Jay Glazer on Jim Harbaugh’s future in San Francisco: “I don’t see any way he comes back next year…even if they hoist the Lombardi Trophy”
Jimmy Johnson on the Dallas Cowboys: “When I look at this Cowboys team, it brings back memories.”
Howie Long on J.J. Watt: “He is the most disruptive player in football and I’m not sure if there is a way to deal with him.”
Randy Moss on New England’s struggles up front: “The absence of Logan Mankins and Dante Scarnecchia – it’s like Bill [Belichick] is starting over again.”
From FOX NFL KICKOFF on FOX Sports 1
NFL on FOX game analyst and two-time Super Bowl champion David Diehl weighs in on the Chicago Bears offense as the team prepares to face the Carolina Panthers today on FOX:
“With this Bears offense, you can’t overcomplicate things. Everybody wants to talk about Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, but I think the main thing that they need to do to open up those big plays is to get Matt Forte going. Last week, he had a great game rushing the ball and it really opened up things for that offense. His ability to run the ball today against this Carolina defense, is really going to open that big-play possibility for this Chicago Bears offense.”
Former six-time Pro Bowl QB and FOX Sports 1 NFL analyst Donovan McNabb on who he regards as the best 2-2 team entering Week 5:
“I look at the Indianapolis Colts. I’m a little worried about their defense with Robert Mathis now being out for the season. Where are they going to generate pressure? But offensively, it has been outstanding. Andrew Luck has proven why he is one of the top quarterbacks in this league; he is leading the league in yards, touchdowns and passing on first down. And the most important thing to me is his passing yards per game – 326 yards per game – puts him first. We know the running game hasn’t been what it should be, but with Ahmad Bradshaw and Trent Richardson, it’s about the attempts to keep defenses guessing, so it sets up for the play-action game.”
Six-time Pro Bowl WR and former New England Patriot Randy Moss on what’s missing for the Pats’ offense:
“I think their wide receiver corps is lacking some big plays. One of the things that stood out for me Monday night was the miscommunication between [Tom Brady] and [Julian] Edelman. I think I said this at the beginning of last year, but the absence of Dante Scarnecchia…this man played a big role in the success of the New England Patriots. A lot of the things that are going on, I think have to do with what’s going on up front, because you win and lose games in the trenches. The absence of Logan Mankins and Dante Scarnecchia – it’s like Bill [Belichick] is starting over again.”
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end and FOX NFL Sunday analyst Michael Strahan stopped by FNK to discuss the relationship between a head coach and his players:
“[Referring to Giants head coach Tom Coughlin when he first arrived in New York] It wasn’t contentious; we hated him. To me it made a difference, a big difference, because you want somebody you feel like you would run through a wall for. A coach can be hard, a coach can be respected, but the thing you really need to know from your coach is that he cares for you. Once you’re just another player in a system and you don’t feel like there is any personal connection, you’re not going to go that extra bit for your coach. It’s important that you like your coach in a certain sense, but most of all you have to respect him.”
Moss, who also played for the 49ers in 2012, commenting on the locker-room environment in San Francisco under head coach Jim Harbaugh:
“When I came to San Francisco, one of the questions that I had pertaining to that locker room and Coach Harbaugh being the head coach was, ‘He’s treating us like college guys, like we’re still at Stanford?’ And that was one of the things I couldn’t let go. I know it has been a couple of years since I’ve been in that locker room, but is that still his approach to treating these men like college kids? I think it’s a big concern for anyone because if you’re a veteran and you’ve been in the league for 10-plus years and you have to do this a certain way, my concern for them is that this could still be a problem two or three weeks from now.”
Former Dallas Cowboys’ Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator and NFL head coach Dave Wannstedt, crediting current Dallas head coach Jason Garrett for the team’s 3-1 start:
“Jason definitely gets the nod. For the last couple of years, everybody said, ‘Could he be the head coach of the Cowboys? Could he handle all of the moving parts that are involved?’ He is dealing with Jerry Jones and he is making that relationship work. Then he changed both offensive and defensive coordinators and on offense they brought in Scott Linehan, but they also kept the old coordinator, Bill Callahan, who stayed on as the offensive line coach. So you’ve got two coordinators in that same room and then Monte Kiffin, who was the old defensive coordinator – he is still involved on defense. Right now they are fourth in the NFL on offense, 10th in the NFL on defense and he is making it all come together. I’ve got to give it to Jason Garrett; I think he is doing a great job.”
From FOX NFL SUNDAY
NFL on FOX insider Jay Glazer on the future of Harbaugh despite reassurances from players during the week that things are OK in San Francisco:
“The only thing that changed is that the players were openly talking about it and now, because it happened after a victory, they just want to keep it under wraps. But look, Jim Harbaugh has worn thin there in that locker room with the players and throughout the organization. I’ll say it again, I don’t see any way Jim Harbaugh comes back next year as the head coach of the 49ers, even if they hoist the Lombardi Trophy.”
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end and FOX NFL Sunday analyst Howie Long on the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive struggles:
“Looking at Philadelphia in the same division, the offense came to a screeching halt last week and I think it comes back to the offensive line. At one point against Washington, they were playing with four back-ups. Their running game is non-existent, which puts the onus on [Nick] Foles to carry the offense. He’s tough, he’s smart, but he’s a system quarterback, he’s not a guy that can carry a football team. When they are not running ball and they’re losing on first down, that puts it on him. People say, ‘Well [DeSean] Jackson’s not there, they’re not getting the deep ball.’ They’ve actually thrown the ball deep more this year than they did last year with Jackson. Foles has missed a lot of wide-open targets. This week, they get [Lane] Johnson back, they move [Todd] Herremans in to right guard and they get some stability back on the offensive line. If the running game gets back, I think Foles gets back on track.”
Glazer reports a new development on the shoulder injury of Arizona Cardinals’ starting quarterback Carson Palmer:
“They think they finally have a breakthrough. We all know he has been dealing with this nerve issue, but what nobody knows is that very quietly, Carson Palmer left the team on Friday, flew out to Denver and met with a nerve specialist for the last two days, the same nerve specialist who has helped out Peyton Manning. They think they’ve finally gotten that nerve to release. They’ve been baffled by it. They think that if he doesn’t have any setbacks, he could actually be back as early as next week, the week after that at the latest. Finally some good news there for Carson Palmer.”
Glazer, who first reported the Oakland Raiders fired head coach Dennis Allen on Monday, on whether that was an inevitable conclusion for the young head coach:
“I think it was. All the way in their first preseason game, they lost 10-6 to the Minnesota Vikings. Afterwards, on the team plane, owner Mark Davis came on and was livid, laying into one of the coaches. Even last week, when they were in London, Mark Davis was openly telling people how much he would love for Jon Gruden to be there, even though Dennis Allen was still the head coach.”
Long on the Buffalo Bills decision to bench 2013 first-round draft pick E.J. Manuel and start veteran Kyle Orton at quarterback:
“Last year when they picked E.J. Manuel, a lot of people thought that was a reach at 16. A really talented quarterback physically, but needed a lot of polish and a lot of finish work and that has showed up so far this year. He has been inaccurate, he has held the ball too long, which showed up last week because he was hit 16 times in that game. They feel like they are built to win now; they have a great defense, a good running game and they traded up to get Sammy Watkins to go with Robert Woods. With games today on the road in Detroit and then New England next week, they feel like the division is up for grabs and now was the time to make the move to Kyle Orton.”
Four-time Super Bowl champion and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw on the biggest thing missing from the 1-3 New Orleans Saints:
“I think if you talked to Sean Payton, the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, he has to say to himself, ‘I wish I had Darren Sproles back. I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of that back that I traded for from San Diego to complement Drew Brees in that backfield.’ Sproles was dynamic and I think more than anything, the thing that has hurt New Orleans is the fact that the presence of Sproles is now in Philadelphia and not with the Saints.”
Strahan on the strategies the Arizona Cardinals need to employ both offensively and defensively to get a win in Denver today:
“If you’re Drew Stanton on the other end for the Cardinals, you just want to keep the team on the field, you want to convert third downs and keep Peyton Manning off the field. Defensively, Callais Campbell is 6’8”. You have Tommy Kelly who is 6’6”, and if anything they might not get sacks and have the biggest sack numbers, but at that height, get your hands up and disrupt Peyton. If you’re not able to get him off his mark, then you need to visually disrupt his passing lane.”
Glazer on two off-the-field developments for the league, including testing for Human Growth Hormone and domestic violence training for team owners:
“Tomorrow, the league is going to start blood testing players for the first time for HGH. Anybody who gets popped faces a four-game suspension. This week, at the league owners’ meeting, the league is putting the owners through the new domestic violence training. They want them to go through the same thing the coaches and players will go through.”
Two-time Super Bowl-winning Dallas Cowboys head coach and FOX NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson on his impressions of the current Dallas team:
“When I look at this Cowboys team, it brings back memories. When Troy Aikman was up for the Hall of Fame, everybody said, ‘Well what about his numbers, what about his stats?’ I’d say, ‘We are a power running football team and Troy is going to pick and choose when he throws the ball.’ When you look at Tony Romo over the last couple of weeks, he completed 77 percent of his passes with only one interception. That’s the key to winning. The other thing, running that football will help that defense; we were No. 1 in the league in total defense back when we were winning Super Bowls, that’s protecting that defense now.”
Bradshaw on the Kansas City-San Francisco matchup today and quarterback Alex Smith returning to the Bay Area to face the team that drafted him first overall in 2005:
“Alex Smith, the quarterback for the Chiefs was traded from the 49ers. He was the first player taken in the draft and the first spread-option quarterback to come into the National Football League and it takes a lot to learn how to play from the pocket. Now he goes to Andy Reid down in Kansas City, a great place for him to be. Nothing serves the human spirit better than bitterness and I think Alex Smith is bitter that he got [traded] from San Francisco, and today he plays great.”
Long on today’s match-up between the Cowboys’ dominating offensive line and the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt:
“It was the offensive line then and it’s the offensive line now. They’ve got their hands full today with J.J. Watt. To me, he is the most disruptive player in football and because of his versatility, you’re not sure where he is going to line up. He gives every offensive lineman a sleepless night the night before and he has led the league in quarterback hits the last two seasons. He already has 16 to date and last week versus Buffalo, he had nine quarterback hits and is on pace for 64 this season. He is the most disruptive player in football and I’m not sure if there is a way to deal with him.”
Long on the lack of quality and competitiveness in the league’s Thursday Night Football games so far this season:
“Typically, these Thursday night games started Week 8, Week 9, now they’re starting at the beginning of the season. You’ve got a limited offseason, it’s earlier in the year and I think the gameday rosters go up from 53, I’d like to see another eight-to-10 players added to the roster.”
Johnson on the struggles of the New Orleans defense early in the season:
When you look at Rob Ryan’s defense, they’ve had one takeaway this entire year. On top of that, he relies so much on schemes and pressures, and teams are figuring out the schemes. The other thing is the pressure. He hasn’t been able to put the pressure on because he hasn’t had the home crowd noise. That’s one reason they’ve lost three road games.”
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