NFL Training Camp / Preseason 2010

[CorporalClegg]

There's nothing to talk about.

It's another jump-the-gun non-story created by Schefter/ESPN to stir the pot.

There is no context to it. And pretty much everyone on the team didn't know anything about. Apparently, he did contact the team this morning, but it was only to give Harvin his condolences for Harvin's lost family member.

In fact, no one seems to know to whom the alleged text was to, or what it even said. (There are hugely conflicting reports.)

Until, I see Jackson line-up behind center against Saints, I won't believe any of it.

It's funny though, the guy gets blamed as being a "drama queen", yet, just like last year, 98% of "Favre-gate" is being artificially manufactured by the media.

It's pretty obvious he plays ESPN better than he plays football.

 

[Timby]

It's funny though, the guy gets blamed as being a "drama queen"

Well, he is -- not necessarily in this one specific case, as Schefter is a toolbox who stopped having any legitimate information once he was no longer an NFL employee, but he absolutely is a drama queen and has been for quite some time. Hell, even his agent thinks so.

I will never stop laughing that the "final pass of his career" before his retirement from the Packers, his retirement from the Jets and his possible retirement from the Vikings has been an interception in the conference championship game.

just like last year, 98% of "Favre-gate" is being artificially manufactured by the media.

Last year's Brett Favre timeline:

Feb. 11, 2009: Favre retires again, calling it "the real deal" and saying he was unwilling to have surgery on his torn bicep tendon. • Feb. 13, 2009: Favre tells ESPN "there's no way" he'll play in another NFL game.
• April 28, 2009: The Jets grant Favre his unconditional release. Favre reiterates he is retired and has "no intention of returning to football."
• June 10, 2009: Vikings head coach Brad Childress says he won't place a deadline on Favre for a decision if the quarterback wants to play in Minnesota.
• June 15, 2009: Favre acknowledges he's interested in playing again in an interview on HBO and says he had surgery to repair his torn biceps tendon in late May. "I know people are tired of it, really," Favre says. "My intention … isn't to create controversy."
• July 17, 2009: Favre works out with high school players in Mississippi and vows to give the Vikings an answer by the start of training camp on July 30.
• July 28, 2009: Favre tells the Vikings he won't end his second retirement. In what he calls the "hardest decision" he ever made, Favre says, "I didn't feel like physically I could play at a level that was acceptable."
• Aug. 18, 2009: Favre reverses his decision and joins the Vikings. He says he wants to bring a championship to Minnesota.

His entire circus in July and August last year was because he didn't want to participate in training camp. I won't be shocked if it's the same this year.

 

[Danny99]

He may want to skip training camp, but does the media really need to ask the same questions every year?

Is he going to play?
How does this affect his conditioning?
How does this affect his teammates?

If the media didn't give it so much airtime, I doubt anyone would care.

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
Exactly.

The point is, he doesn't go to the media (like James, for example), the media always goes to him.

If they'd just left him alone last summer, the crescendo to the SUV chase with Chilli picking him up and all that would have never happened.

That's not to say he isn't without blame, but take today for example, he texts his friends on the team saying he still in a lot of pain and has reservations about the future. All the media sheep jump all over it, and suddenly it becomes, "He's retiring" when he hasn't said one way or the other.

And for the next 24 hours it's going to be 100% Favre coverage. Is that his fault? I doubt it.

 

[Timby]

And for the next 24 hours it's going to be 100% Favre coverage. Is that his fault? I doubt it.

Not entirely, I'll give you that. ESPN represents a lot of what is wrong with sports today. But Favre cultivates this attention just as much as ESPN and Yahoo! give it to him. As his agent said:

Cook angrily ranted to Favre about him contacting ESPN's Ed Werner to state that he needs ankle surgery to play in 2010.

"Now why did he do that," Cook said to Men's Journal. "...Goddammit, why does he have to be such a goddamned drama queen? Play, don't play, goddamn, people are getting sick of it. I'm getting sick of it!...You got problems with surgery, talk to your wife. Why talk to goddamned Ed Werder?"

And, as I said, he absolutely did it to himself last year. He played his retirement game because if he said, "Yep, I'm ready to play," by NFL and team regulations he's on the roster and he must participate in camp. By being cagey and coy, he didn't have to go to camp and can ride his lawnmower for a few more weeks. Unless you think that him timing his comeback announcement with the day Vikings camp ended was just completely coincidental.

Although it's funny to watch some Minnesota fans losing their shit (again) over the idea of Jackson under center. He's a young QB who has improved every year as a pro despite inconsistent playing time and some woeful receiving corps. His top five receivers during his three years of starting were Bobby Wade, Travis Taylor, Jermaine Wiggins, Bernard Berrian and Robert Ferguson. People call him dumb all the time, even though he's a smart guy who picked up the West Coast Offense very quickly. It's like people were surprised that a 1-AA quarterback who was picked up as a three-year project and then shoved into the starting role a few games into his first season ... struggled. Despite that, and the woeful offensive lines they cobbled together in front of them, he improved and in the last two seasons has shown some very impressive play. I have a feeling, though, that Jackson would get more appreciation in Minnesota if he, you know, "looked" the part.

The ultimate comedy option in all of this is Favre deciding he wants to play in Arizona, and then the Vikings sign Kurt Warner. That would cap this offseason beautifully.

(Also: If he does quit again, since the end of the 2007 season, Brett Favre will have more retirements than the Detroit Lions have had wins. )

 

[CorporalClegg]

The one thing is Bus Cook's comment was obviously made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. That's the kind of guy he is.

On the Jackson front, I've been as big a Jackson supporter as anyone--my record here on the TBBS should support that. I still think he can be a solid starter in the league. People act like he's the plague. As you said, he's improved ever year, and, by all accounts, he's been really sharp so far in camp.

His biggest weakness has always been his mechanics and foot-work, but Mayock (One of the few in the biz whose opinion I actually give weight.) has gone on record as saying Jackson's mechanics have appeared to be much better.

So there's no reason they can't win, even go deep in to the playoffs, with him at quarterback. The question is, with this team, is "deep in the playoffs" good enough?

 

[Timby]

The one thing is Bus Cook's comment was obviously made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. That's the kind of guy he is.

You tell me.

His biggest weakness has always been his mechanics and foot-work, but Mayock (One of the few in the biz whose opinion I actually give weight.) has gone on record as saying Jackson's mechanics have appeared to be much better.

His mechanics haven't even been that bad during his time in the league. His really big knock is that he goes through his progressions so well that he'll hold on to the ball for a little too long and continuously go through his reads even though no one was open. Last season in mop-up duty and two years ago at the end of the season, he showed much more decisiveness and / or willingness to run that it's becoming less and less of a problem.

You're giving a lot of credit to Jackson, and justifiably so. Most of Minnesota, though, isn't. Seems that many of them would still have the noble white steed, Gus Frerotte, under center than Jackson.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Well, "mechanics" (as I said) primarily refers to his footwork--especially when he rolls out of the pocket. He tires to throw on the run and never correctly plants his feet. This ultimately results in the infamous "Jackson Jump Pass."

And the funny thing with Frerotte is the team won in spite of him, not because. His numbers during that stretch were abysmal.

 

[Timby]

Well, "mechanics" (as I said) primarily refers to his footwork--especially when he rolls out of the pocket. He tires to throw on the run and never correctly plants his feet. This ultimately results in the infamous "Jackson Jump Pass."

In his first year, yeah. He hasn't shown much of that at all in the last two seasons, though. His decision-making has been the biggest problem I've seen with him, and I didn't see many problems with that at all last season.

And the funny thing with Frerotte is the team won in spite of him, not because. His numbers during that stretch were abysmal.

I'm ... not arguing with you. (Although, as my link above shows, you're clearly wrong about Bus Cook being tongue-in-cheek with his "drama queen" comment.) I'm criticizing the typical Minnesota sports fan. Not you.

Edit: In even funnier news than ESPN being retarded (though that's not actually "news"), this just came across Bears beat writer Brad Biggs' Twitter:

BradBiggs
Pissed off Cutler in team drills is frustrated with protection, chucks ball out of bounds off top of hospitality tent

BradBiggs
Handful of small kids in tent. Good thing he fired high.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Here's a couple of Drew 'toons for your enjoyment.

 

[Timby]

Johnny Jolly may dodge jail time, though he's still suspended for 2010 and beyond:

Suspended Green Bay Packers defensive end Johnny Jolly has entered into an agreement with prosecutors that could result in the dismissal of a 2008 felony drug charge.

During a court hearing Tuesday in Houston, Jolly was given pretrial diversion, a form of probation. The charge will be dismissed in a year if Jolly stays out of trouble and completes other terms of the agreement, including speaking to children and others about the dangers of drug use.

Now, he's not totally in the clear (the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported two months ago that Texas prosecutors intended to file documents alleging that Jolly bought, sold, funded, transported and aided in the buying, selling, funding and transportation of illegal narcotics including cocaine and marijuana from 2006 through May 2008, and he still may be looking at federal charges on those matters), but hopefully the trafficking stuff is nonsense and he can get that straightened out. I'll admit that I chuckle about "purple drank," but long-term codeine addiction is pretty dangerous, especially for a big fellow. The respiratory depression alone is bad news for a guy like Jolly.

 

[1001001]

(Also: If he does quit again, since the end of the 2007 season, Brett Favre will have more retirements than the Detroit Lions have had wins. )

Ouch!

 

[Timby]

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the Vikings have offered Brett Favre a raise that would increase his 2010 base salary from $13 million to $16 million.

Incentives could reportedly push the salary even higher. Zulgad has been on top of the Favre story from the get-go, and went on NFL Network Tuesday to strongly caution that Favre's mind isn't necessarily made up. It's unclear if money is one of the main sticking points in Favre's decision, but there have been plenty of rumors it is. Favre played last season for $12 million.​

LeRoy Butler also told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had heard that Favre wants a three-year extension worth $13 million annually, but I can't imagine that to be accurate.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Zulgad is doing a lot of backpedaling today. Though I gotta say, the one fun thing about all this is watching all the national media people butcher his name.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Well if the Broncos season wasn't already questionable, Elvis Dumervil is probably out for the season with what appears to be a torn pectoral muscle. Recovery from surgery is a 4-5 month process.

There went the NFL sack leader out of a shaky defense.

 

[Jack Bauer]

Looks like it will be a long season in Denver defensewise...they better hope that the offense is kick ass.

 

[Timby]

Hey, cool, imitation football is on tonight.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Looks like it will be a long season in Denver defensewise...they better hope that the offense is kick ass.

 

[Aragorn]

T.O. still doesn't understand why the Cowboys released him:

"It was short-lived. I was prematurely let go. Things like that happen."

"There's no turning back or going back or redoing anything. Again, I still stand by the things that I said and what was done. I know that honestly it wasn't my fault."

 

[Jack Bauer]

Ah...T.O. for him denial is definitely not just a river in Egypt. With him it's always somebody else at fault.