Richard Noggin

Kinda crazy what Indy did. Such a high draft price (plus a young day two WR) for the highest paid CB in NFL history who also has issues with penalties and run support effort/physicality. He's so gifted as a press man boundary corner, but can he rediscover all-pro play without all the clutching and grabbing he got away with earlier in his career? It's a fine line for these aggressive, long-limbed cover corners. One recalls dominant NE and KC and SEA (and others) DBs over the years who, if the broadcast or later film reviews allowed, could be seen holding and tugging and mugging so dang often that refs would get desensitized and ignore it for untargeted routes and also just more broadly**. Or not even call it at all in such glaring examples as the Saints "losing" to the Rams in the 2018 NFCCG. Will the refs give him some wiggle room on a defense known to be very physical overall? Would highlight and reward one of the most aggressive trading seasons in memory. **Not unlike the way KC's OTs, especially Taylor, have lined up too far off the LOS and/or false started and/or held on nearly every single passing play for years but only get flagged once or twice per game at most.

Did Mathis flash at all for anyone else against KC? Saw some serious motor, if not major impact. Was surprised to learn of his impressive college pedigree. No glaring reason why he can't possibly grow into a meaningful depth role if he stays healthy.

There's recent evidence that Cook is still very..."uneven" in pass pro. Whether it's a lag in pre-snap recognition or limitations in blocking aptitude, it's still risky to rely on him 1:1 against a blitzer. He has shown some willingness, to be fair. Despite this lingering weakness in his game, I believe one key to further unlocking the Brady offense is more aggressively attacking defenses through the air with Cook lined up in the backfield. Gotta take advantage of heavy boxes (hehe) and run blitzes and known tendencies. Whether Cook stays in to block, or chips and leaks out, or motions out and runs a route...you gotta continue to diversify and evolve. Keep em guessing. That Bills offense became incredibly repetitive/predictable towards the back half of their run. As a dialed-in teenager at the Bills vs Lions Thanksgiving game ('94), I showed an uncle how predictable the Bills had become by correctly predicting their first 4 consecutive offensive plays (then punt), down to the nuanced results of each. And Thurman logged consistently heavy YoY NFL usage with only one fully intact ACL. While a less rigorous offseason training regimen (than we see these days) might have allowed for more recovery, it also didn't maintain or even improve upon speed and explosion as the years rolled on.

Didn't we see at least tiny glimpses of Davis and Johnson providing some juice? Davis on returns mostly, and Johnson out of the backfield. At least a little uptick. And now with Cook's sore ankle, they're definitely getting more reps in practice this week. So let's see if they can actually help to spread out the workload on gameday against the Phins in the heat. It's a style/vision issue to my eye, whereby Cook is the ideal cut-back slasher who thrives in this zone-heavy, Shanahan-y rushing attack, and whereas the other two might be better suited to hitting pre-determined gaps in a power run scheme.

Mucho parallels here for me (and so many others in WNY), but my first two searing Bills memories were the goal posts coming down in '88 (obviously amazing scene with Van Miller soundtrack), followed by the Ronny Harmon playoff drop in the endzone to essentially end the '89 campaign. I was 11 for that one, and my mother and her cousin were just losing their damned minds with a rage I couldn't yet fathom. How many of you can then relate to your first REAL human heartbreak being that Norwood kick sailing wide right in slow motion...I was 12... And yeah, it's been getting more difficult to ignore the billionaire bread and circuses distraction that is the modern NFL and sports in general. That week one win this year was pretty damned invigorating, though, especially for those of us who stuck it out at the stadium. Nothing cynical about that feeling. Now add Dalton Kincaid's production despite his limited snaps and only 33 targets...

And Strong (who was playing significant snaps) and possibly Oliver (tbd). And Rapp. Not sure who Happ is but hope he wasn't impactful 🙃

Do you have any of these compromising photos/pics of him? How is this the first I'm hearing of this!

Oh right, yeah for sure I knew that lol That was part of my original point though, in that players and their trainers are pretty good at running cost-benefit analyses on training schedules and league testing protocols and determining how much risk they're willing to assume. But so many players are definitely seeking to maximize recovery and resilience with the assistance of all kinds of regimens, and that then allows those interested in mass and raw strength to push harder and gain more. *so important to always reiterate that anabolic steroids in particular actively DAMAGE connective tissues in ways that accentuate the strength/stability imbalance of getting overly developed, especially when you consider the physics involved in giant NFL specimens accelerating and changing direction and sprinting like MUCH smaller humans.

Well sure, achilles tears are just one of many connective tissue injuries NFL players can endure.

The majority of known MLB juicers have denied or deflected to this day. That doesn't make them innocent. If you know professional athletes, especially in more violent sports, then you know many of them have or will utilize banned substances at some point in their careers. I especially don't love combat athletes as evidence for how other leagues and athletes operate. Notoriously corruptible young meatheads and governing authorities.

Most of this reads exactly like propaganda for the league AND the players, especially the textbook plausible deniability defense of blaming a trainer's negligence. Like these insane, very wealthy gym rats are just taking whatever they're "given" by well paid trainers without understanding potential risk/exposure. There would be litigation galore, wouldn't there? Prior to an initial positive result, players can push the envelope with respect to offseason regimens and testing schedules, no? Sometimes they push it too far and run into bad luck with respect to testing dates. But I don't think many of them unknowingly take "supplements" tainted enough to result in 6-game suspensions. Or if they did, then we'd hear more about that.

All turnovers are reviewed, yes?

Walter Nolen showing up a bunch. Gotta love the way Arizona came to play. Good for them.

HIPAA protects players on some level, although one might wonder if the league's limited antitrust exemptions open the door to whatever degree of transparency we DO see. Compare the NFL injury reporting to the NHL, for example. Fans, and bettors alike, would go insane seeing designations like "lower body."

I don't think conventional stretching is as simply/directly correlated with injury prevention as many believe. These guys stretch. But one of the biggest issues is that they consistently overdevelop many muscle groups (often with the help of PEDs which can be actively deleterious to ligaments and tendons) without commensurately emphasizing stability and connective tissue strength.