OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens re-signed Pernell McPhee to a one-year contract Tuesday, adding the veteran outside linebacker after not addressing edge rusher in the NFL draft.
McPhee, 31, will compete for playing time at the Ravens’ rush linebacker position with Jaylon Ferguson and Jihad Ward.
He was having a resurgent season in his return to Baltimore last season before missing the final nine games with torn triceps. He was a physical presence along the line of scrimmage, recording 19 tackles and three sacks (second most on the team at the time) in the first six games.
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“He wanted to prove himself. He wanted to get back on track and demonstrate that he still could play,” coach John Harbaugh said when McPhee was placed on injured reserve. “I see no reason why he can’t recover from the triceps injury and be back next year stronger than ever.”
A fifth-round pick by Baltimore in 2011, McPhee reunited with the Ravens after spending four mostly forgettable seasons with the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins. He provided leadership for a defense that lost Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosley and Eric Weddle.
Durability has been a major issue with McPhee, who hasn’t played a full season since 2014. In his past five seasons, McPhee has missed more games (24) than sacks recorded (17), primarily because of problems with his knees.
With McPhee sidelined, Ferguson held his own last season with 31 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
Don Shula, the NFL’s winningest coach who led the Miami Dolphins to the league’s only undefeated season, died on Monday. He was 90.
The Dolphins issued a statement saying that Shula died “peacefully at his home.”
“Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years,” the statement said. “He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami in the national sports scene. Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Anne along with his children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne and Mike.”
Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Ready to seize his chance: Becoming a starting quarterback in the NFL is hard enough. Filling the void created by Tom Brady’s free-agent departure makes it that much harder.
Jarrett Stidham is the leading candidate to fill that role, and his former coach, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, believes he has the makeup to succeed.
TAMPA, Fla. — For the first time in over two decades, six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady is the new kid on the block — playing for a new team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in a new offense with new teammates. Well, mostly new teammates.
Brady will have longtime favorite target Rob Gronkowski to ease the transition. But to help Brady’s new squad get better acquainted with him, ESPN spoke to a number of former teammates for tips on how best to work with Brady.
Lesson 1: Don’t get caught ‘Brady-watching’
Former linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who was with the Patriots for four seasons before Brady’s arrival and played with the quarterback from 2000 to ’08, cautioned against falling into the trap of believing Brady can be the savior every Sunday, or what he calls “Brady-watching.” You can see it when a receiver drops a pass or a safety gives up a touchdown early in the fourth quarter but doesn’t feel a sense of urgency.
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“They need to get over Brady-watching. Because they get to the sideline and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘It’s OK, Tom will bail us out.’ That’s what I call Brady-watching,” Bruschi said.
Brady’s 45 game-winning drives from 2000 to ’19 are the most of any quarterback in history.
“I’ll be watching that early on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if they’re Brady-watching or if they feel themselves as a team that everything is important, and not just when that guy right there is under center and everything is gonna magically happen,” Bruschi said.
Brady also needs to know what players are seeing from the defense. If a safety is cheating on a high corner route, Brady needs to know the tight end won’t be able to run that route but could instead run a bench route.
“Take ownership of your role just as much as he takes ownership of his role,” Fauria said. “He’s gonna hold you accountable, but you need to hold him accountable. … It’s not a dictatorship, it’s a partnership. … He’s on a new team with new players and it’s their offense — it’s not his offense. … He’s gonna have to learn just as much from them as they’re gonna have to learn from him.
“There needs to be a lot of compromise and understanding and patience with how this relationship is developed. It’s not a one-way street. … There is a level of expectation and excellence that I think everybody strives for, but the fact is, he can’t do it by himself. He’s never done it by himself. … The more you work at it and practice it and understand what he wants you to do when you both see it the same way — that’s how it develops into a championship mentality.”
Lesson 4: Brady demands perfection from teammates and himself
For former guard Rich Ohrnberger, who was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2009, every practice felt like a game. You were expected to compete the way Brady did, and if you made a mistake, he would point it out.
“There was an expert at all things football just feet behind you,” Ohrnberger said. “If you were having a lackadaisical day, he’d pick on you, he’d find you and make life tough for you.”
