Teams battle at highest level
The NFL owners meetings on Tuesday got a bit heated. Most notable was Colts owner Jim Irsay putting Dan Snyder on notice and pressuring the other 30 owners to remove Snyder from their fraternity.
There also was Jerry Jones using colorful language toward Robert Kraft, per ESPN, as the two squabbled over the structure of a potential contract extension for Roger Goodell.
Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan, “It’s probably accurate that I did express myself in probably a way that’s not in good taste.”
There was a squabble about the $790 million settlement fee owed to the city of St. Louis for the Rams’ relocation to Los Angeles. Stan Kroenke ultimately caved on Tuesday, agreeing to pay about $600 million, while the other owners contributed about $7 million each — a small price to pay for the Rams’ relocation, which added billions to the NFL’s bottom line.
But according to Sports Business Journal, Kroenke only owes about $320 million up front, can pay the rest over the next five years, and can make some of that money back by keeping ticket revenues that otherwise would go to the league’s central fund.
As Jaguars owner Shad Khan told SBJ, “It’s an ideal solution — nobody likes it.”
And there’s a fascinating battle playing out between Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and 49ers owner Jed York in Santa Clara, Calif. York has funded a series of attack ads aimed at Ross for supporting Santa Clara mayor Lisa Gillmor, whom York is trying to defeat in this year’s election. Ross has Gillmor’s support for a massive commercial development across the way from Levi’s Stadium.
“You don’t like to see it,” one owner said of the squabble to the San Francisco Chronicle.
A rough patch
No one agreed with recent roughing the passer calls on Grady Jarrett or Chris Jones, but the NFL isn’t going to ease up on calling the penalty this season.
Falcons president Rich McKay said roughing the passer penalties are down “40 to 45 percent” from last year, hence no need to change the way it is being called.
“We’re never going to bat 1.000 on all officiating,” McKay said. “The one thing we should look at is total numbers are down, and pretty significantly down this year. I think it’s a credit to the players. They have modified their play.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL wants to protect its quarterbacks.
“We’re not backing off of protecting players that are in a defenseless position or in an exposed position that could lead to injury, and we’ll take those techniques out of the game,” he said.
Picked off
J.C. Jackson always seemed to follow in Malcolm Butler’s footsteps. He was an undrafted free agent, like Butler. He joined the Patriots in 2018, the year Butler left. He came from relative nowhere to become one of the Patriots’ most consistent and opportunistic players.
And just like Butler, Jackson is struggling after cashing in with a new team. Butler had a tough time living up to the hype in his first season with the Titans in 2018, and Jackson is struggling after signing a five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Chargers. He missed the first two games of the season after ankle surgery, and has since allowed a 155.3 passer rating in coverage, per Pro Football Focus. He got benched last week after giving up two long passes in the first half against Denver.
“I feel defeated,” Jackson said, via NFL Media. “I’m not really playing to my full potential. It’s kind of upsetting.”
Chargers coach Brandon Staley said Jackson will be back in his starting role Sunday against the Seahawks.
“We’re going to make sure that we stay patient with him,” Staley said.
Extra points
Boy, isn’t this just the worst luck? The Commanders said last week that
Carson Wentz will be out for a while with a finger injury, turning the team over to Taylor Heinicke for the foreseeable future. The Commanders say the timetable is 4-6 weeks, but realistically it’s “however long it will take to ensure that he doesn’t play in 70 percent of the snaps.” The Commanders are floundering at 2-4, Wentz is playing horribly, and the draft pick they owe the Colts this year turns from a third-rounder to a second-rounder if Wentz plays at least 70 percent of snaps . . . The 49ers had to grin and bear it this past week, forced to watch film of their Super Bowl LIV loss to the Chiefs as they prepare for Sunday’s rematch in Santa Clara. “I hadn’t watched it for a while until these last two days,” Kyle Shanahan said. “But yeah, I don’t like watching it.” . . . Sunday is the NFL’s “National Tight End Day,” and Chiefs-49ers features two of the best. Travis Kelce is the all-time leading tight end in receiving yards per game (71.1), followed by George Kittle (65.8), Rob Gronkowski (64.9), Kellen Winslow (61.8), and Mark Andrews (57.7) . . . Tom Brady and the Buccaneers aren’t getting much out of their veteran additions. Receiver Julio Jones has just four catches for 76 yards in two games. Tight end Kyle Rudolph has one catch in two games. Defensive tackle
Akiem Hicks has played just two games. And safety Logan Ryan played four games and just went on injured reserve. At least guard Shaq Mason is playing well . . . Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles was asked if he goes to Bruce Arians for ideas to help jump-start the offense. “Well, this is my team, not Bruce’s team,” Bowles said. “You don’t jump-start by asking a former coach what to do.” . . . Raiders receiver Davante Adams may end up being lucky that Kansas City police charged him with misdemeanor assault for shoving a cameraman as he walked to the locker room. The NFL won’t consider a suspension until the legal process plays out, meaning it’s possible any suspension might not occur until next season . . . . Saints QB Andy Dalton threw two pick-sixes in one quarter in Thursday night’s loss to the Cardinals. A review of play-by-play data at Pro Football Reference shows the last QBs to do that were Matt Ryan (2021 vs. Buccaneers), Ryan Fitzpatrick (2019 vs. Patriots), and Josh Rosen (2018 vs. Broncos) . . . The most unfortunate injury of the season happened Monday night when Broncos linebacker Aaron Patrick tore his left ACL while slipping on a rubber TV mat on the sideline of SoFi Stadium. Patrick’s agent, Lamont Smith, told NFL Media that he was “very disturbed” by the incident. It was reminiscent of the knee injury suffered in 2015 by Reggie Bush, who slipped on the concrete surrounding the field in St. Louis. Bush won $12.5 million from the Rams in a lawsuit.