Covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine and Philly.com from 2008 to 2015.
Covered the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL for BaltimoreSun.com from 2006 to 2008.
The Seattle Seahawks have received a warning for not listing Richard Sherman’s knee injury on the injury report in the second half of last season, league sources told ESPN.
The league had considered docking the Seahawks a second-round pick for failing to disclose the injury, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen last month.
The violation was determined to be the result of a misinterpretation of the policy’s reporting requirements, a source told ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
Sherman never missed a game last season. The Pro Bowl cornerback was listed on the injury report in 11 of the team’s final 12 games (including the playoffs), but the knee injury was never listed. In 10 of those weeks, he missed practice time, but the Seahawks listed the reason as “non-injury related.” In Week 12, Sherman was listed with an ankle injury.
The NFL’s rule says, “If any player has a significant or noteworthy injury, it must be listed on the practice report, even if he fully participates in practice and the team expects that he will play in the team’s next game.”
In the event of any future violation, this current violation will be taken into account in determining discipline, the source told Caplan.
NFL Network first reported the news of the NFL’s warning.
After the season, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in a 710 ESPN Seattle interview that Sherman “dealt with a significant knee [injury] the whole second half of the season.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will reward backup goalkeeper David Ospina for his earlier European endeavours with a continued starting berth at Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Petr Cech will be dropped to the bench for the encounter, with the French manager citing the “quality” of Ospina’s performances during the group stage as the reason for his inclusion from the first whistle in the huge Round of 16 tilt.
Ospina, 28, is usually reserved for the cup competitions by Wenger, but his selection has been gratefully received by large sections of the Arsenal support. Not only was the Colombian ever-present as the Gunners went unbeaten and finished top of Group A, but he has also been ushered into the lineup when Cech has faced some criticism.
The Czech Republic international’s agent, Viktor Kolar, recently insisted his client wouldn’t be leaving the Emirates Stadium in the summer following his blunder against former club Chelsea, when he inadvertently teed up ex-teammate Cesc Fabregas for the Blues’ third in a 3-1 win.
(Photo courtesy: Reuters)
Ospina has faced vilification himself in the past, predominantly due to his relative lack of height – he stands at six-feet – apparently leaving him susceptible at set-pieces. He has shown some fantastic athleticism for both Arsenal and Colombia, however.
Arsenal has been eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League by Bayern on three occasions since 2005, but winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who’s put in some admirable performances as a fill-in defensive midfielder in his last two outings, says his side has a chance.
“They’re a very good team, but so are we if we play as good as we can on the day,” he told the club website. “We can cause them enough troubles and go on and win. Obviously we’ve had a few good experiences at the Allianz too. I think we’ve drawn once, a tough game and obviously we’ve won there.
“So we’ve proved enough to ourselves over the years that we’re good enough to come away with the right result, we just need to focus on how we’re going to do it and come up with the plan and then it’s all about delivering on the day and that’s going to be the difference.”
Following the trip to German giant Bayern, Arsenal travels to 5,000-capacity Gander Green Lane to take on non-league Sutton United in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday.
FRISCO, Texas — Quarterback rankings in the Tony Romo era have always been a fun task, with those believing the Dallas Cowboys quarterback should not be ranked highly because of a lack of playoff success being just as correct as those who believe he is (was?) an elite quarterback, if not at the very top of the list.
While it looks like Romo’s days with the Cowboys will be coming to an end, unless Jerry Jones can truly sell ice to Eskimos and convince Romo to remain in a backup role, the rankings will not go away.
Dak Prescott was Offensive Rookie of the Year and played in the Pro Bowl, but to instill full confidence, he’s going to have to sustain his high level. AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Here’s Graziano’s methodology, laid out in the column: This is not simply a ranking of starters, though starters (especially those who never miss games) obviously make up the bulk of the formula. Nor is it a pure comparison of quarterbacks’ accomplishments to date. It’s a rating based on the confidence each team currently should have in those at the position.
So this doesn’t mean Dak Prescott is the 19th-ranked quarterback in the NFL. It means the Cowboys’ quarterback situation is 19th-best in the NFL. Feel better? Yeah, I think that’s a little low, too. But my guy Graz breaks the index into categories: All set; Set but for how long?; Caught on a speed bump; Trending up; Just fine; Keep it up, kid; Watch your back, and No idea.
The Cowboys check in at “Keep it up, kid,” with Tennessee, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia.
An argument can be made that the quarterback situations are better for those four than for, say, Cincinnati and Minnesota, which are in the “Just fine” category. Would you rather have Prescott, Sam Bradford or Andy Dalton? Washington is in the “Trending up” category, with Kirk Cousins set to be franchise-tagged again if he doesn’t reach a long-term deal.
It’s interesting to compare this to the Confidence Index points from the 2016 season. The Cowboys checked in at No. 30 in September. Handing the keys over to a rookie fourth-round pick, even one who had played as well as Prescott had in the preseason, did not inspire much confidence, so it made sense for Dallas to be in the bottom third.
In October, the Cowboys moved up to No. 18. In November, they moved to No. 5. And they ended up at No. 6 in December.
Maybe the return of Romo had something to do with the confidence going up. If something happened to Prescott, the Cowboys would have been better off than any other team having to play its “backup” quarterback late in the season.
If I were constructing a ranking, albeit with different criteria than this list, I’d probably have Prescott somewhere in the 10-14 range.
Graziano wants to see more from Prescott, which is a completely fair expectation. Everybody should want to see more from Prescott, even as well as he played in a season that ended with him being named Offensive Rookie of the Year.
He is not a finished product by any stretch. Neither was Romo after the 2006 season. Romo ignited a Cowboys run to the playoffs that season and had 19 touchdown passes in 10 games. He was intercepted 13 times as well, but the Cowboys offense caught a spark.
In 2007, Romo threw 36 touchdown passes, which remains a team record, and piled up 4,211 passing yards, the most in franchise history at the time. The Cowboys went 13-3 and had home-field advantage in the playoffs.
That season didn’t end the way anybody in Dallas wanted it to, but the Cowboys knew they had their quarterback.
So there’s nothing wrong with observers wanting to see Prescott do it again in 2017 before moving him up the rankings.
Sixteen teams remain in contention for the the 2016-17 Champions League crown, and over the next two weeks, those clubs will play the first leg of their respective ties, with plenty of star power on offer across the board.
Here are five key battles to watch in the Round of 16:
Reunited: Umtiti vs. Cavani
In this clash of giants, Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani takes on a familiar foe in former Lyon defender Samuel Umtiti, who is likely to start alongside Gerard Pique for Barcelona in the absence of Javier Mascherano. You could call it a reunion, but the two meet under very new circumstances.
Cavani is now free of the shadow cast by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and has notched 33 goals in all competitions as PSG’s new target-man. He is no longer limited to a wing role and, as such, center-back Umtiti will need to deal with the Uruguayan directly, rather than rely on his full-backs.
Exposed: Insigne vs. Danilo
Napoli hasn’t missed a beat since Gonzalo Higuain left, with Dries Mertens and Marek Hamsik performing wonderfully and Arkadiusz Milik helping fill the void before his untimely injury. A meeting with goal-heavy Real Madrid might be a nightmare for both goalkeepers.
But the real battle isn’t central, due in part to the abundance of quality from both sides in their cores; it’s out wide, where Lorenzo Insigne will be tasked with besting Madrid right-back Danilo in the absence of Dani Carvajal. Danilo has looked suspect at times, a flaw Napoli will look to exploit.
Heavyweights: Boateng vs. Sanchez
Bayern Munich and Arsenal meet in a repeat of last year’s Group F encounters, and while the German outfit certainly got the better of the Gunners with a 5-1 win at the Allianz Arena, things have changed considerably for Arsene Wenger’s side. Most notably, Alexis Sanchez has been moved to centre-forward.
Since making the switch, the Chile international has enjoyed a prosperous scoring streak in the Premier League, notching 17 goals this season. He’ll be a handful for Jerome Boateng, who handled Olivier Giroud well enough last year, but could face a different, if not more difficult test this time around.
Trapped: Monaco wingers vs. City’s full-backs
Pep Guardiola is perhaps a little unsure of how to line up his back-four for Manchester City’s upcoming match against AS Monaco. Against Swansea, he opted to use defensive midfielder Fernandinho as a right full-back, and against Bournemouth, he went one step further, placing the Brazilian at left full-back.
Whichever side Fernandinho ends up playing, he’ll have to deal with a tricky and pacey winger; the likes of Thomas Lemar, Bernardo Silva, and Kylian Mbappe have all been outstanding this season. With Falcao and Valere Germain prowling the box, getting exposed out wide could prove costly for City. For all his positives, Fernandinho is not a natural in this position.
Worthy: Soares vs. Bonucci
City may be enjoying the advent of newcomer Gabriel Jesus but FC Porto has its own fresh Brazilian signing to celebrate in Francisco Soares, known as Tiquinho. The 26-year-old joined the club in the new year and has already made his presence felt, scoring four times in three appearances.
As expected, the hype surrounding him has grown exponentially, but Soares will have his first chance to really turn heads with a solid showing against a competent Juventus backline. The Italian giant boasts one of the finest defensive systems in the world, and while Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini are dealing with injuries, how Soares handles Leonardo Bonucci in particular will be interesting to see.
