NFL News & Blogs

JaMarcus Russell has shown up at the Oakland Raiders minicamp, saying he will keep coming to work until he’s told not to.

Giants punter Jeff Feagles, who formally announced his retirement after a record-setting 22-year N.F.L. career, leaves a legacy as a maestro of directional punting.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh is recuperating from hernia surgery, and former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch just had his third knee surgery in a little over two years. Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Friday there’s “always concerns” whenever a knee is operated on for a third time, but that Branch’s arthroscopic surgery last week in Philadelphia was a “very…

The questions about JaMarcus Russell’s immediate future in Oakland were answered Friday when he took the field for a minicamp with newly acquired Jason Campbell and the rest of his Raiders teammates.

Oakland Raiders – JaMarcus Russell – Jason Campbell – NFL – Football

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Seahawks top receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh is recuperating from hernia surgery, and former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch just had his third knee operation in just over two years.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — It’s easy to see what the Detroit Lions saw in Ndamukong Suh to make him the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft.

The Jets have received their fair share of criticism for all of their off-season moves, leaving many to wonder how it will affect team chemistry as they try to build off last season’s appearance in the AFC championship game.

It was an issue that I, like many others, wrote about following the team’s draft-day moves that sent Leon Washington to the Seahawks and put Alan Faneca on the open market. You couldn’t help but wonder: Can you tinker too much with a good thing?

Rex Ryan addressed the issue of team chemistry during his press conference this afternoon, and for a moment, we turn the blog over to
him:

“People are never going to be happy when you let a friend, teammate and everything else go, and that’s understandable. But my role as the head football coach is that I’ll make the tough decisions, and I’ll make the decisions where I think we need to improve this football team … Am I worried about team chemistry? Absolutely not. My team is always going to play hard.

“All I’ve got is my history to fall back on. There were a lot things last year when I came in and everybody said, ‘Well, how are you going to play great defense?’ We were No. 1 in the league. ‘You’re going to be a ground and pound offense.’ I think that worked out. The only thing that never worked out is that we were going to compete for the Super Bowl, and we never had that opportunity. That’s our mission right now …

“If I was just wanting to stay with the status quo and have a team that was easy to coach, because I’ve already brought that team together and already done that work, you would never get rid of (players like Faneca, Thomas Jones, and Washington). But when you look at the overall picture, there were opportunities for our team to get better … I want to win. I came here to win. I didn’t come here to be average or anything else. I know, when it’s all said and done, I’m going to be held to those standards: Did you win? Did you deliver a championship? I’m man enough to go for it, where a lot of guys aren’t.”

If you’re a player, how could you not want to bust your butt for a guy who oozes so much confidence and puts himself on the line like that?

That said, the Santonio Holmes incident last night at the Pittsburgh airport is a reminder of just how hands-on Ryan may have to be with this year’s installment of the Jets.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Giants punter Jeff Feagles, the NFL’s iron man, announced his retirement on Friday after 22 seasons and a league-record 352 consecutive games.

Dallas Cowboys rookie receiver Dez Bryant says he’s done talking about being asked by Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland in a pre-draft interview if his mother was ever a prostitute.

Dallas Cowboys – Miami Dolphins – Dez Bryant – Jeff Ireland – NFL