JaMarcus Russell has had a rocky stint in the NFL since being drafted. The former #1 overall pick with a massive contract hasn’t met expectations. On top of that, people have criticized him for his weight and lack of commitment. JaMarcus is attempting to change all of that by getting in shape and Raiders exec Willie Brown says people will be “surprised” when they see him.
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This is NOT what it will look like at Fenway on New Year's Day
Weather forecasts suggest a 70% chance of “driving rain” on Jan. 1 in Boston. This could have some serious implications for the NHL’s Winter Classic and could even put the event in jeopardy. (CSN)
NY Rangers forward Ryan Callahan hopes to join his coach John Tortorella on the US Olympic hockey team. (NY Daily News)
Four Rangers prospects are playing in the World Junior’s Championship and they’re doing pretty well for themselves. (LoHud)
If Chad Ochocinco somehow makes it to the end-zone for a TD against Darrelle Revis this week, he says he’s going to pull a Fireman Ed, putting on a Bengals fireman helmet and exhorting the crowd on a teammate’s shoulder. (NY Daily News)
15 college football players were asked who they think will win the National Championship this year. Every single one of them said Alabama. Really? (SportingNews)
Raiders coach Tom Cable blames JaMarcus Russell for the team missing the playoffs. Conversely, maybe JaMarcus Russell is blaming the Raiders for not helping him gain the #1 pick in the 2010 draft. (FanHouse)
Interview Magazine lists the 20 most beautiful people of the decade. Whatever. The main attraction is this heinous picture of Tom Brady. (Interview Magazine)
With Jason Bay off the market, talk should start heating up for Matt Holliday. The Cardinals look like they may end up being the best fit after all. (MLB)
Peter Abraham speculates the Sox might not miss Jason Bay’s bat so much. I’m not even going to go point by point on this one, but I have to beg to differ. (Boston Globe)
Mike Lowell’s injury continues to haunt the Red Sox’s off-season plans. Talks with 3B Adrian Beltre have been held up until after the new year. I find it amusing that the Sox are trying to replace one third baseman with a testicle problem for another. Its…a ballsy move. C’mon you know I had to. (ESPN)
In the “I can’t believe this exists” department, we have here “Seaman’s Shot – extra hot“. Nothing says “Happy New Year” like a hot shot of Seaman’s down your throat.
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Tags: chad ochocinco, darrelle revis, jamarcus russell, Jason Bay, new york jets, new york rangers, NHL, winter classic
JaMarcus Russell is a rich man. He’s also a man that’s as proud as he is lazy. So you can understand how he was devastated when he learned he was no longer starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders. After he was benched, he had been avoiding the media… until now.
Russell spoke to Tim Kawakami (you can follow him on twitter) of the San Jose Mercury News. In the interview, he admits that he was embarrassed to lose his job to Bruce Gradkowski. He says that losing the job has been a learning experience and is kind of like redshirting in college. Except he’s collecting a fat paycheck for it in the pros. Somewhere in the middle, J-Marc drops the tidbit that he has no intention of restructuring his monster contract either. He also reveals that he’s not sure if his benching is permanent saying:
Uh, I’m not sure. If that’s the road they want to take, then, hey, we have to go out and fight our butts off to be that guy.
Russell also seems to indicate he thinks the receivers have been responsible for his prolonged stay on the bench. At no point does the former LSU QB admit the Bruce Gradkowski is doing well. Instead, he chooses to focus on everybody else:
Now it’s just all around. Guys are just making plays around him.
In the Dallas game after you go out and win in Cincinnati there weren’t plays really made the whole game, you know what I mean.
Going into Pittsburgh, guys were making plays for him. That’s what a quarterback needs, his surrounding players. That’s what was going on.
Clearly, JaMarcus Russell isn’t mature enough to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. The guy can’t even process the fact that he’ll be an afterthought soon. Though J-Marc disagrees with that assessment. Here’s what JaMarcus thinks people will see when he regains his starting gig:
Tags: al davis, bruce gradkowksi, football, jamarcus russell, NFL, oakland raiders, quarterbacks, starting quarterback, tom cableA totally different JaMarcus. People going to have their opinion, and I really don’t pay too much attention to that. I worry about JaMarcus and JaMarcus only.
Both New York City NFL teams are among the better teams in the league. On Sunday, the Jets made an effort to come back from their recent slump while the Giants showed vulnerability. Neither team looks quite as good as they did early on in the season. Though, it seems like both teams are on track to challenge for a playoff spot if they can maintain consistency and overcome injuries.
Everything went right for the Jets in the shutout of Oakland on Sunday afternoon — at least in terms of football. The Jets rolled up over 300 yards on the ground and Mark Sanchez had an impeccable (9 for 15 w/ 143 yards and a TD), though limited, performance. Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene both went for over 100 yards while Greene scored his first two NFL touchdowns.
On defense, the Jets were formidable forcing JaMarcus Russell into three turnovers before he was benched in favor of Bruce Gradkowski. The one thing that did bother me is that both Russell and Gradkowksi seemed to have limited success targeting receivers downfield. Dwight Lowery and Donald Strickland seemed to have a hard time locking down their men and Darrelle Revis even blew an assignment or two. Though, it’s likely this was part of Rex Ryan’s defensive strategy. Oakland is so bad that they depend on a basic passing game that relies heavily on tight end Zach Miller and running backs as receivers. Last week, the Eagles allowed Miller and Gary Russell to catch 11 balls on 16 targets. The Jets held Miller and Russell to just four catches on six targets for only 17 yards. So Rex Ryan’s plan worked out — it’s just annoying to see Louis Murphy and Heyward-Bey actually making plays.
Unfortunately, the injury bug that’s plagued the Jets reared its ugly head again. Leon Washington suffered a gruesome lower leg injury in the first half that was classified as a compound fracture. The bone broke through the skin and required immediate surgery on Sunday night. Rich Cimini of the Daily News thinks that the injury could be “career threatening” and that it likely means the Jets will bring back Thomas Jones. However, that’s basically a knee-jerk reaction. There’s no indication that Washington’s compound fracture was any more serious than a typical open fracture. The Jets didn’t even put him on injured reserve immediately with hope that he could return this season. With Leon likely out for the rest of the season, the Jets will have to make adjustments in the passing game and pick a new return man. It also shakes up the running back situation for 2010. Next offseason, Thomas Jones is due a $3 million roster bonus. TJ is quality and you have to respect what he brings to the table. Though, guys like Mike Bell, Correll Buckhalter, Fred Jackson, etc. are all useful RB2 types that make less than Jones’ potential bonus. The Jets could even target LenDale White, who’s scheduled to be a free agent, or they could simply draft a new running back instead of pay the hefty price for TJ.
The Jets seem to have righted the ship for now. The Jets schedule is seemingly favorable for the rest of the season. In the next three games, the Jets will play their most important (and two of the last three) divisional games against Miami (next week) and New England (week 11). You can bet that Rex and co. will be studying the Patriots during the week nine bye even though they face Jacksonville in week 10. If the Jets can beat the Pats, they can make a push for the best divisional record in the AFC East. The Jets face both Tampa Bay and Carolina in their remaining games and finish with a brutal stretch against Atlanta, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The most interesting matchup may come on December 3rd against Buffalo in Toronto when Mark Sanchez gets a chance to make up for the worst game of his career and potentially move the Jets into a favorable standing in the division.
Facing the man that kept the seat warm for Eli Manning, the Giants fell to the Cardinals in the Meadowlands last night. It was seemingly a favorable matchup for New York since the Cardinals were banged up at receiver and lacked a true primary running back.
The good news is that Hakeem Nicks is emerging as the go-to receiver for the Giants. The rookie is averaging a whopping 19.7 yards per catch and now has 315 receiving yards while scoring a TD in each of the last four games. It’s also worth noting that Steve Smith was targeted 10 times but only made four catches. Due to watching the Yankee game, I’m not sure if this was the result of coverage or drops. Though, it seems to indicate that Smith is getting much more attention than he was early in the season.
It’s likely that the Giants faced the inevitable slump brought on by a rash of injuries. The Giants were already without LB Michael Boley (knee), DT Chris Canty (calf), and S Kenny Phillips (knee) while Aaron Ross (hamstring) also missed the game. Other than injuries, Eli Manning’s poor overall performance contributed to the New York loss. The former number one overall pick was just 19 of 37 and threw three picks.
The Giants are certainly a power in the NFC East and should be a decent bet for a playoff berth. However, they’re not quite as good as advertised (hyped?). Injuries are the primary concern at this point and it’s hard to believe they can be a contender with Ahmad Bradshaw seemingly outperforming Brandon Jacobs. At the same time, the Giants are 5-2 and that record includes four “gimmes” against Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Oakland, and Washington. It’s likely the Giants will be pretty close to .500 during the next nine games of the season. The schedule is considerably more difficult with opponents including Philadelphia (twice), San Diego, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and Minnesota.
Tags: ahmad bradshaw, brandon jacobs, bruce gradkowski, eli manning, football, hakeem nicks, injuries, jamarcus russell, leon washington, mark sanchez, new york jets, NFL, Rex Ryan, Shonn Greene, steve smith, thomas jonesThe JaMarcus Russell Era officially began as soon as Tom Cable named Russell his starter for the September 14th Monday night season opener. Jeff Garcia had a calf injury that kept him from competing for the job. Cable gave JaMarcus an amazingly half-assed endorsement stating:
“I’ve said that it’s his job and we’ll see how it goes,” Cable said. “Unfortunately, Jeff hasn’t had much work. We’ve been fortunate in that JaMarcus has improved. It would have been nice to have someone really pushing him. Maybe we could get him to improve a little bit more.”
It’s hard to say there’s a lot of confidence in that declaration. With number one receiver Chaz Schilens on the shelf, the Raiders probably won’t have much of an aerial game to begin with. It could be another bad year in Oakland if JaMarcus Russell doesn’t step up in a hurry.
JaMarcus Russell showed up at training camp last year pushing three bills. Who can blame him? He has $29 million in the bank. In 2009, JaMarcus has attempted to show new commitment to football. He held a “receivers camp” in his off-season home of Alabama. It was attended by Louis Murphy and a handful of guy I’ve never heard of. So much for that idea. Russell even came to camp this year closer to his listed weight of 270.
However, seeing pictures of JaMarcus in training camp makes me doubt his conditioning. He seems to be practicing with a nylon pullover under his jersey and socks pulled up all the way. It almost seems like he’s trying to sweat off his extra pounds. He also looks like a fool. It’s not THAT cold in Napa, where the Raiders are holding pre-season camp. In May, JaMarcus had similarly ridiculous get-up. He wore a long sleeve shirt with a t-shirt over it — both underneath his jersey. I’m not exactly sure why JaMarcus chooses to suit up in such random attire. It’s probably has something to do with UnderArmour not wanting a fat guy to wear their gear. There are pictures of JaMarcus from training camp and mini camp after the jump.
Via NBC Bay Area:
Tags: football, jamarcus russell, mini camp, NFL, oakland raiders, training camp, weightThe problem now that the Raiders have opened training camp is that we’re really seeing more of JaMarcus Russell.
The Oakland Trib’s Jerry McDonald quoted Russell Thursday on his Twitter feed admitting that he’s reporting to training camp a little heftier than he ought to be. “I’m probably a little heavy,” JaMarcus reportedly said. “But I’m not 300 pounds like you all said last year.”
Whoa, did we really say he was 300 pounds last year? It turns out that we in the predominantly Raider-hating sports media did, in fact, peddle that very rumor prior to the 2008 season. Don Banks wrote in his Sports Illustrated column in March of 2008 that, “there are rumors that (Russell is) close to 300 pounds and not exactly prepared for his close-up.”
David White tries to guess JaMarcus current weight, carnival-booth style, in his San Francisco Chronicle blog. “Someone suggested he looks about 278 pounds,” White remarks. “I’d take the under on that by 2-3 pounds.” White also notes that Russell’s playing weight is listed as 270.
