Rubau Medio Ambiente

Falcons receiver Julio Jones didn’t show up for the team’s offseason program or mandatory minicamp, but he is working with Matt Ryan at the quarterback’s passing camp. Calvin Ridley posted a photo on Snapchat of 10 players posing with Ryan after a pre-camp workout.

The team’s website tweeted the photo.

A challenging offense that will beat teams through design and illusory complexity. And, the 49ers hope, a defense whose young front seven takes a big enough step forward to mask any deficiencies in coverage. The Niners don’t have a true edge bender other than Jerry Attaochu (a 2014 second-round pick never fully developed for the Chargers), but they’re strong up the middle with youngsters DeForest Buckner, Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster.

The 49ers view Thomas the way we viewed him coming out of Stanford: as a passing down 3-technique. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh told me Thomas can rush off the the edge, but his natural nickel position is unequivocally at defensive tackle. If Thomas gets significant snaps as a wide-9 defensive end on passing downs, it means San Francisco’s work-in-progress edge rusher rotation didn’t make enough progress.

(So, basically, if people hadn’t been writing or talking about it, Rodgers wouldn’t have noticed the parade of lesser quarterbacks systematically leapfrogging him over the past two years, from Andrew Luck to Derek Carr to Matthew Stafford to Jimmy Garoppolo to Kirk Cousins to Matt Ryan? Sorry, but that’s just not credible.)

I think that there’s some merit to looking into where you do a non-traditional contractual agreement, Rodgers added. If anybody at this point is gonna be able to do something like that, I think there needs to be a conversation about it. I never said anything about [tying the contract to] the cap. I just think there’s ways to do contracts where you can still be competitive so the team is happy about it, but have some more freedom.

That seems to be an implicit acknowledgement of the report that Rodgers may be looking for some sort of a clause that would give Rodgers a way to void his deal prematurely, if/when (when) he’s leapfrogged again. And that’s most likely not anything the Packers would ever do, not when they can squat on him for the next four years (two under his contract and two under the franchise tag), at an average payout far lower than current market value.

In the wake of SI’s story and documentary on the late college QB Tyler Hilinski, the co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation reacts and reflects.

Here’s an example. On Sept. 5, 2016, I sat next to my friend Anwar Richardson in Charlie Strong’s postgame press conference following Texas’s 50–47 overtime win against Notre Dame. Anwar, who works for Orangebloods.com, was fairly new to the Texas beat after years spent covering multiple NFL teams. Well, I said, at least you won’t have to cover a coaching search this season.

In a little more than a month, we’ll reach the nadir of meaningless NFL preseason football only to be vaulted into a haze of prime time college games that feature middle-tier schools stepping over one another for a chance at a prime time television appearance.

It can be a puzzling time especially for the red meat NFL fan (waves to teammate Andy Benoit) and it can often serve as a sour start to an NCAA football season that doesn’t really bloom in our consciousness until November.

But make no mistake, the future of the NFL will be molded before our eyes on college fields. Why miss the chance to reference obscure early September games that will be hoisted by draftnik tape grinders in February—especially when we’ll distill all the best matchups for you right here?

The tight end of the future in Cincinnati may indeed be named Tyler. But maybe not the Tyler it was supposed to be.

With Tyler Eifert’s short- and long-term health still an unknown, fourth-year tight end Tyler Kroft could be the guy more likely to remain over the long haul. And he’s hoping that’s the case.

Both Kroft and Eifert are due to be free agents in 2019, with Kroft at $1.87 million this year and Effect operating on a one-year, $5.5 million contract.

Maikel Franco (R), 25 percent, Philadelphia Phillies at Miami Marlins (LHP Wei-Yin Chen): While calling it a last chance to show the Phillies he’s part of their future is a bit hyperbolic, Franco has certainly picked the right time to be productive with J.P. Crawford on the shelf. Franco’s slashing .338/.402/.581 over the past month with the bulk of the damage coming in the past couple of weeks. As a southpaw it makes sense, but Chen has historically had greater difficulty with righty swingers.

Ketel Marte (B), 23 percent, Arizona Diamondbacks at Atlanta Braves (RHP Anibal Sanchez): While he’s not a burner, I keep waiting for Marte to unleash some of the stolen base ability exhibited with the Mariners before he was dealt to the desert in the Jean Segura deal. If he’s going to run, Friday should be the time as the Snakes score the maximum 10 on Tristan Cockcroft’s Forecaster stolen base ratings for the matchup.

That goal post now resides on former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo’s ranch in Montana. Former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci tweeted a video showing the goal post and Clark’s grave marker.

Clark played his entire NFL career for the 49ers, winning two Super Bowls and being named to two Pro Bowls. His death at age 61 came after a battle with ALS.

On the whole, it’s been a tough, challenging tournament for the beleaguered Serbian star, but perhaps that’s a good sign after the way he moped around earlier this year, insecure and searching his soul. His game is undoubtedly falling into place; every man he has cut down and those watching have felt he’s at or very close to his pre-slump level.

I saw matches of him, Nadal said on Wednesday. He’s playing great.

In a field of mediocrity, Farmer’s four busts in three years — Manziel, Gilbert, Mingo (as assistant GM), and if we’re counting 2015, Erving — rise above the rest like a sunflower.

That’s a mark technically shared by former Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, albeit over a much longer timeframe. He has four busts — David Terrell, Rex Grossman, Michael Haynes, and Gabe Carimi — over the course of an 11-year career. So does Bengals GM in perpetuity Mike Brown, though Tyler Eifert is just one healthy season from dropping that number down to three.

So while there’s a tie for most busts, Farmer’s impressive ratio of busts per year — 1.33 as GM or assistant GM in Cleveland — is the tiebreaker that makes him the patron saint of bad decisions. Farmer went for home run swings with the Browns, and given the franchise’s putrid history, it’s tough to blame him. All but one of his first-round picks blew up in his face. Even Shelton struggled in his three seasons in Ohio, earning his ticket to New England alongside a fifth-round pick in exchange for a 2019 third-rounder.

All three players are young — Bell is the oldest at 26 — but would need to keep up their current play for at least a decade to get into Smith territory. Don’t count on it.

Unless Gore plays until he’s 40, nobody is going to touch Smith’s record for a long time, if ever.

You would think that the NFL’s increasing emphasis on the passing game would jeopardize receiving records, but nobody will be touching Rice’s all-time marks any time soon.

Yeah, that’s a nearly 7,000-yard difference between Rice and the second closest receiving yardage total.

Rice played 20 NFL seasons, topped 1,000 yards 14 times, and most of the passes thrown his way came from a pair of Hall of Fame quarterbacks. He retired when he was 42 and that’s still rare for wide receivers, even as quarterbacks are playing longer. The bar to reach Rice is just way too high for anyone to come close.

Bush injured himself on exposed concrete at the Edward Jones Dome in 2015, and a St. Louis jury has found in his favor.

A St. Louis jury has awarded former NFL running back Reggie Bush $12.5 million in damages, to be paid by the Los Angeles Rams for an injury Bush sustained at the team’s former stadium in 2015, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

I think Dooley being a Nick Saban guy is more applicable when it comes to big picture, running a program matters. Like, say, if he were a head coach…which he was…and he didn’t do too well at that.

Really, if we’re going this route, I’d say Dooley is more of a Jimbo Fisher guy. Which, you know, isn’t that bad of a thing after all, if we’re talking offensive chops.

One con is that Dooley hasn’t had to recruit at all in six years, since he was at the helm of a program that went through a hilarious NFL Draft drought shortly after he left.

Another con is that a receiver who’s spent his whole six-year career under Dooley just said, in effect, that Mizzou’s new OC never taught him how to run routes.

Rosenbloom swapped teams with Irsay because he was growing more and more frustrated with the team’s situation at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

I can’t allow my fans to have to use those filthy facilities any more, Rosenbloom told the Associated Press in 1969.

Irsay inherited the same problems when he took over the franchise. While some momentum for a new stadium picked up in Baltimore, it never came to be and Irsay began the process of looking for alternative cities.

But let’s imagine a scenario where Baltimore replaced its crumbling Memorial Stadium with a new stadium in the late 1970s that kept the team in Maryland for the long term. Here’s what could have happened:

If the Browns still depart Cleveland after the 1995 season, they would land elsewhere and there’s no reason that team would be called the Ravens — a reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s Baltimore home.

In the aftermath of Memorial Day, attorney Mark Geragos claimed that someone was about to dime out the NFL in connection with Colin Kaepernick’s collusion grievance. With Independence Day approaching, we’re still waiting for the dime to drop.

More recently, Geragos promised news on the Kaepernick and Reid cases next week, which seemed to mean last week but perhaps technically means this week.

Both Boston and Philly have been cautious. They don’t know about Leonard’s current or long-term health, or if they could trust the word of Leonard and his advisors about his intentions next summer — if they even gain permission to have such a conversation. Both should have some faith in their culture and rosters and in the extra fifth year they could offer Leonard next summer.

If the Lakers now whiff on George and Leonard with James having opted out, how will things unfold if LeBron goes back to Cleveland without any better option (other than perhaps Philly) and asks for a new contract? Think about that from Gilbert’s perspective. He could finally say that he had beaten LeBron in a negotiation. Would he dare squeeze him and ask LeBron to agree to a deal without a no-trade clause? What great theater. The Cavs in that scenario could sign-and-trade LeBron almost anywhere he wants to go, including Houston, but that route is thornier than the opt-in-and-trade path — and almost impossible for the Rockets.

They can take small swings on guys such as Jeremy Lin, Darren Collison, Cory Joseph and Patrick Beverley — a perfect fit next to Booker, though he is recovering from microfracture surgery — packaging Bender and some salary filler (Jared Dudley). That is probably not enough for Rozier, another nice fit. Milos Teodosic is another name to watch — a playmaker who would make Ayton’s life much easier. But in the long run, the Suns need a plus defender next to Booker.

Bigger fish would require Phoenix either sliding Jackson or a bundle of future first-round picks into a trade — or finding a team over the moon for Bridges. Jackson may be the swing piece, whether the Suns like it or not. He puts Kemba Walker in play. Would a rebuilding Raptors team say no to Dudley, Tyson Chandler and Jackson for Kyle Lowry? (I doubt Phoenix does that, but it makes you pause.) What about Mike Conley if the Grizz pull the plug (and Conley proves healthy)?

Phoenix has shown no interest so far in Dennis Schroder, sources say.

Cousins only appeared in 17 games after the Pelicans acquired him at the trade deadline last season and 48 games this season. Their record stood at 27-21 when Cousins went down with his injury in 2017-18, but they had won seven of their last eight games — three of which came against playoff teams — with their starting center averaging a near triple-double at the time.

The question now is whether that’s enough for New Orleans to believe the best is yet to come for Cousins and Davis, the alternative being letting Cousins walk to double down on the team that swept the Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs and put up a good fight against the Warriors in the second round. The Pelicans already have around $85 million committed to Davis, Holiday, Nikola Mirotic, Solomon Hill and E’Twaun Moore for next season, limiting their options improve their roster through free agency if they do move on from Cousins.

The Cavaliers, because of LeBron James: This probably isn’t an option if LeBron leaves in free agency. They would form a terrifying one-two punch, though.

The Trail Blazers, because of similar reasons as the Wizards: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Cousins would make for a dynamic trio in Portland. The problem is the Blazers don’t have the cap space to sign Cousins as a free agent, so a sign-and-trade is the only option.

Would the Pelicans want Evan Turner, Moe Harkless, Meyers Leonard and/or Al-Farouq Aminu in return for Cousins? If not, they’d struggle to match salaries without including McCollum.

The Lakers have also reportedly reached out to big men Clint Capela and DeMarcus Cousins.

We’re picking on Escobar here, but players have been valued for different reasons all through history. Even now, teams differ on player value based on their internal philosophies. Don’t worry, I’m not going to make a case that Escobar is or ever has been a good hitter. But he has been a good player at times during his career. He’s won a Gold Glove. He’s played in an All-Star Game. He’s been worth as many as 3.7 WAR in a season and was the starting shortstop on those recent Royals pennant winners. He has no reason to hang his head in shame, no matter what his OBP column says. There are reasons he’s a beloved player in the Kansas City organization.

That said… it would be nice if the Royals eventually found a long-term shortstop who was actually a tough out at the plate, because that is not a trait they have ever valued at the position. Not ever, not with Moore, or John Schuerholz or Allard Baird or Cedric Tallis building the rosters. No team has been less concerned with finding on-base ability than the Royals have been when it comes to their shortstops.