HEADLINES

Adam Jones

Extra Points: Pats, Julio, Fluker, Cooper

September 17th, 2015 at 9:34pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The DeflateGate scandal reentered the news Thursday when Mark Baltz, the NFL’s head linesman from 1989-2013, voiced his suspicion regarding recently reinstated Patriots employee Jim McNally. In response, Jim Daopoulos – the league’s ex-supervisor of officials and one of Baltz’s former bosses – defended McNally.

“In all my years working with locker-room attendants, Jim McNally, without a doubt, is probably one of the most professional of all the locker-room attendants in the National Football League,” Daopoulos said, according to CSNNE.com. “And that can be attested by all the officials working in the National Football League.”

“I really don’t know what Mark’s agenda is right here,” Daopoulos added.

Other news from around the league:

  • Although Falcons star receiver Julio Jones has been limited this week with a hamstring injury, head coach Dan Quinn says there’s “zero” chance he’ll miss their game Sunday, per The Associated Press. Jones lit up the Eagles for nine catches, 141 yards and two touchdowns in Monday’s win. He’ll look to do something similar against the Giants this week.
  • Chargers guard D.J. Fluker was carted off the field with an ankle injury during the team’s Week 1 win over Detroit, and there was concern that he’d miss anywhere from four to six weeks. Instead, Fluker will only miss a couple weeks, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. In the meantime, Chris Hairston will take his spot as the starting right guard.
  • Raiders receiver Amari Cooper harbors no ill will toward Bengals cornerback Adam Jones, who avoided a suspension after ripping Cooper’s helmet off his head and slamming his head against the ground in Cincy’s win last week. “I didn’t want him to get suspended,” Cooper said, per Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. “He was just playing football and playing physical like you’re supposed to. I’m past all that now. I’m trying to focus on the Ravens.” (Twitter links: 1; 2).
  • Seahawks rookie defensive end Frank Clark is a situation player – for now, anyway – and using Richard Sherman in the slot enables the team to get its three best cornerbacks on the field, D-coordinator Kris Richard said (Twitter link via The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta).
  • The Colts’ decision to waive/injured running back Vick Ballard prior to Week 1 remains a curious one, writes Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. They did it to open up a spot for inside linebacker Josh McNary, but they have a logjam of ILBs. On the other hand, they’re lacking at running back behind starter Frank Gore.

Extra Points: Weddle, Chancellor, Brady

August 19th, 2015 at 10:00pm CST by Zachary Links

Adam Jones will probably go down as one of those “what-if” history stories in sports and the Bengals cornerback is well aware of that. “If I would have never gotten suspended, I would have $100 million right now,” Jones said, according to Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. Still, Jones says that he tries not to live with regrets and that he hopes to make the most of the remainder of his career. Here’s more from around the NFL..

  • Eric Weddle‘s agent David Canter confirmed (via Twitter links) that he would like to see the Chargers safety land with the Dolphins. However, he made it clear that he and Weddle “have never and will never ask for a trade from San Diego.” Teams typically don’t trade their best players, Canter notes, and he says that Bolts fans can rest assured that he won’t be going anywhere, at least in 2015.
  • Agent Alvin Keels told ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (on Twitter) that everything is status quo with his client, Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor. “Nothing has changed. He will not report without his contract being addressed this season. The team and I have been in contact, but we haven’t been able to agree on any compromise,” Keels said.
  • Right now, there are no more settlement talks planned between the NFL and NFLPA until the August 31st court appearance, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Brandon Meriweather‘s deal with the Giants is a one-year pact worth $870K and no guaranteed cash, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
  • During practice Sunday, Raiders‘ WR Andre Holmes fractured his hand and now is expected to be out 3-4 weeks, sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
  • New Jets quarterback Matt Flynn says that there’s no timetable on when he’ll recover from his hamstring issue and added that he is not guaranteed a roster spot with Gang Green, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Guard-center Josh Samuda, former Dolphin and Viking, worked out today for the Chiefs, according to a source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).