Let’s do your Fox NFL Sunday quotage. It’s all posted below in black and white.
FOX NFL SUNDAY NOTES – 9/29/13
Bradshaw to Josh Freeman: You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself
Glazer Reports on Josh Freeman Asking for Trade or Release Out of Tampa Bay & Gronkowski’s Timeline to Return
Johnson Puts a Fork in the Giants Season—————————————————————————————————
NFL Insider Jay Glazer on reports of Josh Freeman status in Tampa Bay: “His time there is over according to Josh Freeman.I spoke to him this morning and he’s already asked for a trade and if they don’t want to do that, he wants his release.He knows that he and the head coach are not going to be able to come back and have a happy marriage. He thinks it’s just better for everybody and time that he move on and stop being a distraction. The relationship between Freeman and the team is irreparable. There is a lot of stuff that is starting to come out about Josh Freeman to the point that the NFL players union is looking into it. They are saying to the Buccaneers ‘let’s do this the right way, if you are going to break up this little union here, don’t leak out a bunch of stuff about Josh Freeman off the field just so later on you can recoup his salary.’”
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Ronde Barber, NFL on FOX analyst and former teammate of Josh Freeman’s for three seasons, on what he saw from Freeman this year: “He was wildly inconsistent so this wasn’t a kneejerk reaction. Even last year when he was throwing for a team record in yardage and touchdowns, he showed flashes of brilliance but he also showed why they were looking for other options in the off-season. I can’t find one guy in the locker room that will publicly say that they disagree with this decision. It almost feels like it was a matter of when and not if Josh was going to get benched.”
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Co-host Terry Bradshaw reacts to the situation in Tampa Bay: “I’m disappointed in Freeman. Coach Schiano knew what kind of quarterback they had and they put him on a short leash from the beginning of the season. To be late for meetings as the quarterback is inexcusable. To miss the team picture that’s on a Saturday – how in the world does that happen? The fact that he didn’t put in the time to study and prepare himself just proves that they had to set him down. I’m disappointed in Josh for him wanting out so easily. Have you heard about fighting for your job? Have you heard of going in early and staying late? You dream of this opportunity when you are a child and to go to the side like this, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Analyst Howie Long reacts to Bradshaw’s assessment: “I disagree. We’re talking about a quarterback who is young and two years ago was a Pro Bowl level quarterback. The writing to a certain extent was on the wall. The team was splitting snaps from the beginning of the season. What kind of message does that send to your franchise quarterback? This kid needs to take care of the inconsistencies and get it together. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Josh Freeman.”
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Analyst Jimmy Johnson sizes up the Giants season: “Where do I start with the Giants? They are averaging less than three yards a carry. Eli Manning, one of the top quarterbacks in the league, has eight interceptions and 11 sacks. Their defense is giving up 38 points a game. I’m almost embarrassed to do this. One team out of 185 that started 0-4 made the playoffs. Giants, you got it. You’re forked!”
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Glazer reports on how Matt Flynn came to be named the starter for the Raiders this afternoon: “As of 7:00 PM last night, Terrell Pryor was still slated to start however; he started showing some signs of that concussion. The team wanted to make sure they erred on the side of caution and didn’t want to put him in harm’s way. They ended up going to the team meeting and telling everyone ‘we have an about-face and Matt Flynn is now our starter.’”
Glazer on what NFL names USC have their eye on after firing head coach Lane Kiffin this morning: “You are going hear a lot of alum being attached to that job but no bigger name than Jack Del Rio, John Fox’s defensive coordinator in Denver. I talked to John Fox about it this week and he said ‘I heard the rumors just like everyone else. I heard them last year so I’m not going to be taken by surprise. If something like this happens. There’s no better candidate than that guy.”
Glazer on Rob Gronkowski’s return timeline and the injury that’s really keeping him on the sidelines: “This is Gronk’s decision and only Gronk’s decision. A lot of people and it’s been reported that it’s because of his forearm. It is not, it’s because of his back. Right now, Gronk is targeting a return in two weeks against the Saints. The Patriots are hoping he comes back one week early.”
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Analyst Jimmy Johnson on the improvements the Bears have made this season: “I’m not sure the Bears are out of the woods yet, but the longer this offensive line plays together and the rookies see more action, Cutler can count on spending a lot more time on his feet. The problem with Chicago the last few years hasn’t been the defense and hasn’t been the running game. It’s been inconsistency at quarterback. Marc Trestman has fixed that. With so many young players, they could have some problems down the road but I like what I see from Chicago.”
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Analyst Michael Strahan on San Francisco’s win against the Rams this week: “It looked like they lost confidence before and the win against the Rams definitely gives them some confidence back from last year.”
ESPN quotage is next.
