Die Hard Sports Fan

Today, we will take a sneak peak preview into how the Eagles Offense will do versus the Rams Defense. Tomorrow, we will see how the Eagles Defense will match up against QB Marc Bulger and the rest of the Rams Offense.

I will start this preview by predicting a nice offensive game by the Eagles on Sunday. Although there is a chance that Head Coach Andy Reid might want to hold the offense back a little bit in hopes of catching next week’s opponent, the Dallas Cowboys off guard, I am predicting the Birds offense to take off and be soaring high against a Rams defense that received a tough draw for the opening game of the 2008 NFL season.

In 2007, the Rams Defense gave up the 2^nd most points in the NFL. With the exception of 1^st round draft pick Chris Long, they really did not do much to try and prevent 2007’s numbers from repeating. A 2007 Defense who was 20^th against the run and 21^st against the pass is a tasty recipe for an Eagles offensive explosion.

Everything offensively for the Eagles this week starts up front. The Rams have a decent Defensive Line headed by DE Leonard Little and DT Adam Carriker. I look for the Eagles Offensive Line to do more than decent job against this unit, giving Westbrook nice lanes to run through, as well as giving McNabb time to distribute the ball evenly to the Receivers. I also expect McNabb to be successful on getting balls to Westbrook and Booker out of the backfield. I do not see the Rams being able to consistently stop the Eagles offense. I like Rams LB Will Witherspoon to be all over the field, making tackles, but many of them coming after nice gains from the Eagles offense.

Although the Eagles Wide Receivers are nothing to be afraid of, with a healthy McNabb standing tall in the pocket and having plenty of time, Rams CBs Tye Hill and Fakhir Brown will be too inconsistent in shutting down the Eagles passing game. Even without WR Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown and DeSean Jackson should each at least have 4-5 catches. Brown will be testing his latest injury, so that could limit his productivity. TE L.J. Smith could have some nice production down the middle of the field. The Rams showed during the off-season that they were not comfortable with their Secondary by drafting now injured CB Justin King and signing free agent CB Ricky Manning Jr (yes, that one from the NFC Title game versus Carolina a few years ago). Therefore, I look for the Eagles to pick on the weakness of the Rams Secondary and move the ball down the field often, potentially scoring over 30 points. With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”

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With the 2008 NFL season about to begin, Eagles fans everywhere have reason to both be excited and optimistic about the upcoming season. However, they also have every right to feel a sense of doubt and anxiety, knowing our franchise’s history. To help deal with those feelings, let’s take a quick look at the NFC East, arguably the NFL’s most competitive division. Washington Redskins: The Washington Redskins are in interesting team to review. Yet another new head coach for the Skins, bringing in a new system to learn. This could be a season of turmoil for the Redskins, and as a Die Hard Eagles Fan, I sure hope so! On offense, QB Jason Campbell is a solid and steady QB who still has potential to grow as a pro QB. It will be interesting to see how he handles a new offensive scheme brought in by Head Coach Jim Zorn. The Redskins’ strongest group in terms of offensive depth is probably their running backs. Clinton Portis can be a very valuable and productive running back when healthy. Back up RB Ladell Betts could be a starter on some other teams. TE Chris Cooley continues to be a solid TE and a safety valve for Campbell. I look for Cooley to have another solid year. The two weak links that stand out to me on offense are the wide receiver and offensive line positions. Except for WR Santana Moss, the Redskins have no decent receiver. They tried to upgrade the receiving core on draft day, but injuries and learning the faster game of the NFL have slowed down that process. Their offensive line has been inconsistent in the past and needs to stay healthy this year to help protect the QB and run the ball more efficiently. On the defensive side of the ball, the Redskins need to be better at rushing the passer. It starts up front. They acknowledged this weakness by trading for dancing star and former Miami Dolphins DE Jason Taylor. However, it may be too little, too late in my opinion as Taylor’s best days are probably behind him. I think the Redskins are hoping that DE Andre Carter benefits from the attention Taylor will get. Time will tell. The LB core looks good on paper, but needs to be more efficient. London Fletcher too has probably seen his best days. The Secondary could be the deciding factor on whether or not the Skins have a solid defense. It is key that CB Carlos Rogers and S LaRon Landry have exceptional seasons or it will be more of the same for the Skins. A decent year, but not a good year, and my prediction is for the Redskins to finish up dead last in the NFC East. New York Giants: Is it just me or is there anyone talking about the defending SuperBowl champs, the New York Giants? I don’t ever remember an off-season like this one where last year’s champs were off the radar so much going into the next season. Retirement, injuries, trades, and free agency severely changed the Giants roster. The jury is out there if they still have the firepower and drive to be competitive. On offense, Superbowl MVP QB Eli Manning is out to prove last year was no fluke, using RB Brandon Jacobs and WR Plaxico Buress to move the ball down field. Can the Giants replace TE Jeremy Shockey? Do they have enough receiver depth to get them through a 16 game season? These questions and more will need to be answered. On defense, Justin Tuck is now the key play maker. Can he be productive without Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan anchoring the line? It will be interesting to see how the Giants’ Linebackers respond to the adversity the defense is experiencing. If the Giants front line doesn’t get good pressure on the opposing QB, it will be interesting to see how players like CB Aaron Ross and Rookie S Kenny Phillips perform. In my opinion, the Giants will be competitive and be in most games. However, how many of them they end up winning is the question. I believe they will be just good enough to be 9-7 or 8-8, where many of their losses could be by only a few points. Dallas Cowboys: On paper, the Dallas Cowboys look to be at the top of the class in the NFC East, or maybe even the top of the entire NFC. Weapons such as RB Marion Barber, WR Terrell Owens, TE Jason Witten, and QB Tony Romo give them a good core of elite players on the offensive side of the ball. Throw in there that the Cowboys spent their number one draft choice on RB Felix Jones, and there is even more reason to expect fireworks from their offense each game. Their offensive line is solid and one of the bigger lines in the league. The Cowboys look to have the best defense in the division too. Their defensive line and linebacker core is very talented. Their defense’s only weak link might be their secondary where there are some question marks with the ability of Safety Roy Williams being one of them. Even with Jessica Simpson on site at games, I see the Cowboys winning the division and they should qualify for one of the NFC’s top two positions in the playoffs. One question remains: Can Tony Romo and Head Coach Wade Phillips win a playoff game? As a Die Hard Eagles Fan, all I can say is I hope not! The Cowboys have a lot to prove, still hurting from their home playoff loss to the New York Giants. Philadelphia Eagles: Questions loom on both sides of the ball, and even on Special Teams as well. The injury bug gave us Eagles fans a couple of slight scares this pre-season, especially with WR Kevin Curtis and DE Victor Abiamiri. Assuming the Birds can get by without these two players on the short term, the only reason why the Eagles will not be competitive is because of injuries. If the Eagles can survive the injury bug, I foresee them winning a wild card and making the playoffs and playing the dreaded Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game! Here’s why: On Offense, I believe #5 is back. As McNabb goes, so do the Eagles. I am not ready to hand the keys over to last year’s top pick, QB Kevin Kolb and either is McNabb. If McNabb can stay healthy (and that’s a big IF), then there is no reason to project 4000 yards passing and around 30 TDs for the former Orangeman. The Eagles have a solid offensive line although the depth and age at the OT position does make me nervous. OG Shawn Andrews is a stud and the Eagles should run behind him all season long successfully. Just as in every other year except for when we had TO, questions rise regarding if the Eagles receiving core is good enough to be a Superbowl competitor. A healthy Kevin Curtis would help. So would a healthy and consistent Reggie Brown. If the Eagles can get rookie and pre-season sensation DeSean Jackson into the mix each week, it will have to keep defenses honest. A successful season for the Birds means that TE LJ Smith has to have a very good season. Along with a healthy McNabb, everything else revolves around RB Brian Westbrook. What an enjoyable player to watch. He runs, catches out of the backfield, blocks, and even returns punts when asked. I look for Westbrook to have another fantastic and productive year being relieved once in a while by backups Correll Buckhalter and Lorenzo Booker. This may be finally the year where the Eagles have an exciting return game on Special Teams. We got a nice preview of the potential a couple of weeks ago when rookies DeSean Jackson and Quintin Demps each scored on a return against the Patriots. Even if the Eagles do not score one Special Teams TD, I have to believe that the offense will be given the ball with better field position, thus making both the offense and defense better. On Defense, the Eagles clearly need to do two things better than last year. That is, get to the quarterback more and create more turnovers. The Defensive Line has nice depth of talent. DE Trent Cole should be even better than he was last year assuming everyone around him plays better. The LB core needs to step up big this season. Middle LB Stewart Bradley needs to be a solid tackler against the run. Outside Linebackers Omar Gaither and Chris Gocong need to provide a nice balance stopping the run, pass coverage, and pressure on the quarterback. If these three guys can step it up a notch, the defense will be quite successful. What I am really excited about is the Cornerback position. Assuming Lito Sheppard doesn’t cause any issues, I cannot wait to see when opposing offenses try to spread the field and The Eagles line up Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, and Asante Samuel out there all at the same time. One of my all time favorite players, S Brian Dawkins is another year older and a step slower, but one cannot deny his passion for gameday. If this is indeed “B-Dawk’s” last year in an Eagles uniform, I would love to see him go out on top as no other player I can think of deserves it. With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”

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ProFootballTalk.com assembled their 2008 All-Time, All-Turd Team. I love these types of things because they’re pretty funny. I summed the amount of players who ended up playing for teams in the NFC East. The Cowboys had 8 turds (This does not include T.O. because I added him to the Eagles since he was a bigger problem there), the Redskins had 5 turds, the Eagles had 4 turds, and the Giants had 2 turds. The players for each team are listed below along with the reason why they made PFT’s list.

Dallas Cowboys

• Michael Irvin, WR, Cowboys - “No one can dispute his talent or performance, but off the field the guy was King Turd. Drugs, adultery, etc. Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession charges in July 1996. Sure, he’s in the Hall of Fame now. But even Irvin realizes that his non-football exploits arguably make him unfit for that honor.”
• Lance Rentzel, WR, Vikings, Cowboys, Rams - “Arrested for exposing himself to a 10-year-old girl. Even worse, he married Joey Heatherton.”
• Nate Newton, G, Cowboys - “Arrested for marijuana possession. 213 pounds of it. Five weeks later, he got busted again with “only” 175 pounds.”
• Duane Thomas, RB, Cowboys - “Piss-poor attitude and drug use killed a promising career. Thomas once said of the Super Bowl, “If it’s the ultimate [game], how come they play it every year?“”
• Leon Lett, DE, Cowboys - “Suspended for a year for violation of the substance abuse policy, Lett is best known for two of the most memorable blunders in league history — a premature celebration on a fumble return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl and the dumb-assed decision to try to recover a blocked field goal on the snow-covered Texas Stadium green cement that gave the Fins another chance at the kick, sealing his team’s fate.”
• Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, LB, Cowboys, Oilers, 49ers - “The original LT, Henderson’s cocaine craze ended his career not long after it started. In 2000, he won $28 million in the lottery.”
• Adam “Pacman” Jones, CB, Titans, Cowboys - “Through a string of brushes with the law and a failure to seem to understand the connection between his behavior and its consequences, Jones became the poster boy for bad behavior in the NFL.”
• Rafael Septien, K, Cowboys - “Pleaded guilty in 1987 to charges of indecency with a 10-year-old girl.”

It is no surprise that the Cowboys have more than the rest of the division. Good thing I’m not a fan of the Raiders, there’s probably dozens. So 2 Cowboys showed their package to 10-year-old girls. It’s strange because both underage girls are the same age. Most of these guys are on here because of drugs. I was most shocked by Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson who won $28 million in the lottery.

Washington Redskins

• Michael Westbrook, WR, Redskins - “One of the all-time first-round receiver busts whose most memorable moment was beating the crap out of Stephen Davis in 1997.”
• Albert Connell, WR, Redskins, Saints - “Re-defined rookie hazing as “stealing the dude’s money.””
• Kenyatta Jones, OT, Patriots, Redskins - “Busted in college for “displaying a firearm” inside a night club, Jones broke from the same-old rap sheet entries by throwing boiling water on his roommate while said roommate was on the toilet. More recently, he was busted for peeing on a dance floor at a night club.”
• Darrell Russell, DT, Raiders, Redskins, Buccaneers - “A promising career was ruined by drug use and allegations of videotaping his friends having sex with a drugged woman. Russell died in a car crash last year after a failed comeback attempt.”
• Daryl Gardener, DT, Dolphins, Redskins, Broncos - “Known for going turdish whenever he got paid big money, Gardener busted his hand in a fight outside a Denver-area IHOP after receiving a huge deal from the Broncos and never was the same again.”

Philadelphia Eagles

• Terrell Owens, WR, 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys - “Single-handedly turned a Super Bowl contender into an also-ran with his selfishness, narcissism, and greed.”
• Bill Romanowski, LB, 49ers, Eagles, Broncos, Raiders - “Walking pharmacy who spit in J.J. Stokes’ face, ended Marcus Williams’ career with a practice field sucker punch, and intentionally broke Dave Meggett’s finger during a pile up. Admitted to steroid use only to sell a book about it.”
• Buddy Ryan, Coach, Vikings, Bears, Eagles, Oilers, Cardinals - “Though we respect Ryan for cutting Cris Carter without exposing (at the time) Carter’s struggles with drugs, this guy was a train wreck as a head coach. Too loud. Too brash. Too reckless. Too impulsive. In other words, the perfect guy to lead our All-Time collection of All-Turds to a Super Bowl.”
• Leonard Tose, Owner - “Gambling and booze caused him to lose the Eagles, and his fortune. Among other things, he once sued a casino for plying him with drinks in order to get him to keep losing money. (Ain’t that standard operating procedure at casinos?)”

New York Giants

• Lawrence Taylor, LB, Giants - “One of the best defensive players in league history, we wonder how effective he might have been if he hadn’t been so preoccupied with drugs, booze, and sex.”
• Bill Belichick, Coach, Colts, Lions, Broncos, Giants, Browns, Patriots, Jets - “He knew that the NFL and other teams were onto his videotaping scam, and yet he continued to do it. His actions created a mess that overshadowed the entire 2007 season and much of the 2008 offseason.”

When a team has an Owner like Wellington Mara for so long, it’s no surprise that there are barely any turds on the All-Time, All-Turd Team. Go Giants!!!

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ESPN.com found out that Michael Strahan visited the Cowboys‘ training camp yesterday. The article explicitly stated that Strahan was there as “an observer” for his new role as part of Fox’s NFL pregame show. Michael had this to say about his visit…

It’s good to be back at training camp where I don’t have to participate. For about 30 seconds, I was like, ‘Um, I kind of miss it.’ I had my Favre moment, then realized that I’m not going to do that. I’m done.

I enjoy waking up when I want to. I enjoy saying, ‘Do I feel like working out? Nah.’ This is going a lot better or just as well as I expected. You can’t beat winning the Super Bowl and playing the way that we played. There is just value in the way that we ended.

I won the ring, that’s good enough. I’m not going to push my luck. That was the toughest team [Cowboys] and the best team in the league that we played. After that game, we did feel like we could win it all. That was the real challenge for us, playing against the Cowboys. And I let Jerry [Jones] know that.

The article also mentioned that Strahan left his Super Bowl ring at home, but I think he should have brought it so he could rub in the face of T.O., Romo, and Jerry Jones. That would’ve been another priceless Kodak moment. Two Cowboys had something to say about Michael’s visit. Tight End Jason Witten said half-jokingly, “It makes me sick looking at him. At least he didn’t wear his Super Bowl ring out here. I told him I didn’t know if I’d let him in here. He’s still got buddies over there.” Wide Receiver Terrell Owens said, “Every time I looked over, he had a lot of people around him. That’s just the perks of being a Super Bowl champion. He’s taken on a new role being part of the media, so I don’t really talk to the media that much.” Bow down to the Ring Cowgirls.

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The Mercury News reported that Lawrence Taylor shot a par 72 at a celebrity golf outing at the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course to briefly take the lead in the clubhouse before Rick Rhoden roared to the front.  This isn’t something I was going to write about, but the next paragraph in the article was too damn funny.  “Quarterback Tony Romo took a spill in a pond on the first hole after losing his awkward footing on a steep bunker shot but rebounded to shoot a 73 worth 43 points while his girlfriend, actress-singer Jessica Simpson, watched from the gallery.”  After reading that, how could I not write about it?  All of you know how much I hate the Cowboys so I can’t hold back from laughing at their own stupidity, and stupidity is something they have plenty of.  Romo fell in a pond while Jessica was watching, that is great.  How much bad luck does this chick bring him?

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SportingNews.com broke down and ranked the Quarterbacks for each team in the NFC. Quarterbacks is plural so their ranking includes the backups. Here’s the Top 5 on the list…

1. Dallas Cowboys - “The ability to sense and avoid a rush and throw from different arm slots is what makes Tony Romo an elite playmaker. Backup Brad Johnson is solid; he makes good decisions and few mistakes.”
2. New Orleans Saints - “Drew Brees is intelligent and instinctive; he acts like a coach on the field. He’s accurate on short and deep passes and also can throw on the run. Veteran Mark Brunell knows how to manage a game.”
3. Seattle Seahawks - “Like a streak shooter in basketball, Matt Hasselbeck can take over a game as he feeds off his own success. Seneca Wallace and Charlie Frye both have starting experience and will battle for the No. 2 job.”
4. Philadelphia Eagles - “Donovan McNabb has gone from elusive scrambler to mostly a dropback passer. He throws a great deep ball but isn’t as adept across the middle. Kevin Kolb is the future starter, and A.J. Feeley can run the offense.”
5. New York Giants - “Eli Manning is a mentally tough leader who showed he can make plays during last year’s Super Bowl run. Newcomer David Carr needs to regain his confidence, and rookie Andre’ Woodson is a project.”

I agree that the Cowboys have the best 2 Quarterbacks on one team in the NFC with Romo and Johnson. Johnson is a former Redskin who keeps bouncing around, but all he does is win when he plays. Winning is what it’s all about. I don’t agree at all with the Saints at No. 2. Brees is one of the best QBs in the NFC, but the other former Redskin Brunell is not good at all. I don’t agree with the Seahawks at No. 3. I think that the Eagles should be No. 2 with McNabb and Feeley. McNabb’s production has declined, but he still has no weapons. On top of that, Feeley always comes in when McNabb gets injured and the team never skips a beat. The Giants can be placed as low as No. 8 on the list because they don’t have a legitimate backup. We’ll have to see if Carr or Woodson win that role in the Preseason. Teams 6-8 also have decent starters along with decent former starters as backups.

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The NFL Live crew at ESPN breaks down issues in the NFC East.

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Pat Kirwan of NFL.com debates who is the better Quarterback: Tony Romo or Eli Manning.  The problem with the article is that Kirwan did not come to a conclusion.  Rather, he wants to help you decide which guy you like more and have some facts to back up the opinion in case you run into a Cowboys/Giants argument over the summer.  He wrote…

Cowboys fans contend the argument isn’t close, Romo by a landslide. The Giants fans feel the Super Bowl victory ends the debate. Cowboys fans are quick to remind Giants fans that most of the Big Blue faithful were trying to run Eli Manning out of town halfway through the 2007 season. The Giants fans keep asking how can the Cowboys fans be so loyal to a guy who has never won a playoff game? The raging debate has been spirited, to say the least, as fans get emotional. I thought it would be a good time to tag the argument with some facts and figures.

Kirwan provided stats for four categories: Playoffs, Regular Season, Division Play, and Personal Stats.  Romo had the advantage in the Regular Season and the Personal Stats while Manning had the advantage in the Playoffs and in the Division Play.  You can check out the article for all of the stats.

As a Giants fan, you cannot say Romo is better than Manning until he wins a Super Bowl.  Manning was also the Super Bowl MVP.  Romo is good for fantasy football which was how Peyton Manning used to be until Peyton finally won the Super Bowl.  Plenty of players have great regular season numbers that don’t translate to wins in the Playoffs like Chad Johnson.  Romo was solely responsible for the loss up in Seattle in the 2006-2007, and most of the team was responsible for the loss to the Giants in the 2007-2008 season.  Romo shouldn’t have been in Cabo when the team was struggling offensively since they beat Green Bay the week after Thanksgiving.  Terry Glenn was awful in that game.  Wade Phillips decided not to start Barber instead of Jones, but Barber wasn’t durable enough to play an entire game.  Phillips got out-coached by Tom Coughlin and Steve Spagnuolo.  The blitzes kept on coming.  Once Dallas was down, Romo tried to win it on one play on every single down which didn’t work.  They lost as a team.  They are lead by a head coach that has never won a Playoff game and a Quarterback that has never won a Playoff game.

Remeber that Manning was 0-2 in the Playoffs before heading into this year’s Playoffs.  He played poorly in both of those loses.  It was Tiki who tried to carry the team to victory against the Seahawks in the 2005-2006 season and the Eagles in the 2006-2007 season, but it wasn’t enough.  Even if Manning lost in the Super Bowl, I still think that he would be better than Romo because he won three Playoff games on the road vs. none.  Romo can win the Super Bowl in 2008 and you could argue that they are even if Romo is the MVP of the game.  Or Eli can repeat so we never have to hear the argument again.

The Champ

vs. The Chump

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Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com found out that Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones doesn’t want to be known as ‘Pacman’ anymore.  He simply wants to be known as Adam since ‘Pacman’ has become synonymous with a whole lot of bad behavior.  It is strange because he brung it onto himself.  So Giants fans, feel free to recommend a new nickname for one of the newest Cowgirls in the comments below.

The Star-Ledger:

Camp schedule released - Mike Garafolo pointed out that the Giants have released their training camp schedule.  Players report on July 24, with their first practice the next day. He included the schedule, and here it is:

Friday, July 25
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 3:20-5:20 p.m.

Saturday, July 26
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 3:20-5:20 p.m.

Sunday, July 27
No Practice

Monday, July 28
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Tuesday, July 29
Practice: 2:40-4:50 p.m..

Wednesday, July 30
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Thursday, July 31
Practice: 2:40-4:50 p.m.

Friday, August 1
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Saturday, August 2
No Practice

Sunday, August 3
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Monday, August 4
Practice: 2:40-4:50 p.m.

Tuesday, August 5
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Wednesday, August 6
Practice: 10:30-11:30 a.m. (Jog-Thru)

Thursday, August 7
NFL Preseason Game @ Detroit, 7:00 p.m.

Friday, August 8
No Practice

Saturday, August 9
Practice: 2:40-4:50 p.m.

Sunday, August 10
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Monday, August 11
Practice: 2:40-4:50 p.m.

Tuesday, August 12
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Wednesday, August 13
No Practice

Thursday, August 14
Practice: 2:40-4:50 p.m.

Friday, August 15
Practice #1: 8:40-10:40 a.m.
Practice #2: 6:10-8:10 p.m.

Saturday, August 16
Practice: 2:40-4:50 p.m.

Sunday, August 17
Practice: 8:30-10:00 a.m. (Jog-Thru)
BREAK CAMP

Monday, August 18
NFL Preseason Game vs. Cleveland, 8:00 p.m.

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NFL.com had a poll where over 200,000 fans ranked all 32 teams for the 2008 season.  Here are the results:

1. Patriots - Core of team returns to avenge Super Bowl loss after perfect regular season.
2. Colts - Core of Super Bowl XLI team is still intact. Dwight Freeney should be ready for season.
3. Cowboys - Talented squad only got better during offseason with Pacman Jones, Zach Thomas.
4. Giants - Competition in NFC East should be tough as Super Bowl champs look to go back-to-back.

Who knows how this stuff works?  Big Blue is obviously the team to beat.  If you want your team to be No. 1 then beat the Champs.

According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, ”Cowboys cornerback Pacman Jones has received permission from the NFL to participate in offseason workouts, training camp, and the preseason.  However, he has not yet been reinstated to participate in regular-season games.”  It seems like Pacman may make it back into the NFL which is a shame.

Florio also reported that Terrell Owens will remain as a Cowboy because, “Owens, we’re told, will receive a signing bonus of nearly $13 million.  In all, he’s under contract for four years, and he’ll earn $34 million.”  Now we have to face this moron twice a year for four more years.

Giants.com:

Tuesday’s OTA Report - Michael Eisen pointed out that Amani Toomer was one of the more visible players on the field today.

Giants Bolster D-Line - Michael Eisen announced that the Giants signed DE Renaldo Wynn which other media outlets reported yesterday.  Eisen included a whole bunch of information about Wynn.

• Michael also reported that the Giants placed linebacker Keith O’Neil on their reserve/retired list.

New York Daily News:

Eli & Amani rekindle their chemistry - Ralph Vacchiano also covered the Giants OTAs.  Vacchiano also noted that:

• Jeremy Shockey, Plaxico Burress, Osi Umenyiora, Antonio Pierce and Michael Strahan did not attend.  AP is still on his honeymoon, and who knows where the rest of them were…
• David Tyree did not participate, though he was inside Giants Stadium doing rehab work for his knee.  “Tyree said his knee feels good and his rehab is right on schedule.  He expects to be ready for the start of training camp.”
• Derrick Ward “said he’s 90-95% healed from his broken fibula and isn’t limited at all in what he can do on the field.”
• Mathias Kiwanuka “said he’s getting closer to 100% too and didn’t seem limited on the field.”

New York Post:

WYNN LANDS WITH GIANTS

The Star-Ledger:

A few practice tidbits

Taking attendance at OTAs

Giants announce Wynn signing - Mike Garafolo included Jerry Reese’s and Tom Coughlin’s thoughts on the signing of Renaldo.

More on the Wynn signing - Mike Garafolo explains why the Giants didn’t sign Wynn until June 1 when Wynn first visited the Giants in mid-May.  Garafolo’s conclusion is, “Wynn’s signing on June 1 means he won’t impact the Giants’ chances for compensatory picks in next year’s draft.”

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