Seahawks LB Bruce Irvin motivated to prove doubters wrong in 2020

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin is out to prove the doubters wrong in 2020, and he exemplified this by leaping a tackling dummy.

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin is out to prove the doubters wrong in 2020 despite his age of 32 years and supposed decline in his athleticism.

During a training camp practice, Irvin jumped over a tackling dummy with a height of six feet. He stated that he heard about the doubts surrounding him and used them as motivation.

“I just read all these things about, ‘He’s old, he’s lost a step,’ and it’s just crazy to me because – knock on wood – I’ve never had any crazy injuries, I don’t miss games,” Irvin said in his Zoom interview with reporters. “I really did that so y’all could see that, honestly, because I knew y’all were watching. I was like, ‘These folks think I’m old, so let me just show them I still got some juice in me.’ So that was more just to show people that I still got a lot left in the tank.”

Irvin discussed his growth as a player and a person throughout his NFL career and explained how he will use his experience and knowledge to be a better leader than ever before.

“I’m just being B.I.,” Irvin said. “When I left here, I kind of started to transition into being more outspoken and being more of a leader. So at this point, I’m just being myself. I talk smack, but I also build them up. But if you’re BS’ing, I’m going to let you know about it, and I expect that from them if they feel like I’m BS’ing. At this point, I’m just being myself, trying to work as hard as I can – not only just talk about it, but be about it on the field. Show these guys that, hey, B.I. talks a lot of junk, but B.I. also busts his tail in practice, he busts his tail in the game and leaves it out there for us.”

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Lions tender Mike Ford, elect to not offer RFA’s J.D. McKissic and Jamie Meder

The Detroit Lions have tendered exclusive right free agent Mike Ford and elected not to offer restricted free agent contracts to J.D. McKissic and Jamie Meder making them unrestricted free agents.

The Detroit Lions have tendered exclusive right free agent corner Mike Ford and elected not to offer restricted free agent contracts to running back J.D. McKissic and defensive lineman Jamie Meder, making them unrestricted free agents.

In addition to Ford, it was already announced that the Lions were also picking up the tender on corner/gunner Dee Virgin, who was also an exclusive rights free agent.

Both Ford and Virgin played key roles on special teams, rotating with undrafted rookie safety C.J. Moore as the primary gunners on special teams. Ford also held down a key reserve role at cornerback and stepped up when his number was called against the Chiefs.

As a tendered exclusive right free agents, Ford and Virgin can only accept a new contract from the Lions, unless the team chooses to release them. And because the Lions hold all the leverage in this negotiation, they will likely only offer them a league minimum contract with no guaranteed money.

The Lions claimed McKissic off of waivers on cut day last September and he played an important role on offense as a change-of-pace/gadget back. The Lions are interested in bringing him back but not at the restricted free agent tender level, which was roughly $2.1 million.

Meder was a late-season addition to an injury-depleted roster and he isn’t expected back at this time.