THE JERSEY DINER MORNING NEWS

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:42:21 -0500

THE MORNING NEWS...FROM THE MORNING PAPERS

1. "I want to score some touchdowns," Willie Parker said after he scored on the first play of the goal-line drill that ended practice last night. "Thirty-nine is a guy who could potentially be a guy in that area. We'll see. He had a nice run." Tomlin said Sunday that Mendenhall had to run harder, and he gave him a better grade yesterday." I thought he was better. He was downhill. He went in standing up one time." This battle for the Short Yardage back in the Pittsburgh offense is critical for fantasy football players. And it appears to me that there is no clear winner...YET.

2. He's one of those guys you've got to pull back or they're not going to pull back themselves." -- Saints Coach Sean Payton, explaining why he has scaled back the workload for Jon Vilma, who has been practicing once per day this week and won't play in Thursday's game. Vilma hasn't experienced any setbacks with his surgically repaired knee, however. Vilma will have a much better year now that he can go back and play in a defense that is more familiar to him. The 3/4 defense forces linebackers to deal with blockers coming at them all the time. In the 4/3, Vilma can use his speed and quickness to run to the ball and not have to work so hard at shedding so many blocks.

3. In Miami, LB Junior Glymph was all over the field, creating havoc for RBs and notching 2 1/2 sacks. The 6-foot-5, 278-pounder nearly intercepted a hand-off between RB Jalen Parmele and Beck. Glymph has been working his tail off to be a player. He has been in Atlanta and in Dallas with the old staff. He is finally in the right place. If he is ever going to make a statement as a pro player, now is the time.

4. Like Max Jean-Gilles? "Max has taken advantage of his opportunity, and he has done an excellent job," Marty Mornhinweg said. "You win with guys like Max. Max is a fighter. He's big and strong and gives big effort. He loves to play the game, and when you love to play the game you're going to work hard...and you're going to get better every day." I think if they like Jean-Gilles as much as these quotes seem to indicate, then the Birds might want to move Shawn Andrews to right tackle and provide themselves with the eventual replacement for Jon Runyan. Andrews could be an awesome right tackle and dominating run blocker.

5. According to a team official reached Tuesday night, Jackson remained a no-show. As a result, Jackson's 2008 season will not count as an "accrued" year in terms of eligibility for free agency. Players under contract must report at least 30 days before the overall NFL opener for the season to count as an accrued year. That 30-day deadline came and went Tuesday. I don't think Jackson sees this deadline as a problem. He knows he is going to get a new contract from the Rams, so why would be concerned with this date? He is not worried about being a free agent. He is worried about getting paid.

6. If I was the GM of the Buffalo Bills I would get on an airplane and fly to wherever Jason Peter is living. He is too important to the team for no contact to occur. I would find Peters and get this done.

7. Kyle Orton gets the first start for the Bears, which is good for him. Like the Ravens, the Bears don't have much depth in the offensive line and the quarterback that plays with a good line will look much better. Orton needs to know his role and not try to do too much in his first start. Playing against the Chiefs is a good start. KC will not run very complicated schemes and will play vanilla-like coverages this early in the preseason.

8. I wonder how Steven Baker, Jeff Garcia's agent, is handling the Brett Favre news in Tampa. And let's hope Chris Simms gets his freedom very soon. It would not surprise me to see Simms in Green Bay.

9. From the Denver Post, "Tom Nalen isn't going to like this, but people are starting to become concerned about him. These people include his coach, Mike Shanahan. 'Anytime Tom sits out of practice, it is not just another injury, because it is tough to keep him out of practice,' Shanahan said." I was around Nalen last year and he is really a great warrior who is fighting something he cannot beat, father time. He was amazing last year with his quickness and athletic ability, but with injuries it's hard to keep coming back. On the other hand, if the Broncos think Casey Wiegmann can do the job at 35, they will be in for a shock. Playing center in the AFC West means blocking Jamal Williams of SD. And that is VERY hard to do.

10. Mike Holmgren talked about Leonard Weaver in the Seattle Times this morning. " 'He is as talented a fullback as I've ever had,' Holmgren said. So Holmgren sat his backup fullback down and laid out the situation with all the subtlety of an uppercut. 'Look, if you don't fix this, you're not going to be here,' Holmgren said. No misinterpretations there. No room for mistakes in the final exhibition game, and no backing down from Weaver, who carried 16 times for 74 yards against the Raiders to run his way onto the roster. 'Pretty self-explanatory,' Weaver said. 'He let me know where I stand, and I performed, and look at me now.' " I LOVE this. All it takes is being honest with players, good or bad. Tell them where they stand and don't try to be a politician. I use to hate when we would cut a player and the guy walking the player around for his exit procedures would tell the player, "I think you got screwed." Players want honesty, they want the truth, we all do.

Yardbarker: Steven Baker

THE JERSEY DINER MORNING NEWS