Shannon Sharpe Picture

Truths:
Argos/Dolphins RB Ricky Williams was held to 14 yards rushing on 8 carries in a 16-9 loss to the Blue Bombers on Friday. Exhibiting a greater understanding of the nature of the CFL game than most Canadians, Williams said: "The way the game was going, a running back doesn't get touches unless the offence gets some kind of rhythm and they didn't allow us to get any kind of rhythm". Williams was also certain to note that regardless of the number of carries, a 1.75 yds/carry average wasn't acceptable. Winnipeg RB Charles Roberts (A U.S. born player out of Sacramento State who won the CFL rushing title last season) didn't allow reporters to egg him into a sound byte about any sense of bruised pride over the attention Williams has received, saying: "Our offence played really, really well and we were able to get up early and be able to utilize the run more than they could. Our defence was a great defence. You can't really just look at Ricky's numbers and say specifically that I outshined him." (Roberts ran for 133 yds on 32 carries, a 4.16 average, and added a TD). Roberts was right about the Bombers defence being fantastic, they only allowed 18 total rushing yards and 94 passing yards.Pacman Jones likely won't be fielding punts this year. Jeff Fisher wants to reduce his workload, reduce his risk of injury, and increase his focus on his coverage. The role on special teams will be filled by former Bears WR Bobby Wade, which should concern Titans fans as he either fumbled or muffed 9 punts last season, but he feels that being away from the crazy wind conditions and the cold in Chicago will make a big difference. He's got talent for returns, as evidenced by his 9.6 yard average (The Titans as a team last year averaged 9.3 yards per punt return, which was good for 7th best in the NFL) and his 75 yard TD return last season. Pacman, who averaged 26.2 yds per kickoff return in 2005 (Good for fourth best in the league), will continue on in that role but would be eager to continue contributing on punts as well if asked. His attitude this year is LIGHT YEARS ahead of where it was last preseason. He reacted to the decision by saying: "Whatever they feel is best, that's fine with me, but I'm still a guy who wants to get my hands on the ball as much as possible. I'm confident I can make plays, whether it's at cornerback or on special teams. I don't feel like I wore down any [last season].".Santonio Holmes hurt his hamstring. It's said to be a pull rather than a tear and likely will be fine in time for training camp. The cause of the injury wasn't known, but due to NFL/NCAA rules I don't believe Holmes was able to participate in the Steelers minicamp activities. So it wasn't there. I think he's been working out at the Ohio State facilities, so maybe that's where it happened. With 2 arrests already though, I prefer to think that he pulled it trying to ditch the cops.Chester Taylor has been told by coaches that the RB job in Minny is not his yet. Apparently he didn't show them the level of conditioning that they wanted from him in minicamps, so they reminded him that Mewelde Moore and Ciatrick Fason will get the same chance to earn the right to start.Cleveland WR Braylon Edwards has a new date set for his return from a torn ACL, October 22nd (Week 7). Originally there was a hopeful target of October 1st but the Browns are prudently erring on the side of caution with one of their young core players. The team is not likely to contend in that division this year, so why not give him 3 more weeks to make sure you're not rushing him back? The Browns will need to lean on TE Kellen Winslow in the passing game a bit more heavily. Edwards injury is considered to be less serious than Carson Palmer's, but his role as a WR means that his clearance to return to the field is set with a different benchmark.

Rumours:
Word on Marshall Faulk keeps going up and down and from side to side. Seems that, in true Faulk fashion, he may have tossed in a cutback now. SI's Mike Silver (Who's been described as a "longtime confidant" of Faulk's) says that he told him he's playing this year. If the reports out of St. Louis Post Dispatch are correct though, he's likely going to have to have another knee surgery soon though. If that's the case he'd probably not play this season. But not playing is not necessarily akin to retirement. Speculation is that if he has another operation on the knee that didn't respond to surgery earlier this year, he would be placed on the Rams injured reserve list and have the full year to recover at full pay and try to play next season. This arrangement might actually be favourable to the team from a cap perspective. They would save $2 million this year if he retires, but would then take a $4 million hit next year due to the structure of his bonus money. If you view it as a two-year plan, it likely makes more sense for St. Louis to have a more even cap cost in both years. Faulk's agent has apparently lined up a gig with the NFL Network for 2006 in case he does go forward with the surgery. I get the feeling that Faulk would be good in television (Better than Jerome Bettis, Shannon Sharpe, Cris Collinsworth and Joe Theismann anyway). Personally, I've always thought that Dhani Jones has done a great job with NFL Network. You can tell he prepares himself, wants to make intelligent points and doesn't feel that he has to scream and act like a braying jackass to have his voice heard. Kudos too to Lincoln Kennedy and Charles Woodson too (Though, I would love to see an episode where the two of them switch chairs for a segment. Link is HUGE!!! lol)QB Kellen Clemens, whom the Jets selected in the 2nd round this year, has been making a big impression on the coaching staff. So much so, in fact, that there's talk that he could leap above Patrick Ramsey on the depth chart, and that he might even be ready to start this year should Chad Pennington have a setback. Man, it really sucks to be Patrick Ramsey. This guy got screwed by having Spurrier as a coach, had his 2004 half wasted as the team stuck with Brunell for too long, then after he was given the starters job to open 2005 he was scapegoated for their ugly 9-7 loss against the, at that point, very underrated Bears defence. Now, the Jets sign him and he looks like he'll have a chance to play given Pennington's injury, and not only does the starter come back looking strong...but the rookie they drafted is lighting it up in practice. I continued to believe that Ramsey could be an effective starter with the right team, but I wonder if he'll ever get the chance. Watch for a possible deal between the Jets and the Bucs.The teams most interested in selecting enigmatic LB Ahmad Brooks in the supplemental draft are the Dolphins and the 49ers. Brooks is a first rounder based on his physical attributes and his talent but he's got a questionable attitude. He was kicked off the University of Virginia team by Al Groh for what's being called "a series of undisclosed infractions". Many teams (I've seen the number range from 22 to 31) showed up for his workout, but it seems that Miami and San Fran are leaps and bounds ahead of the others so far as evidenced by the amount of time and effort they're spending on figuring him out (Miami has been checking his background and even sent him to a psychologist for a profile, while the 9ers are having him in this week for a visit). He's expected to fit best in a 3-4 defence, which is what San Fran uses and what Miami is transitioning to under new defencive coordinator Dom Capers. The supplemental draft allows a team to essentially give up a pick in next year's draft to acquire a player who had issues with his college eligibility (For instance, if a player thought he had another year of eligibility, or if he had academic or disciplinary issues). Teams indicate the round of the pick they'd be willing to surrender, and the team that's willing to give up the highest valued pick gets that player. Teams pick from worst record to best record, and because of this, San Fran has the edge over the Dolphins...unless Miami offers a pick that's a whole round higher. Further concerning to many teams is that his weight ballooned to 290 lbs after he was kicked off the team, and he just now got back down to 260 in the last 2 months. Is he just mustering this motivation now to get some money...or is he serious and committed? I'd take a measured risk on him in the 3rd or 4th. The draft is held on July 13th with FAR less spectacle and analysis than the Entry Draft (For good reason, there have only been 32 players taken in 26 supplemental drafts).The Bengals were very pleased with rookie CB Jonathan Joseph in minicamp. He stepped in and showed them he indeed had the qualities they were looking for when they drafted him in the first round with the 24th pick. Among his positive qualities are speed, quickness, understanding of the game and his position, and the ability to stay out of prison.

Also:
Randy Moss now runs a smoothie shop! On Saturday he opened up for business, getting behind the counter himself and signing autographs as the Charleston, West Virginia "Inta Juice" opened for business. Moss says he got hooked on the juice while in Minnesota (Though...he didn't elaborate on what kind of juice, so we'll assume it's fruit juice), and realized that there were no such businesses in Charleston. Playing the "Commitment to Community" card that teammate Warren Sapp did last week, Moss said that he felt it was important to offer West Virginians a healthy food alternative out there. This is one of my favourite stories of the year so far. I think a lot of it has to do with the picture I've attached of Randy incredulously eyeballing a pitcher of smoothie. He doesn't seem to quite trust it. Perhaps because there's no booze in it. He asked Inta Juice's Executive VP, Berkley Fuller (Who was on hand for the Charleston opening), "Am I getting paid for doing this today?" while behind the counter making smoothies for customers, to which Fuller responded "Yeah, we've got minimum wage coming to you". Fuller was a bit confused when Moss's camp first contacted him. He told reporters: "My first reaction was a little bit of surprise. 'Why is Randy contacting us? What's he interested in?'". Apparently once Fuller realized that Moss wasn't trying to pitch a ganja smoothie, they were off and running. I'd love to see Moss do commercials for Inta Juice. I think that "Pitchman Randy Moss" has an even higher comedy potential than "General Jackass Randy Moss". Former Redskins star, and short-term CFLer, Dexter Manley is recovering reasonably well from brain surgery. Many would remember him for his All-Pro performances at DE and for the cocaine problems that saw him jump to the Ottawa Roughriders. The 48 year old was in surgery for 10.5 hours on Wednesday to deal with an enlarged colloid cyst that had been collecting fluid and was increasing pressure on one of his ventricles, resulting in a case of obstructive hydrocephalus (Water on the brain). Manley has known about the cyst for a little over 20 years, when he collapsed in a department store after a drug bender. Doctors ran a CT scan while he was in the emergency room and found the cyst. Because the cyst was considered small (The size of a nickel), and because surgery could have ended his playing career, doctors decided it best to monitor things every 6 months rather than operate. He stopped monitoring in 1994 though when he moved from Washington to Houston. Over the last number of months he'd begun to get tired more easily, lost some of his dexterity and was experiencing headaches. He was hospitalized on June 16th after appearing disoriented while trying to explain to police that his car had been robbed. When he was examined they found that the cyst had grown to the size of a quarter. He's experiencing some memory loss about some specific things, but doctors told his family that that was to be expected and is not an indication that he's not coming along well. His wife says that he's not confused, just that he can't recall certain details. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.The NFL Rookie Symposium started on Sunday and runs through Wednesday. While tradition shows that most who attend will heed the advice of those who know better on issues ranging from "Drug Policy" to "You've got a lot of money all of a sudden", "Planning Retirement", "What to Expect in Training Camp" and "For God's sake, don't hang out with Chris Henry!!!", many others will completely ignore the group of current and former players presenting to them (And, as a result, giving me more fuel to write about later). Attendance is mandatory for all players selected in the draft, but that hasn't stopped some guys who knew better in the past. Knowing everything there was to know already, Redskins S Sean Taylor left the Symposium early (And was fined $25,000 by the league). Taylor was right though, he's never been in a situation since then where his judgement was anything less than perfect. Keep your eye out for interviews with Bengals LB A.J. Nicholson and DE Frostee Rucker, Steelers WR Santonio Holmes, and Jaguars RB Maurice Drew...you know, if they don't miss the Symposium altogether due to required court appearances.There's a group that calls itself "Pasadena First" who want to keep pro football out of their city. Pasadena is planning to place the issue of retooling the Rose Bowl to accommodate an NFL team on the November ballot. The group contended in a Superior Court motion on Thursday that inclusion of such an item on the ballot is unconstitutional. A court hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 28th to review the matter. Their case centres around the argument that it's illegal to work out a lease deal through the ballot (If the initiative passes, it would give the league the right to play at the Rose Bowl for as many as 55 years so long as they pay for a $500+ million renovation at the outset, and $500,000 in rent every year...or about half of what Reggie Bush's parents were "paying"). The group also says that the state Constitution does not allow for an initiative to impose terms on a private corporation (In this case, the NFL). Pasadena remains the likely 3rd wheel in all of this behind L.A. (At the Coliseum) and Anaheim (Next to Angels Stadium).