09-05-2018, 02:39 AM
Charles Woodson took a break from overseeing his winery in the Napa Valley to visit the Oakland Raiders training camp Thursday. Peyton Manning was there Fozzy Whittaker Jersey , too, while in the midst of a speaking tour.
The two future Hall-of-Famers were all over the place, chatting with players and coaches and going over techniques as the Raiders went through their 2 1/2-hour workout.
For Woodson, it was a step back in time. The nine-time Pro Bowl defensive back spent 11 seasons over two stints with the Raiders and was a rookie in 1998, Jon Gruden’s first year as an NFL coach.
Now retired and an analyst for ESPN, the 41-year-old Woodson was a little startled when he walked onto the practice field and heard music blaring from a far corner.
”I don’t remember that ever happening,” Woodson said, grinning. ”I was just telling somebody, everybody’s talking about Gruden’s been out of the game, he’s out of touch. Actually he’s not. He’s got a DJ. I think he’s fitting right in.”
Although his beard is filled with more gray than ever, Woodson – who last played in 2015 when he earned Pro Bowl recognition as a safety – still looks physically capable of playing in the NFL.
Not long after Gruden was hired in the offseason to return to the Raiders, he joked that he might try to convince Woodson to come out of retirement.
Woodson laughed at the thought but said Gruden isn’t much different than he was when he first coached the Raiders 20 years ago.
”I remember coming in seeing a young fiery Jon Gruden and he seems to have that same thing going on,” Woodson said. ”It’s going to be great for the players to have a guy with that kind of energy back on the sidelines. I think it’s going to be a fun year. It’s going to be a process, of course. You have to get guys to buy into what you’re selling. If they do that they’ll be fine.”
One player not in camp is defensive end Khalil Mack, who is holding out in a contract dispute.
Woodson was in a similar position in 2004 and 2005 when he held out in training camp looking for a new deal. Each year Jarvis Landry Jersey , the Raiders hit him with the franchise tag.
Woodson said he has spoken with Mack and encouraged the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year to stay in shape while negotiations continue.
”He’s a young guy that’s trying to get paid and I don’t fault any man for that,” Woodson said. ”Now, every team’s going to have their limits of what they feel they can do and what they won’t do. You have to navigate that. He’s a smart enough guy, he’ll figure it out.
”I just told him, `Whenever you come back. I don’t know what happens with your deal, if you get a new deal or if you’re playing on the same deal, when you come back come back ready.’ You don’t want anybody saying anything crazy about your conditioning and all of this sort of thing.”
Manning attended camp while in the Bay Area for a speaking engagement in San Francisco. He phoned Gruden to ask if he could come out to practice then spent the afternoon chatting with Derek Carr and quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan.
”Being a football junkie, Jon and I kind of speak the same language,” Manning said. ”I know he’s happy. Good for football that he’s back in the game.”
Gruden put both men to work.
Woodson spoke to the players during a team meeting while Manning sat in during the quarterbacks meeting, watched film and offered his own tips.
Manning specifically spoke at length with Carr, Oakland’s veteran quarterback who is learning his third system in four years.
”I really like Derek,” Manning said. ”He is very engaged and obviously trying to learn a new system, which is a challenge. But one thing about Jon Gruden is he loves football so everybody playing for him better love it too. When your QB loves it, and you can tell Carr does, it shows.”
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>The Buffalo Bills’ long-awaited playoff appearance might not have been so short-lived had their coaching staff played the percentages and not a hunch in their 10-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.On first-and-goal from the Jaguars 1 James Burgess Jersey , coach Sean McDermott and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison elected to call a run-pass option instead of asking quarterback Tyrod Taylor to either run it in himself or hand it off to running back LeSean McCoy against one of the most vulnerable run defenses in the playoffs.“I want a running play,” McCoy said. “It was a play I was lobbying for the whole time and it didn’t work out …”Instead, Taylor lofted a fade pass toward the left corner of the end zone where Kelvin Benjamin was whistled for offensive pass interference on All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, pushing the Bills back 10 yards.The drive stalled from there and Stephen Haushka’s 31-yard field goal was all the Bills had to show for their 18-play, 71-yard drive that took 8:06, their only decent drive all game.McDermott also botched the end of the first half by calling pass plays on second-and-6 at his 14 (incomplete) and the next down (5-yard completion to Zay Jones in which he was pushed out of bounds).Instead of taking a knee and heading to the locker room with a 3-0 lead, the Bills gave the Jaguars the ball back with enough time to get into field goal range and score and gain some momentum heading into the locker room.The Bills’ curious play call, however, paled in contrast to the series of odd calls by referee Jeff Triplette’s playoff crew in Kansas City, where the Tennessee Titans overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to shock the Chiefs 22-21.“Horrible way to start the playoffs,” tweeted Mike Pereira , the former NFL officiating chief turned Fox sports analyst. “I hate to say it, but this was not a good performance by the crew. Teams and fans deserve better.”A day later, Pereira praised both Tony Corrente’s crew in New Orleans and John Hussey’s crew in Jacksonville, adding Duke Johnson Jersey , “Yesterday is a memory. I feel bad for Jeff Triplette. He is a great man who was part of a crew that did not have a good game. I feel bad that he is retiring under this cloud.”After Marcus Mariota caught his own deflected pass for a touchdown Saturday, Triplette explained that the Titans quarterback was an eligible receiver because he had lined up in the shotgun formation rather than under center.There is no such rule in the NFL.Whenever a defensive player deflects a pass, every offensive player is allowed to catch the ricochet, including the quarterback and it matters not where he lined up when the play began.Then, there was the very quick whistle that negated a fumble recovery by Justin Houston after fellow linebacker Derrick Johnson sacked Mariota in the second quarter.Mariota fumbled a split-second after contact, but Triplette said the QB’s forward progress had been stopped before the fumble.Forward progress is usually called when a running back is stopped and defenders are piling on him or several defenders drape a quarterback.Hardly ever is it applied when a QB is going to the ground on initial contact by a single defender.As a judgment call, Chiefs coach Andy Reid was helpless to throw his red challenge flag, and Ryan Succop kicked a field goal on the next play.“The defender hit him and he was driving him back,” Triplette said after the game.The officials had one more gaffe in them, one that was corrected on replay review.The crew initially called a fumble on Titans running back Derrick Henry late in the fourth quarter, signaling touchdown when Johnson scooped up the ball and rumbled into the end zone as fireworks lit up the sky.The replays showed he was down before the ball came loose.Before wild-card weekend began, there were several notable calls concerning the Cincinnati Bengals.Bills fans giddy over Buffalo ending the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports made a surge in donations to Andy Dalton’s foundation , their way of thanking the Bengals QB for his role in the Bills’ first invitation to the postseason party in 17 years.Dalton’s foundation received more than $300,000 in donations after the Bengals beat the Ravens 31-27 in the regular-season finale when Dalton threw a 49-yard TD pass with 44 seconds left to eliminate Baltimore and open a spot for Buffalo.“I think I’m the hottest guy in Buffalo right now,” Dalton said.While the Bills’ long streak of playoff futility is over Cooper Kupp Jersey, the Bengals’ streak continues. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, the sixth-longest streak of postseason futility in NFL history. They’ve lost all seven of their playoff games since that season, including an NFL-record five straight first-round defeats from 2011-15.The Bengals missed out on the playoffs for a second straight season, going 7-9. They won their last two games, knocking the Lions and Ravens out of the playoff race. That was enough for owner Mike Brown to give coach Marvin Lewis a two-year extension and two more chances to try to get the Bengals that playoff victory that has eluded him for 15 seasons.Lewis has the second-longest active coaching tenure in the NFL, behind only Bill Belichick’s 18 seasons with New England.Unlike Belichick, who has won five Super Bowls and made two other appearances in the title game, Lewis is 0-7 in the playoffs, the worst such coaching record in NFL history.In Denver, John Elway thought long and hard about canning coach Vance Joseph after a 5-11 debut but decided to stick with him.However, Joseph fired a half dozen assistants, saying it was time to change the culture “so we could get back to pushing our players to be the best that they can be.”All six of the fired coaches directed rookies who underperformed in 2017, so they’re the ones sho Miles Bridges Jersey
The two future Hall-of-Famers were all over the place, chatting with players and coaches and going over techniques as the Raiders went through their 2 1/2-hour workout.
For Woodson, it was a step back in time. The nine-time Pro Bowl defensive back spent 11 seasons over two stints with the Raiders and was a rookie in 1998, Jon Gruden’s first year as an NFL coach.
Now retired and an analyst for ESPN, the 41-year-old Woodson was a little startled when he walked onto the practice field and heard music blaring from a far corner.
”I don’t remember that ever happening,” Woodson said, grinning. ”I was just telling somebody, everybody’s talking about Gruden’s been out of the game, he’s out of touch. Actually he’s not. He’s got a DJ. I think he’s fitting right in.”
Although his beard is filled with more gray than ever, Woodson – who last played in 2015 when he earned Pro Bowl recognition as a safety – still looks physically capable of playing in the NFL.
Not long after Gruden was hired in the offseason to return to the Raiders, he joked that he might try to convince Woodson to come out of retirement.
Woodson laughed at the thought but said Gruden isn’t much different than he was when he first coached the Raiders 20 years ago.
”I remember coming in seeing a young fiery Jon Gruden and he seems to have that same thing going on,” Woodson said. ”It’s going to be great for the players to have a guy with that kind of energy back on the sidelines. I think it’s going to be a fun year. It’s going to be a process, of course. You have to get guys to buy into what you’re selling. If they do that they’ll be fine.”
One player not in camp is defensive end Khalil Mack, who is holding out in a contract dispute.
Woodson was in a similar position in 2004 and 2005 when he held out in training camp looking for a new deal. Each year Jarvis Landry Jersey , the Raiders hit him with the franchise tag.
Woodson said he has spoken with Mack and encouraged the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year to stay in shape while negotiations continue.
”He’s a young guy that’s trying to get paid and I don’t fault any man for that,” Woodson said. ”Now, every team’s going to have their limits of what they feel they can do and what they won’t do. You have to navigate that. He’s a smart enough guy, he’ll figure it out.
”I just told him, `Whenever you come back. I don’t know what happens with your deal, if you get a new deal or if you’re playing on the same deal, when you come back come back ready.’ You don’t want anybody saying anything crazy about your conditioning and all of this sort of thing.”
Manning attended camp while in the Bay Area for a speaking engagement in San Francisco. He phoned Gruden to ask if he could come out to practice then spent the afternoon chatting with Derek Carr and quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan.
”Being a football junkie, Jon and I kind of speak the same language,” Manning said. ”I know he’s happy. Good for football that he’s back in the game.”
Gruden put both men to work.
Woodson spoke to the players during a team meeting while Manning sat in during the quarterbacks meeting, watched film and offered his own tips.
Manning specifically spoke at length with Carr, Oakland’s veteran quarterback who is learning his third system in four years.
”I really like Derek,” Manning said. ”He is very engaged and obviously trying to learn a new system, which is a challenge. But one thing about Jon Gruden is he loves football so everybody playing for him better love it too. When your QB loves it, and you can tell Carr does, it shows.”
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>The Buffalo Bills’ long-awaited playoff appearance might not have been so short-lived had their coaching staff played the percentages and not a hunch in their 10-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.On first-and-goal from the Jaguars 1 James Burgess Jersey , coach Sean McDermott and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison elected to call a run-pass option instead of asking quarterback Tyrod Taylor to either run it in himself or hand it off to running back LeSean McCoy against one of the most vulnerable run defenses in the playoffs.“I want a running play,” McCoy said. “It was a play I was lobbying for the whole time and it didn’t work out …”Instead, Taylor lofted a fade pass toward the left corner of the end zone where Kelvin Benjamin was whistled for offensive pass interference on All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, pushing the Bills back 10 yards.The drive stalled from there and Stephen Haushka’s 31-yard field goal was all the Bills had to show for their 18-play, 71-yard drive that took 8:06, their only decent drive all game.McDermott also botched the end of the first half by calling pass plays on second-and-6 at his 14 (incomplete) and the next down (5-yard completion to Zay Jones in which he was pushed out of bounds).Instead of taking a knee and heading to the locker room with a 3-0 lead, the Bills gave the Jaguars the ball back with enough time to get into field goal range and score and gain some momentum heading into the locker room.The Bills’ curious play call, however, paled in contrast to the series of odd calls by referee Jeff Triplette’s playoff crew in Kansas City, where the Tennessee Titans overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to shock the Chiefs 22-21.“Horrible way to start the playoffs,” tweeted Mike Pereira , the former NFL officiating chief turned Fox sports analyst. “I hate to say it, but this was not a good performance by the crew. Teams and fans deserve better.”A day later, Pereira praised both Tony Corrente’s crew in New Orleans and John Hussey’s crew in Jacksonville, adding Duke Johnson Jersey , “Yesterday is a memory. I feel bad for Jeff Triplette. He is a great man who was part of a crew that did not have a good game. I feel bad that he is retiring under this cloud.”After Marcus Mariota caught his own deflected pass for a touchdown Saturday, Triplette explained that the Titans quarterback was an eligible receiver because he had lined up in the shotgun formation rather than under center.There is no such rule in the NFL.Whenever a defensive player deflects a pass, every offensive player is allowed to catch the ricochet, including the quarterback and it matters not where he lined up when the play began.Then, there was the very quick whistle that negated a fumble recovery by Justin Houston after fellow linebacker Derrick Johnson sacked Mariota in the second quarter.Mariota fumbled a split-second after contact, but Triplette said the QB’s forward progress had been stopped before the fumble.Forward progress is usually called when a running back is stopped and defenders are piling on him or several defenders drape a quarterback.Hardly ever is it applied when a QB is going to the ground on initial contact by a single defender.As a judgment call, Chiefs coach Andy Reid was helpless to throw his red challenge flag, and Ryan Succop kicked a field goal on the next play.“The defender hit him and he was driving him back,” Triplette said after the game.The officials had one more gaffe in them, one that was corrected on replay review.The crew initially called a fumble on Titans running back Derrick Henry late in the fourth quarter, signaling touchdown when Johnson scooped up the ball and rumbled into the end zone as fireworks lit up the sky.The replays showed he was down before the ball came loose.Before wild-card weekend began, there were several notable calls concerning the Cincinnati Bengals.Bills fans giddy over Buffalo ending the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports made a surge in donations to Andy Dalton’s foundation , their way of thanking the Bengals QB for his role in the Bills’ first invitation to the postseason party in 17 years.Dalton’s foundation received more than $300,000 in donations after the Bengals beat the Ravens 31-27 in the regular-season finale when Dalton threw a 49-yard TD pass with 44 seconds left to eliminate Baltimore and open a spot for Buffalo.“I think I’m the hottest guy in Buffalo right now,” Dalton said.While the Bills’ long streak of playoff futility is over Cooper Kupp Jersey, the Bengals’ streak continues. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, the sixth-longest streak of postseason futility in NFL history. They’ve lost all seven of their playoff games since that season, including an NFL-record five straight first-round defeats from 2011-15.The Bengals missed out on the playoffs for a second straight season, going 7-9. They won their last two games, knocking the Lions and Ravens out of the playoff race. That was enough for owner Mike Brown to give coach Marvin Lewis a two-year extension and two more chances to try to get the Bengals that playoff victory that has eluded him for 15 seasons.Lewis has the second-longest active coaching tenure in the NFL, behind only Bill Belichick’s 18 seasons with New England.Unlike Belichick, who has won five Super Bowls and made two other appearances in the title game, Lewis is 0-7 in the playoffs, the worst such coaching record in NFL history.In Denver, John Elway thought long and hard about canning coach Vance Joseph after a 5-11 debut but decided to stick with him.However, Joseph fired a half dozen assistants, saying it was time to change the culture “so we could get back to pushing our players to be the best that they can be.”All six of the fired coaches directed rookies who underperformed in 2017, so they’re the ones sho Miles Bridges Jersey