it you give yourself 2 shots to time win the game. One if you make it two when you hold them to a field goal. Either way you need your defense to hold right so why nto go witht he one that is going to give you two shots to win.

 

Because going for it and failing the first time practically guarantees you'll need a TD at the end. Punt, hold them, and you still just need a FG.

 

To send it to overtime you need the TD to win either way

 

Not to mention they only had one time out. Gotta go for it there.

 

To send it to OT all GB needed was a FG. And you can win in OT with just a FG as well.

 

And as I said on the game thread, they WASTED it with 3:18 to go. There likely was too much time for Seattle to milk the clock and run a play and then only have 40 seconds left before the Warning. Seattle likely runs 2 plays regardless before the warning even without that timeout.

 

If you trust that defense more than Aaron on 4th and short then there is an issue bigger that just one play. Also even if he failed it doesn't change the fact that Aaron can lead you to a TD if you can stop Seattle, just the FG could be gone.

 

Jimmy Graham broke his thumb...

Packers tight end Jimmy Graham hurt his thumb in Thursday night’s loss to the Seahawks and word after the game was that the team feared a serious injury.

That initial read looks like the correct one. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Graham’s injury has been diagnosed as a broken thumb after he had tests done on Friday.

It’s not clear how much time Graham will miss as a result of the injury, but the nature of the injury and the nature of Graham’s role as a receiving option make it hard to imagine he’ll be back in a hurry.

Graham has 34 catches for 452 yards and two touchdowns in his first season with the Packers.

Lance Kendricks, Marcedes Lewis and Robert Tonyan are the other tight ends in Green Bay. Tonyan caught a 54-yard touchdown on Thursday night for his first NFL reception. (PFT)