Gronk

Turns out that fourth surgery will more than likely be needed for Rob Gronkowski.

A doctor is slated to examine Gronkowski’s arm to see if an infection has persisted.

According to NFL.com:

Gronkowski had X-rays taken Wednesday as a precursor to surgery, and NFL.com’s Albert Breer reported that Dr. Jesse Jupiter, one of America’s top fracture surgeons, is set to perform the operation next week at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews was consulted in the case.

The Patriots expect Gronkowski to be ready for training camp, but they won’t have a true idea on his timetable until the plate in his arm is replaced.

If the infection has cleared — Gronkowski has been on antibiotics — no more surgeries likely will be needed. If not, Rapoport reports there almost certainly will be a fifth surgery that would make it unlikely he’d be ready for training camp in July.

Good luck to Gronk. Let’s hope he will be ready for games this fall!

QB Battle Brewing in Philly?
With rookie Matt Barkley ready to compete for a chance to be the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, Michael Vick is coming to camp turning some heads.

According to NFL.com, Vick seems to know what a great chance this is, too. Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Vick’s “motivation” this year can’t be overstated. “(Vick’s) noticeably bigger and enthused about the offense,” Berman writes.

Vick has spoken plenty that he ran less last season by design. Now, he’s in an offense that should play to his strengths (mobility) with a vastly improved, healthier offensive line.

An exciting, running game? The Eagles? Color me intrigued! For more on Vick and the Eagles, check out the story here.

Minicamp Breakdown

Check out this team by team breakdown from each minicamp and stories to watch this summer.

Picture from @RumfordJohnny

Melvin Ingram Tears ACL
San Diego Chargers Melvin Ingram has torn his ACL in his left knee. If he has a complete tear, he could be out for the whole 2013 season. This leaves the Chargers with very little options for the outside lineback position since Shaun Phillips and Antwan Barnes left the team as free agents.

You can read more here.

Best Bloopers of 2012

Check out this video of the best bloopers of the 2012 season.

Mark Sanchez Drama

Carolina Panthers Steve Smith has stirred up some drama by ripping the New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez.

Smith’s comments from WFNZ-AM, the Sporting News and ProFootballTalk.com:

“He sucks.”

“I wouldn’t let Mark Sanchez throw me a paper bag sandwich.”

The Jets and Panthers meet in December. I guess we’ll see how this drama plays out then.

Time for an afternoon pick-you-up! Blitz headlines, y’all!

I’m going to share the funny from NFL Memes with you guys first! Enjoy!

via NFL Memes Facebook

Oh! Adrian Peterson!

Titus Young has some problems, guys. Yes. I am understating the matter for sure. He was arrested Saturday morning for the third time in less than a week. Goodness. Really sad situation for someone thought to be  a promising athlete.

Peter King is discussing what most NFL fans have been either hoping or knowing since the the draft last month. The New York Jets could rid themselves of Mark Sanchez if Geno Smith wins the starting quarterback job. No more this? Jets fans rejoice! The Jets are apparently “smitten” with Geno.

Speaking of the Jets! NY Giants co-owner Steve Tisch shared his opinion on the disservice that was Tim Tebow going to the Jets.

Manti Te’o hopes to earn the respect of his teammates by displaying some hard work ethic. I’m sure this is very important to Manti. He needs to be seen as a football player. Not a guy that can be easily duped. Check out this story from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Matt Barkley hopes to be the Philadelphia Eagles starting QB. He is confident he can do it too. Stop laughing! Check out this story from CSN Philadelphia.

Check out this interesting post from SBNation on why the NFL makes for such bad media.

Buddy Nix is transitioning out of his role as general manager of the Buffalo Bills to a role as special assistant with the team. Check out this from the Bills site. Doug Whaley is expected to take over as GM according to SBNation Buffalo Rumblings.

As was first reported by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly will be the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles have since officially confirmed the hire. The team will hold a press conference introducing Kelly at a time TBD.

Under Kelly, the Oregon Ducks went 46-7, with four trips to a BCS bowl

The hire comes just ten days after Kelly announced he would be staying in Oregon, quieting speculation that he might leave the college ranks for a head coaching job in Cleveland or Philadelphia. One cannot help but think that given the that timing, Kelly received word that Oregon is likely to received heavy sanctions from the NCAA for recruiting violations in the coming year.

That being said, I’m sure that the hefty sum of money coming Kelly’s way from Jeffrey Laurie also didn’t hurt.

Congrats to the Eagles and their fans on an excellent hire. Just don’t call them the dream team.

Black Monday is upon us and several surprises and not so big surprises took place. Let’s discuss!

* Arizona Cardinals. Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves are out. With more problems under center than one could fathom, in addition to a plethora of other issues, the firing of this duo is no surprise at all. It will be a breath of fresh air to see what is next for this team!

* Buffalo Bills.  Chan Gailey was let go after three seasons that went nowhere in Buffalo. Case in point, last season’s wonderful start and then collapse and then this season … well, their record ended up 6-10. Need I say more? I’m sure the frustrated fan base is ready for a big change. The status of general manager Buddy Nix is unknown.

* Chicago Bears. Lovie Smith is out. I am a little surprised with this move. But he did only go to the playoffs three times in nine seasons. Unacceptable for this rabid fan base, for certain. General manager Phil Emery took the job last year and will hire his own guy. Should be an interesting off-season in Chicago. Keep up with the team’s moves at Windy City Sweetness!

* Cleveland Browns. Coach Pat Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert.  Gone. No surprise! A 5-11 season. Two rookie sensations in Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson. So much promise. So much fail. Look for new owner Jimmy Haslam to make some noise this off season! For more on the Browns, check out Dawg Treats!

* Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Romeo Crennel is out. GM Scott Pioli’s status is still in limbo. After a disappointing 2-14 season, moves were bound to be made. Hate to see Crennel out but … it’s safe to say he could use a break after this season and witnessing the suicide of player Javon Belcher.

* Philadelphia Eagles. Andy Reid is out. After 14 seasons as head coach. The only surprise here is that it took this long. Seriously. Expect lots of moves from the Eagles this off season too … including players!

* San Diego Chargers. Yeah, big surprise! Norv Turner and A.J. Smith are out. Again. Expect big moves this off season!

* New York Jets. GM Mike Tannenbaum was let go this morning but Coach Rex Ryan will stay on. Check out Kristine Reese’s story on this move at The Green Room!

* Jacksonville Jaguars. GM Gene Smith is out. Head Coach Mike Mularkey could be next.  For more on the Jags, check out Roaring Black and Teal!

Who is safe? 

* Tennesee Titans coach Mike Munchak. But, personnel executive Mike Reinfeldt is out.

* Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he hasn’t even thought about changing head coaches. So, Jason Garrett is probably safe! He may be asked to make some moves with his assistants though. An offensive coordinator that will help Tony Romo, maybe?

We will update this as more moves are announced today!

Redskins at Eagles
Sunday, 12 pm CST

 The Washington Redskins take on their division rival Philadelphia Eagles. If he gets the ok, Robert Griffin III will be the starting quarterback on Sunday. Washington has a chance to clinch their first playoff berth since 2007 with a win and if the Giants, Bears and Vikings lose.

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy will be making his first start in four weeks after sustaining a concussion in the last game against the Redskins. He rushed for 750 yards and has two touchdowns on the season.

Michael Vick is available to start in this game but the quarterbacking duties will be in the hands of Nick Foles. Rookies Bryce Brown and Chris Polk will also start for the Eagles.

The Eagles are not in playoff contention but could keep the Redskins from clinching if they win. This could be head coach Andy Reid’s last home game since the Eagles have had a sub par season.

The Eagles are not an easy opponent to beat. The Redskins need to bring their A-game in order to defeat them and secure their play off spot.

In the midst of his sixth season, Brent Celek is nothing but a hard working player and teammate for his Philadelphia Eagles. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft out of Cincinnati.

So far this season, he has 51 receptions for 602 yards and one touchdowns. And during his career, he has 247 receptions, 3,391 yards and 20 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Celek’s season may be over after he was knocked out of Sunday’s game with apparent concussion like symptoms. If he misses Sunday’s game, it will be the first miss of his career. More on the injury here.

During the offseason, Brent has the Take Flight Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to provide seriously ill and physically challenged children throughout Greater Philadelphia with daily support and life changing experiences.  Their goal is to have touched the lives of more than 300,000 children and their family members by 2013.

So I’m sure I’ve told you enough about Brent. Ready to get into the pictures? Of course, you are! Here we go!

» Continue reading “Tight End Tuesday: Brent Celek”

In a roller-coaster of a game, the Philadelphia Eagles rallied past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had just rallied past them, ultimately beating the Bucs 23-21.

The Eagles wings appeared to have migrated to their feet

Tampa Bay QB Josh Freeman overcame a slow first half start with two touchdowns in the second half to overcome a 10 point deficit. The Bucs were up 21-10 in the 4th quarter after a 4-yard touchdown run by Doug Martin who rushed for 128 yards on the game. Freeman was 14 of 34 for 189 yards and his two touchdown passes were to Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson. Jackson finished with six receptions for 131 yards.

On defense, Tampa Bay shut down the Eagles running game. Unfortunately, Eagles rookie QB Nick Foles’s arm was having a pretty good day while the Bucs pass defense was not. Foles led the Eagles in a solid first half and then threw a pair of touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including a one-yard touchdown pass as time expired to slide the Eagles past the Bucs.

The 6-7 Bucs have now lost three straight and face the Saints next Sunday.

There’s really just one team worthy of being in the Loser Rankings for this week. It is none other than the Philadelphia Eagles.

They’ve lost eight straight games. At 3-9, they’re all but mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture. A lot of teams would need to screw up in order for the Eagles to get in the playoffs.

It just makes sense to put the Eagles in this spot. Chances are, if they lose this week, they will be No. 1. They might want to get things together.

In conclusion, I leave you all with this video above. I want you all to think about what the Eagles have done. In a way, this is a punishment for everybody.

The Dallas Cowboys are back at .500 following their 38-33 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football at Jerry’s Fun House.

The key play of the game came with 3:50 left as Bryce Brown fumbled the football, which was recovered by Morris Claiborne, who returned it 50 yards for the touchdown. Dallas led 38-27 at that point.

Morris Claiborne recovered a fumble for a 50-yard TD run. (Screen Cap)

Tony Romo had two fourth quarter touchdown passes, one to tie and the other to take the lead. The first touchdown pass went to Miles Austin for 27 yards, which came with 13:41 left in the game, tying it 24-24. The second came when the Cowboys were trailing 27-24 as Romo completed a screen pass to Dez Bryant, who pushed his way into the end zone for the score.

Romo had a solid night for the Cowboys, completing 22-of-27 for 303 yards, three touchdowns and a 150.5 QB rating. Romo passed Troy Aikman on the Cowboys all-time touchdown passes list. » Continue reading “Cowboys Complete Season Sweep of Eagles”

Another week, another Loser Rankings! And we have some good news for Cleveland and Jacksonville fans! They have nothing to worry about this week as their teams are not on the list of rankings. Enjoy the week off and keep up the good work of…well…trying to win games.

1. Kansas City Chiefs (1-10 record)- The Chiefs are the only team in the NFL with double-digit losses for the season. As a matter of fact, they’re the only team in the NFL that has just one win. Heck, even Jacksonville has two wins…now…but still! The remaining five games on their schedule are: Carolina, at Cleveland, at Oakland, Indianapolis and at Denver. They probably have a chance to win in two of those games. There’s a very real possibility that Kansas City finishes the season 1-15.

2. Philadelphia Eagles (3-8 record)- You know how long it has been since we’ve had a NFC team in the top two on this list? We haven’t had one since the Halloween edition. Sure enough, the Eagles find themselves on the list, climbing ever so higher. Granted, the team is decimated by injuries. But hey, they did lose to Carolina on Monday night. They need to win out if they even want to say they had a shot to make the playoffs. If they lose to Dallas Sunday night, it will be the first time the Eagles finish with a sub-.500 record since 2005.

3. Arizona Cardinals (4-7 record)- Remember all the fun talk about the Cardinals hot start in the NFC West? Well, that pretty much disappeared! The Niners are running away with this division. And with the success the Rams and Seahawks have had this season, the Cardinals are in danger of being the basement dwellers of the NFC West. The Cardinals need to get it together against the struggling Jets this week.

4. Oakland Raiders (3-8 record)- Yes, the Raiders are on the list. And you know why, it’s because they’ve lost four straight. All four of those losses were by 10 points or more. The Raiders should be higher, but with the fantastic losing effort from Philly and Arizona, the Raiders have a cozy spot at No. 4 this week. But hey, they do get Cleveland this week. Maybe things will go great and the Raiders can not be on the list next week.

5. San Diego Chargers (4-7 record)- I’m sure this irks some Raiders fans, but hey the Chargers stink! They’re horrible! HORRIBLE! And instead of ranting, I’m just leaving you with the video above of the armless people explaining the whole concept of the being known as Norval Eugene Turner.