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“Names In The News”

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Lots of people making lots of news, some good, some bad, some really stupid.

Observations around the NFL.

ANTONIO BROWN…Congrats Oakland, he’s your problem Raiders. An interesting preseason camp so far, few practices, the frostbitten incident with his feet, and the war with the NFL over his helmets. Oh by the way, there is a season to be played coming up. Maybe he needs just 1-week of full practice, or just 1-game in preseason. He’s been ideal for ‘Hard Knocks’. Will he be ideal for the Raiders, stay tuned.

ODELL BECKHAM….The other diva wide receiver is having his mail sent to Cleveland now, and the new member of the Browns is dropping bombs on everybody he left behind when he parted ways with the New York Giants. So gifted, such a pain to deal with, this will be an interesting fall with the Browns.

BAKER MAYFIELD….He can play and he can talk, and for the first time since 1999, there is legitimate hope the Browns can be a playoff team. He has spent all of camp yapping about his teammates, his former coach, even the NY Giants lost round draft pick quarterback. He can back it up as a player, but sometimes he can wear you out with his mouth.

KYLER MURRAY…Arizona’s first round draft pick is getting a rude introduction to the NFL. He’s not playing on a good team, is getting knocked around, and is running for his life, and this is in preseason right now. Wait till he has to operate against a Pro Bowl pass rush, or throw into coverage where there are superstars in the secondary. He was the first pick, and he went to an awful team. It’s the way of the NFL world. He’s gifted but I think he will get beat up.

JADAVEON CLOWNEY…Last year we had Le’Veon Bell’s season long holdout. No it looks as if the Houston defensive end is about to do the same, though the Texans are trying to shop him now in a trade. Teams will like his pass rushing talent, and teams will likely pay the big money guarantees to get him signed. You wonder why the Texans won’t.

JAYLON SMITH..The Cowboys gave a payday to the young linebacker, a (6Y-54M) extension, even while the contract situations with Ezekiel Elliott-Dak Prescott-Amari Cooper go unresolved. If you saw the horrors of his knee injury in his final game at Notre Dame, you’d be amazed he is even walking much less playing at a high level in the NFL.

ANDREW LUCK….This is not good in Indianapolis. It has been 15-weeks since he got hurt in OTA workouts, a calf injury. He’s not practicing, and the club now says he has a second injury, some type of pain issue in the front part of his ankle, and the same leg where he has the calf issue. All this after spending a year and a half trying to rehab and get healthy from major shoulder surgery.

JIMMY GAROPPOLO….San Francisco-somebody should be concerned. Garoppolo comes off a major knee injury last year. Comes back to camp, and this past week threw 5-interceptions on 5-straight passes in practice, then goes (1-6) 0Y-Interception-in a preseason game. He doesn’t look right, doesn’t seem comfortable in the pocket, and doesn’t look like the same player who dazzled us two years ago. Luckily the Niners do have CJ Beathard-Nick Mullens, both who have had big games last year.

JOSH GORDON….The Patriots opened the doors, and his teammates welcomed him back with open arms, this after he was disciplined by the NFL for drug violations. He’s played 52-games, missed 53-games with suspensions. You hope the Patriots are embracing him to help him over all the hurdles of his past life, and not just doing that because he averages (17.4YPC) over th course of his streaky NFL career.

TRENT WILLIAMS…The veteran Redskins left tackle isn’t in camp, and wants to be dealt. It could be the past dealings with Redskins doctors over head surgery he wound up having. It could be his contract, that still has two years to run. It could be he’s tired of losing. History has shown quality, but unhappy left tackles, are still valuable, so Williams could wind up going somewhere, New England, Cleveland for a couple of draft picks.

EZEKIEL ELLIOTT….Still out of camp, forfeiting money, and believing he holds leverage. He does. If we get to opening day, and he’s not in camp, then Jerry Jones has made a terrible mistake. The Cowboys are not the same team if he’s not playing, and maybe not a playoff team either. He’s outplayed the contract. Dallas has made him a strong offer of a pay bump from 3.9M, but should bump him to 10M immediately, and increase it from there. He deserves it. They need him too.

MELVIN GORDON…..He has no leverage, and he’s getting bad advice, and he is forfeiting 330,000 per week in game checks. He needs to come to camp and have his agent continue the dialogue. Wrecking the Chargers season and losing all his money makes no sense.

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