NFL 2019: Preseason / Training Camp

Speaking as a Giants fan, while originally pissed at Baker, it seems more and more that his quote was taken way out of context. Looks like he even reached out to Jones, which was cool. I have no problem with Baker Mayfield or Odell Beckham, and wish them success.

Jayhawker wrote:

The Chiefs' Legion of Zoom just got a notch zoomier.
With De’Anthony Thomas’ return, Chiefs just picked up an already fast pace

On a team with a glut of speed, the Chiefs have gotten even faster by signing De’Anthony Thomas, who was on course to switch to track and field.

Had he not gotten the call from the Chiefs, who were looking for a wide receiver and special teams standout to replace the injured Marcus Kemp, Thomas might’ve instead broken the tape at a finish line or two.

Thomas was working out with the idea of running in meets during the indoor season: the 60-meter-dash, to be specific.

And thus, the so-called Legion of Zoom has grown by one. Thomas has played with fleet wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins and cornerback-turned-running back Tremon Smith. Add to the group rookie speedsters Mecole Hardman at wide receiver and running back Darwin Thompson, and now Thomas’ sprinter’s speed ... suffice to say this unit will be trouble for opponents.

Can someone remind me if it's running routes or catching the ball or both that Thomas is bad at?

*Legion* wrote:

Goddamn does Frank Caliendo do the Gruden voice scarily well.

He does. Other thoughts from Hard Knocks:

* Yeah, I don't think we're getting anything more on Richie Incognito's past. Furthermore, Vontaze Burfict is as absent in this show as Spider-Man's going to be in future MCU movies.

* Assessing Madden ratings is like D&D passing out character sheets to everyone else and like the players shown here we'll be arguing why more points weren't put in our Charisma.

* I guess no giant Russian stealth yacht was sitting off Belvedere Island for Canadian son and father to hitch a ride on.

* I've seen Fight Club a few times and I'll be damned if I can recall any of the characters' names.

* How long before the second guessing about Kyler Murray saying no to baseball kicks in?

* This season almost feels like it's about the fall of Jon Gruden as a head coach, with Calliendo's mockery at the beginning, his camaraderie with Afterburnner through the course of the episode, and with Mayock's ultimatum as the stinger. It's like he's Logan Roy of Succession only with somehow more f-bombs.

* I really love the use of the late Leonard Cohen at the end.

garion333 wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

The Chiefs' Legion of Zoom just got a notch zoomier.
With De’Anthony Thomas’ return, Chiefs just picked up an already fast pace

On a team with a glut of speed, the Chiefs have gotten even faster by signing De’Anthony Thomas, who was on course to switch to track and field.

Had he not gotten the call from the Chiefs, who were looking for a wide receiver and special teams standout to replace the injured Marcus Kemp, Thomas might’ve instead broken the tape at a finish line or two.

Thomas was working out with the idea of running in meets during the indoor season: the 60-meter-dash, to be specific.

And thus, the so-called Legion of Zoom has grown by one. Thomas has played with fleet wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins and cornerback-turned-running back Tremon Smith. Add to the group rookie speedsters Mecole Hardman at wide receiver and running back Darwin Thompson, and now Thomas’ sprinter’s speed ... suffice to say this unit will be trouble for opponents.

Can someone remind me if it's running routes or catching the ball or both that Thomas is bad at?

Lately it's the staying-on-the-field part he's been bad at.

Let's see if this amazing gif works:

IMAGE(http://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65088250/michael_weinreb_browns_QB_carousel_ringer.0.gif)

Look! It's a year's worth of Browns QBs!

From here.

That's awesome, Garion.

Can't wait to get Drew Stanton and Garrett Gilbert on there.

So it sounds like Hard Knocks Episode 4's getting some decent material out of the preseason game before it even starts.

Edit: I'm going to have to take their word for it on touchbacks with this one.

Usually when I say "Are you sure it's a touchdown?" it's with sarcasm, but with this Packers-Raiders game, I'm being genuine.

That's a good gif Garion.

Jets should be next

garion333 wrote:

Let's see if this amazing gif works:

IMAGE(http://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65088250/michael_weinreb_browns_QB_carousel_ringer.0.gif)

Look! It's a year's worth of Browns QBs!

From here.

New era for the Browns. #QB6

Looks like Cam didn't break his ankle. It's merely* a sprain.

Panthers will go 8-8. You heard it here first. /long drawn-out sigh

* I sprained the hell out of my ankle in my late 20s and was on crutches for a couple of weeks and limped around for a month after that. And I'm just some guy who sits at a desk typing, not a dude at risk at getting smushed by 300-pound guys who can run a 4.7 40.

Enix wrote:

Looks like Cam didn't break his ankle. It's merely* a sprain.

Panthers will go 8-8. You heard it here first. /long drawn-out sigh

* I sprained the hell out of my ankle in my late 20s and was on crutches for a couple of weeks and limped around for a month after that. And I'm just some guy who sits at a desk typing, not a dude at risk at getting smushed by 300-pound guys who can run a 4.7 40.

I sprained my ankle badly enough where I tore a couple ankle ligaments, and the reconstruction surgery was 2007. It's never been normal and never will be, and I'm a fiend about rehabbing stuff like that. That being said, it's pretty easy to tell the severity of a strain, so, if they think Cam might be ready by week one, that means it's a reasonably minor sprain and he's likely to be ready by then.

Of course, Cam being Cam, he's had the crap kicked out of him, and other things either are already wrong or will be wrong, because he's been snapped like a twig too many times. So, be optimistic; the ankle isn't why Cam will be physically limited this year, it'll be one of another list of reasons.

garion333 wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

The Chiefs' Legion of Zoom just got a notch zoomier.
With De’Anthony Thomas’ return, Chiefs just picked up an already fast pace

On a team with a glut of speed, the Chiefs have gotten even faster by signing De’Anthony Thomas, who was on course to switch to track and field.

Had he not gotten the call from the Chiefs, who were looking for a wide receiver and special teams standout to replace the injured Marcus Kemp, Thomas might’ve instead broken the tape at a finish line or two.

Thomas was working out with the idea of running in meets during the indoor season: the 60-meter-dash, to be specific.

And thus, the so-called Legion of Zoom has grown by one. Thomas has played with fleet wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins and cornerback-turned-running back Tremon Smith. Add to the group rookie speedsters Mecole Hardman at wide receiver and running back Darwin Thompson, and now Thomas’ sprinter’s speed ... suffice to say this unit will be trouble for opponents.

Can someone remind me if it's running routes or catching the ball or both that Thomas is bad at?

DAT will be a special teams and gadget guy. He's fourth on depth chart just among the speedy guys. But if you can haveHill, Watkins, Hardman, and Kelce on the field with DAT, it makes his speed more of a weapon than trying to imagine him filling in for Hill at WR1.

I'm starting to believe Darwin Thompson may be HB1 by the ned of the season. He is a wrecking ball of runner, and blazing speed. He has basically cost Carlos Hyde a job with the Chiefs because of his between the tackle ability, and no one saw that coming. The kid also has no lack of confidence.

Kansas City Chiefs RB Makes Eye Popping Comments About Barry Sanders

Enix wrote:

Looks like Cam didn't break his ankle. It's merely* a sprain.

Panthers will go 8-8. You heard it here first. /long drawn-out sigh

* I sprained the hell out of my ankle in my late 20s and was on crutches for a couple of weeks and limped around for a month after that. And I'm just some guy who sits at a desk typing, not a dude at risk at getting smushed by 300-pound guys who can run a 4.7 40.

You aren't also a multi-millionaire with a pro-level physique and a billion dollar corporation who is highly incented to get you back on the field and can afford to have you rehab as much as you can stand.

I mean maybe you are.

Enix wrote:

Looks like Cam didn't break his ankle. It's merely* a sprain.

Panthers will go 8-8. You heard it here first. /long drawn-out sigh

* I sprained the hell out of my ankle in my late 20s and was on crutches for a couple of weeks and limped around for a month after that. And I'm just some guy who sits at a desk typing, not a dude at risk at getting smushed by 300-pound guys who can run a 4.7 40.

A Panthers fan got mad at me on Twitter because I suggested that, when your team's starting QB is Cam Newton, you should probably not carry only 2 QBs on the 53 man roster. (The Panthers usually carry 3, but they went into last year carrying only 2). His tweets on this topic from last week did not age very well.

The word from Carolina is that Cam's sprain is mild. After watching that Amazon series, all that means is that Cam's foot is still attached to his ankle. If Carolina's smart, they'll start someone else against the Rams and take the L on Week 1. But they're not and they won't, and Aaron Donald will eat Cam's other leg.

8-8, baby! wooooooo!

Anyhoo, it seems that "Hard Knocks" will end with an ugly last-minute plot twist:

Likening my skin in the sun to cooking bacon is only going to make me buy more bacon, not sunscreen.

Whelp:

Rat Boy wrote:

Whelp:

I just saw, WTF.

I didn't think reports of Hasbro buying Death Row Records could be topped until just now.

Man, Draw Play Dave sure nailed it last week with his Luck comic.

Now this could get awkward real fast:

what

And Lamar Miller may have torn his ACL. Hey *Legion*, take all the time you need for the fantasy draft. Please.

And the fan base that once chanted "Suck For Luck" around Peyton Manning just booed said Luck off the field.

/puts ear to the ground
//hears rumbling

The takes.... are coming.

Holy sh*t, I just realized something.

No more Andrew Luck means the odds just went way up for...

Spoiler:

IMAGE(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/08/09/PIND/21bc102d-3219-409a-88ca-4c1a91f30793-USATSI_13178183.jpg)

$WAG 2020

Kelly in 3 preseason games: 41-of-57, 72% completion, 445 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 98.9 passer rating. He's moved up to what is now QB2 on the Colts depth chart, getting the start this week ahead of Phillip Walker.

Yup its all about The $wag out playing Luck.

Money doesn't matter for happiness and if he doesn't want to get smashed each week, good for him... but where was he at on contract status? He would have been on about year 2 of his second contract, right? So he's probably walking from $80mm?

Edit:. Per the Big Lead:
"Luck signed a five-year, $122 million contract in 2016. He was set to earn a base salary of $9.125 million in 2019 and a roster bonus of $12 million. In 2020, he was set to earn $11 million in base salary with a roster bonus of $11 million as well."

He's also missing out on $12mm in signing bonus $ (6 for 19 and 6 for 20). So he's walking from $43mm in salary plus $12mm in bonuses for a total of $55mm.

What's crazy is NOT that he's leaving that amount on the table. It's that he's so convinced he's doing the right thing that $55mm won't get him to stay. In a world where money (too often) conquers all, I have to respect him.