NFL News & Rumors Digest

The Sunday post-game comments from Eagles quarterback Mike Vick regarding 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 no matter whether he’ll draw such flags in the future.

The method 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 no matter whether any hits against Vick or Alex Smith merit 15-yard penalties.  NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said through email that, as a matter of league policy, the assignments aren’t disclosed publicly prior to 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 starts at 6:00 p.m. ET.

And, yes, it is an incredibly 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 every thing I’ll have to say.

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Former Giants teammates Plaxico Burress and Tiki Barber both tried to get back into the NFL right after long absences this season. Burress was welcomed back with open arms and signed with the Jets. Barber was largely ignored and has been described as devastated and flabbergasted that no 1 will sign him.

It turns out that Burress is flabbergasted that no 1 will sign Barber, too.

“It’s crazy,” Burress told the New York Post of Barber’s failure to locate a team. “He’s greater than half the backs in the league.”

It’s accurate that when Barber and Burress last played together — in 2006 — Barber was much better than half the backs in the league. You could make a case that Barber, who topped 2,000 yards from scrimmage in every single of his last three seasons, was far better than all the other backs in the league. But it is 2011 now, and the idea that Barber, at age 36, is still greater than half the backs in the league is farfetched.

Nonetheless, Burress holds out hope for his old teammate.

“I’m very surprised he’s not on somebody’s roster,” Burress stated. “But it’s just Week 4. Maybe somebody will call him.”

That’s doubtful. The Dolphins referred to as him in for a workout, and right after acquiring a appear at Barber declined to bring him into training camp. And no other team has even gone so far as to kick the tires on Tiki. If any NFL team believed Burress might be appropriate that Barber is better than half the backs in the league right now, Barber would be in the league appropriate now.

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

“I’m encouraged that he’s finding greater,” Ryan stated of Mangold.  “Each day, he appears to be obtaining far better.  He hasn’t practiced, but he certainly feels like he’s obtaining greater.  The thing that’s encouraging about that is he’s performing some points, like stepping over deals, performing some adjust of direction things and some movement points where it’s not obtaining worse.  It is truly feeling far better the subsequent day, so I’m encouraged by that.”

Ryan said that it’s not needed that Mangold return to practice before playing.  “Guys, I’m not one 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 stated 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 looking to shut down the Booty Lounge, a bus that functions as a strip club outside Ford Field in the course of Lions house games.

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. stated he does not think the Booty Lounge has the legal appropriate to operate outside Lions games.

“Ostensibly, it’s an illegal establishment,” Godbee told the Detroit News. “The identical thing that would regulate that kind of activity in a strip club would be applicable to that car. We’re going to police it very aggressively by means of our investigation. I’m appalled at this type of conduct because we have families and young children about. We need to make positive these events are fan-friendly for children and their families.”

The Booty Lounge hasn’t commented publicly because 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 just before the subsequent Lions home game, which is next Monday night against the Bears.

“Our chief could have that dilemma solved by the next Lions home game. I’m confident that it will,” Brown stated. “(Tailgating) needs to be clean, loved ones fun and not an after-hours joint on wheels.”

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The St. Louis Rams are off to a disappointing -3 commence 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 named it a sprain in his meeting with the media on Monday.

“Right now we hope it is not a huge deal,” Spagnuolo stated by way of Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

The schedule isn’t finding considerably easier. The Rams have residence dates with the Redskins and Saints sandwiched around trips to Green Bay and Dallas over the next 4 weeks. The schedule gets significantly less difficult at that point, the question is regardless of 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 one of several large hits Vick took, typically soon after he delivered the ball.

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

“I felt like I got hit late,” Vick stated by way of CSNPhilly.com. “No flag. Broke my hand. That’s it. Attempting to safeguard myself. Didn’t get a flag. And that’s pretty considerably been the story for the last three weeks. Certainly, 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 continually. All the time. Every time I throw the ball, in all my highlights and just watching film in general, each and every time I throw the ball, I’m on the ground, acquiring hit in the head, and I do not know why I do not get the 15-yard flags like everyone 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 specially late, but we’d have to watch the game again to see if Vick’s complaints are fair.

Vick isn’t happy with the calls, but he must 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-two.

For now, Vick is pointing the finger outward.

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

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Cardinals running 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, surely.”

Wells left Thursday’s practice early right after feeling tightness in his hamstring, and on Friday he was restricted. But all indications are that the Cardinals were just getting careful with Wells, and he can go these days.

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 three carries for 10 yards, and Chester Taylor has 1 carry for zero yards.

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

Haynesworth’s back injury is bad sufficient to maintain him out of this weekend’s game. the Patriots downgraded Haynesworth, safety Patrick Chung, and wide receiver Taylor Cost 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 important locations. They are missing Haynesworth, Myron Pryor, and Mike Wright on the defensive line.  With tight finish Aaron Hernandez out in addition to Price, we’d expect to see Chad Ochocinco on the field a lot far more.

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