NFL News & Rumors Digest

The Sunday post-game comments from Eagles quarterback Mike Vick relating to his belief that he does not draw as numerous flags for roughing the passer as other quarterbacks have placed added attention on the question of whether or not he’ll draw such flags in the future.

The procedure commences on Sunday, when the Eagles host the 49ers.

The NFL won’t identify the name of the referee who’ll be charged with standing behind the quarterbacks and determining whether or not any hits against Vick or Alex Smith merit 15-yard penalties.  NFL spokesman Greg Aiello stated by way of e-mail that, as a matter of league policy, the assignments aren’t disclosed publicly before the several games.

Undaunted by the league’s stance, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and NBC has tracked down the name.  He’ll disclose it near the beginning of Friday night’s NBC SportsTalk on VERSUS, which begins at 6:00 p.m. ET.

And, yes, it’s an really transparent effort to get you to tune in.  But at least you know that you’ll be discovering out one thing valuable from Peter, as opposed to the general uselessness of fairly much anything and everything I’ll have to say.

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Jets center Nick Mangold continues to miss practice soon after suffering a high ankle sprain on September 18.  On Thursday, even so, coach Rex Ryan suggested that Mangold could still play on Sunday night against the Ravens.

“I’m encouraged that he’s acquiring much better,” Ryan said of Mangold.  “Each day, he seems to be acquiring much better.  He hasn’t practiced, but he undoubtedly feels like he’s getting greater.  The factor that’s encouraging about that is he’s doing some items, like stepping over deals, performing some adjust of direction issues and some movement items where it’s not getting worse.  It is truly feeling better the next day, so I’m encouraged by that.”

Ryan said that it’s not required that Mangold return to practice before playing.  “Guys, I’m not 1 of those ‘he has to practice’ guys,” Ryan stated.  “We’re talking about Nick Mangold here, so, no.  He doesn’t have to practice.

Ryan said that, barring a setback, he’ll make a decision about Mangold’s availability on Sunday.

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The chief of police in Detroit is seeking to shut down the Booty Lounge, a bus that functions as a strip club outside Ford Field for the duration of Lions house games.

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. stated he doesn’t believe the Booty Lounge has the legal correct to operate outside Lions games.

“Ostensibly, it is an illegal establishment,” Godbee told the Detroit News. “The exact same factor that would regulate that type of activity in a strip club would be applicable to that car. We’re going to police it really aggressively via our investigation. I’m appalled at this type of conduct because we have families and young children about. We require to make confident these events are fan-friendly for children and their families.”

The Booty Lounge hasn’t commented publicly since media reports on its operations — not to mention a picture of two uniformed police officers posing with a scantily clad woman outside the Booty Lounge — led to a controversy in Detroit. But Detroit City Councilman Gary Brown stated he thinks the Booty Lounge will be out of enterprise before the next Lions home game, which is next Monday night against the Bears.

“Our chief could have that difficulty solved by the next Lions residence game. I’m confident that it will,” Brown stated. “(Tailgating) needs to be clean, family members fun and not an following-hours joint on wheels.”

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The St. Louis Rams are off to a disappointing -three start off and they now have a new obstacle to deal with as they search for their initial win of the year.

Quarterback Sam Bradford suffered an injury to his toe in Sunday’s 37-7 loss to the Ravens. He had x-rays, which revealed no broken bones and coach Steve Spagnuolo referred to as it a sprain in his meeting with the media on Monday.

“Right now we hope it’s not a large deal,” Spagnuolo said by way of Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

The schedule isn’t finding considerably simpler. The Rams have property dates with the Redskins and Saints sandwiched around trips to Green Bay and Dallas over the next 4 weeks. The schedule gets significantly easier at that point, the question is whether or not that will be too late if the offense doesn’t get things going sooner rather than later.

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Eagles quarterback Michael Vick broke his non-throwing hand Sunday. The injury came on 1 of a lot of large hits Vick took, usually following he delivered the ball.

Following the game, Vick wondered why the Giants weren’t penalized for hitting him late.

“I felt like I got hit late,” Vick said by way of CSNPhilly.com. “No flag. Broke my hand. That’s it. Trying to shield myself. Didn’t get a flag. And that’s pretty considerably been the story for the last 3 weeks. Clearly, at some point, one thing catastrophic is going to happen, and I broke my hand.”

Vick said he wasn’t confident if he would play subsequent week.  But his frustration with the officials was clear.

“Everybody saw the game,” Vick said. “I’m on the ground consistently. All the time. Every time I throw the ball, in all my highlights and just watching film in general, every time I throw the ball, I’m on the ground, acquiring hit in the head, and I do not know why I don’t get the 15-yard flags like everybody else does.

We watched the Eagles game closely. The hit by Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty when Vick hurt his hand was a borderline late hit. We don’t remember any other hits that seemed specifically late, but we’d have to watch the game again to see if Vick’s complaints are fair.

Vick isn’t content with the calls, but he really should also be unhappy with his own play. The Eagles offense has looked uneven for stretches in each game, which is partly why the Eagles are 1-2.

For now, Vick is pointing the finger outward.

“More precautions ought to be taken when I’m inside the pocket,” Vick said. “Look at all the replays, I’m on the ground each time. It is unfortunate for myself, unfortunate my team, and I’d be lying if I stated I wasn’t frustrated right now simply because of that.”

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Cardinals operating back Beanie Wells is listed as questionable for today’s game against the Seahawks and regarded as a game-time decision. But Wells sounds like he has already decided that he’s playing.

Asked if he’ll be at full speed for the Seahawks game, Wells stated, “Yeah, certainly.”

Wells left Thursday’s practice early following feeling tightness in his hamstring, and on Friday he was limited. But all indications are that the Cardinals had been just becoming cautious with Wells, and he can go today.

Wells has carried the load for the Cardinals this season, with 32 carries for 183 yards and two touchdowns. The Cardinals’ other two operating backs have hardly touched the ball: LaRod Stephens-Howling has 3 carries for 10 yards, and Chester Taylor has one carry for zero yards.

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Properly, we have 1 explanation for why Albert Haynesworth was so quiet last week.

Haynesworth’s back injury is bad sufficient to keep him out of this weekend’s game. the Patriots downgraded Haynesworth, safety Patrick Chung, and wide receiver Taylor Price to out on Saturday.

Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe noted early this week that Haynesworth didn’t have a noteworthy snap in 22 plays.  Bedard charted the snaps and notes that Chargers guard Kris Dielman handled Haynesworth 1-on-1 on 15 of the plays.

The Patriots are thin in a couple of key locations. They are missing Haynesworth, Myron Pryor, and Mike Wright on the defensive line.  With tight end Aaron Hernandez out in addition to Cost, we’d expect to see Chad Ochocinco on the field a lot far more.

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Soon after the Cardinals had been known as for 10 penalties on Sunday — and the Redskins had been known as for only one — there’s been a lot of talk in Arizona this week about how mental errors price the Cardinals in their 23-22 loss.

Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, nonetheless, says that the Cardinals can’t be so concerned about avoiding penalties that they lose their toughness.

“We just have to be wise,” Dockett stated. “I usually emphasize to my team, ‘Don’t never ever be a punk. If somebody do something to you, you do something back.’ If you just continue to let them do it, then you are going to have a lengthy day.”

So Dockett thinks that retaliating when somebody takes a shot at you is fine. You’ve just got to do it in a way that won’t result in a penalty.

“We’re not going to let nobody just push us in the helmet, push in the back, step on our hands and do crazy stuff,” Dockett stated. “You have to respond sometimes but also you got to be smart about it.”

Be smart, but do not be a punk. Words to live by.

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