Jag on Brady: 'He ain't all that'
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Perhaps you were impressed with Tom Brady's record-setting performance in beating the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday.
If so, you weren't Jaguars rookie safety Reggie Nelson.
"He ain't all that He's all right," Nelson said.
Ah, Reggie, are you sure he ain't more than all that? Brady did, after all, set an NFL record by completing 92.9 percent of his passes (26 for 28 for 262 yards and three touchdowns) to lead the New England Patriots to a 31-20 playoff victory.
It was the near-perfect game for the quarterback of the perfect team.
"It was a check-down game," Nelson said, suggesting that most of Brady's completions were short and underneath the pass coverage. "Anybody can go 26-of-28 in a dump-down game."
Down the hall, "he ain't all that" dumbfounded Randy Moss.
"What?" Moss said. "It wasn't impressive? When you lose you're going to say things that (are) really inappropriate. You're talking about the MVP, that's Tom Brady.
"I'm not even going to respond to that."
Nelson's opinion might stem from the sheer frustration of having Brady carve up his Jags despite their almost perfect execution of the game plan.
Jacksonville focused on shutting down the deep threat especially Moss (just one reception) and, as Nelson noted, make Brady check down, or throw to short, underneath patterns.
It might have worked, too, if Brady hadn't completed nearly every throw.
"It was a little disappointing he missed two," smiled coach Bill Belichick.
And one of them was a drop by Wes Welker.
That's what makes Brady not just the MVP of the league this season, but the pure championship winner of this generation. He has the Patriots at 17-0 and barreling toward their fourth Super Bowl title not because he always makes the flashiest plays although he does that, too but because he almost always makes the right one.
"He doesn't force anything," said Jags safety Sammie Knight. "He's going to take what you give him. He's made a living throwing to backs and underneath."
If the Jaguars were going to stop the long ball, Brady had no problem nickel and diming them with short, smart passes.
"If you're taking two guys every play and putting them on Randy, then you leave a lot of guys one-on-one," Brady said.
Brady almost sounded like Nelson by calling it "easy." But that's his normal way of deflecting praise onto his teammates. He may be the supermodel-dating playboy, but he loves shrugging it all off and going with the aw-shucks routine.
"Those guys, when they are open like that, that's my job to hit them," Brady said. "They were open every time. It's easy when you have receivers that are open all the time and an offensive line that never lets anyone touch you."
None of his teammates would let him get away with that. Each told of Nelson's comments reacted with a bit of anger.
"I can't say what I want to say," said wide receiver Donte' Stallworth.
Underneath passes or not, 26-of-28 is a record for a reason.
"This is the NFL. If this was high school, yeah (it might not be 'all that')," Stallworth said.
Brady already had conducted his postgame interview by the time Nelson spoke. His play said enough, though.
The Pats had five scoring drives (with a missed field goal on a sixth). The team's other two offensive possessions were a one-play kneel down to finish the first half and an attempt to wind down the clock late in the fourth.
Big play or not, they couldn't have operated much better with Brady serving as the game-plan buster, laying waste to Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio's defensive plot.
"Unfortunately, Tom didn't slip on the way to work today," Del Rio said.
Back in the Jags locker room, there wasn't much to say. The secondary that allowed a record performance had done exactly what they were told to do and still couldn't stop New England.
So all four starters stood in front of their lockers, conveniently lined up in a row, and all four just shrugged at what had happened, although the other three were more gracious than Nelson.
"He's good," Nelson finally conceded before packing his bag and heading for the offseason. "He's a good quarterback."
Yeah, for an unbeaten MVP, Tom Brady's not too bad.
Copyright 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Colts' Dungy will wait till after season to decide whether to continue coaching
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Coach Tony Dungy doesn't want to talk about retirement yet.
Dungy, who has considered leaving football each of the past two years, acknowledged Thursday he would talk with his wife and Indianapolis officials about the future when the Colts' season ends.
Speculation about his potential departure was fueled by a report Thursday in The Tampa Tribune that said his son, Eric, enrolled at Plant High School in Florida. Eric Dungy, who turns 16 Saturday, was a receiver-defensive back at Park Tudor High School in Indianapolis the last two years but reportedly began attending classes at Plant on Tuesday.
Tony Dungy would not confirm the report.
"I'm not going to say anything because it's not really worthy of comment," he said. "I've heard and read a lot and some of it is true, some of it is partially true and some of it isn't true at all. I wouldn't read anything into any of the things you hear and read."
The 52-year-old Dungy signed a three-year contract extension in September 2005, a deal intended to keep him with the Colts through 2009.
But he has considered leaving football before.
He waited one week after the 2005 season to announce he would return when some speculated he might retire to spend more time with his family following the death of his 18-year-old son, James. Last year after leading the Colts to their first Super Bowl title in more than three decades, Dungy again briefly considered retirement.
And he's ready to follow the same decision-making process again this season.
"I'll sit down with my wife and talk it through and then talk to (owner) Jim (Irsay) and (president) Bill (Polian), like I do every year," Dungy said. "And then we'll take a look at it."
Since winning the Super Bowl, Dungy has become more involved in life away from football.
A longtime supporter of charitable groups such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters and All-Pro Dads, Dungy wrote a best-selling memoir, "Quiet Strength", which now has 1 million copies in print. He also was appointed to the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
Dungy has said in the past he never intended to be a "lifer" in football and that he initially planned to retire by the time he was 50. But when he announced his return as Colts coach in February, Dungy said he still had the passion to keep coaching.
Colts players say they've seen no indication Dungy intended to leave.
"He's not said anything and I certainly hope not," Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday said.
Dungy is 127-65 in 12 seasons as a head coach, finishing his six-year career in Tampa Bay as the franchise's winningest coach. He is the only Colts coach to get double-digit victory totals and earn playoff berths in six straight seasons. He led the Buccaneers to the NFC championship game in 1999 and has been to the AFC championship game twice with the Colts, following the 2003 and 2006 seasons.
In 2007, the Colts became the first team in league history to win at least 12 games in five consecutive years, and Indy has won five straight AFC South titles. Dungy also has been an assistant coach with Minnesota, Kansas City and Pittsburgh and spent three seasons in the late '70s playing for the Steelers and San Francisco 49ers.
Indy's quest to repeat as Super Bowl champs begins Sunday when the San Diego Chargers visit for a divisional-round game that could mark the final time Indy plays in the RCA Dome. The new Lucas Oil Stadium, a retractable-roof dome, opens next season.
Dungy's assistant head coach, Jim Caldwell, also has become a regular on the interview circuit. He met with the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens about their openings last week and interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals last year.
Earlier this week, Dungy endorsed Caldwell for those jobs, saying he was ready to become a head coach.
"Anybody who talks to Jim is going to come away impressed," Dungy said Wednesday. "They will realize how thorough he is. If they talk to any of our players, they're going to know what type of communicator he is, so there's no question in my mind he made a great impression."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Romo wants to play simply because there's a game to be won
IRVING, Texas -- If it was up to Tony Romo, he would play the entire season finale Sunday in Washington, even though it means nothing to the Dallas Cowboys.
It's not because he wants to work on timing with returning receiver Terry Glenn or the young receivers filling in for the injured Terrell Owens.
It's not because he wants to nail down all the team records he's approaching.
His reasoning is far more simple: There's a game to be won.
"That's who I am," Romo said Wednesday. "I'm competitive."
Having already wrapped up the division, a first-round bye and home games all the way until the Super Bowl, Romo and the Cowboys (13-2) hardly have anything left to play for Sunday.
Maybe they could get fired up about getting a club-record 14th win and keeping the Redskins (8-7) from clinching a playoff berth all in one afternoon. Or maybe they'll want to end a two-game losing streak in Washington.
Would you settle for hoping to end a seven-game skid in season finales?
Come to think of it, maybe it would be better just to rest some starters to make sure no one joins T.O. on the injury list.
"Our ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl and anything that threatens that is, in a small way, probably a negative," Romo said. "But I learned a while ago you can't take the competitiveness away from individuals. If you do that, that's when people get hurt."
Coach Wade Phillips continued to be evasive Wednesday about details of who will play and how long they'll go. About the only specifics are that Owens is out and Glenn should be in.
Phillips threw out that he's likely to err on the side of caution with the other four guys on the post-practice injury: center Andre Gurode (knee), nose tackle Jay Ratliff (knee), cornerback Terence Newman (knee) and safety Patrick Watkins (ankle). Add in Owens (ankle) and there are only three more players to make inactive.
A bruised thumb could be an excuse for Romo getting a day off. Phillips isn't using it, but there was one near-admission that Romo will have only a cameo appearance Sunday.
Asked how snaps are being divvied up in practice, Phillips said it would be similar to how they'll be used in the game. Then he smiled, sang a circus-like tune and said, "I can't tap dance."
Folks in Las Vegas apparently don't believe Romo will play much, if at all. That explains why Washington opened as a 7½-point favorite, then moved to 9½.
"We've got to be smart about it, but at the same point, we're not laying down," Romo said. "We're not coming out to say, `Hey, let's take a week off. Let's treat it like the preseason.' We're going to try to win this football game. We're going to try to execute every play, like we do all the time. Really, the most important thing is, we're going to try to get better."
Romo's perspective on playing time might be different from other Pro Bowl quarterbacks because he spent his first 3½ seasons on the bench. This is actually his first full season in charge. Considering how memorable it's been, perhaps he should just finish it off.
He's signed a $67.5 million contract extension and become an A-list celebrity, dating singers and actresses and judging the Miss Universe pageant. A biography about him even hit the shelves in time for Christmas. He's been pretty good on the field, too.
Romo has set club records for yards passing (4,125 and counting), touchdown passes (36) and 300-yard games (seven). He could set the completions record with seven more against Washington and would set the attempts mark with 30 throws. His 99.3 passer rating is second to Roger Staubach's best and 0.3 better than Troy Aikman's best. His 65.3 completion rate is tied for second-best.
"I'm not going to sit up any one night and be like, `Wow, I got the completions record," Romo said. "It's a neat accomplishment, but for me ... that just doesn't do it unless you accomplish the other stuff."
Perhaps the most important thing he could accomplish Sunday is throwing to Glenn, which he hasn't done since the playoffs last year. Glenn has missed this entire season with two knee injuries, but is working with the starters in practice and should be ready Sunday.
"I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it, really," Romo said. "He has a way of getting in and out of cuts. Speed, experience -- he's got a lot of good things. He's just phenomenal."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Seahawks' Alexander: "I still have it" -- despite evidence to the contrary
KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) -- This would not appear to be the week for Shaun Alexander to get well.
Or get a milestone. And especially to declare that he is not washed up.
Big, bad Baltimore -- that would be, the defensive half -- is coming to Seattle ranked second-best in the league at stopping the run. Far less-formidable defenses have stonewalled Alexander this season, in which the NFL's MVP in 2005 has faded into irrelevance.
"We haven't really run the ball against anybody, so we can only go up," Alexander said while preparing with the NFC West champions (9-5) to host the Ravens (4-10) on Sunday.
Alexander has averaged 42 yards rushing per game in his last eight games while wearing a cast over his broken wrist. His current average of 3.3 yards per carry is the lowest of his career. Seattle's average of 3.6 yards per run is 30th in the league and the reason coach Mike Holmgren is concerned heading into the playoffs.
Yet Alexander, in the second season of an eight-year, $62 million contract with $15.1 million guaranteed signed a month after appearing in the Super Bowl at the end of the '05 season, says he'll return to elite form.
"If I said I was going to retire last year, everybody would have been like, 'You're in the middle of your prime,"' he said.
"Of course I still have it. ... Breaking the foot last year, and breaking the hand this year, they've just caused changes in the game for me."
Alexander romped to a franchise-record 1,880 yards and set the league record with 28 touchdowns two years ago. Since then, he has lost three Pro Bowl blockers: Left guard Steve Hutchinson signed before last season with Minnesota, center Robbie Tobeck retired in January and fullback Mack Strong was forced into retirement by a neck injury five games into this season.
Alexander fractured his foot last season, the first major injury of his football career. In August, he turned 30, the age at which runners historically have started to break down and disappear.
Broken? That would now be his left wrist, in a cast since Week 2. In November, he missed three games with a sprained left knee.
The cutback lanes he used to create now close on him faster than he can run. His trademark hesitation, which used to deftly set up blocks, now just invite emboldened defenders to swarm him in place -- and his home fans to boo him. He'll likely finish this season with his fewest yards rushing and touchdowns since he became a starter in 2001. His meager 17 yards on seven carries against Carolina last weekend in what has become a pass-first offense leaves him with 612 yards and just three scores in 11 games.
Holmgren said the injuries and Alexander simply having nowhere to run are the reasons for his steep decline.
"We have not run the ball well. It's been well documented, talked about enough, but (age is) not the reason," Holmgren said, after a sigh. "I think physically he can still do it. I think that wrist, it bothered him more than he ever thought it might or I ever thought it might.
"And then we got kind of a little bit of a loss of confidence. I'm not talking about him losing confidence, I'm talking about me losing confidence in calling certain things."
Holmgren said when he and his staff looked at film of the Carolina game, he was stopped as quickly as Alexander has been lately.
"I told the coaches 'Look it, let's stop it right here. Where's it going? What does he have? Someone tell me what he has? There's nothing!"' Holmgren said, waving his arms in the air for emphasis.
"He's a lightning rod, (but) he's going to help us win games down the stretch, I know that. I believe that."
When asked if Alexander fits into Seattle's plans beyond this postseason, Holmgren said: "Oh, absolutely. He signed a long-term contract here."
The coach added Alexander may require surgery on the wrist in the offseason, implying that will make Alexander good for 2008.
"We'll fix that in the offseason," Holmgren said.
Alexander will try Sunday for the third consecutive week to score his 100th rushing touchdown. He would be the eighth in league history to do that.
Holmgren said he "absolutely" would try to call plays that will get Alexander the milestone TD at home, perhaps to trump some of the boos. Seattle finishes the regular season at Atlanta before opening the playoffs at home on the first weekend of January, but postseason scores don't count on such career totals.
"We're going in with the idea to win the football game first," Holmgren said. "But within that structure, if he can do that, I'd be very happy if he can do that at home."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
DT Toeaina joins Chicago Bears
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) -- The Chicago Bears signed defensive tackle Matt Toeaina to a three-year contract Wednesday.
Toeaina was a sixth-round choice of the Bengals and spent the first 14 games this season on Cincinnati's practice squad. He played in college at Oregon.
The Bears just signed defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy on Tuesday. Chicago's defensive front has been depleted with injuries to Dusty Dvoracek, Anthony Adams, Antonio Garay and Darwin Walker. Dvoracek, Adams and Garay are out for the season.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
Rams QB Bulger cleared to practice
ST. LOUIS (TICKER) -- The St. Louis Rams finally got some good news regarding the quarterback position.
Marc Bulger, who was recovering from a concussion, passed his neuropsych exam Tuesday and is expected to play Sunday at Cincinnati (4-8).
The timing couldn't be better since the team announced Tuesday that backup signal-caller Gus Frerotte has a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder and isn't expected to play Sunday.
He has been cleared to practice and if he makes it through the week of practice then he will be cleared to play in the game," Rams coach Scott Linehan said. "If I could fast forward to Sunday I could tell you a 100 percent. I don't have a percentage for you. He's out there and is cleared to practice."
With Bulger sidelined, Frerotte started Sunday's 28-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Though suffering the shoulder injury late in the third quarter, he stayed in the game and passed for 311 yards and three touchdowns.
Brock Berlin, a third-year player out of Miami who never has played in an NFL game, will serve as the team's second-string quarterback.
Bulger, who suffered the concussion in a win over Seattle on November 25, has endured an injury-plagued campaign, also missing two games with broken ribs. The 30-year-old Bulger has six touchdown passes and nine interceptions in nine games this season.
It was also announced on Wednesday that the Rams (3-9) will be without cornerback Tye Hill for the rest of the season. Hill had surgery on his left hand after injuring it during Sunday's game. Linehan said Hill suffered a wrist dislocation. He underwent surgery and was placed on injured reserve.
"The surgery went fine," Linehan said. "It ended up becoming a more of an emergency type of situation because the symptoms of what happened. He didn't know he hurt his wrist as bad as he had."
The team's first-round draft choice in 2006, Hill missed four games in September and early October with a lower back injury.
Copyright 2007 PA SportsTicker. All Rights Reserved
Injured Culpepper rests sore leg; McCown also hurt
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- Raiders quarterback Daunte Culpepper was limited in practice Thursday due to a sore quadriceps muscle, but is expected to play this weekend against Denver.
"He just came in this morning and it was bothering him, so we were safe with him," Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said. "He did some stuff today, so we'll see what he can do tomorrow. I don't anticipate him being out, but if he was then we'll figure it out then."
Culpepper, who has started six games for Oakland this season, said the injury initially occurred in last week's 20-17 win over Kansas City. He practiced Wednesday then iced his right thigh afterward, but awoke Thursday with considerable soreness in his leg.
The Raiders plan a cautious approach with the 30-year-old Culpepper, who has missed 21 games over the last two seasons due to multiple knee injuries. He received treatment after practice and will be re-evaluated Thursday.
But the veteran quarterback believes he'll be ready to play against the Broncos. Culpepper, who struggled with turnovers earlier in the season, has completed 38 of 61 passes for 514 yards over his last two games.
"I kind of cut back on my reps because I didn't want to make it any worse than it is," Culpepper said. "I feel good enough ... but I'm not going to push it. We'll see how it feels tomorrow."
Culpepper isn't the only Raiders quarterback hurting.
Backup Josh McCown had to have stitches in his left hand after dislocating two joints in his pinky while playing catch with teammate Andrew Walter in practice Wednesday.
Because the injury occurred to his non-throwing hand, McCown isn't expected to be slowed much. He and rookie JaMarcus Russell split the extra reps in practice while Culpepper sat out selected drills.
McCown has already been hampered by foot, toe and hand injuries this season after opening the year as Oakland's starter.
"It's just par for the course this year," McCown said.
With both quarterbacks hurting, speculation naturally turned to Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft. Russell has yet to play after missing all of training camp and the preseason while negotiating his contract. He's been trying to catch up ever since.
Kiffin has not said if Russell will play at all this season, but acknowledged the rookie has improved his grasp of the offense.
"We're still looking at some things with him," Kiffin said. "He took some reps today and did well. He moved around well, did some things well and jumped right in there. We'll continue to push him and we'll keep plugging away."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
|
