The Dallas Cowboys are going with another big name to try to salvage their defense after a disastrous 2020.
As first reported by Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, former Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn will take over as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. Quinn agreed to a three-year deal, and will handle defensive playcalling duties as well.
Quinn was apparently the top choice of head coach Mike McCarthy, who had shortlisted Quinn for a possible staff role as early as December. That fits with previous reporting, as Quinn was the first name mentioned publicly when the job became available.
Quinn was a big success as defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. He moved on to coach the Atlanta Falcons, leading them to a Super Bowl. He replaces Mike Nolan, whose defense gave up a franchise-worst 473 points last season.
Will Jaylen Waddle play in Monday night’s national championship game? Nick Saban is staying tight-lipped, but we know how it will happen if it does.
Waddle, who has been out since Oct. 24 after suffering a major ankle injury, could potentially appear in the College Football Playoff final. Saban would not commit, but the Alabama coach said Waddle would only play on a limited basis if he plays at all.
“It will be a limited basis,” Saban told ESPN’s Allison Williams, via Andrea Adelson of ESPN. “That decision will be up to him.”
Waddle can change a game with limited usage, so he’ll be a threat for Alabama even if he only plays a few snaps. He could even make a valuable decoy. Word is that Waddle has looked dynamic in practice, and if given the choice, it’s hard to imagine him opting not to play.
Offensive lineman Jared Veldheer played in a playoff game on Saturday for the Indianapolis Colts. After his team was eliminated, he’ll be playing again this weekend in another playoff game for a different team. Yes, you read that right.
Veldheer, who started for the Colts in Saturday’s loss to Buffalo, has signed with the Green Bay Packers. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, this makes Veldheer the first player in NFL history to play two postseason games with two different teams.
So how is this allowed? Veldheer is a member of the Colts’ practice squad, meaning he is still eligible to be signed by any team. With the Packers in need of offensive line help following a major season-ending injury, making the move for Veldheer made sense.
Veldheer is in his 11th NFL season. He also has some familiarity with the Packers, having played in two games for them in 2019.
The Philadelphia Eagles suddenly have a very interesting head coaching job available, and owner Jeffrey Lurie is already thinking about who is going to fill it.
Speaking to the media Monday after the firing of Doug Pederson, Lurie said he wants to look for the best minority candidates as part of his search. One name he specifically mentioned: Duce Staley, a former fan-favorite running back for the Eagles who currently serves as the team’s assistant head coach and running backs coach.
Staley has been on Lurie’s radar for a while. He actually interviewed for the Eagles’ job when Pederson was originally hired.
It’s clear that the Eagles think highly of Staley as a potential head coach. He was given the chance to serve as the interim head coach when Pederson contracted COVID-19 in August, and he has nearly a decade of experience on the staff. He’s definitely a name to watch as this search gets underway.
Buffalo Bills fans are known for being some of the most passionate in all of sports, and it goes without saying that their passion will be on full display if the team wins the Super Bowl this year. Should that happen, Josh Allen has plans to match that level of enthusiasm.
This is the second straight year Allen has led the Bills to the playoffs. Roughly a year ago, the MVP candidate promised to jump through a table if Buffalo won it all. The Bills then lost a tough overtime game to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round. This year, Allen has upped the stakes.
Allen told Mad Dog Sports Radio last week that he’s prepared to jump through multiple flaming tables if the Bills bring home the Lombardi Trophy.
Bills fans, who call themselves Bills Mafia, are known for their wild tailgate antics. That includes jumping through folding tables which may or may not be on fire. You can see a video of one such instance here.
The Bills will host the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night. Allen continued his phenomenal season in Buffalo’s win over the Indianapolis Colts by going 26/35 for 324 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He may need more than that to keep pace with Lamar Jackson.
It’s quite clear that Rex Ryan is not a huge fan of Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy.
The former New York Jets coach ripped Nagy on ESPN’s “Get Up!” on Monday, accusing the Bears coach of doing a poor job defending quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
“I don’t like him. I don’t like the way he doesn’t take every damn bullet for [Trubisky],” Ryan said, via Justin Terranova of the New York Post. “That’s your job as a head coach. You don’t make your quarterback take every bullet. You take the dang bullets. That’s what I don’t respect about this guy.”
Ryan went even further, questioning Nagy’s reputation as an offensive guru and downplaying the Bears coach’s two playoff appearances in three years.
“I’ve never been a big fan of this Nagy guy, and quite honestly, it’s because of the way he handled the Trubisky thing,” Ryan continued. “He put everything on him. He’s the guy they blame everything on. Well why don’t you look at yourself first, man? Dude, you scored three points in this game — I know it was nine, but no, it was three points. You’re an offensive guru. That’s why you came here.
“You’ve gone to the playoffs two of the last three years. Congratulations. That’s because the NFC is a hell of a lot weaker than the AFC.”
Nagy has never been completely convinced by Trubisky, but the coach did give the quarterbacl his starting job back at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t as if Trubisky didn’t deserve his benching a few weeks later.
Trubisky threw 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2020. He’ll be a free agent this offseason.
Despite what happened in Sunday night’s AFC Wild Card game, it’s clear that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool doesn’t think much of the Cleveland Browns.
The Steelers fell behind 28-0 in the first quarter of Sunday’s game, and while they rallied enough to make things competitive in the fourth quarter, were ultimately eliminated by the Browns. On Monday, Claypool went live on TikTok and talked about the defeat. The highlight came when he said the Browns “are going to get clapped next week” by the Kansas City Chiefs.
To be clear, the Browns are going to be underdogs in Kansas City. That was true of their matchup with Pittsburgh as well, though, and that turned out perfectly fine for Cleveland.
At this point, you would think the Steelers would know better than to give the Browns any more bulletin-board material. Sure, that can only get you so far, but Claypool would be best served keeping his mouth shut after Sunday’s loss.
The Philadelphia Eagles fired head coach Doug Pederson on Monday, and many are wondering if Carson Wentz could be the next to go. However, the big move could actually mean there is a better chance of Wentz remaining with the team in 2021.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Pederson’s firing “significantly increases” the odds that Wentz will return to the Eagles next season. That would seem to indicate that some of Wentz’s frustrations with the team stemmed from his relationship with Pederson.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media had a similar report Monday. He said Wentz would not have wanted to remain in Philadelphia had Pederson returnd.
Wentz was benched for poor play this season, but second-round pick Jalen Hurts didn’t do much to prove he is ready to be a full-time NFL starter. Hurts threw three interceptions and just one touchdown in Philly’s last two games of the regular season, and Pederson benched him in favor of Nate Sudfeld in Week 17. That decision may have led to a locker room divide and also been a factor in the Eagles firing Pederson.
Wentz should have an opportunity to earn back his starting job if he remains with the Eagles this offseason. There was once a time he was playing at an MVP level, and it’s possible Eagles executives believe he’ll benefit from a new coaching staff coming in.
Wide receiver Allen Robinson is headed for free agency, and he continues to suggest that he’s ready to move on from the Chicago Bears.
Robinson said Monday that he was leaving the door open to returning to Chicago. However, he also made it clear that he felt something should have been done by now if the Bears really wanted to keep him.
“I personally feel like we had an opportunity to be able to get something done over the past 365 days,” Robinson said, via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.
This won’t come as a shock for those who have followed Robinson all season. The veteran receiver has hinted at unhappiness with the Bears on multiple occasions, and he’s right that a contract extension probably should have been done by now if it was going to happen. At this point, leaving the organization seems the likeliest scenario.
Robinson caught a career-high 102 passes for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns in 2020. The 27-year-old would be a highly-coveted free agent on the open market.
Doug Pederson was fired by the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, but it may not be long before he lands another head coaching job.
As soon as word surfaced that Pederson is out in Philly, many began speculating that the New York Jets will have him at the top of their list. Jay Glazer of FOX Sports noted that Pederson has a close relationship with Joe Douglas, who was the vice president of player personnel with the Eagles before he was hired as general manager of the Jets.
Several other members of the media said Pederson going to the Jets would make sense.
Pederson led the Eagles to a Super Bowl win just three years ago, so there could be multiple teams that want to interview him. His job appeared to be safe heading into Week 17, but his decision to play Nate Sudfeld over Jalen Hurts may have created a locker room divide that could not be overcome.
We know of at least one other hot name on the head coaching market that wants the Jets job, but it would not be a surprise if Pederson has moved to the top of the list.
