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Saturday, August 12,
2006
Steelers-Cardinals
Beaver County
Times
Still no word on Ben Roethlisberger’s
chances of playing in the preseason opener. But it looks more and more
like two other Pittsburgh Steelers stars won’t play. Joey Porter, a Pro Bowl
linebacker, definitely won’t play Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals. He’s
yet to take part in a training camp practice because of a knee injury that
needed off-season surgery. Hines Ward, a Pro Bowl wide receiver and MVP of
Super Bowl XL, probably won’t play either. On Monday, Ward missed his second
straight day of practice with a tender hamstring.
Verdein Independent
Now with healthy bodies reporting to training camp along
with a couple new faces, including a new defensive line coach, the Cardinals
are looking better than ever and feeling energized for the new season. The only
snag so far is the broken hand of King, who will sit out the next four to six
weeks while he recovers. The new defensive line coach is Larry Brooks, who
enters his 21st season as an NFL assistant coach and his first with
the Cardinals. Brooks worked the past 12 seasons as a defensive line coach
including the previous two seasons with the Detroit Lions. The offensive line
was really the Cardinals weak spot last year. This year’s changes which include
a new offensive line coach, the Cardinals are looking to up their performance
and protection of first-string quarterback Kurt Warner, who took a beating last
year and ended up on the injured list. Steve Loney
takes over as offensive line coach for the Cardinals. The Cardinals still look
very strong in their passing game with the return of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, who are prepped to
have another stellar season. Both wide-receivers caught over 100 passes last
year for over 1400 yards apiece. With the new addition of Loney,
the offensive line looks to be whipping into shape so that they can have more
of a running game, which is the goal of Cardinals’ third-year head coach Dennis
Green.
Jaguars-Dolphins
Boston Globe
Quarterback Daunte Culpepper has progressed so well in his recovery
from knee surgery that he could play in the Miami Dolphins’ exhibition opener
Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
KRT Newswire
Defensive starters will play at least a quarter, Del
Rio said. Offensive starters, ones the coaches are
trying to jump-start and improve from last year, will play longer.
All 81 players who made the trip are expected to play.Receivers, running backs and linebackers are at the
forefront of Del Rio’s watch list.
The Jags must sort out a receiving corps bent on nullifying the loss of Jimmy
Smith. They also must find a new starter at one outside linebacker post and
establish a pecking order behind Taylor.
Greg Jones, LaBrandon Toefield,
Alvin Pearman and second-round pick Maurice
Jones-Drew flush out a deep backfield.
Meanwhile, new quarterback Daunte
Culpepper will start the game for Miami.
But he and most of the Dolphins’ regulars are expected to take just a handful
of snaps.
“I think anyone that gets hurt in the preseason game, anybody would feel like, ‘Was this necessary?’” Miami
Coach Nick Saban said.
Cowboys-Seahawks
Boston Globe
Terrell Owens said
yesterday that his nagging hamstring injury likely will keep him out of the
Dallas Cowboys’ exhibition opener Saturday night in Seattle.
HeraldNet
Seattle Floyd Womack, the starting left guard, strained
his right hamstring during the morning session and was replaced by rookie Rob
Sims. Backup center Chris Spencer finished the practice at left guard, and coach Mike Holmgren said either
Sims or Spencer will probably start Saturday’s preseason opener against the
Dallas Cowboys.
DallasCowboys.com
While most are wondering whether veterans Drew Bledsoe and
Terrell Owens will play in Saturday’s preseason opener against Seattle, Cowboys
head coach Bill Parcells wants to find out how his rookies and younger players
will respond to live competition. “I’m going to try to get a couple players,
the guys I really want to see, as much as two-and-a-half quarters in this game,”
Parcells said. “And that’s going to be at the expense of some other people.”
Parcells on Wednesday reeled off a long list of players
who will receive extensive playing time against the Seahawks. Aside from
drafted rookies like linebacker Bobby Carpenter, tight end Anthony Fasano, defensive end Jason Hatcher and safety Pat Watkins,
Parcells also wants to take a long look at first- and second-year guys like
tight end Tony Curtis, Lousaka Polite and Tyson
Thompson.
Chiefs-Texans
Wichita Eagle
When the Chiefs failed one of their first offensive tests
of training camp Tuesday,
coach Herm Edwards—that famed defender of the defense—wasn’t happy about it. The
Chiefs couldn’t generate a first down when running the so-called four-minute
offense, a term for the mode used when a team is leading late in a game and
wants to control the ball and run out the clock. In what was an even bigger
crime to Edwards, they stopped the clock by throwing an incomplete pass on
third down. The situation was yet another sign of the transition the Chiefs
face as they move from the continual attack mode of the Dick Vermeil-Al
Saunders era to the conservative, ball-control philosophy favored by Edwards. The
Chiefs were using mostly backups at the time. Green, Gonzalez, fullback Ronnie
Cruz and guards Will Shields and Brian Waters were either sitting out the
morning practice or injured. The series ended when Casey Printers threw a wild,
incomplete pass on third down and eight after
two unsuccessful running plays.That the
Chiefs used backups mattered little to Edwards.”The
backups will have to play Saturday,” Edwards said, referring to the preseason
opener against the Texans in Houston.
“I’m not going to change the game plan because they’re going in there, and I’m
not going to say, ‘Now we’ve got to throw passes because we’ve got a new left
tackle or a new guard.’ Are you kidding me?
Bellview News Democrat
Jonathan Quinn might start demanding the Kansas City
Chiefs bring him in for all of training camp. The journeyman quarterback’s name
was among those tossed around by coach Herman Edwards
on Wednesday, as injuries force the Chiefs to go searching for a last-minute
signal-caller for the second straight year. Backup Damon Huard
did not practice during Wednesday’s morning session after spraining an ankle,
and third-round draft pick Brodie Croyle
has been practicing only in running drills while he
works his way back from a shoulder injury. That leaves Trent Green and Casey
Printers – who missed Tuesday afternoon’s practice after taking a hit in the
morning – healthy enough to take snaps in Saturday’s exhibition game against
the Houston Texans.
Saints-Titans
Clarion Ledger
Drew Brees, who is coming off
shoulder surgery, will see his first game action since tearing the labrum in
his throwing shoulder in the San Diego Chargers final game last season. Brees signed with the Saints in March. He expects to play
through the first quarter Saturday against the Titans. was
the seventh time in 12 days the Saints have practiced under a heat index of 110
or more. With Wednesday’s additions, the Saints are up to 11 players who are
sidelined with injuries. P Mitch Berger (groin/hip); LB Cei
Grant (knee); OG Montrae Holland
(knee); LB E.J. Kuale
(ankle); DT Rodney Leisle (knee); KR Michael Lewis
(knee); Jermane Mayberry (shoulder); CB Mike McKenzie
(hamstring); LB Tommy Polley (shoulder); OG Chad Setterstrom (knee); DT
Willie Whitehead (ankle).
Jackson Sun
The
first preseason game.
This is a bit outside the box for Fisher. He normally talks about
using training camp and the four preseason games to get ready for the season
opener and the 15 games that follow.
Pet phrase: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” But this is
no time for jogging. Back-to-back losing seasons – not to
mention whispers about Bud Adams’ reluctance to extend Fisher’s contract – make
this a very abnormal preseason for the Titans in general and Fisher in
particular. Fisher won’t play Billy Volek and
Chris Brown the entire game. Keith Bulluck and Albert
Haynesworth figure to play a half, max. The Titans
will unveil Vince Young, who will get more than a handful of snaps, each of
which will be overanalyzed by media and fans. “We want to make a statement,” Bulluck said. The Titans begin stating their case on
Saturday.
Nashville City
Paper
By the end of Wednesday morning’s practice, three-fifths
of the Tennessee Titans’ starting offensive line was out of commission. Center
Kevin Mawae and guard Benji
Olson did not practice due to back spasms, and guard Zach Piller
left the workout early because of a rib strained that clouded his status for
Saturday’s pre-season opener against the New Orleans Saints. Piller was visibly ailing as he emerged from the tunnel
from the locker room and was taken to be examined. X-rays showed no major
damage, however. Piller was already bothered by a
shoulder injury, and the Wednesday’s setback compounds the veteran guard’s
woes. As for Olson and Mawae, Coach Jeff Fisher said
both players were being monitored at this point and that they had not been
ruled out for Saturday night’s game with the Saints.
Bills-Panthers
The Ledger
Wide receiver Steve Smith and safety Mike Minter will miss
the Carolina Panthers’ exhibition opener against Buffalo
on Saturday. Smith, the NFL’s leading receiver last season, missed his 13th
straight day of training camp Friday
with a strained left hamstring, while Minter is not expected to rejoin the team
until next week following the sudden death of his mother on Thursday. “The
service is on Monday, so we aren’t expecting him back, that’s safe to say,” coach John Fox said. Tight end Kris Mangum, cornerback
Marcus Cassel, tackle Dave Kadela,
defensive end Devan Long, receiver Daniel Smith and
linebacker Sean Tufts also missed Friday morning’s practice with injuries and
are not expected to play Saturday. Fox said he plans to play the starters for
about a quarter against the Bills.”It could be less
than that based on plays played and what the game brings,” said Fox, who added
he plans to play all four quarterbacks on the roster. Quarterback Jake Delhomme has been taking it slow
in camp this week because of a tired arm, and isn’t expected to play more than
a couple of series. With Chris Weinke locked into the No. 2 role, Carolina’s
focus Saturday will be the battle for the No. 3 quarterback job between
second-year pro Stefan LeFors and rookie Brett Basanez. First-round pick
DeAngelo Williams, who has never attended an NFL game, will make his Carolina
debut at running back behind starter DeShaun Foster.
