Tag: nfl season

Thomas Morstead on adjusting life in the NFL to COVID-19 challenges

New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead is pleased with the adjustments to COVID-19 that the NFLPA won, but knows things will get tougher.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the NFL to get to work during a public health crisis, uniquely dangerous among professional sports due to football’s high-impact nature. And while he understands that not everyone is happy with the situation, New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead was glad to lend a hand during negotiations as the team’s NFL Players Association representative.

“Look, I’m personally thrilled with where we ended up,” Morstead said during a recent media conference call. “I know there are always going to be people that don’t agree with what the end result is. For players that want to opt out, they have that right. We’ve tried to provide the ability for someone to do that if they feel like that is the right decision for them and that family, but also at the same time, I think it is important that players don’t knock other players that decide they want to play, they want to take on the risk.”

So far, just two of Morstead’s Saints teammates have opted out of the 2020 season due to health concerns (backup tight ends Cole Wick and Jason Vander Laan). But with the NFL deadline to opt out rapidly approaching at 3 p.m. CT on Thursday, Aug. 6, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if more players decide it’s best to wait until 2021.

As for the changes to his daily grind: Morstead says he honestly hasn’t noticed much disruption to his routine, with most of the hassle put on those around him. And he’s careful to recognize the work others do to support him.

“I don’t know that there has been a tough adjustment (for me). I think the tough adjustment is in all the staff, it’s all of the trainers,” Morstead continued. “I think for us (players), it’s just wear the mask and socially distance yourself when you’re able to do that. I don’t sense my day has gotten more strenuous or tougher to do. I still can do everything I need to do. Be mindful of a few things, but it’s really, I’d say that the burden is on the staff and the people that are assisting us and so we’re really appreciative of that.”

When asked whether he’s confident the NFL can pull off the upcoming season as things currently stand, Morstead replied, “That’s above my paygrade. All I know is that we’ve done everything we can to provide as safe a working environment as possible. I don’t think anybody’s under the delusion that people aren’t going to get COVID. The idea with the testing is that we’re hopefully going to catch it before guys have a chance to spread it.”

That’s been the same line from Saints coach Sean Payton, who has stressed that the goal isn’t to prevent infections altogether — that’s inevitable in a contact sport where people are lined up, shoulder-to-shoulder and breathing on each other three or four hours. As Payton explained it, and to which Morstead agrees, all of their efforts are about mitigating risk as much as possible.

To help, the Saints bought out four floors of rooms at a French Quarter hotel, where they plan to house players, coaches, and other employees throughout training camp. Morstead plans to stay there as often as possible, but with a family of four school-aged children at home for his wife to contend with, he isn’t sure how often he can stay away from the house. Just like everyone else, he’s making the best that he can of a difficult situation.

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Chargers made right move by making Joey Bosa highest-paid defensive player in NFL

The Los Angeles Chargers did the right thing.

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On Tuesday, the Chargers and defensive end Joey Bosa agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $135 million with $102 million in total guarantees, topping Browns’ Myles Garrett, who signed an extension two weeks ago.

Los Angeles now has the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL on their roster, and the decision to do so was the right move.

Elite defensive ends are hard to come by, and when you find one, you can’t let him go because the position is so critical on the defensive side of the ball is a whole.

A great defensive end significantly boosts the whole team’s ability to get pressure on the quarterback. Pressure reduces the quarterback’s options, helps keeps the secondary from being exposed and forces the offense to be less ambitious.

When the Chargers drafted Bosa in 2016, they had the 21st-ranked defense in the NFL prior to, per Pro Football Reference. In his rookie season, they were no better, ranking No. 29 overall. But after getting acclimated to the professional level, his presence up front helped drastically.

In 2017, the defense ranked No. 3. In 2018, they ranked No. 8, despite him missing half the season with an injury. Just this past season in 2019, Gus Bradley’s group ranked No. 6 in the league.

Bosa, in his first four seasons, is one of only 11 players since the NFL started to total 40 sacks in his first 51 games. He joins elite company, which includes Broncos’ Von Miller.

Making an impact as a pass-rusher and run defender, the two-time Pro Bowler finished the 2019 season with 11.5 sacks, 20 tackles for loss and 31 quarterback hits. This was accomplished after a season where he missed half the campaign due to an injury.

Over the last three seasons, Bosa has a 91.4 pass-rush grade, via Pro Football Focus, marking the highest of all edge defenders in that timespan.

In a division where Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be playing in for a very long time, you need anything and everything to slow him down. Having the physically gifted Bosa is absolutely needed to do so.

At age 25, the best has yet to come for Bosa, too. The technically refined defensive end is only going to continue to get better as he continues to mature before finally reaching his peak.

Not to mention, playing on a line that features Melvin Ingram, Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery and Justin Jones will create more one-on-one matchups for him. When Bosa is set up with one, havoc is bound to wreaked.

Another reason why locking up Bosa was the right thing is because the franchise has struggled with contracts in the past, leading to holdouts. Showing that you’re willing to write up a hefty check will intrigue more soon-to-be free agents to sign, even for a team-friendly deals.

As the Chargers seek their first Super Bowl title, his presence for the next five years will put the team in a great position to make it happen.

So while some may think it’s a lot of money to throw at a player, remember that a franchise defensive end is nearly as hard to find as a franchise quarterback, and can have nearly as great an impact.

What the Miami Marlins’ COVID outbreak tells us about the NFL season

The Miami Marlins are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that threatens the MLB season. What can the NFL learn?

NFL fans got the news they were hoping for over the past week, when the league and its players came to an agreement on how to proceed with training camp and the NFL season in light of the continued spread of COVID-19.

News Monday morning might be cause for concern as training camps begin to open this week.

Major League Baseball returned to action last week, and it was fantastic to see another sport get off the ground along with Major League Soccer, the NWSL, the NBA, and the WNBA. Sure, images of empty stadiums, or cardboard cutouts sitting atop the Green Monster at Fenway Park, took some getting used to, but having baseball back provided a bit of normalcy.

That normalcy, as we have often seen during 2020, seems under threat today:

This news has already sent ripples throughout the baseball – and larger – world. The Marlins canceled their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles, which was scheduled for Monday night. Having spent the opening weekend of the season in Philadelphia playing the Phillies, there are concerns about continued spread:

But beyond the immediate impact, there are larger concerns already being discussed behind the scenes:

Now let’s turn to the NFL, as training camps begin to open.

Many argued that when it comes to the NFL, the league had the benefit of “going last.” They would be able to observe how the various professional leagues handled COVID-19, and any outbreaks, to see what works, and what did not. With the benefit of time and additional information, the NFL would be in the best position to complete a full season on time and with minimal disruptions.

This Marlins news brings some issues into question.

First, what does this mean for teams based in some of the current COVID-19 hotspots? Obviously Florida is in the midst of an increase of cases, and with teams based in Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay, how can the league best handle teams playing in such hot zones? This list could be expanded to include the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys, as well as the Arizona Cardinals and the California teams, as those states are seeing a similar rise in cases.

Second, what does this do for the idea of a bubble? MLB decided against using the bubble concept during their return to the field, as as we have seen, after just one weekend of play a situation has potentially threatened the season. Couple that with this:

Things have not been perfect, as both the NWSL and MLS had to deal with flare-ups on some teams, but the implementation of a bubble environment seems to have prevented community spread within those settings.

Should the NFL follow suit?

Again, we all want to see football in the fall. Returning to the original point for a moment, the NFL was in the best position because of time and the opportunity to see what works, and what does not. From what we have seen from the various leagues so far, the bubble environment seems to be the best way to return to play safely.

Should the NFL go down the same path? Right now, it seems like a bubble provides the best way to get back to the game. Of course, it would need to be modified in some way. Sure, in their bubble MLS moved around 2,000 people to a single location, with 26 teams practicing and playing within a secured sports facility. How could that work for the NFL, especially in a training camp setting? Or would the bubble have to be modified in a sense, housing teams together post-training camp?

Back in June, Dr. Anthony Fauci proposed the idea of a modified bubble for the NFL. Keeping players isolated from the community at large, and testing them regularly, was the best way in Dr. Fauci’s mind to return to the game. Recent data and information likely supports that position.

Perhaps a model could be implemented where, post-training camp, teams are then isolated in modified bubbles. The NFL and the NFLPA have agreed on conditions regarding player activity away from the field – with strict penalties for those who fail to comply – and the league needs to have a zero tolerance standard for any transgressions. As the Marlins situation outlines, this virus can spread through a locker room very quickly, and it just takes one slip-up for a team’s season to be threatened, or the sport’s season.

Because if this Marlins situation has taught us anything, perhaps playing sans bubble is the quickest way to threaten an entire league.

Whatever the NFL decides, we all hope for the best for the players, coaches, staff and their families. These are certainly uncertain and challenging times.

Chargers sign QB Justin Herbert to four-year deal

The Los Angeles Chargers lock up their quarterback of the future.

Quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers have come to terms, which is a fully guaranteed four-year rookie deal worth nearly $26.6 million with a fifth-year option on Saturday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

This would mark the second rookie that Los Angeles has agreed to terms with. Earlier this week, sixth-round pick Alohi Gilman signed his rookie contract.

Drafted with the No. 6 overall selection of this year’s draft, Herbert will join L.A. with the hopes of becoming the long-term answer after the team and Philip Rivers parted ways after 16 seasons.

In 44 career games at Oregon, Herbert completed 827-of-1,293 pass attempts for 10,541 passing yards (64%), 95 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He started 14 games in 2019, completing 286-of-428 passes (67%) for 3,471 yards, 32 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Herbert’s game is not flawless and there are a few things he needs to work on, but he has the size, arm talent, mobility and above-average accuracy. With the new system, mentorship from quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton and the weapons that Los Angeles has in place, he could succeed in the league.

It remains to be seen when Herbert will make his professional debut. Even though he will be battling it out with Tyrod Taylor in training camp, it’s likely that the 30-year old Taylor will begin the season as the starter.

Chargers top 5 breakout season players in 2020: DT Jerry Tillery

The former first-round pick could have a better season in 2020.

Every season, there are players who break out onto the scene who may not have been dominant the season before, whether they were a backup, dealt with an injury or just improved as a player in the offseason.

This is the second story in a 10-part series counting down the top 5 Chargers players who I believe are most likely to have a breakout season in 2020.

Part 1: RB Justin Jackson

Jerry Tillery, Los Angeles’ first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, had expectations like any other first rounder would. He did not live up to those, failing to make his presence known in his rookie season.

He was drafted to give the interior part of the defensive line a boost in the pass rushing department. Even though he never put it all together, he still managed to do positive things that may have gone unnoticed since they weren’t on the stat sheet.

In 15 games, Tillery only finished with 17 tackles (nine solo), three quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and two sacks.

Tillery didn’t have a full offseason heading into in Year 1 since he spent the majority of it rehabbing his torn labrum that he suffered during his senior season at Notre Dame. Now healthy, Tillery had that to has full advantage to get bigger and stronger.

Tillery “didn’t take much time off in order to accomplish that,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said.

If he puts the pieces together, showing he can play with better leverage and out-power interior blockers, him, Justin Jones and newly acquired Linval Joseph could present a solid interior defensive line trio.

“I’m very confident that he will deliver big in his second year with the L.A. Chargers,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said.

Chargers tight end room receives high praise

The Los Angeles Chargers tight end unit was highly touted by Pro Football Focus.

The Chargers’ tight end position hasn’t been touted as one of the stronger units in years prior. Instead, it has been Hunter Henry that has done the bulk of the workload.

Regardless, Pro Football Focus‘ Steve Palazzolo believes that Los Angeles has one of the better tight ends rooms in the league, being tabbed No. 9 overall out of 32 teams.

Henry, the one-man wrecking machine, received high praise from Palazzolo.

“Henry posted an 85.7 receiving grade as a rookie in 2016, an 86.7 mark in his second season and then played just 14 snaps in 2018,” Palazzolo said. “He was then limited again last year, playing just 12 games.

Henry still graded at 73.2 overall, good for 14th in the league. He wins at all levels of the field and quarterbacks have a passer rating of 132.3 when targeting him, which is more than 10 points better than any tight end in the league since 2016.”

Los Angeles recently tagged Henry, keeping him around for at least one more year. A key focal point in the team’s passing attack, Henry caught a career-high 55 passes for 652 yards and five touchdowns in just 12 games last season.

If he can stay healthy, a monstrous season could be on the horizon, which could then earn him a long-term extension after the season.

Behind Henry on the depth chart is Virgil Green, Donald Parham and Stephen Anderson.

Here is what Palazzolo had to say about the trio:

The backup is Virgil Green, a run-blocking specialist who takes on the more difficult, in-line blocking assignments. Green is not much of a threat in the passing game — he’s never caught more than 22 passes in a season — but he’s performed his backup role well during his nine years in the league.

The rest of the depth chart includes Stephen Anderson, more of a “move,” H-back type, and 6-foot-8 Donald Parham, a third-year project out of Stetson College. The Chargers need a full year of Henry to maximize their pass-game potential, and if he stays healthy, they’ll have one of the more productive tight end units in the league.

Here’s how I believe the depth chart at the position will shake up.

Look: Derwin James sporting new Chargers uniform

It won’t be long until the whole team suits up in them.

We are still a little over a month away until the Chargers take the field in their new lavish uniforms that were unveiled earlier this offseason.

Over the past month, we’ve seen various players including quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and Justin Herbert in the new helmets. But now the full threads are starting to be shown.

Safety Derwin James showcased the powder blue top and sunshine gold pants in a photoshoot that he took part in on Wednesday.

Check it out:

Los Angeles will bring back their classic powder blue jerseys for home games. The team also will have numbers on the helmets of each player. An alternate home uniform will have sunshine yellow pants.

The team’s away uniform will feature white jerseys. One combination will have yellow pants and the other will have white pants. The Chargers will have two color rush jerseys – a royal blue and a navy blue.

Pro Football Focus lays out best, worst case scenario for Chargers in 2020

If everything goes in their favor, what will the Los Angeles Chargers’ record look like in 2020?

The Chargers are hoping for a different outcome in 2020 after finishing with a 5-11 record and last place in the AFC West in 2019.

After breaking down each game, I believe that Los Angeles is capable of going 9-7 this upcoming season. But what do other media outlets believe they’re going to do?

Pro Football Focus is the latest to make their predictions, and they listed the best and worst case scenarios for each team by using their analytics system. For L.A., their best case scenario is finishing with a 9-7 record.

This defense stifles opposing offenses, and Taylor looks more like the guy who had success with the Buffalo Bills than the one we last saw in Cleveland. This is no doubt one of the more talented secondaries in the NFL. Getting back a healthy Derwin James and Nasir Adderley and adding a talent like Chris Harris Jr. does wonders for a group that allows very little through the air. Meanwhile, Taylor’s ability to improvise via the scramble helps assuage some of the offensive line concerns. His care with the football — just 34 turnover-worthy plays during his three-year stretch as a starter with Buffalo — is a welcome addition after Rivers’ carelessness in 2019 (32 turnover-worthy plays), as well.

If everything doesn’t go to plan, PFF believes that the Chargers could finish worse than they did last year, listing their worst case scenario with a 4-12 record.

Tyrod Taylor opens the season with a few poor performances — just as he did in Cleveland in 2018 — and the calls for Justin Herbert begin. Relying on Herbert as the starter this season could lead things to go off the rails quickly, particularly with the questions surrounding the left side of the Chargers’ offensive line.

In terms of PFF wins above average, Herbert’s 2019 season with Oregon ranks 18th among 20 first-round quarterbacks taken since 2015. He beat out only Jordan Love and Josh Allen. The college-to-pro projections developed by PFF’s research and development team weren’t overly favorable to Herbert, either. He may develop into a solid quarterback given time, but it seems unlikely that will be the case if he’s called upon early as a rookie.

PFF has similar views as I do when it comes to what is ultimately going to determine how Los Angeles’ season shakes up. Health of key players, quarterback and offensive line play, and third-down defense will be crucial if they wish to have success.

It will be difficult to fend off the Chiefs for the division title, but if everything goes in their favor, the Bolts are more than capable of making the playoffs, especially with their being another postseason spot added starting this season.

NFLPA discussing possible offseason plan with no preseason games

The NFL wants to have two preseason games per team but the NFLPA hasn’t agreed to that plan.

The NFL wants to trim preseason from four games to two games this summer but the NFLPA hasn’t agreed to that plan. The players’ union doesn’t want to play any preseason games because of the risk of COVID-19 and the limited amount of time players will have to great fit in time for the regular season.

According to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFLPA has discussed the possibility of a training camp schedule that looks like this:

3 days: medical/equipment
21 days: strength & conditioning
10 days: unpadded practice
14 days: practice (10 max/8 padded)

After that, teams would go straight into the regular season.

Broncos kicker Brandon McManus, the team’s union rep, seems to be on board with the NFLPA’s suggestion of no preseason games. McManus tweeted Wednesday that fans should be ready for one or zero preseason games.

The NFL seems unlikely to agree to the NFLPA’s plan. As of now, the league is still planning to have each team play one preseason game at home and one preseason game on the road in August before starting the regular season in September.

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What was Chargers’ ‘riskiest’ move of the offseason?

Should the Chargers have held on to quarterback Philip Rivers for another season?

The Chargers made the decision to cut ties with quarterback Philip Rivers earlier this offseason after 16 seasons.

The move came after an underwhelming 2019 season. Rather than re-signing him, the franchise decided that it was best to look towards the future, which is why they used their first-round pick to select Justin Herbert.

Rivers ultimately signed to a one-year deal with the Colts, indicating that Indianapolis has faith that he still has enough juice in the tank to get the job done for them.

Did Los Angeles move on from Rivers too soon? Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport believes so.

Davenport laid out each team’s riskiest move of the offseason, and he thinks that L.A. ending their marriage with the 38-year old was it.

It may well be that crow will be served regarding this call in a year or two. If rookie quarterback Justin Herbert turns out to be the real deal and spends the next decade winning games for the Chargers, then 2020 will have been nothing more than a passing of the torch.

If he isn’t, though, that’s another story.

There’s no argument to be made that Philip Rivers didn’t have a lousy 2019 season. His turnovers were way up. His touchdowns and yards per attempt were way down. He looked, for lack of a better term, finished.

However, it wasn’t that long ago that Rivers looked like a very good veteran quarterback who made it to three straight Pro Bowls from 2016-2018. In 2017 and 2018 combined, the Bolts were 10 games over .500.

The decision to move on from Rivers this year is a franchise-definer, one that could ripple across southern California for years.

And potentially cost head coach Anthony Lynn and general manager Tom Telesco their jobs.

For many fans, they weren’t too fond of the decision to cut ties with Rivers. Those who weren’t happy believed that he had a rough season, but it wasn’t primarily his fault.

The injuries and up and down play from the offensive line were tabbed as the reason why Rivers didn’t perform at a high level. While that factors into it, his decision-making was not up to par.

The Chargers could’ve brought him back, bolstered the offensive line and gave him more skill players for one more go around. But they felt like this was the perfect opportunity to start a new identity with Herbert and Tyrod Taylor.

It’s easy to believe that Los Angeles might not have as much success as they would if someone experienced like Rivers was still under center in 2020. But no matter how the quarterback play shakes up, the roster is equipped to make some noice. It will ultimately come down to the health of the players.

As for the long-term outlook at the position, there’s no telling if Herbert is going to thrive in the NFL. But even if they still had Rivers on the roster, the time was now to draft his successor.