A coach and quarterback denied there was friction between them while another coach defended his quarterback from possible criticism by his former college teammates. Otherwise known as your typical Monday in the NFL.
NFL News: Robert Griffin III won’t play in the preseason, Malcom Floyd sprained his knee
Friction was the word of the day around the NFL on Monday and whether or not there was any between RGIII and Mike Shanahan.
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Robert Griffin III is progressing well from the knee injury he suffered in the playoffs. So well, in fact, he'd like to do more than the coaching staff is allowing him to do. Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said Griffin will not play in the preseason, no matter how well his recovery is going.
The difference of opinion led to Griffin tweeting there was “no friction” and while there is an understanding between “coach and player” he doesn’t have to like everything. Griffin has been vocal about wanting to do more and get back on the field sooner rather than later, something Ken Meringolo of Hogs Haven wrote is having the opposite of the desired effect.
In short, this strategy is misguided and woefully lacks an understanding of one of the core issues going into this season: Mike Shanahan HAS to be in charge of the situation, and HAS to be SEEN as in charge of the situation. Shanny got creamed by everyone for letting Griffin talk his way back onto the field last season. Don't we all remember the public relations nightmare that went down simultaneous to Griffin going down against the Seahawks?
In this case, RG3's public lobbying effort is working very much against him. Should Griffin succeed in winning a public lobbying campaign to get back on the field this preseason takes us right back to the day after we lost to Seattle last January. Don't pass go. Don't collect $200.
A few current members of the West Virginia football team recently said last year's team lacked leadership and had selfish players. Rex Ryan took that as shots against current New York Jets quarterback and former WVU quarterback Geno Smith.
Ryan said he didn’t get why anyone would criticize Smith’s performance as he was a great player for the Mountaineers. He went on to say he was glad his son didn’t decide to play football at West Virginia. The players’ comments were not directed at Smith or any other player, but many have assumed they were intended for Smith because the quarterback is supposed to play a leadership role. Gang Green Nation doesn’t expect the comments to have any impact on Smith.
When Malcom Floyd went down during practice on Monday and had to be carted off the field, it looked like the Chargers had lost a starting receiver to a serious knee injury for the second time in less than a week. San Diego got some good news, however, as an MRI revealed a sprained knee and not a torn ACL.
A sprain is without a doubt better than a torn ligament, but the Chargers may still be without Floyd as he recovers. That, combined with the recent loss of Danario Alexander caused John Gennaro of Bolts From the Blue to wonder if San Diego may make a change to its offensive philosophy.
One has to wonder if Mike McCoy and Ken Whisenhunt will change their offensive philosophy due to the injuries to the team’s starting WRs, focusing more on the running game, or if Tom Telesco will try to find a way to bring in a new WR to take at least one of the starting spots.
Bradshaw continues his comeback from offseason foot surgery and has advanced far enough Indianapolis activated him from the physically unable to perform list. A healthy Bradshaw should be a major contributor for the Colts' offense, but Bradshaw's health will remain in question until he stays active for a long period of time.
While activating Bradshaw is a good sign, the Colts may have been forced to make the move sooner than they would have preferred. As Stampede Blue wrote, the NFL forced the Colts to activate Bradshaw after he participated in a morning walk through and took a few handoffs.
The NFL investigated the issue and confirmed that. Regardless of whether Pagano described it as just "mental reps," the league determined that the Colts were in violation of the rules and forced them to activate Ahmad Bradshaw from the PUP.
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