NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Nate Solder: “No reason” to think I won’t be ready for training camp...



Giants left tackle Nate Solder said early this month that he wasn’t sure if he’d be ready for the start of training camp after having ankle surgery, but he sounds a bit more optimistic now.

Solder said his ankle is “progressing really nicely” and that he’s moved from doing mostly rehab work to mostly football activities. As a result, he’s feeling pretty confident that he’ll have the green light to get on the field next month.

“There’s no reason to think that I won’t be there for training camp,” Solder said, via Dan Duggan of TheAthletic.com.

Solder signed a four-year, $62 million contract with the Giants as a free agent last year that briefly made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the game. He started every game last season.

 

Fletcher Cox still hopeful for start of training camp...



The Eagles haven’t seen Fletcher Cox on the field since their playoff loss to the Saints.

But the next time they’re on the field, he hopes to be there.

Via Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com, the star defensive tackle said during an interview with WAPT in Jackson, Miss. that he anticipated being ready for training camp when they report on July 24.

“Everything is going good. I’m happy about that. Just taking it day-by-day,” Cox said. “The goal is to be ready for training camp. Just taking it day-by-day. Doctors got a schedule and I’m following what they’re doing. Everything is going good so far.”

He played through a foot injury in the playoff loss, and missed all of the team’s OTAs and minicamp as he recovered from surgery.

Cox is coming off a career season, in which he had 10.5 sacks and 95 pressures.

The Eagles brought in Malik Jackson this offseason and re-signed Timmy Jernigan, but obviously need a healthy Cox to get where they want to go. (PFT)

 

Akiem Hicks: When I’m myself, I’m at my best...



Things ended badly in New Orleans for defensive lineman Akiem Hicks. The Saints traded him to the Patriots early in the 2015 season, and he played 13 games for New England before becoming a free agent.

Hicks chose the Bears in the 2016 free agency period partly because General Manager Ryan Pace was in the Saints’ front office in New Orleans in 2012 when the team made Hicks a third-round pick.

In three seasons in Chicago, Hicks has started every game, and he earned his first Pro Bowl in 2018.

He has never felt more at home.

“I’m appreciated here for everything I am,” Hicks said, via Dan Pompei of TheAthletic.com.. “I’ve never been expected to be anyone but myself here, and when I’m myself, I’m at my best.”

Pace calls Hicks a “catalyst” for what the Bears have built and are building on defense. Adding Khalil Mack in a trade last year gave the Bears one of the best defenses in the league.

“We already had this dominant defense, and then you add, let’s call it what it is, one of the best defensive players in the league, top five for sure, top three to me,” Hicks said. “It was lagniappe, as they say in the south.”

Former Bears defensive linemen Dan Hampton, Tommie Harris, Ed O’Bradovich and Chris Zorich recently were on a panel discussion with Hicks, who accepted the old-timers’ challenge to live up to the team’s great defenses of yesteryear.

“We all want to leave our mark somewhere,” Hicks said. “This is our opportunity to leave our mark. We have everything it takes. It’s just a matter of if we want it enough.” (PFT)

 

The Bengals are expected to lose their first-round draft pick for the entire 2019 season....

Cincinnati announced today that rookie left tackle Jonah Williams had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and is likely to miss the year. He was injured during a practice this month.

“We look forward to Jonah being a major contributor in the future, and know that he won’t let this injury deter him from still being an important part of this team,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “We’re confident in our offensive line personnel as we head into training camp, and we believe they can do their part in helping this team achieve its goals.”

Williams was an All-American at Alabama last season and the Bengals took him with the 11th overall pick in the draft. Cincinnati was expecting Williams to be a starter from Day One, but now that will wait until Day One of the 2020 season.

 

Trading for quarterback Joe Flacco got the Broncos their biggest headlines of the offseason, but it wasn’t the only major addition to their offense.

Denver signed right tackle Ja'Wuan James to a four-year, $51 million contract after free agency opened in March and the deal leaves him behind only Raiders tackle Trent Brown on the list of highest-paid players at the position.

James’s time with the Dolphins may have led some to question the size of the commitment that the Broncos made to James. Linebacker Von Miller sent a message to those people with recent comments about what it’s like to practice against him.

“He’s the best right tackle I’ve had to go against [in practice] throughout my whole career here and I said that last year with Jared Veldheer and we got even better this year with Ja’Wuan James so I get to spar, get better and sharpen the sword every day with him and [left tackle] Garett Bolles. It’s going to be a great year for the offense and defense,” Miller said, via the Denver Post.

Miller’s been able to thrive regardless of who is going up against in practice, although that hasn’t helped the Broncos make the playoffs the last three years. Offensive shortcomings have played a big role in that drought, so a strong year from James would be much appreciated in Denver.

 

Saints running back Alvin Kamara possibly could have ended up being drafted earlier than pick No. 67, but he refused to compromise who he is. And that’s a great thing.

Kamara recently explained to Andrew Hawkins of Uninterrupted.com that Kamara received a specific request prior to a pre-draft meeting — and that he declined.

“I had a team before I went into a meeting, one of the guys came up to me and was like, ‘Well, you’re about to go in with the G.M. so, you know, he doesn’t really understand the nose rings and things like that. So you might want to — can you take them out or tuck them?’ I was like, ‘No.’

“Basically, if you don’t understand it or you don’t like it, then you don’t need to draft me. It wouldn’t be a good choice to draft me.”

Although, in theory, Kamara could have been selected higher (and, in turn, could have made more money), Kamara stayed true to himself. In so doing, he also pushed back against the over-the-top “job interview” nature of the NFL draft, which tries to put players on pins and needles while creating the perception that it’s an “honor” to surrender the right to choose an employer and in turn to be chosen by the employer.

Here’s the reality: NFL teams want the most talented players. If NFL teams let factors other than talent get in the way of those decisions, they risk other teams drafting them. And those players can then become a thorn in the side of the team that refused to draft them for reasons other than talent.

Possibly while wearing a nose ring. (PFT)

 

Avery Williamson: Jets defense “can be really great”



The offseason is a time for great optimism about what will happen come the fall and you can count Jets linebacker Avery Williamson among those seeing the possibility for good things in the future.

Williamson spent the last few months working with new teammate C.J. Mosley at linebacker in the defense being installed by new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and he came out of that process with a bright outlook.

“Shoot, we can definitely be a top-five defense,” Williamson said, via the team’s website. “We have all the talent right there, we just have to continue to be on the same page. We could be really great, we have the talent, man. I’m excited. We had a great squad last year. We didn’t have the best season, but we fought hard. So if we have all the pieces I feel like we do, we can really be something special.”

Mosley’s arrival means Williamson will move to a new spot in the defense. He said there are “definitely a lot of new things” involved with that move and the sooner he gets them all down the better for the Jets’ chances of hitting the high end of his prediction. (PFT)

 

Chris Long: I knew Aaron Donald was a Hall of Famer at his first training camp...



The recently retired defensive end Chris Long was in his seventh season with the Rams when they drafted Aaron Donald in 2014. He knew as soon as they started practicing together just how great Donald would be.

Long told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that seeing Donald’s combination of talent and hard work at the first training camp of his career was an eye-opening experience.

“We used to joke his rookie camp that he was going to be in the Hall of Fame, but I kind of wasn’t joking,” Long said.

Donald’s physical talents were obvious, but Long said Donald’s mental approach to the game was equally impressive.

“I’ve never seen anybody work so hard, who had so much talent and play so violent and play with such tenacity,” he said. “This guy would fight you on the field at the drop of a hat, and I respect that about him, and outworks everybody. I would be the last person in the film room usually at the end of camp, and I would go in there and watch tape once everybody was at home. I started going in there an opening the door and turning the lights on to find my pen or notebook, and he was in there every night.”

Long saw a lot during his 11-year career, but Donald was unique. (PFT)

 

Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue held out of the team’s mandatory minicamp because he wants a new contract. Three weeks later, there are no signs that the two sides are any closer to a resolution.

The Florida Times-Union even suggests that the holdout could drag into the regular season, which would be a disappointing development both for Ngakoue (who could start losing game checks in addition to the fines he’s already piled up) and for the Jaguars (who don’t want to start the season without a pass rusher who has 29.5 sacks in his first three NFL seasons).


Ngakoue is heading into the fourth and final year of his rookie contract and is slated to make a salary of $2.025 million this season. That’s far below the going rate for pass rushers of his quality, but the Jaguars may figure they don’t need to be in any hurry to give him a big pay raise, given that he’s a bargain this year and could be kept for the franchise tag next year.

If the Jaguars aren’t willing to pay Ngakoue what he’s asking for, the only leverage he has is withholding his services. Training camp opens on July 25, and at the moment no one knows if Ngakoue will be there.

 

Will Hernandez key to Giants' O-line improvement...

Amid a litany of lingering criticism surrounding the trade of Odell Beckham Jr. and everything and anything to do with the New York quarterback situation, the Giants appear to have one longtime ill on the way to being remedied.

Over the last half of the 2018 season, the Giants offensive line improved. Eli Manning was sacked 47 times, but over the last half of the season was only taken down 16 times, while the rushing attack improved from 78 yards per game to 100.

Much of the credit for that must go to the play of then-rookie Will Hernandez, as the left guard's play got better as the season went on and he joined all-everything running back Saquon Barkley on the 2018 NFL All-Rookie Team.

With his second offseason underway, Hernandez has settled in and appears poised to solidify himself as one of the prime reasons behind the New York offensive line becoming a plus rather than the lingering negative it's been.

"It definitely doesn't even feel like the same time of year that I had last year," Hernandez said via the team website. "It feels like a completely different time of year to me. I feel like I'm a lot more comfortable here and I feel like I can breathe. I'm not struggling to learn the whole playbook, cram everything down, learn everything, make sure I don't mess up. I'm actually able to enjoy it, but at the same time, work hard and get to know these guys even better."

Many believe Hernandez' improvement will continue in his sophomore season and it's no coincidence that the Giants' offensive line as a whole is expected to do the same.

Left tackle Nate Solder is expected to return from injury for training camp and he and Hernandez will be joined by offseason acquisitions Kevin Zeitler and Mike Remmers. Zeitler came to the G-Men via a trade with the Browns for Olivier Vernon that eventually became part of the Beckham deal.

Zeitler's presence has been a boon thus far for Hernandez.

"He's been phenomenal, not only as a player but as a teacher, too," Hernandez said. "He's taught a lot of young guys, including myself, a lot of technique. He was one of the top pass protectors in the league last year, so he definitely has a lot to offer and he's passing it on to the young guys, myself also, and we're really glad to have him."

Historically, the transition for offensive linemen -- from high school to college and from college to the NFL -- is viewed as one of the more difficult because of the physicality, technique, fundamentals, and likely learning a different scheme.

In Hernandez' case, he started all 16 games as a rookie and got noticeably better throughout the campaign. So expect Hernandez to take his game to another level in 2019, perhaps becoming one of the most highly regarded guards around.

"I think they always say from your first to your second year is the biggest step in improvement," Solder said. "I have seen a lot of improvement throughout our whole group, so maybe you can characterize not just a person but the whole group from one year to two years and make a big improvement. Certainly our expectations are sky high." (NFL.com)

 

It sets up a nice debate over whether the Giants got it right by taking Barkley and Hernandez or if they could have went with Quenton Nelson and Nick Chubb.

It's a debate that can be had but not answered for at least several seasons.

 

Chubb is really good, but Barkley is a guy who you can legitimately say is worthy of HOF talk even as a second year player.

 

Chubb and Barkley not really close....Chubb had a few big plays that padded his stats vs a horrible Atl and Oak D...Barkley was more consistent

 

Ezekiel Elliott to meet with the Commissioner on Tuesday...



Tyreek Hill has yet to be summoned to the principal’s office. Ezekiel Elliott is headed there tomorrow.

Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports that Elliott will meet with Goodell on Tuesday. Elliott has once again landed on the league’s radar screen in the aftermath of an incident at a Las Vegas music festival, where Elliott had a confrontation that resulted in a security guard falling, possibly with a nudge/shove/elbow from Elliott.

As a prior offender under the league’s Personal Conduct Policy, Elliott faces enhanced penalties, if the league concludes that he committed another violation. In 2017, the NFL suspended Elliott six games in the aftermath of an allegation of domestic violence for which he was never arrested, charged, or even sued in civil court.

It was, frankly, a Keystone Cops investigation and a kangaroo court proceeding, with one of the investigators recommending no suspension and having her voice thereafter frozen out of the process. But that doesn’t change the end result — the league suspended Elliott, and he served the six games. If he violates the policy again, he’s a repeat offender, period.

Then there’s the fact that Elliott fought the issue in court, successfully obtaining an order that delayed the start of the suspension. Even though Big Shield ultimately won, Elliott made the mistake of tugging on Superman’s cape. Throw in the fact that the incident sparked a failed effort by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (with an assist from Papa John) to topple Goodell, and the Commissioner’s revenge could be a dish served colder than a refrigerated slice of John Schnatter’s signature product.

Still, whatever Goodell does now to Elliott (along with what Goodell did two years ago) rightfully will be compared to whatever Goodell does to Hill. And if there’s a disparity between the outcomes, fans of the Cowboys and of Elliott will have good cause to react badly. (PFT)

 

Reading rumors that Kareem Hunt was involved in s bar fight in Cleveland this past weekend.

 

These guys are hard to comprehend. Young and wild and paid, guess that explains it.

If Zeke gets popped with another suspension, i might snap... Fantasy football killers!

 

Wasn't he just baptized and on a path to a new life?

 

He didn’t abuse a woman, he abused a man this time