Are You Ready for Some Football - Week 3

[SlowwHand]

RB Davis won't play in '06 as Texans place him on injured reserve Sep. 2, 2006

CBS SportsLine.com wire reports





HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans placed running back Domanick Davis on injured reserve Saturday, ending his 2006 season.

Davis, Houston's top rusher for the last three seasons, has been out for a month with a bone bruise that is causing soreness in his knee.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak decided that putting him on injured reserve would be the right thing for the team, but isn't happy about the decision.

"He's done everything he can do," Kubiak said. "It's been disappointing for him and disappointing for everybody."

Davis, who has 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns in three NFL seasons, said it was somewhat of a relief that a decision has been made and that he plans to continue his rehabilitation.

"It's sad I won't be here in light of what is going on, because I feel that the team is going to be very good this season," he said. "I'd love to be part of it, but right now I have to get myself together. I'm glad they supported me. They felt good about what I have done in the past and what I can do."

Davis rushed for 976 yards last season despite missing six games before undergoing arthroscopic surgery in December after his knee swelled and ached each time he played. Team officials have said his current injury is unrelated to that injury.

The Texans are now left with three inexperienced running backs, rookies Wali Lundy and Chris Taylor and second-year player Vernand Morency. Kubiak has said Lundy will be the starter in Houston's opener against Philadelphia.

Also Saturday, the Texans released veteran tackle Seth Wand to get down to the NFL-required 53-man roster.

Off to another stellar start for the Texans.

[SlowwHand]

Lions cut WR Rogers, No. 2 pick in 2003
NFL.com wire reports


DETROIT (Sept. 2, 2006) -- This is not what the Detroit Lions or Charles Rogers had in mind when the wide receiver was drafted second overall three years ago.

After being cut, his career in Detroit ended with just 36 receptions for 440 yards and four touchdowns along with two broken collarbones and a four-game suspension.

First-year coach Rod Marinelli was unimpressed by Rogers' work ethic and production during training camp, when he was slowed by a sore knee. The new staff also did not have a history with Rogers like team president Matt Millen, who drafted the former Michigan State star and gave him a $14.2 million signing bonus.

Rogers simply wasn't deemed good enough to make Marinelli's team, which is valuing hard work over talent.

[Jaguar]

He joins the Mount Rushmore of busts. Mount Bustmore, if you will.

Ryan Leaf, Tony Mandarich, Aundray Bruce, and Charles Rogers smile upon upcoming draftees, knowing that nobody can flame out quite as spectacularly as they did.

[SlowwHand]

Rogers is funny. Two days ago he was "confident that he wouldn't be cut". Why?

[TCO]

We've got Portis, Griffin and Springs down.

[TCO]

And Buck Ortega got snatched off of waivers (I know we wanted him on the PS. Very nice young tight end with a cool name.

[Wycoff]

Originally posted by Jaguar
He joins the Mount Rushmore of busts. Mount Bustmore, if you will.

Ryan Leaf, Tony Mandarich, Aundray Bruce, and Charles Rogers smile upon upcoming draftees, knowing that nobody can flame out quite as spectacularly as they did.

Great post, though I wouldn't put Aundray Bruce on that list. The 1988 draft was notoriously weak, and had no clear-cut favorite. Aundray Bruce was taken first, but he didn't have the expectations that some of the other bust had.

Truly spectacular busts are the guys who are hyped as can't miss, super star Hall-of-Famers who end up producing absolutely nothing. That's what makes Leaf and Mandarich such perfect examples: they were treated as gods going into their respective drafts, and were complete flops. Brian Bosworth, Tim Couch, Courteny Brown, and Heath Schuler are good examples.

[SlowwHand]

I worked with Brian's dad. Brian played it like a fine violin. Walked away rich for doing nothing.

[Jonny]

Roethlisberger’s Ability to Heal Is Tested Anew

By JUDY BATTISTA
Published: September 4, 2006

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense of their Super Bowl title will begin Thursday without Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback who led them to the championship.

Roethlisberger underwent an appendectomy yesterday afternoon after becoming ill just before practice. Coach Bill Cowher said that Roethlisberger was out for the season opener and that his status for games after that would be assessed on a week-to-week basis.

Charlie Batch, the Steelers’ backup quarterback, who was 2-0 last season when Roethlisberger was out with a knee injury, will start Thursday night, when the Steelers are host to the N.F.L.’s season-opening game against the Miami Dolphins.

The opener is typically a showcase of two teams that are expected to be title contenders, but some of the luster will be removed with Roethlisberger absent. The Steelers have only two quarterbacks on their roster, and they have the rookie Omar Jacobs from Bowling Green on the practice squad. They will probably try to acquire an experienced backup this week.

A Steelers spokesman, Dave Lockett, said that Roethlisberger’s appendectomy was performed laparoscopically, a minimally invasive procedure that involves making several small cuts in the abdomen and inserting a miniature camera and surgical instruments. The procedure speeds healing, and patients are usually discharged after 24 to 36 hours and can resume a normal diet soon afterward.

“This is why Charlie is here,” Coach Bill Cowher said of Batch on the Steelers’ Web site. “We will rally behind him. Everybody else will do so as well. Charlie is fine. It’s a situation that can happen to any football team. You can go out there and have a starter go down, whether it’s an ankle or something of that nature. That’s the nature of this business.”

Roethlisberger has proved to be a quick healer.

He sustained a mild concussion and a fractured jaw and nose on June 12, when an automobile cut in front of him while he was riding his motorcycle without a helmet. He said later that he was told he was minutes from death because of bleeding, but he missed no time in training camp and started the Steelers’ first preseason game two months after the accident.

Roethlisberger’s surgery is similar to a procedure that Steelers receiver Hines Ward had four years ago during the preseason. Ward was ready to play by the opener.

The Steelers visit the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second week of the season before playing at home against the division rival Cincinnati. They have a bye in the season’s fourth week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/sports/football/04steelers.html?ref=sports

[Jaguar]

I agree that Bruce is probably the weakest candidate, because he was kind of a ho-hum first overall guy, and a LB can't torpedo a team the way a bad QB can.

I'm not sure Couch and Brown were bad enough in the end. Sure, Couch was bad, but he was leaps and bounds ahead of, say, Joey Harrington. Brown was actually not a terrible run stopper, and he's still OK enough that teams actually want to have him.

Maybe I'll tear down his Mount Bustmore statue if Alex Smith keeps this up.

[SlowwHand]

Alex Smith will be decent.

Steelers won't have Crash back for a month at best, is my guess.

[Wycoff]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Alex Smith will be decent.

Steelers won't have Crash back for a month at best, is my guess.

I bet that he's back for the week 3 game against the Bengals. Ward had the same surgery a few years ago and only missed a few weeks.

[Lord Avalon]

I think Charles Rogers just didn't have a clue about what it means to be a professional football player. Last season when he was finally healthy, he didn't get to play right away, because he didn't practice hard enough. And if that didn't work under Mariucci, it sure wasn't going to work under Marinelli.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by TCO
Very nice young tight end....

Is TCO gay?

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think any Mt. Rushmore of Busts has to have Ki-Jana Carter somewhere on it. The Bengals could have had Tony Boselli, Steve McNair, Kevin Carter, Joey Galloway (to name a few Top 10 selections), but no.