Month: November 2021

Jerry Jones expecting Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott to carry ‘serious load’ vs Saints

Ezekiel Elliott’s knee issue won’t stop him from a being the bell cow runner against the Saints. Amari Cooper to return from COVID list.

Week 13 is a huge one for the Dallas Cowboys in 2021. The club has lost three of their last four games and desperately need to find some momentum in December as they push for the playoffs.

Never at a loss for words, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made an appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday. Jones gave an update about one of the Cowboys’ biggest offensive weapons and what his role will be against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday. Jones said he anticipates a serious workload for running back Ezekiel Elliott as the Cowboys look to stop a two-game losing streak.

“The facts are we’re expecting him to have a serious load against New Orleans,” Jones said of Elliott.

Elliott has been dealing with a knee issue since the Cowboys’ Week 4 matchup with the Carolina Panthers. Last week, according to ESPN’s Ed Werder, the Cowboys were considering giving Elliott some rest and sitting him out against the Saints which would give him a two-and-a-half-week break before facing the Washington Football Team in Week 14.

The two-time rushing said on Sunday as the Cowboys started to prepare for the Saints that nobody had come to him about taking a game off.

“No one’s came to me and asked me to rest,” Elliott said.

Once the news came out that the Cowboys might sit Elliott it seemed that they were going to take the big picture approach and hand the keys to the car to Tony Pollard for a week. However, based on what Jones said, Elliott will be used heavily against the Saints’ third-ranked rush defense.

If Elliott is used a lot on Thursday he’ll be looking to get back to the way he was performing earlier in the season. During the first five games, he averaged 86.8 yards per game with two 100-yard outings. However, that has dipped 39.8 over the last five games.

It won’t be easy against a great Saints rush defense but if Elliott can somehow be effective the Cowboys have a great chance of controlling the pace of the game.

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Poll: Which Jaguars assistants could be on the hot seat after the season?

Considering Jacksonville’s struggles, which assistant coaches could it look to move on from after the 2021 season?

It’s been a tough Year 1 for coach Urban Meyer in Jacksonville. Inheriting a team that went 1-15 a year ago, expectations weren’t particularly high for the new staff. But this team hasn’t improved much at all despite the addition of a generational talent at quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, and Meyer has had his own controversies.

Namely, the hiring of former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle, who was fired from his previous post after allegations surfaced of him making racist comments toward Black players (he resigned shortly after being hired by the Jags). Then there was the video that went viral of Meyer dancing with a woman who is not his wife at a bar when he decided to stay in Ohio instead of flying back with the team after a Week 4 loss to Cincinnati.

However, in spite of the off-field concerns and on-field struggles, it seems very unlikely that owner Shad Khan, who has been notoriously hesitant to make big-picture changes, would give up on Meyer after Year 1. With that being said, it seems likely at this point that the team could make several changes to its coaching staff after the season.

Given the offensive struggles this season, the obvious candidate who could find his name on the chopping block would be offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Though Bevell won a Super Bowl in the same role in Seattle and played a major role in developing quarterback Russell Wilson, he is perhaps best known for his goal-line play call in the Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots. Long story short, Bevell called a pass play (which was intercepted) instead of giving running back Marshawn Lynch the ball to do what he does best.

Bevell’s offense is arguably regressing, and while injuries can certainly be partially to blame for that, the play-calling continues to be unimaginative and puts Lawrence in tough situations. Could Meyer, who is known for his offensive acumen, look to make a change?

It’s certainly possible, but at the same time, forcing Lawrence to learn his second scheme in as many years is less than ideal when it comes to quarterback development, and if Meyer doesn’t want to make a rapid change to the entire offense, he could look to move on from receivers coach Sanjay Lal instead.

Jacksonville’s receivers have been incredibly disappointing this season, and while a season-ending injury to D.J. Chark Jr. didn’t help anything, it has also been a letdown of a sophomore season for Laviska Shenault Jr., who hasn’t made much of an impact. The Jags got so desperate that a cornerback-turned-returner-turned-receiver in Jamal Agnew had to start several games before he himself suffered a season-ending injury in the loss to San Francisco last week.

Talent is definitely an issue when it comes to Jacksonville’s receiving corps, but that doesn’t entirely explain the problems that have plagued the unit this year, namely drops on good passes from Lawrence. If a change is made at OC, Lal is likely gone as well, but even if Bevell stays Lal could be in trouble.

It’s not just the offense that could potentially see changes, though. Meyer made an interesting decision to hire Baltimore Ravens defensive line coach Joe Cullen as his defensive coordinator, and a first-time NFL coach going with a first-time defensive play-caller may not have been the wisest move.

That certainly looked to be the case in the early goings of the season as Jacksonville’s defense looked completely lost. But things have gotten significantly better over the last month or so, and for a first-year coordinator to have a unit that still lacks talent in some key spots, ranking 20th in the NFL is a fairly impressive feat.

Given the improvement Cullen’s defense has seen this year, he seems like the least likely of the three candidates mentioned to get the boot. But one thing is almost certain: There will be staff changes after what has been a frustrating season. Of the three coaches mentioned, who do you think is most likely to be shown the door?

Let us know in the poll below.

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Michael Chandler: ‘I can carry my weight’ with Conor McGregor on the microphone for potential fight

Michael Chandler thinks he could hang with Conor McGregor in the verbal exchanges in the build-up to a potential fight.

[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] thinks he could hang with [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] in the verbal exchanges in the build-up to a potential fight.

Although Chandler (22-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) have shown only respect for each other in the media, it’s entirely possible things would take a twist from McGregor’s side once contracts are signed. McGregor has established himself as one of the all-time great talkers in combat sports history.

Chandler might be far less venomous in the way he speaks and promotes fights, but anyone who listens to him can pick up on his intelligence and wit. He said he’d lean on that with McGregor.

“If the fight happens, we’ll see – you might see a different side of me,” Chandler told ESPN’s “DC & RC” podcast hosted by Daniel Cormier. “I think I’m pretty good at using my vocabulary and my linguistic jiu-jitsu to wrap guys up in some words that they may not understand without having to go to base-level insults or mentioning different things that are going to be damaging to another guy’s reputation. We’ll see. I respect Conor for what he’s done, I respect Conor as a fighter, and I even respect his trash talk game. It is something I’m looking forward to.”

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Thus far, McGregor has shown no ill will toward Chandler, who is coming off a “Fight of the Year” contender loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 268 in November. The former three-time Bellator champion is essentially a model representative of MMA, but McGregor has a knack for taking people out of their comfort zone.

It remains to be seen how the brash Irishman would approach fight promotion with Chandler, but first the matchup must get put together. Chandler said he’s had no official communication about it, but he’s content with being patient since it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

McGregor recently said he’s targeting a return to sparring in April after suffering a broken leg in his loss to Dustin Poirier in July at UFC 264. Once cleared for full contact, McGregor said he hopes to book a fight shortly thereafter. Chandler, for his part, said that would work perfectly for his own timeline to return, which would be anywhere from May to July.

“He needs to heal up, I need to heal up – we’ll see if that fight happens,” Chandler said. “If it does, it’s definitely going be fireworks inside the octagon, and I can guarantee I can carry my weight outside the octagon on the microphone.”

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Manning gets visit from Clemson

Clemson checked in Tuesday on the nation’s top-ranked prospect in the 2023 class. Quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter paid a school visit to New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman five-star quarterback Arch Manning. Streeter wasn’t able to speak with …

Clemson checked in Tuesday on the nation’s top-ranked prospect in the 2023 class.

Quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter paid a school visit to New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman five-star quarterback Arch Manning.

Streeter wasn’t able to speak with Manning directly due to NCAA rules but had a great visit with Manning’s head coach at Isidore Newman, Nelson Stewart.

“I had an awesome time with Coach Streeter today!!” Stewart said to The Clemson Insider via text message Tuesday night. “He’s so great. Loved seeing him.”

Manning visited Clemson to participate in the Dabo Swinney Camp in June and returned to Tiger Town for the Florida State game on Oct. 30.

Clemson hopes to get Manning back on campus after the season so he can really get a chance to see what the Tigers are all about.

Per Stewart, during the school visit Tuesday, Streeter conveyed the importance of Manning to the Tigers and how well they feel he would fit them culturally and schematically.

“As always, he was authentic and I loved just talking football and philosophy with him,” Stewart said of Streeter.

Clemson extended an offer to Manning, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 class per multiple recruiting services, this past June when he was on campus for the Swinney Camp.

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Chargers bolster defensive line in Touchdown Wire’s mock draft 1.0

The Chargers take a talented SEC defensive lineman in Touchdown Wire’s first 2022 mock draft.

The Chargers will be in search of reinforcements along the defensive line this upcoming offseason.

Not only is Los Angeles going to be looking to fix the porous run defense, but Linval Joseph, Justin Jones, and Christian Covington are all slated to be free agents.

That is why Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield sees the Bolts addressing the position in the first round by selecting Texas A&M DT DeMarvin Leal in his latest mock draft.

One area where the success has not replicated across town, however, is up front on defense. Staley is finding it a bit tougher to stop the run without a player like Aaron Donald up front. So the Chargers turn to DeMarvin Leal, a defensive lineman from Texas A&M who can play any number of spots up front.

Standing at 6-foot-4 and 291 pounds, Leal is a versatile lineman that’s capable of playing all four positions up front.

He possesses the power, natural body control, and violent hands that allow him to be disruptive and make plays in the opponent’s backfield.

Leal currently leads the Aggies with 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. In addition, he has 37 quarterback pressures, 32 run stops, and 23 hurries this season.

‘I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface;’ Michigan continuing to strive for perfection

This team is peaking at the right time.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For once, Michigan is finally peaking at the right time, at the end of the season. Nothing exemplifies that more than the beatdown just put upon rival Ohio State, a team that’s boasted how much it’s owned the Wolverines in recent history.

As the maize and blue embark on a new journey, heading to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time, they’ll need to continue their high level of play, something they’re sure they’ll do.

Why though? One of the big reasons is because the bar has been set with the game vs. the Buckeyes. That said, as good as the defense looked, for instance, outside of one player, there’s still a lot of room for growth, junior defensive tackle Mazi Smith says.

“Always keep going,” Smith said. “I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface. I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface. The only person probably scratched the surface on what they can do is Aidan. I just think we keep getting better every game and keep getting more dominant and more dominant.”

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Even with the win over OSU, this team isn’t satisfied. There’s still a lot of work to do, and the potential for three more games — two are guaranteed.

The defense, and the team, are chasing perfection, and they’re still not there yet — either in actual play on the field, or in acquiring the results they hope to achieve.

“The sky’s the limit for all of us,” Smith said. “We’ve all got a lot of talent. We’re all working hard on what we’ve gotta do to get better every day, but on the tape, we haven’t played perfect. That was close. The last game was the closest that we played to perfect, but it was still imperfect, there was a lot to clean up. So, that’s what we’re striving for — perfection.”

For Smith, this is exactly what you want.

It’s a hungry team that wants more, a team that has, thus far, hit the 11-win mark for the first time since 2011, with a chance for 12 on Saturday — a number reached once: in 1997, when the Wolverines won the national championship. Should this team continue to improve, as Smith said, ‘the sky’s the limit.’

“It’s exciting because we done won a lot of games and we haven’t played as clean as we’re supposed to do yet,” Smith said. “So, we’re still striving. Put it all together.”

Of course, to reach that number, which isn’t a plateau even, Michigan has to avoid a letdown in Indianapolis. Smith is convinced that it won’t be. Why? Because in past years, the Wolverines would be sitting at home at this juncture, having lost to Ohio State. This year is different because the team has already met one goal, and the next comes with a win on Saturday.

“It wasn’t the end of the season,” Smith said. “A lot of times in the past, that’s been the last game we played. But we’ve got another one. Now we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do to beat Iowa.”

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