Bills Fire Offensive Coordinator Schonert

Another one bites the dust. This is getting to be ridiculous as this is now the third time in a week that a team has fired its offensive coordinator with less than two weeks to go before the start of the regular season.

As with the Buccaneers decision yesterday, this firing may bring a dramatic change to the scheme in Buffalo, something I have been fearful of all along. Without Schonert, whose system was a pass heavy one and whom installed the Bills no huddle system all summer long, the Bills might resemble the vanilla offenses that are common with head coach Dick Jauron. Jauron is the most simple minded coach perhaps in NFL history and he believes in simply running the ball on first and second down and hopefully creating a short passing situation on third to convert the first down. This is death for fantasy players outside of maybe the lead RB who will get a lot of carries. It will be interesting to see who exactly replaces Schonert, what the reasons were for his dismissal and what the plan is from here.

All that I know is I am now downgrading Trent Edwards, Terrell Owens and Lee Evans slightly with this news and possibly further based on how involved Dick Jauron is going to be. The no huddle spread offense was going to be fun to watch play out in Buffalo this year but I guess a poor preseason and the lack of talent along the offensive line has put a stop to that. Too bad. Same old Bills I guess, can't wait for T.O. to sound off on this one!



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Maurice Jones-Drew Hurts Leg In Last Preseason Game

A collective gasp fell over Jacksonville Municipal Stadium tonight after Redskins CB Fred Smoot tackled Maurice Jones-Drew on a short pass early in the game. MJD got up gingerly but walked to the sidelines under his own power. He was immediately taken out of the game and went back to the locker room for further testing.


There is no doubt that the preseason in the NFL is too long. There have already been several injuries tonight and every single year around this time there is a major injury to a star NFL player that could have been avoided if the preseason was shortened.


MJD's backup is rookie RB Rashad Jennings, a big kid out of Liberty college. He is a good player who is tough between the tackles and also has good breakaway straight ahead speed. Hopefully, MJD doesn't have to miss any time but if he does it will be Jennings along with Greg Jones getting the majority of the carries.


***UPDATE***

Postgame X-rays taken on MJD's leg were negative. The team is pretty confident that it is just a deep bruise and that he will be good to go in week one. However, they did schedule an MRI for tomorrow morning to see to what extent the damage exactly is. Tomorrow's report will be a big one for anyone who was planning on or had already drafted Maurice Jones-Drew.



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Slaton To Lose Goal Line Carries

Houston head coach Gary Kubiak announced today that backup RB Chris Brown would see extensive time as the teams goal line and short yardage back when the season starts next week. He says the goal is to keep Steve Slaton fresh.

While that is all good for the Texans and possibly even Steve Slaton, that is terrible news for fantasy owners especially the ones who already used a high pick to secure Slaton. His value takes a dip as Chris Brown now becomes a must have fantasy RB.

With another year under their belts running the zone blocking system and after having Alex Gibbs working with them this summer I believe the Texans running game will have another big year. Slaton and Brown are not a shabby duo to secure on draft day.



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Kevin Jones Carted Off Field

Chicago Bears backup RB Kevin Jones was carted off the field tonight after landing hard on his right ankle during a short run in tonight's game against the Browns.

Jones was down for awhile but finally got up with the help of some teammates. He walked gingerly to the sidelines where he immediately fell back down and was attended to by the training staff. Eventually a cart had to be summoned for him to go back to the locker room for further testing.

The team will surely do an X-ray and probably an MRI by tomorrow to find out the full extent of the damage. It is likely that Jones will miss the first couple of games of the regular season. Garrett Wolfe and Adrian Peterson would see time backing up Matt Forte if Jones cannot go.



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Michael Vick's Suspension Cut Down

Commissioner Roger Goodell revoked a good chunk of Michael Vick's 6 game suspension and set it at just 2 regular season games. This means Vick will have a full reinstatement as of week 3 of the regular season.

The commissioner met today with Vick as well and Eagles head coach Andy Reid and Vick's mentor Tony Dungy to discuss the progress that Vick has made in getting both his personal and his football life back in order.

Vick has been decent in two preseason appearances so far though it does seem like he has lost a step, which still makes him one of the faster players in the NFL. He will start out as the #3 QB for the Eagles but there is a good chance that if Donovan McNabb suffers a long term injury this season, Vick may be the full time replacement.

It is now OK to actually draft Vick, though I would only do so as a handcuff for McNabb and even in that context I would probably not waste the pick.



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Titans Actually Working Out Several WR's

I had reported yesterday that Matt Jones was getting a look in Tennessee today. While that is still true and in fact happening as I write this entry, there are a few other faces in town to work out as well.

That includes former Raiders standout Jerry Porter and journeyman WR Samie Parker who will both get a look this afternoon.

I kinda expect Matt Jones will get an offer today however. The Titans have been flirting with him for awhile now, and his name has come up as a possibility in several places around the league of late. If Tennessee lets him leave now, they may not get another chance and head coach Jeff Fisher is hell bent on securing the receiving corps before the start of the season.



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Bucs Fire Offensive Coordinator Jagodzinski

In a stunning move this morning, we're received a press release that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski has been dismissed.

Quarterbacks coach Greg Olson (gulp!) has been promoted to the post and takes over immediately. Olson has been a quality QB coach around the league but was horrible as the offensive coordinator in St. Louis a few years ago.

Speculation on why Jagodzinski was let go centers around a conflict he and head coach Raheem Morris had concerning Byron Leftwich. Jags wasn't on board with the move evidently and preferred a QB who could get outside the pocket. You may remember that Jagodzinski is the former Boston College head coach who got dismissed from his post after he failed to remove his name from the New York Jets empty head coaching spot this winter.

I would expect Jags to catch on somewhere and fast, possibly back with his former team in Cincinnati where he established himself as a top passing game coach.

The Buccaneers were growing more and more into a running team anyways, which isn't Jagodzinski's style in the least. Leftwich may have just been the cherry on top of this sundae. Expect the Bucs to run the ball 60%+ this season as they try to be a ball control, wear you down type of offense.



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Titans WR Update

The Titans made it their #1 priority this offseason to go out and upgrade their WR situation. The mission seemed accomplished with the additions of Nate Washington, Justin McCareins and first round pick Kenny Britt. Last season's emergence of Justin Gage was also a blessing that made these acquisitions round out the best receiving corps that Tennessee has had in years.

But then training camp started and Kenny Britt held out, Nate Washington injured his hamstring and Justin Gage has been sloppy. There have been rumors about the team approaching Marvin Harrison and sniffing around other teams camps about possible WR's upgrades. The Titans are so set on improving at the WR position they are not letting anything get in the way of better performances. Here is the latest:

The Titans will bring free agent WR Matt Jones in for a workout tomorrow morning and may not let him leave without signing a contract as there are other teams also interested in Jones services. The team has done some investigating on whether or now Jones will be faced with any further legal action or discipline from the NFL for his drug and personal conduct issues.

Nate Washington has still not been cleared to start running yet in his comeback from a pretty severe hamstring injury. Washington is likely to miss at least the first game and probably the first two games of the regular season before he is ready to return. This makes the Jones signing even more probable.



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Chiefs Release Amani Toomer

The Chiefs have released veteran WR Amani Toomer just a few weeks after bringing him into camp. The old man just wasn't what the Chiefs new pass heavy system was looking for. Though this does come as a bit of a shock as the Chiefs are desperate at the WR position. Devard Darling was placed on injured reserve also today with a torn ACL and will miss the entire season.

I expect the Chiefs will make a move for a WR in the very near future. They will go after the cuts of another team that may have a wealth of WR's such as the Eagles or Giants.



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Matt Schaub Will Be OK

Matt Schaub suffered an ankle injury during the second quarter of the Texans third preseason game on Monday night. Schaub "tweaked" his left ankle on a QB scramble but continued to play on in until the end of the first half. During halftime the ankle had swelled and he did not return to the game.

Schaub was in a protective boot after the game which led many reporters and other fantasy websites to speculate that he was worse off than he really is. The boot was just a precaution and it has been confirmed that had this been a regular season game, Schaub would have continued in the game. He will definitely start the Texans regular season opener and loses no fantasy value as a result of the ankle.



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