NFL News & Rumors Digest

Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin didn’t play football for the whole offseason until two weeks ago simply because of a viral illness.

After catching only one pass in the season opener, Maclin says his time off was not a factor in his lack of production.

“That has nothing to do with it,” Maclin said through Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. “That’s just how the ball fell that day. That’s how it is often.”

Maclin lost a lot of weight in the course of the ordeal, but he’s back to playing shape. If the Eagles can get Maclin up to speed, their receiver group looks hazardous.

DeSean Jackson seemed to be utilized a little much more creatively in his six-catch opening performance. Jason Avant is still around.  Eagles coordinator Marty Morninweg says former Giant Steve Smith had his best practice as an Eagle Wednesday and will slowly turn out to be  factor.

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In possibly the clearest sign but that the owners and players are extremely close to a deal, we have a report that the two sides don’t plan to meet face-to-face for negotiations again.

Albert Breer of NFL.com reports that the the remaining particulars of the CBA are expected to be worked out via e-mail, phone, videoconference, Skype, Twitter, and Instant Message.   (Yes, we added the last 3 with no factual evidence.)

Casual Saturday is wrapping up, as the lawyers for each sides have left the creating.  Communication might continue Sunday among lawyers, but it won’t with face-to-face meetings.  DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell are also said to be in communication.

The slowing pace of issues is a sign that both sides are comfortable with where things stand.  The two sides will meet with mediator Arthur Boylan Monday evening and Tuesday.   Breer reports those meetings could take location in New York, rather than Minneapolis.

At this point, it would be a surprise if an agreement isn’t reached early in the week.

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Yeah, I read Rosenthal’s blurb based on Jason Cole’s report regarding the reluctance of the Bears and the Rams’ coaching staffs to play the Hall of Fame game with fewer than two weeks of camp to prepare for it.  Yeah, I realize that the two teams aren’t thrilled about the prospect of having to slap together preparations for the preseason opener.

But the NFL and the NFLPA* don’t care.

As an unnamed coach told Cole, “The decision is probably going to be made for us.”  And the unnamed coach is right.

It’s a meaningless glorified practice, in which the starters make only a limited appearance.  If the Bears and Rams have a week or less to get ready, they’ll have to get ready in that week or less.  The AFC and NFC all-star teams do it every year, even though many of the players haven’t practiced or played in several weeks.

If there’s any way to save the box office receipts and, more importantly, the NBC money, the league will get the game played.  And the Bears’ and Rams’ coaches can grumble all they want.

Like the unnamed coach said, the decision will be made for them.  And if the lockout officially ends by August 1, the decision undoubtedly will be to play the game.

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As Tiki Barber prepares for an NFL comeback attempt, he says 1 of his leading choices would be to play with his brother Ronde in Tampa Bay. But Ronde doesn’t seem to be obtaining his hopes up about playing with his brother.

“It was an entertaining thought 4 or five years ago,” Ronde told the St. Petersburg Times. “I do not know how realistic it is now. I’ve not had a opportunity to speak to [Bucs GM Mark Dominik or coach Raheem Morris] about it. Maybe the situation would be a little different under various circumstances. But I know he wants to go somewhere where feels like he’s wanted.”

From all indications, Tampa isn’t somewhere where Tiki is wanted. As soon as Tiki said he’d like to play for the Bucs, reports in Tampa surfaced saying the Bucs aren’t interested.

Still, Ronde says he’s confident that Tiki will be ready to help some team this season, right after four full seasons away.

“He’s ready, he looks like did pre-retirement,” Ronde stated of Tiki. “He really dedicated himself and has been in there working out for 4 months. The only thing he doesn’t have is the on-field endurance. He’s very adept at what he used to do. I do not see him having a dilemma. The 1 thing he can’t fail at is football.”

But Tiki may well fail at discovering a team willing to give him a chance.

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Lawrence Vickers played in all 16 games for the Browns last year, beginning four. But with his contract up at the end of the 2010 season, and with the Browns’ decision to draft fullback Owen Marecic this year, Vickers figures the Browns are ready to move on without him.

And he says that shows that the Browns merely do not recognize what he can do.

“I am a West Coast fullback,” Vickers told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “That’s what they do not recognize.”

Vickers thinks he ought to be an even much better fit with the new coaching staff than he was with former coach Eric Mangini’s staff, but he doesn’t think the Browns understand what he can do.

“I was on a team where they don’t even use a fullback,” Vickers said. “Mangini’s era wasn’t truly a fullback era. I played just on [the belief that] ‘this person has to be on the field.’ Every thing I got wasn’t given. I took it. Our offense was based on New England’s. They don’t even have a fullback.”

Vickers thinks he proved his versatility by performing whatever was asked of him, even although he didn’t think the Browns’ offense was nicely suited to his skills.

“Anybody that watches football knows,” Vickers said. “The last two years, I haven’t caught the ball. I wasn’t a part of the offense. So I made a way for me to be on the field. That’s what a football player does. Anybody that can make his presence on the field without having the ball is a helluva guy.”

And Vickers thinks the Browns are going to regret it if he ever plays against him.

“I feel folks are getting away from the stud fullbacks since there aren’t too numerous left in the league. But if you have one, you keep him,” Vickers stated. “I just hope I do not have to come to Cleveland in a various uniform simply because it is gonna be poor.”

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In an offseason without having a lot else going on, NFL Network is filling some time and providing fodder for endless arguments by slowly revealing a list of the 100 greatest active players in the NFL, as voted on by their fellow players. And one name that’s not on the list is raising some eyebrows: Eli Manning.

Pat Kirwan takes up for Manning in a column at NFL.com, noting that Manning has a Super Bowl MVP, a 4-3 postseason record and a lifetime 64-46 record. That’s the argument in favor.

The argument against is that Manning is coming off a season in which he threw an NFL-high 25 interceptions. Leading the league in picks isn’t the finest way to convince your peers that you are an elite player.

Based on the list as it is been revealed so far, what we’ve genuinely seen is that NFL players aren’t particularly great at making objective assessments of their peers. That’s not a large surprise.

But as for Eli Manning in particular, we’ll let PFT Planet hash it out in the comments — was this a glaring omission, or the right call?

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