HEADLINES

Terron Beckham

Rookie Notes: Jets, Lions, Vikings, Packers

May 7th, 2016 at 9:51am CST by Ben Levine

Terron Beckham, the cousin of All-Pro wideout Odell Beckham Jr., got a workout with the Jets this past week. Despite having not played football since high school, Beckham believes he has the skill set to be an NFL running back. However, he’ll first have to overcome rumors of his steroid use.

“It’s tough because I work so hard. I worked that hard all my life. And you can’t just change people’s minds,” Beckham told Darryl Slater of NJ.com. “If they feel like, ‘What you look like or what you do, you can’t do that without having whatever substances.’ It’s crazy. All I have to say is that I’m here, and they’ve done their tests or whatever. I’m cool. I’ve never had to do anything, and I’m fine. I have great genetics. I work hard. And that’s all I have to say about that. I just kind of leave [those questions] alone now. I used to try to explain everything, but I’m like, ‘I’m just blessed and I work hard.’”

Let’s take a look at some more rookie notes from around the league…

  • Vikings punter Jeff Locke isn’t guaranteed to make the squad, as the organization brought in a pair of rookie punters to compete for the job. As Mark Craig of the Star Tribune writes, Texas Tech’s Taylor Symmank and West Virginia’s Nick O’Toole will first have to compete with each other. “Talking with [coach Mike Zimmer], he said Jeff has one more year on his contract and we’ll see what happens,” O’Toole said. “He said for me and Taylor to come in and compete and whoever is the better punter this weekend will be signed and that guy is going to compete with Jeff. And that guy could win the job or he could just have his name out there for other teams to see.”
  • Packers general manager Ted Thompson made the right choice by not drafting UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, writes Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Injuries concerns led the Packers to select nose tackle Kenny Clark in the first round, while Jack fell to the second round.
  • Despite using a first-round pick on offensive lineman Taylor Decker, there’s uncertainty in the Lions organization regarding which position the Ohio State product will ultimately play. “Like most positions that we have, we want to really find out what they’re all about from a physical standpoint within our system,” said head coach Jim Caldwell (via ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein). “We certainly know outside of it, so we’ll work fundamentals, techniques. Most of those guys are guys that have some flexibility involved in what they do and how they do it, and you have to at that position. So, we want to see.”

Extra Points: Manziel, Laurinaitis, Draft

February 20th, 2016 at 2:25pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

2:25pm: Dallas PD could conclude its Manziel investigation by next week, the Associated Press reports.

12:03pm: The Dallas Police Department issued an update Saturday regarding its investigation of domestic violence claims against Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. The Dallas PD’s statement comes courtesy of Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (Twitter link):

“On February 5, 2016, Dallas Police Department detectives began investigating a complaint of a domestic violence assault that occurred in Dallas on January 30, 2016, in which Jonathan Manziel was the listed suspect. Up to this point in the investigation, detectives have continued communicating with the complainant, interviewed witnesses, received medical records from the complainant, and obtained video from surveillance cameras. Detectives are continuing with their efforts to fully investigate the facts of this case. As this remains an on-going investigation, no details of the investigation will be released at this time. We would like to finish the investigation as soon as possible, but detectives work around the victim’s and witnesses’ schedules which can sometimes delay the process. As of today, there has been no determination as to what type of charge, if any, will be filed against Mr. Manziel. Updates to this case will be made as information comes available.”

The surveillance video mentioned in the statement is from the Hotel ZaZa, where Collen Crowley claims Manziel’s assault on her began, reports Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. As McManamon writes, Crowley stated in an affidavit that she told a hotel valet that she was scared for her life, and Manziel subsequently threw her in the passenger seat of his car. The Dallas PD has the video of Crowley’s encounter with the valet along with other surveillance, per McManamon.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Linebacker James Laurinaitis, whom the Rams cut Friday after he started 112 straight games for the club, was taken aback by his release. “I didn’t see this one coming,” he told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I thought maybe at worst, a pay cut. I still felt like I was producing.” The 29-year-old is fresh off his seventh consecutive 100-tackle season since entering the league in 2009 and, more impressively, has never missed a game. However, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) rated his 2015-16 performance an ugly 83rd out of 97 qualifying LBs.
  • Although Terron Beckham – cousin of Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. – didn’t play college football, the 23-year-old is hoping to catch on in the NFL as a running back. The 5-foot-11, 230-pounder will have a chance to impress scouts on Feb. 25 at a “shadow combine” in Indianapolis, reports Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post. The event is for draft hopefuls who aren’t invited to next week’s national scouting combine or any regional combines. Terron Beckham, who’s a trainer and fitness model, says he’s “Marshawn Lynch and [Adrian Peterson] transformed into one person.” Despite that glowing self-assessment, he’s “an extreme long shot” to end up in the league, a personnel executive told Hubbuch. Further, it’s unknown if Beckham is even eligible for the draft, per Hubboch, as neither he nor his agent have called the league office to find out.
  • Speaking of the draft, teams are concerned about Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook‘s leadership abilities, Albert Breer of NFL.com tweets. Cook can, however, allay those fears at the combine, Breer adds. MSU tightly restricts scouts at practice, per Breer (Twitter link), which means they haven’t been able to watch Cook interact with teammates.
  • The stock of Louisiana Tech QB Jeff Driskel is rising, perhaps as high as the second round, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. “I like Driskel,” an AFC scouting director told Wilson. “He can still use more polish, but he’s got a big arm and can move and seems very coachable. I could see him being drafted higher than most people think. He helped himself a lot.”