Tag: bye

Steelers’ legendary QB speaks his mind on LT Dan Moore Jr.

Former Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger gives LT Dan Moore Jr. his flowers for his excellent play so far in 2024.

With the Steelers drafting RT Troy Fautanu in the 2024 NFL Draft, many fans assumed Dan Moore Jr. would be on his way out of Pittsburgh. However, poor play from OT Broderick Jones and a regular-season-ending injury to Fautanu opened the door for Moore to showcase his progression in his fourth year in the NFL. His elite play this season caught the attention of two-time Super Bowl champion and Steelers legendary quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. 

Big Ben spoke about the left tackle’s talent on his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, highlighting one key play that demonstrated Moore’s value to the team: “He got dinged up for one play, there was a sack on that play. The next play, when he’s out, a sack happens.” Roethlisberger concluded with a short but powerful compliment to the left tackle: “Dan Moore is playing good football right now in a position that is very important.” 

Fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing the left tackle position is in good hands. However, what remains to be seen is how Mike Tomlin will handle the issues with Jones at right tackle.  Should Pittsburgh acquire additional offensive linemen at the trade deadline? 

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Sean Payton followed Andy Reid’s lead for bye week success

Sean Payton was 0-3 after bye weeks before speaking with Andy Reid. After implementing Reid’s advice, Payton went 9-3 after bye weeks.

The Denver Broncos are on a bye this week and coach Sean Payton has utilized an approach borrowed from Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who is now a division rival.

Including the playoffs, Reid has an all-time record of 27-4 following a bye week. Clearly, he’s doing something right.

Payton struggled coming out of bye weeks in his early years with the New Orleans Saints, so he reached out to Reid, a coach with a proven record.

“Our record after the bye was like, gosh,” Payton recalled. “Andy Reid was in Philadelphia, and I called Andy up. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ Andy was like 9-0 after the bye. Andy said, ‘Look, I get them out of here after Monday, and if they win the game, sometimes I don’t even have them come in Monday.’ I said, ‘What about the coaches?’ He said, ‘I do the same thing.’ We started doing that in New Orleans and started having some success.

“Our guys are all in here today [Oct. 30], and we’re meeting on the game and watching film of the game. They’ll have a good break here. Everyone will be back on Monday [Nov. 6]. We’ll have a bonus prep day Tuesday because we’re playing on Monday night. The unusual part of next week for you and everyone will be Wednesday is the day off, which is like a Tuesday, then just do the math going forward. To your question, we looked at who was doing a good job with it. Andy was the one that kind of really told me what he was doing, so I’ve implemented that since.”

After starting his time with the Saints 0-3 after byes, Payton went on to go 10-3 in his next 13 post-bye games in New Orleans. Implementing what he learned from Reid must have paid off, and Payton will look to put it to use in Denver. After their bye, the Broncos will go on the road to face the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 10.

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Alex Singleton says Broncos have ‘everything in front of us’ after bye

“We have everything in front of us,” Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton said after the team upset the Chiefs in Week 8.

The Denver Broncos upset the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and are now on a bye week. It was a crucial win for the Broncos that could prove to be a turning point in their 2023 season.

Following the 24-9 win over Kansas City, Denver is now 3-5. It will be an uphill climb to get back into the playoff hunt, but it feels more feasible after defeating the Chiefs in convincing fashion.

“It builds momentum,” linebacker Alex Singleton said after Sunday’s upset win. “I think going into this week — you’re going into a bye week in the position we’re in — you win this game, we have everything in front of us. You lose it; you’re kind of out of luck. I think we all knew that and came out and played the game we did.”

A midseason bye might be perfect timing for the Broncos, who now have time to rest and recovery ahead of a big Monday Night Football showdown with the Buffalo Bills in Week 10.

“It’s huge,” Singleton said of the bye. “We get the nice, right in the middle of the season break, so [you can] get guys healed up and come back and keep this momentum. … Everybody enjoy it and come back and be ready to play the Bills.”

Singleton, 29, leads the team with 73 tackles through eight games this season. He also has three tackles behind the line, two pass breakups and one quarterback hit in 2023. After the bye, Singleton will look to build on those totals in the second half of the season.

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Russell Wilson says Broncos players ‘believe’ going into midseason

“We have a lot more season left,” Broncos QB Russell Wilson said. “It’s a process, it’s a journey, but we believe.”

After defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 24-9 on Sunday, Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson is feeling confident about the team’s chances of making some noise in 2023.

“We set the standard today by how good we can be,” Wilson said on Sunday. “We have a lot more season left. I’ve been saying to you guys, it’s a process, it’s a journey, but we believe.

“We believe in who we are. We believe in the players that we have. We believe in the coaching staff that we have. We believe in the determination and resilience that we have. We believe in this organization and where we can go and what we can do. We’re going to stay the course.”

The Broncos played an excellent game on Sunday. Now they need to demonstrate some consistency after an up-and-down start to begin the season.

“That’s the standard — we have to do that every week and continue to build on that,” Wilson said. “We feel like we can go somewhere.”

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Josey Jewell says Broncos are finally putting it all together

Eight games into the Sean Payton era, the Broncos are playing complete football.

The Denver Broncos shocked the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday with a convincing 24-9 victory, snapping a 16-game losing streak to their division rival.

The Broncos are still only 3-5, but after such an impressive victory, there’s hope that the team has turned a corner.

So, have the Broncos now sent a message to the league that they’re a legitimate threat to make some noise in 2023?

“I don’t know about a message, but we’re just working here every day,” linebacker Josey Jewell said after Sunday’s win. “We have a lot of great core guys here. We’re starting to pay attention to those small details and it’s starting to show. Especially last week and especially on the defensive side of the ball.

“We just need to stay consistent and keep that momentum of playing all four quarters every single game. First couple of games, we played a couple quarters good here and there, and now, finally, we’re throwing it all together.”

Jewell also said it was nice to put the losing streak to bed and “get rid” of that lingering storyline.

“Hopefully, we go on a little streak here,” he concluded. 

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Jaguars have an alarming need for a defensive lineman ahead of Week 1

The #Jaguars only have one interior defensive lineman on their roster.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are thin on the defensive line and are likely to search for another piece up front in the coming days. With just a week left before their regular season kicks off against the Washington Commanders, Trent Baalke and his team in the front office will need to put together a deal with a veteran lineman fast if they intend to beef up their line in time for the game.

Currently, the Jaguars have five defensive linemen on the roster. Ends Roy Robertson-Harris and Fatukasi Folorunso are the starters for Jacksonville on the outside with Dawuane Smoot, and Arden Key poised to back them up in rotational and situational roles. Their only nose tackle currently under contract is fan-favorite defensive stalwart DaVon Hamilton, who is a more than capable starter, but will still need depth behind him to stay effective over the course of the grueling 17-game schedule.

The glaring lack of depth at nose tackle is an obvious concern. After general manager Trent Baalke decided to waive linebacker Ty Summers on Saturday, it would be expected that he would make a move for a nose tackle next. Jacksonville likely won’t be able to trade their way into a second-string caliber player, so the pool of free agent talent available after the NFL’s mass cuts last week should be the best option for the team to find Hamilton an understudy for the season.

There are some capable players available to play the position, too. Ndamukong Suh is still without a contract following a standout 2021 campaign, and former first-round selection Sheldon Richardson has quietly slipped under the radar as well. Either of the two veterans could step in and make an immediate impact for the Jaguars up front, but the team’s limited cap space may prohibit them from seriously pursuing their talents in the next week.

One thing is certain, though; something will have to be done to address the major hole on the depth chart behind Hamilton. Jacksonville may be able to get by for a week without any depth at nose tackle, but their good fortune in that situation wouldn’t last long. With a savvy move before Labor Day, Baalke could go a long way toward truly completing his 2022 roster.

 

Bye week came at ‘perfect time’ for Broncos

“I really think that for us this is literally the perfect bye week,” Broncos DL Shelby Harris said. “Rest your bodies, rest your mind, come back and let’s do it.”

After playing ten games, the Denver Broncos will now get a week off to regroup, recharge and recover from injuries before returning to action for the final seven games of the season.

Broncos defensive lineman Shelby Harris spoke about the ideal timing of Denver’s Week 11 bye during his Zoom press conference Monday.

“This bye week is actually [at] a perfect time,” Harris said. “It’s a time where we’re 5-5 right now and [have an opportunity to] go away [and] stop thinking about this stuff for a little bit. Go relax, have a mental reset and come back though because this seven-game stretch [is] going to be a crucial seven-game stretch.

“You need to go out and relax. Clear your mind and when we come back here, we’re coming to run them off. I really think that for us this is literally the perfect bye week. Rest your bodies, rest your mind, come back and let’s do it.”

After their bye, the Broncos have five more division games plus a pair of home games, with one of them being against the 0-8-1 Detroit Lions. After regrouping this week, Denver will aim to finish the season strong after the bye and push for a Wild Card seed, if not the AFC West title itself.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury updates following Week 10 bye

Andy Reid gave a few injury updates during his Monday press conference.

The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t play a football game last week due to a Week 10 bye week. Chiefs HC Andy Reid did his best to provide answers to questions about players who’ve recently been injured or those who are on the mend on Monday.

First, he spoke on the status of DE Taco Charlton, who recently confirmed that he suffered an ankle fracture and would miss time. Reid also confirmed the ankle fracture but didn’t have any specific timeline on if or when Charlton would go on injured reserve.

“I’ll get that out to you whenever we put out there whatever we’re going to put out there,” Reid said of Charlton’s status. “He did hurt and he did fracture it, so we’ll see what we do from that point.”

It’d stand to reason that a move to injured reserve will be coming later this week, perhaps with a corresponding move of activating standout rookie CB L’Jarius Sneed. The fourth-round draft pick had been on injured reserve since Week 3 when he suffered a collarbone injury. Sneed still needs to practice and prove he’s ready to get back out there, though.

“Yeah, he’ll be back working with us this week,” Reid said of Sneed. “We’ll just see how he does.”

Finally, news of Mecole Hardman’s addition to reserve/COVID-19 list came late last week. Reid was unable to confirm his status and whether he’d be available to play on “Sunday Night Football” against the Las Vegas Raiders.

“I don’t know what I can get into and what I can’t get into on that, but he is on the list,” Reid said of Hardman. “He’s got to wait here, his days and right now he’s feeling good which is a good thing. Again, he’s on that list and I’m not sure exactly what I can tell you other than he’s on the list and he’s feeling good right now.”

Hardman could be on the list due to contact tracing or he could have contracted the virus himself. Either way, the good news is that he’s feeling well. The Chiefs could stand to be without Hardman this week as Sammy Watkins is set to return from a hamstring injury.

Expect more updates to come on injured players for Kansas City ahead of Wednesday’s practice when the team begins their preparations for the Raiders in Week 11.

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Florida Gators sit, slip a spot in Week 8 of Amway Coaches Poll

Florida Gators football lost some ground in one of the latest polls after another COVID-19 bye weekend and the Big Ten starting its season.

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Another week of college football is in the books and with the Big Ten joining the national action this week, the sports world continues to move on without the Florida Gators, who sat on the sidelines for the second Saturday in a row after a COVID-19 outbreak shut the team down.

The latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports for Week 8 was published on Sunday with the Gators remaining in the top 10, but moving one spot down in the rankings to No. 9 after the Texas A&M Aggies leapfrogged into the eighth spot with a 28-14 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The Clemson Tigers maintained their dominance in the poll, retaining the top spot for the eighth-straight week this fall while the Alabama Crimson Tide retained their second-place perch for the same length of time. The Ohio State Buckeyes move from fifth to third after a shellacking of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first week of Big Ten play, leaving the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Bulldogs to close out the top 5, respectively.

The Southeastern Conference features four of the top 10 teams in the nation this week — which also represents the league’s total number of member schools in the Coaches Poll top 25. The Auburn Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks, Missouri Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers all received votes but remain on the outside looking in.

Here are the complete poll results from Week 8.

Rank Team RCD PTS 1ST PREV CHG Hi/Lo
1 Clemson 6-0 1540 52 1 — 1/1
2 Alabama 5-0 1493 8 2 — 2/3
3 Ohio State 1-0 1374 2 5 2 2/10
4 Notre Dame 5-0 1368 0 3 -1 3/10
5 Georgia 3-1 1293 0 4 -1 3/5
6 Oklahoma State 4-0 1209 0 6 — 6/19
7 Cincinnati 4-0 1058 0 10 3 7/22
8 Texas A&M 3-1 1055 0 9 1 8/20
9 Florida 2-1 1010 0 8 -1 3/9
10 Brigham Young 6-0 941 0 11 1 10/23
11 Wisconsin 1-0 928 0 14 3 11/18
12 Miami 5-1 911 0 11 -1 7/NR
13 North Carolina 4-1 796 0 13 — 6/19
14 Michigan 1-0 789 0 17 3 14/21
15 Oregon 0-0 674 0 15 — 9/17
16 Kansas State 4-1 592 0 19 3 16/NR
17 Penn State 0-1 413 0 7 -10 7/17
18 Marshall 5-0 309 0 25 7 18/NR
19 Indiana 1-0 302 0 NR 32 19/NR
20 Southern California 0-0 271 0 23 3 17/NR
21 Coastal Carolina 5-0 268 0 24 3 21/NR
22 Iowa State 3-2 215 0 18 -4 18/NR
23 Southern Methodist 5-1 192 0 16 -7 16/NR
24 Oklahoma 3-2 138 0 NR 6 3/NR
25 Army 6-1 130 0 NR 2 25/NR

Schools Dropped Out:

No. 20 Virginia Tech; No. 21 Minnesota; No. 22 NC State.

Others Receiving Votes:

Auburn 118; Liberty 112; Memphis 88; Boise State 79; Minnesota 67; UL Lafayette 62; Utah 45; Louisiana State 37; Boston College 28; Purdue 26; Missouri 25; Northwestern 24; Virginia Tech 22; NC State 20; Tulsa 18; Texas 18; Arkansas 17; Appalachian State 16; Central Florida 13; Arizona State 10; California 8; West Virginia 6; Tennessee 6; Iowa 6; Wake Forest 5; Stanford 3; Houston 2.

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After Week 6, Seahawks are NFC’s only undefeated team

After the Packers lost to the Buccaneers in Week 6, the Seattle Seahawks are the NFC’s only remaining undefeated team.

The Seattle Seahawks did not play a snap of football over their Week-6 bye but still ended up coming out of the weekend winners none-the-less.

After the Packers’ 38-10 loss to the Buccaneers, the Seahawks remain the NFC’s only undefeated team at 5-0 on the year.

As far as the NFC West is concerned, the Seahawks are the clear division leaders for now. San Francisco (3-3) did Seattle a favor Sunday night, beating Los Angeles and handing the Rams (4-2) their this second loss this season.

Arizona (3-2) still has a game to play this week and has a chance to climb in the divisional standings after squaring off against the Cowboys for “Monday Night Football.” Win a win, the Cardinals could tie the Rams at 4-2.

The Seahawks have a bonus practice Monday afternoon but no participation reports are required to be released until after Wednesday’s session.

Coach Pete Carroll will address the media at 3:50 p.m. PT.

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