We move to quotage from the NFL Today on CBS. Not as long as NFL GameDay, but the NFL Today is only an hour compared to four for NFL GameDay.
NEWS, NOTES & QUOTES FROM CBS SPORTS’ “THE NFL TODAY” WITH JAMES BROWN, DAN MARINO, SHANNON SHARPE, BILL COWHER, BOOMER ESIASON AND KRIS JENKINS FOR WEEK 2 ON SEPTEMBER 18
QUICK HITS
(On Denver’s Tim Tebow playing any time soon)
SHANNON SHARPE: There might come a time at some point in time during the season that might happen. Talking to John Elway and John Fox, I don’t see that happening any time soon. I think he might be able to be successful but you’d have to scrap your entire offense to make this guy successful. Then what happens, if he gets nicked and somebody else has to come in because you have nobody else on this team with his skill set. Everyone talks about his intangibles, his big heart, his desire to win, he won the Heisman. Arguably, one of the five or six greatest college players to ever play the game. But what about accuracy? That’s an intangible you must have to be successful at any level to play quarterback, especially in the National Football League. I just don’t see how this guy can be successful consistently when he can’t throw the football accurately.(On should New York Jets coach Rex Ryan stick to “ground and pound” or should he turn quarterback Mark Sanchez loose)
BOOMER ESIASON: Ground and pound got him to two AFC championship games, I get it. And they were protecting a young quarterback who was a liability as opposed to an asset. Now he’s a third year starter. He’s a captain. He’s wearing the “C.” I get they have a little problem protecting him. Wayne Hunter had all he could handle last week from DeMarcus Ware. You got Santonio Holmes, Plaxico Burress, and maybe the most under-utilized tight end in football in Dustin Keller – start throwing the ball. That’s what this league is going to, and that’s why you traded up to get him in the first round.(On whether Jaguars made right call by cutting quarterback David Garrard)
BOOMER: Yes, they did. They didn’t believe he could take them to the Super Bowl. So why pay him $8 million if you’re a small market team. They did the right thing.(On whether Ndamukong Suh is best defensive player in the league)
JENKINS: Absolutely not. Right now the current premiere defensive tackle in the league is Haloti Ngata. And you have to look at the best players in the league on defense: Revis, Polamalu, Demarcus Ware, and so on and so forth. You can go down that list for a long time.(On whether we can we expect more of same from outstanding rookie QB Cam Newton)
BOOMER: I love Cam Newton‘s performance last week, and the thing that I saw more than anything was poise. You also have to realize why he had so much success. The Arizona defense was a disaster. They had communication problems. They busted coverages. But give the kid credit because he found where those busted coverages were. I think he’s going to be a tremendous player in this league. I just don’t think we’re going to see that today against Dom Capers and this defense because they won’t have the same breakdowns.JENKINS: This week is going to be a huge test for him. But I think that, as we look towards the longevity of the season, you have to understand that defenses are going to adjust now. They see what he can do. They see what he’s capable of. They’re not going to allow him to go out there and have success like that in the air.
“INSIDE THE NFL” WITH CHARLEY CASSERLY
(On reasons for Miami QB Chad Henne’s improvement)
CASSERLY: I’m told by people close to Henne and players on the team that they’re a lot more loose this year. There’s less tension in the building and some people attribute it to the fact that Bill Parcells is not there. As far as Henne’s play, he likes the fast pace offense. He likes the quick rhythm passing game he’s in. And, he also likes the ability to get through the progression of the passing plays rather quickly.View Casserly on Henne’s Improvement:
(On retired players complaining about benefits and what NFL is doing about matter)
CASSERLY: I learned this past Thursday Commissioner Goodell had a confidential meeting with the most vocal leaders of the retired players groups. At the meeting were Bruce Laird, Ron Mix, Willie Lanier, Carl Eller and George Martin. Mike Ditka was not at the meeting, but he had input into the meeting. To me this is a historic meeting because it’s the first time the retired players were able to meet with the league and have a voice how the hundreds of millions of dollars will be distributed to the players in the pension fund, both their peers and players who helped make this league great. The final note here is the next step is for Commissioner Goodell to meet with the NFLPA, who was invited to the meeting and did not attend, to make a final determination how the money will be split up.View Casserly on Retired Player Benefits:
View the rest of Casserly’s reports:
Casserly Discusses McNabb’s Early Struggles:
Casserly Discusses Grossman’s Strong Start:
Quotage from Fox NFL Sunday is just ahead.
