Rivalries rule (if you know who they are)
Someday, when I write my book about the 40,374 reasons college football is more interesting than the NFL, rivalries will be No. 1. It is the one aspect of the sport that is so much better than any other American sport, it isn't even arguable.
I love all college football rivalries, I really do. I love Boise State-Nevada and Brigham Young-Utah, and I even love football rivalries that are really basketball rivalries, like North Carolina-North Carolina State. I love that the rivalries are all played once a year, and that most of the big ones will be contested in the next two weeks, in the final regular-season game for most teams.
And yet I'll admit that some college football rivalries confuse me especially when teams have more than one rival. Is the enemy of your enemy really your friend? What if your enemy has a bigger enemy than you?
When I was growing up in New York, the rivalry that always intrigued me was Nebraska-Oklahoma. I saw Oklahoma running the wishbone and Nebraska running its own option and was absolutely convinced that the wind speed in that part of the country was never less than 83 miles per hour.
But now they are in separate divisions and they don't even play every year. Oklahoma-Texas is a monstrous rivalry, of course, and it's been around forever but I can't quite shake the memory of those days when Oklahoma-Nebraska seemed bigger.
The Southeastern Conference is an incredible web of rivalries that I will never fully understand. Consider: Mississippi State has Ole Miss, which has Louisiana State, which claims in its media guide that "The Rivalry" is its game against Tulane.
Vanderbilt's big rival is Tennessee, but Tennessee's big rival is not really Vanderbilt, is it? Tennessee-Alabama is so heated, it is known simply by its traditional date on the schedule: The Third Saturday In October. But we all know Alabama's biggest rival is really Auburn.
The oldest rivalry in the South is Georgia-Auburn. But again, Auburn has Alabama, and besides, Georgia has Georgia Tech, and of course Georgia has Florida which has Florida State which has Miami.
Kentucky has Louisville, but really, Kentucky's rivals are all those SEC fans who say football is more important than basketball.
South Carolina has Clemson, which isn't even in the same league anymore. Arkansas has manufactured a rivalry with LSU for something called the Golden Boot, but when you ask me to name Arkansas's big football rivalry, I still think of Frank Broyles facing Darrell Royal and Texas.
The Pac-10 is the most efficient rivalry league on the planet: the conference has two teams each in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Arizona and Oregon. Alas, the Pac-10 also has the least passionate fans of the major conferences (or put another way, it has the most rational fans).
Michigan State's biggest rival is Michigan, but Michigan's biggest rival is Ohio State. I can only remember one Michigan player or coach saying the Michigan State game is more important than the Ohio State game and that was former Michigan coach Gary Moeller, who played for Ohio State. (He said Michigan State was more important because of recruiting. Moeller kept beating Ohio State, so nobody complained.)
Notre Dame, for example, is the biggest name in college football. The fact that the Fighting Irish are even in that conversation after 15 years of mediocrity should tell you all you need to know. If the Irish suddenly win the national championship one of these years, there would be no doubt: Notre Dame would be the most hated program in the country.
Notre Dame also leads the country in rivalry games: USC, Michigan, Navy, Michigan State, Purdue and Boston College. Yet Notre Dame really isn't anybody's most hated rival. USC has UCLA, Michigan has Ohio State, Navy has Army and Purdue has Indiana. So that leaves Boston College, which might consider Notre Dame its biggest rival, but even that is debatable.
Top Five
1. Alabama
Nick Saban's best squad faces one of Tommy Tuberville's worst, then it's on to Florida and the SEC title game.
2. Texas Tech
Are the Red Raiders for real? Vegas doesn't think so. Oklahoma is a touchdown favorite this weekend.
3. Florida
Gators are fifth in the country in scoring offense and fourth in scoring defense. Nobody else is in the top 10 in both categories.
4. Texas
This week, the Longhorns are Sooner fans.
5. Oklahoma
Something tells me that at the end of all this, Bob Stoops is going to be screaming for a playoff.
Four for the Heisman
1. Colt McCoy, Texas
2. Tim Tebow, Florida
3. Graham Harrell, Texas Tech
4. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
Yes, I know Harrell is the favorite and will win it if he beats Oklahoma this weekend. And yes, I am holding Michael Crabtree's brilliance against him. And no, it's not entirely fair.
Under the table
The firing of Greg Robinson should be a lesson for every school looking for a coach: fit matters. Robinson was never the right coach for Syracuse, and athletic director Daryl Gross is a California guy.
Gross is rumored to be interested in former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, whom he knows from his days at USC. Kiffin could be an excellent head coach, but this is not the right job for him. Gross needs somebody who at least understands Syracuse. There is no reason for the Orange to be a non-entity in a weak Big East.
We might never know if Charlie Weis saved his job with that win over Navy. But Notre Dame finds itself in a strange spot, for all sorts of reasons: The similarities between Weis' record and Gerry Faust's; the fact that Weis is in his fourth year and Ty Willingham was fired after three; and the fact that Weis' ego has rubbed people the wrong way.
Notre Dame must ask itself this question: will it be happy as long as Weis wins next year? Or has he irritated so many people that the school just doesn't want him around anymore? The best guess is that he returns.
(c) 2008 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved
Anyone wanna take the initiative to lead the group
Seven weeks remain in the 2008 NFL schedule and all four teams in the AFC East Division are bottlenecked. Surely, some team will want to take the bull by the horns and be a leader not a follower. Who's gonna take that first step, the initiative, to lead the group?
New England was written off after week one when Tom Brady collapsed on the field clutching his leg. But, here they are sitting atop the division at 6-3 [2-1 divisional]. What helps the Patriots, yet also helps the rest of the AFC East teams, is their relatively soft schedule outside their division. More importantly, this week eleven, the Jets [who already lost to New England earlier this season] travel to Foxboro to face the Patriots in a crucial matchup. A Patriots win not only seperates them from the group, but secures any tie-breaks against the Jets. This just might be the game of the week!
New York was supposed to ride off into the sunset with another disappointing season, yet a gunsliger rode into town and set the everything on fire. Yeppers, Brett Farve, the veteran of nearly 20 seasons, rejuvenated the franchise. 6-3 is no laughing matter as the Jets are one of the highest scoring teams in the league. The Mangini vs. Belichick "pay per view main event" takes center stage this week. Hey, if Mangini's Jets pull off the upset win on the road, does Belichick offer a cold, limp handshake or none at all? The drama is so thick you can cut it with a knife!
Miami was supposed to be celler-dwellers for a few more seasons as the rebuilding process took effect. Bill Parcells has this team sneaking up the backstairs and knocking on the divisional door at a sound 5-4 [2-1 divisional] record. A slow start [0-2] followed by impressive wins over New England, San Diego and Denver, whom were all picked as playoff teams, has Miami in the thick of things. A Miami win this week vs. Oakland, with a Jets win over New England, followed next week, with a Miami win over New England and a Jets loss to the Titans, has the Dolphins tied and atop the AFC East OR a Miami win with a Patriots win this week with the Jets losing, followed by a Miami win week 12, a Patriots loss and a Jets win week 12 have all three teams once again log-jammed at 7-4...oh, no, my eyes have gone crossed...
Buffalo was crowned AFC East Divisional winners, and probable deep playoff runners after a brilliant 4-0 to start the season. Ouch, since then, they're 1-4. Even still, sitting at 5-4 all hope is not lost. But, what is scary is their 0-3 divisional record. These past three weeks, Miami, New York and New England all man-handled the Bills and put their season into perspective. Dick Jauron was awarded a contract extension right in the middle of when things were going great. Now there's some adversity. They can turn it all around in front of a national tv audience this week on Monday Night Football hosting the Cleveland Browns. Kansas City and San Francisco follow in weeks tweleve and thirteen and the dreaded Toronto Series Game against Miami could be an exclamation point week fourteen.
Anyone wanna take the initiative to lead the group?
(c) 2008 SportingNews.com
Could This Offense Revolutionize Football?
Good news for rec-league play-callers: there's a brand-new offense that looks a lot like the one you scrawled on that bar napkin last weekend. In 2007, Piedmont High School in California's Bay Area began running the A-11, a cockmamie offensive set in which all 11 players are potentially eligible to catch the ball on every down. Yes, this violates one of the core principles of football (linement aren't allowed to catch), and yes, it's perfectly legal. Hundreds of high-school and college coaches have reached out to Piedmont for tips. Here's what to expect when the A-11 comes to a gridiron near you.
EXPLOITING A LOOPHOLE
The linchpin of the A-11 is something called the scrimmage-kick formation, an alignment traditionally used for punts and field goals. According to national high-school rules, the scrimmage kick is the only formation in which every offensive player is eligible to catch the ball. By running and passing out of the alignment rather than kicking, Piedmont makes defensive coordinators woozy; when the offensive linemen look like Jerry Rice, it's pretty tough to tell who's going out for a pass. Constant shifts and realignments make it even harder to determine who's a live target. There are also inherent difficulties in defending against players who are spread from sideline to sideline like a kickoff team. And if defenses didn't have enough to worry about, Piedmont likes to play two quarterbacks at once, either one of whom can receive the snap.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
Like many great inventors, the A-11's creator, Steve Humphries, was inspired by boredom. Burned out on coaching regular old football, Humphries, Piedmont's offensive coordinator, brought his idea for a two-quarterback spread offense to the head coach, Kurt Bryan; the pair then refined the idea into something even stranger. Bryan thought that making every player eligible could neutralize the superior size and strength of opponents. After discovering the scrimmage kick in a dark corner of the rule book, Bryan and Humphries got the offense approved first by the National Federation of State High School Associations and then by the California Interscholastic Federation. (But several states have put the kibosh on the A-11, calling it deceptive and unsporting.) Now Humphries's goal "is to constantly evolve it," he says. "You'll never see us run the same A-11 offense from year to year."
BIGGER ISN'T BETTER
In the A-11's inaugural season, Piedmont improved its record to 7-3, from 5-5, and scored nearly 22 points per game, a number the coaches expect to rise. But the idea isn't just to light up the scoreboard. An emphasis on flexibility - every player must catch, run and block - makes the offense a throwback to the day's when players weren't so highly specialized. And in emphasizing one-on-one play rather than massive scrums, the A-11 just might make football safer. "It goes away from the concept of the huge behemoths," says Humphries, who claims Piedmont hasn't had a single injury to an offensive player since the A-11 arrived. The offense won't make the giants extinct - Humphries has moved his "less athletic kids" to defense - but it does require a different kind of offensive lineman. Players learn open-field blocking techniques from a martial arts coach.
CAN IT GET INTO COLLEGE?
Bryan's response to the "loud minority" of critics is that football has never been static - the game's original rules, after all, outlawed the forward pass. This evolutionary theory is looking sound so far: a number of high-school teams in Oregon, Illinois and Kentucky, as well as in California, are now using the A-11 as their primary offense. And Piedmont has shared intelligence with major-college squads. Says Mike Leach, Texas Tech's head coach and college football's premier passing-game maverick: "They really have some good ideas that I think ought to be looked at." NCAA rules dictate that the scrimmage-kick formation is legal only when the defense might reasonably expect a kick, but Bryan doesn't see that as a limitation: "That could be 10 to 12 opportunities" per game. As for the NFL? The scheme violates the league's rule that there must be five ineligible players on the line wearing numbers between 50 and 79.
HOW TO DEFEND IT
Short of an outright ban, there's only one way to stop the A-11: innovate. In the first game of the 2008 season, Piedmont was held to 7 points in a loss to Sir Francis Drake High School. Drake's coach, Dan Kenilvort, says his strategy was to make the A-11 adjust to him. He had his team play an unorthodox zone, with two defenders rushing the quarterback(s) and the other nine standing in a line that stretched the width of the field. How did Kenilvort concoct his scheme? The Piedmont coaches, eager to evangelize for their new offense, invited him to a clinic where they demonstrated some of their plays. Yet Kenilvort remains a believer. "I only have eight linemen and a tremendous amount of wide receivers and defensive backs," he says. "We're probably not too far from running something like that."
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
Ranking Cleveland's best gifts to OSU football
First things first in a blog whose purpose is to correct a couple of errors.
* No, I won't.
In his post-game remarks Saturday night after Ohio State routed Michigan State in East Lansing, after answering two straight questions I had lobbed to him about freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor, OSU coach Jim Tressel fielded one about the Saturday night game coming up in Columbus against third-ranked and unbeaten Penn State.
"It will be a great atmosphere," said Tressel. "They are going to have a 'Red Out' [with fans wearing scarlet] and Bill Livingston has offered to buy white towels for everyone to wave. Isn't that right, Bill?"
I wish I had made a joke about throwing in the towel, or about needing crying towels for my wallet if I did that, or something. Instead, I snappily replied, "Um, no."
I mean, it didn't bother me, and I understand it was a joke. I was just so surprised that I didn't hold up my end of the exchange. When the Boss of all Buckeyes is wisecracking with you, you want to do more than the conversational equivalent of taking a knee.
* No, they didn't.
The other correction is of an omission in my new book, "The Great Book of Cleveland Sports Lists," co-authored with WKNR AM/850's Greg Brinda.
Any book goes through several revisions, and sometimes stuff that should be there winds up, through the editing and re-writing process, um, well, "not there" is the term I am looking for.
Although the book's introduction promises to give our list of The All-Time All-Cleveland Area Ohio State Football Team, it was cut in the last draft. The book is available at area bookstores and also can be purchased at perseusbooksgroup.com/runningpress and at amazon.com. Anyway, since Ohio State football is the fourth major sport in Cleveland and since the list should create some interesting debate, here is what we wrote:
Top 10 Ohio State Players From Cleveland Area: We define it as the seven-county metropolitan area. We note fans at games of all three Cleveland major sports teams will burst into "O-H" "I-O" chants, accompanied by appropriate hand and arm signals, that "Hang on, Sloopy" is almost as much a part of a Tribe game as Slider, and that many of the biggest names of the 2006 and 2007 national runner-up teams (Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., Anthony Gonzalez, Brian Robiskie, Beanie Wells) are this area's own.
If the Buckeyes are an NFL farm team, Cleveland is where the richest soil is tilled. NFL success has nothing to do with the players' rankings.
10. LeCharles Bentley, St. Ignatius: The 2001 winner of the Rimington award as college football's best center, Bentley was a team leader amid the chaos of the final seasons under John Cooper. He is remembered for breaking the nose, jaw, and several teeth of teammate Tyson Walter with a punch thrown during a weight-lifting session.
But there was more to Bentley than that and more than his injury-sabotaged free agent signing with the Browns, too. He graded at 90 percent in his senior season, which is stunning. It was all the more impressive because he was playing for a new and skeptical coaching staff, as Jim Tressel replaced the fired Cooper.
9. Ted Ginn Jr., Glenville: A great high school hurdler, quarterback and cover corner, Ginn moved to wide receiver at Ohio State. By his third year, after apprenticing behind Santonio Holmes, he became the go-to guy. His catch of a touch-perfect Smith pass just before halftime in 2006 ended Texas' dreams of repeating as national champions. It was one of the few times the Longhorns tried to single-cover Ginn. Bad, bad, baaad idea.
With a stride pattern that was almost perfect in biomechanical terms, Ginn could turn former OSU track coach Russ Rogers, once a sprint coach at the Olympics, into the rival of four-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison Dillard when it came to handing out lavish praise. It was Dillard who likened Ginn to Jesse Owens. One of the great kick returners of his time in college football, Ginn's 82-yard jitterbug runback against Michigan in 2004 couldn't have been duplicated by an over-caffeinated bumblebee.
8. Les Horvath, Rhodes: The 1944 Heisman Trophy winner rushed for 944 yards and 12 touchdowns and passed for 343 yards while staying up late and getting up early in dental school. More incredibly, he did it after sitting out the previous season for school. He once told his wife, a noted non-sports fan, how special a Heisman Trophy was. But after they visited his friends Felix "Doc" Blanchard (Heisman, 1945, at Army) and Tom Harmon (Heisman, 1940, at Michigan), she said: "Why, Les, all your friends have one."
How good was Horvath? Glenn Davis (Heisman, 1946, Army) was his runner-up.
7. Robert Smith, Euclid: "Doogie Howser," some media members' derisive nickname for him, never did go to med school. But in the two years he played -- he sat one season out in a dispute over the rigor of Ohio State's commitment to academics - this smooth, long-striding O.J. Simpson play-alike became one of the best tailbacks ever in a program predicated on running the ball. Cooper was adamant that Smith would have won the Heisman, had he stayed a third season.
6. Antoine Winfield, Akron Garfield: The 1998 Thorpe Award winner as the nation's best defensive back, Winfield was a lockdown corner, despite standing only 5-9. Absurdly, he led the 1997 team in tackles as a DB, the first time in OSU records that that had happened. Became the most physical cover corner of his era in the NFL.
5. Mike Vrabel, Walsh Jesuit: Might rank only behind Jim Stillwagon on any Ohio State list of defensive linemen. Before becoming a great NFL linebacker and an uncanny receiving threat in the red zone for the Patriots, Vrabel recorded 66 tackles for losses and 36 sacks, a school record, as pass-rushing end.
4. John Hicks, John Hay: The 1973 Lombardi and Outland awards winner is on the short list of the Buckeyes' greatest linemen of the last 40 years, along with Orlando Pace and Jim Stillwagon. Hicks finished second in the 1973 Heisman race. Archie Griffin, who would not start winning Heismans until the next season, finished fifth. Tough and determined, Hicks came back from a preseason knee injury that cost him all of the 1971 season to become a two-time All-American.
3. Troy Smith, Glenville: Would have been No. 1 had he not eaten himself into a stupor after the Heisman season and played in the BCS title game as he had never done during the season. But look at his overall record: three wins over Michigan, the middle one Up North with the team dead on the field, down 9 with seven minutes to play; a thrashing of Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl; a scramble against Penn State and bull's-eye throw to Brian Robiskie for a TD; a marquee-game victory on national television at Texas; and the incredible 42-39 shootout with the Wolverines the day after Bo Schembechler died. Smith's senior season was fantasy football come to life.
2. Tom Cousineau, Lakewood St. Edward: One bad, butt-kicking linebacker, Cousineau gets the nod over Smith because he was taken No. 1 in the NFL draft vs. Smith's fifth-round pick. A human tackling machine, Cousineau in 1979 became the first of three Buckeyes ever to be selected as the top overall pick in the NFL draft. Holds the Buckeyes' record for most solo tackles in a game (16) and is tied with Chris Spielman for most total tackles in a game (29).
Cousineau delivered six of the top-10 tackle games in OSU history. When Michigan's Gary Moeller, Penn State's Joe Paterno and Hayes all arrived at the Cousineau house at the same time the night before signing day, Hayes was the first to leave. "I'll see you at 7 a.m. Tell your mother I like bacon and eggs and that pancakes would be nice," said Hayes, who stuck out his hand and asked Cousineau: "Are you ready to be a Buckeye?"
Hoo-boy, was he ever!
1. Vic Janowicz, Elyria: 1950 Heisman Trophy winner as a tailback in the last year before Woody Hayes, Janowicz did not repeat. Possibly, that was because Hayes used him in so many roles. "He was not only a great runner, but also passed, was a place-kicker and punter, played safety on defense and was an outstanding blocker," said Hayes. More likely, it was because in the risk-averse Hayes offense, he completed only seven passes in his senior year.
Janowicz spurned the NFL to play major-league baseball after graduating, but barely chinned himself above the Mendoza Line, hitting .214 in two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He became the starting halfback for the Washington Redskins in 1955, but was partially paralyzed after an automobile accident the next year, ending his athletic career. His field goal in the 1950 "Snow Bowl" against Michigan, a 27-yarder into the teeth of a blizzard with the goal posts almost enveloped in a whiteout, is considered the greatest play in Buckeyes' football history.
* Yes, they did.
Somehow, when the editors ran it through their blue pencils, the list of the top 5 MAC players at The Q in the conference tournament got a little garbled in its title. Instead of Mid-American Conference, it came out Mid-Atlantic Conference. I have only missed one MAC Tournament since it moved here in 2000 from Toledo. I should have caught the error on page proofs. But, so help me Stan Heath, Dan Hipsher and Dan Dakich, I did not write it that way.
(c) 2008 Cleveland Live, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Broncos still bitter over last visit from Jags
DENVER -- The Jacksonville Jaguars will see a radically different Broncos defense on Sunday than the one they saw in Denver a year ago, and they can thank themselves for that.
The impetus for Denver's metamorphosis was "The March."
The Jaguars jump-started their 23-14 thumping of the Broncos at Invesco Field last September with the longest drive in franchise history, an 18-play, 80-yard torture test that lasted nearly 12 minutes.
When it was over, on David Garrard's 3-yard TD toss to Reggie Williams -- against 12 defenders, no less -- the Broncos knew something else had to give.
The tone-setting drive had far-reaching effects, leading to a shake-up of Broncos defensive bosses, a shift in philosophy and an overhaul of personnel.
Out went Jim Bates, his eight-man fronts and his lean linemen.
In came Bob Slowik, his beefier tackles and simpler play book.
The switch heralded the introduction of the Broncos' hybrid defense that shifts from the traditional four down linemen to four linebackers from series to series, confounding quarterbacks and opposing coordinators alike.
"They've made some changes. They are not the group that was a smaller bunch up front last year," Jaguars running back Fred Taylor said. "They put together a very good defense, a lot better than they were last year. They're young, they're energetic."
Although the Broncos' D ranks 29th in the NFL and their offense ranks second, Denver's defenders have made key stops at crucial moments during the team's surprising 4-1 start, and last week they forced seven punts in a 16-13 win over Tampa Bay in their best showing yet.
"We've got too much talent not to be good," cornerback Champ Bailey declared.
The Jaguars (2-3) bring the same offensive powerhouse into Denver for the rematch, led by Garrard, Taylor, fellow running back Maurice Jones-Drew and leading receiver Matt Jones.
Not that the Broncos need any reminders of their big loss to Jacksonville.
"They manhandled us last year," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.
"They beat us up really good," agreed receiver Brandon Stokley.
"I do remember them running the ball down our throats," offered defensive end Jarvis Moss.
"It was the turning point in the season," suggested defensive back Karl Paymah. "It was a big loss for us."
The Broncos won't soon forget the Jaguars' maintaining possession for 38:42 and out-rushing them 186 yards to 47, or Garrard completing 14 of 20 passes and rumbling for 52 yards himself.
But "The March" is what hurt the most.
"We've been doing that since I've been here, running the football and trying to keep the other team's offense off the field," Shanahan said. "And it's really discouraging when it happens to you."
Last year, the Broncos were feeling good about themselves after pulling out two last-minute wins. They never recovered from their loss to Jacksonville, which exposed so many weaknesses and began a 5-9 slide that resulted in Denver's first losing season since 1999.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, rode their momentum right into the playoffs.
"We're in the same position we were in last year," Paymah said. "We have to capitalize this time."
The Broncos feel they have the defense to stop the Jaguars this time, even though they've been burned by big runs time and again. They note Larry Johnson's 198-yard effort came when tackle Dewayne Robertson was sidelined with a knee injury.
The Broncos expect this week's game to be a similar slogfest to last week's in the rain against the Bucs.
"We are putting more emphasis on stopping the run," linebacker Nate Webster said. "We showed it last week."
That's when the Broncos activated seven defensive linemen and seven linebackers, and rotated Robertson, Kenny Peterson and Nic Clemons in the middle to stuff Tampa Bay's physical run game.
"That wears an offensive line down because offensive lines don't rotate," Broncos linebacker Boss Bailey said.
Shanahan said the Jagurars present an even tougher test than Tampa Bay.
"I know they are going to come in here and run the football just like they did last year. It will be a great challenge to our defense to slow them down," Shanahan said.
The Broncos might very well need an encore from their defense because they're missing two key starters in tailback Selvin Young and tight end Tony Scheffler, who are out with strained groins.
Also, rookie receiver Eddie Royal, who is third in the AFC with 30 catches, has a sprained left ankle that could keep him out, and flanker Brandon Marshall was sick this week.
The Jaguars have had their share of injuries and bad breaks, too. All of their games have come down to the fourth quarter and none have been decided by more than a touchdown.
"Only dogfights to the very last second," Taylor said. "So, we're prepared to play 60 minutes all-out."
Garrard said he feels the heat of Denver's high-octane offense, averaging 30 points a game.
"They can put up big numbers, so we have to try to match that," he said.
But rather than a shootout, Garrard wouldn't mind playing keep-away again.
"We are going to try to stay on the field a little longer to eat up some of the clock like we did last time," he said.
The Broncos have spent the last 12 months trying to prevent just that.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Redskins DE Jason Taylor likely out for 2nd week
ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor appears likely to miss a second straight game as he recovers from calf surgery.
Taylor did not practice Wednesday and was limited to doing some jogging along the side of the field. Asked if he has ruled Taylor out for Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles, coach Jim Zorn said: "I think that, but I wouldn't say that because we just don't know."
"He's got to heal," Zorn said. "He would be optimistic, but if he doesn't practice I can't imagine him playing this week, so it may be another week. Again, he's out here running, and that's more than I thought he was going to do this week."
Taylor had emergency surgery to drain blood near his ankle after getting kicked in the calf in the win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2. The league's career sack leader among active players sat out last week's victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
Also unable to practice Wednesday were cornerback Shawn Springs and right tackle Stephon Heyer.
Springs did a solid job frustrating Terrell Owens in the win over Dallas before leaving in the second half with a strained calf, while Heyer aggravated his sprained shoulder during his limited action on special teams. Jon Jansen started the game because of Heyer's injury, and Zorn has been noncommittal as to which player will start when Heyer is back to full health.
Guard Randy Thomas (toe) and linebacker Marcus Washington (hamstring) were limited in practice. Defensive end Andre Carter was excused for personal reasons.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Chargers C Hardwick hopes to play at Oakland
SAN DIEGO -- Chargers center Nick Hardwick feels questionable, which in his case is a good thing.
Out the first three games as he continued to rehab his surgically repaired right foot, Hardwick participated in all of practice on Wednesday as the Chargers began preparing for Sunday's game at AFC West rival Oakland.
NFL teams don't give a player's status until Friday's injury report. Hardwick hopes he'll be listed as questionable, which means he'd have a 50-50 shot.
"It gives me a good chance to play," Hardwick said. "I'll take another 50 reps tomorrow and see where I'm at. We'll see what the coaches think. They watch the film and see if they think I look ready or not."
The Chargers (1-2), like a lot of NFL teams, make it a habit to be vague about the status of injured players.
"Well," coach Norv Turner said, sighing, "it'll be up to the end of the week, and Saturday or Sunday we'll decide if he's ready to play. He took most of practice today, we'll see how his foot responds and how it feels tomorrow."
The Chargers played the same game last week with left tackle Marcus McNeill, who made his first start this season on Monday night after missing the first two games because of a neck stinger.
General manager A.J. Smith didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
Hardwick had surgery on his sprained right foot on March 14. He was hurt early in a game against the Raiders on Oct. 14 and missed the next four games. He played in the final six regular-season games and three playoff games.
Jeremy Newberry, who has started in Hardwick's absence, sat out practice Wednesday, giving him an extra day to rest following Monday night's 48-29 win against the New York Jets. Newberry has had a seven knee surgeries in his career.
"The plan coming in is I wasn't going to practice Wednesday after I played," said Newberry, who was with the Raiders last season. "I've been doing it because I've been feeling good because I've had a couple days to rest. But only having one day, I was just a little sore. Nothing's changed. I still feel good."
Turner said Newberry had "come in and done an outstanding job."
Hardwick, a Pro Bowler in 2006, gives the Chargers a comfort level.
"Nick has played with these guys, had the calls, the system, everything involved," Turner said. "You play together, you work together, there's a comfort level there. We saw it Monday night with Kris Dielman and with Marcus. The number of reps you've had together, you can't replace that."
LaDainian Tomlinson, who scored his first two touchdowns of the season on Monday night, also sat out practice to rest his jammed right big toe. He said he should be good to go on Sunday, when the Chargers will try for their 10th straight win against their biggest rival.
"It's doing all right," Tomlinson said. "It's only been two days. It's doing pretty good, so I'm very optimistic about this week."
Tomlinson definitely won't want to miss this one.
In 14 career games against the Raiders, Tomlinson has rushed for 1,709 yards. With 55 yards Sunday, he will surpass Hall of Famer Barry Sanders (1,763 against Tampa Bay) for the most yards rushing through 15 games against a single opponent since 1970.
Tomlinson has 19 total touchdowns through 14 games against the Raiders. With two touchdowns Sunday he would surpass Hall of Famer Marcus Allen for the most total touchdowns through 15 games against a single opponent since 1970. Allen, a San Diego native who played the first 11 seasons of his career with the Raiders while they were in Los Angeles, scored 20 TDs in his first 15 games against the Chargers.
Dielman, the left guard, also sat out practice with a thigh injury, as did tight end Antonio Gates (hip) and defensive tackle Jamal Williams (knees).
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
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