Aaron Rodgers has given no indication that he will join his Packers teammates at work anytime soon. That may be something fans in Green Bay are going to have to get used to.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported on Friday that there are people close to Rodgers who remain adamant that he is stuck in and won’t play for the Packers ever again.” At the very least, Rodgers and the Packers are nowhere near settling their differences.
The Packers began the third phase of their offseason program this week, and Rodgers was never expected to attend. He’s one of several players who have been pushing for changes to the NFL’s offseason schedule, so he may not have shown up even under different circumstances. However, playing for the Packers seems to be the furthest thing from the reigning MVP’s mind at the moment.
La Canfora said he would not be surprised if Rodgers drags the situation out until September in an attempt to force a trade.
Rodgers was in Hawaii this week vacationing with his fiancee Shailene Woodley, actor Miles Teller and Teller’s wife Keleigh, who shared some photos and videos of the crew on social media.
The Milwaukee Bucks have a 3-0 series lead over the Miami Heat and are on the verge of advancing to the second round of the playoffs, but they got some very unfortunate news regarding Donte DiVincenzo’s injury on Friday.
DiVincenzo left Thursday’s game after injuring his left foot, and he will not return this season. Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that DiVincenzo has serious tendon damage and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.
The Bucks are clear-cut NBA title contenders, but losing DiVincenzo will hurt their chances. The former Villanova star played 27.5 minutes per game as a starting guard for the team during the regular season. He averaged career highs across the board with 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
Milwaukee should easily advance past Miami, but their depth will be tested going forward.
The Jacksonville Jaguars say they signed Tim Tebow with the intention of having him compete for a backup tight end job, but it sounds like Urban Meyer has plans for the 33-year-old that may be a little more complicated than that.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported last month that Meyer envisions Tebow in a role similar to the one Taysom Hill plays with the New Orleans Saints. ESPN’s Dianna Russini said on “Get Up!” Thursday that she has heard the same.
“There are people in camp right now who strongly believe the reason why Urban Meyer brought Tim Tebow in is not to play tight end, but actually to use him in that utility role, that Taysom Hill role that we see Sean Payton use in New Orleans,” Russini said, as transcribed by Sam Marsdale of 247 Sports. “In terms of comparing the two, we always talk about on this show how much Sean Payton loves Taysom Hill. It’s been very obvious over the years. That same kind of love is what Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer have between each other. It could be a very similar situation, but in terms of football, this is something we could be seeing.”
Tebow has no experience playing tight end at a high level. That is one of the reasons he is a long shot to make the final roster in Jacksonville, but it’s possible Meyer will find a way to justify keeping him. The former Heisman Trophy winner would likely have to play special teams if he remains with the Jaguars as a Hill-type player.
Many people have openly taken shots at Tebow’s comeback attempt. The big thing he has working in his favor is his relationship with Meyer. Is he the next Taysom Hill? That ship probably sailed a long time ago, but it sounds like Meyer is going to let him try to be.
Photo: Sports Spectrum/Wikimedia via CC-BY-SA 4.0
Le’Veon Bell was once considered the most dangerous all-around offensive player in the NFL, but he has not been the same since the final season he played with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017. The veteran running back says that is going to change this season.
Bell, who rushed for less than 400 yards in time spent between the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs last year, took to Twitter on Thursday with a simple message.
Of course, that brief tweet served as a rallying cry for the trolls. One of Bell’s followers pointed out that he should have signed a contract with the Steelers rather than sitting out the entire 2018 season, to which Bell replied, “they should’ve paid me what I wanted when they had the chance.” Others mentioned how he was a bust with the Jets, and Bell wasn’t about to shoulder that blame, either.
Bell may have also expressed some frustration with the Chiefs. The free agent said he is taking his time choosing a new team because he was misled in the past about what his role would be.
That was obviously another shot at the Jets, but it would not be a surprise if Bell felt the same about the Chiefs. Bell barely got the ball in Kansas City even when starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire went down with an injury.
This isn’t the first time Bell has shot back at his critics on Twitter, but he needs to stop making excuses. Even if Adam Gase was at fault for a lot of what happened in New York, Bell has essentially become irrelevant. Only he can find a way to change that.
Bill Belichick has made it clear that Cam Newton remains the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback even after they drafted Mac Jones. That is easy for the coach to say months before the start of the season, but it is fair to wonder how long he can stick to it.
Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald shared some observations after watching both Newton and Jones take part in organized team activities on Thursday. While it is far too early to draw conclusions about the quarterback competition, she said there is already a feel that it is playing out. And at least for one practice, it sounds like Jones looked like the better option.
Newton has been working on his mechanics this offseason, and Guregian notes that he appears to have made progress with his delivery on short throws. However, Newton displayed some issues throwing to his right and had deeper passes sail on him. He also had some issues with accuracy during drills.
Jones, on the other hand, is “clearly polished on the finer points of playing the position,” according to Guregian.
“There was one drill where the quarterbacks would make a play-fake before delivering the football. His fakes were smooth, despite playing mostly from the shotgun at Alabama,” the reporter said of Jones. “And all the pre-draft hype about him throwing a ‘catchable ball’ were on target. He leads receivers and puts the ball in the perfect spot.
“He has a nice release, is accurate and gets rid of the ball quickly.”
Again, we’re talking about OTAs. Belichick probably does not want a rookie starting Week 1, but Jones is going to do everything he can to force the coach’s hand.
Jones showed that he is thrilled with where he ended up with the message he delivered to Roger Goodell at the draft (video here). That is likely because the No. 15 overall pick knows how Newton played last season. If Cam doesn’t show drastic improvement, it will only be a matter of time before he loses his job to the rookie.
Julio Jones revealed this week that he wants the Atlanta Falcons to trade him, which came as a surprise to some. Before the All-Pro made that admission, the belief was that the team planned to unload him in order to obtain some much-needed salary cap relief. Both of those things may be true.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported this week that Jones requested a trade. In an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” Thursday, ESPN’s Dianna Russini said that trade request (or demand) came after Jones found out the Falcons were shopping him around.
“The Falcons had been doing work over the phone probably since early March,” Russini said. “They started to put it out there that, ‘Hey, we’re open for business.’ They had a few teams and had some interest.
“The way I gathered the information since I started hearing about this a few months ago, it was Atlanta open to a trade and then Julio found out about it. And that’s how that began.”
You can hear more of Russini’s report below:
It is certainly plausible that Jones, a seven-time Pro Bowler, took it personally when he learned that the Falcons want to move on from him. That may have led to a situation where he essentially told the team, “You can’t fire me, I quit!”
For what it’s worth, Jones may not have ever wanted the public to find out that he wants a trade. We only know because he admitted it when Shannon Sharpe called him on live TV (video here). Jones may not have known he was on the air, which could lead to some serious trouble for Sharpe.
Photo: Lisa Ferdinando/U.S. Secretary of Defense via CC-BY 2.0
Anthony Davis was not a fan of Devin Booker’s flagrant foul at the end of Game 3 on Thursday night.
Booker was ejected for his hard foul in the final minute of his Phoenix Suns’ 109-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Booker gave Dennis Schroder a hard push while Schroder was driving to the basket (seen here).
After the game, Davis was interviewed by TNT and asked about the play.
“Can’t happen. Can’t do that. They’ve been chirping, it’s playoff basketball, but you don’t push a guy like that … it’s a dirty play. Dennis could have really got hurt right there,” Davis said.
Davis went on to say that they accept that hard fouls are part of playoff basketball, but an intentional push like that is different and could result in an injury.
He is not wrong. That was a dirty, uncalled for move from Booker, who being a poor sport as his team fell behind 2-1.
Devin Booker and Jae Crowder were ejected from the end of Game 3 of the first-round playoff series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
Dennis Schroder was driving to the basket with under a minute remaining in the Lakers’ 109-95 win. Booker gave Schroder an intentional shove that sent the Lakers guard to the ground.
The officials reviewed the play on a monitor and gave Booker a flagrant 2 foul, which triggers an automatic ejection.
Suns coach Monty Williams objected to the call and let the officials know. Then before play resumed, Crowder was talking with Schroder. The Suns guard got ejected as well.
Phoenix took Game 1 of the series at home but has since fallen behind 2-1 in the series.
Jared Veldheer explained on Twitter Thursday why he has been suspended by the NFL.
ESPN’s Field Yates reported on Thursday that Veldheer had been suspended the first six games of the 2021 season.
Pro Football Talk published a story regarding the news. Veldheer responded to the article and added context. He says he was prescribed clomid, which helps stimulate hormones. He says he was prescribed the medication to deal with his “abnormally low” testosterone.
Veldheer seems to stand by his actions.
The soon-to-be 34-year-old is a free agent. He played for the Indianapolis Colts last season and then joined the Green Bay Packers for the playoffs. He was about to make some postseason history before testing positive for COVID-19.
Veldheer spent the first seven seasons of his NFL career at left tackle before moving to right tackle.
The Los Angeles Clippers were suspected to have tanked at the end of the regular season explicitly to avoid facing the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. One NBA reporter thinks he has proof that is the case.
Chris Broussard, who is now a host at FOX Sports Radio but previously was an NBA reporter for ESPN, said on Wednesday that he had text confirmation saying the belief is true.
The Clippers, who won over 65 percent of their games, lost to Oklahoma City and Houston to end the regular season. The Thunder and Rockets had the two worst records in the Western Conference this season.
So was there any coincidence? By losing, the Clippers locked themselves into the No. 4 spot in the West. That ensured they would be in a different bracket from the Lakers and only face them in the conference finals.
The Clippers have denied the allegations. But they have some bigger problems anyway. They are down 2-0 to the Dallas Mavericks after losing the first two games of the series at home. The Lakers don’t even matter if your team can’t get out of the first round anyway.
