Friday Notes: Culpepper to Start; Lions Sign Alexander, Release Ervin
by Sean Yuille on Aug 28, 2009 12:50 PM EDT
in Detroit Lions Notes
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Print- Daunte Culpepper will start for the Lions against Indianapolis tomorrow. Culpepper will play for all of the first quarter and half of the second. Matthew Stafford will come in after that and play until the end of the third quarter. (Drew Stanton will get to play in the fourth quarter.) The starters will be in the game for both Culpepper and Stafford, allowing the coaches to get a look at what each can do with the No. 1 offense.
Jim Schwartz cautioned to not read into this very much, as someone has to go out there first. He also made sure to mention that a starter probably won't be named until the week of the Saints game, and even then we probably won't hear who is getting the start until right before the game. That way the Saints have to spend time preparing for both quarterbacks. - The Lions signed linebacker Rufus Alexander and released running back Allen Ervin on Thursday. Alexander has previously played for the Vikings and Colts. Ervin had played quite well in the first preseason game before suffering an injury the next week in practice. He was not going to play on Saturday, and the Lions probably figured he wasn't going to make the team, so it's best to move on and give someone else a chance.
- Starting cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Anthony Henry both will not play against the Colts. Keith Smith will play in his first preseason game, but I think Peyton Manning is going to have a field day with our secondary. He very well may have anyways, but with the starters out this probably will get ugly really quickly.
- Dennis Northcutt has also been ruled out of tomorrow's game.
- Kevin Smith and Ernie Sims are going to be game-time decisions tomorrow.
- Brandon Pettigrew is going to play against Indianapolis.
- Daniel Loper and Manny Ramirez are battling it out for the starting spot at left guard.
- People were actually lined up at Ford Field's box office to buy Lions tickets when they went on sale Thursday morning.
- With all of this talk about backup kickers lately, Jim Schwartz decided to show the team a clip of when offensive line coach George Yarno kicked an extra point back when he played for the Buccaneers. He was actually the long snapper, but when the starting kicker got hurt, Yarno ended up coming in as the emergency backup and did quite well.
(More after the jump)
- The Vikings' locker room reportedly is already divided on Brett Favre.
- Roy Williams hurt his shoulder last night during a Cowboys practice and will likely miss the rest of the preseason. There was a report from PFT that he broke his collarbone, but his X-rays came back negative.
- The Broncos have suspended Brandon Marshall.
- The Cowboys are not going to have to raise their giant scoreboard, as the NFL has simply created a do over rule, meaning that if a punt hits the scoreboard, the play will just be done again. I realize it would cost $2 million to raise the scoreboard, but this rule is just stupid. The Cowboys have spent over a billion dollars on the stadium already, so what's another $2 million? Besides, they are the ones responsible for not testing this out in the first place, so they should be responsible for fixing the problem. This rule will just cause problems, and I can't wait to see the outcry the first time a do over punt is blocked.
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Why didn’t the Lions cut Cason? We all know what they have with him- a wasted roster spot. Don’t get me wrong, Cason has more football talent in a pinky toenail clipping then I will ever possess, but the dude flat-out sucks.
Glad to see ‘Grew will finally play, can’t wait to see him bulldoze over Gary Brackett. Maybe the 1st team offense will finally move the ball with him and the Johnsons out there
I don't know...
…that I would say he sucks. He definitely isn’t very good though. He could be the least explosive, least exciting, least productive player (and all of this with zero potential for improvement) on the roster, but….wait….what’s the definition of “sucks” again…?
If a team pressures a QB....
…..The qb will struggle…..detroit has to get pressure on Manning and they will be fine….However that has been a problem so far this preseason
by BennieBladesFan on Aug 28, 2009 1:41 PM EDT reply actions
The problem with that
is when our linebackers blitz, we don’t have the secondary to cover up for the loss of men, even if the QB has less time to throw
We didn't lose the games, we just ran out of time -- Bobby Layne
the problem is that blitz doesn't always equal pressure
and pressure is less effective when coverage isn’t good
It's shocking what you can miss sometimes. The amazing color changing card trick.
by shake n bake on Aug 29, 2009 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Cason isnt my fav player......
…..But he does well on special teams…..Not returning but on covering kicks and punts….If you watch hes one of the 1st ones down everytime
by BennieBladesFan on Aug 28, 2009 1:42 PM EDT reply actions
That's it!
I know how I would describe Cason now. He’s the NFL equivalent of a Hollywood “Extra”. Bennie is right, he is usually down there quickly on coverage (rarely makes the tackle) but he always seems to be the guy getting blocked from making a play. He is technically a returner, but he is basically the best guy on the team for making the fair catch sign. So just like a Hollywood Extra is asked to sit in the background, without any lines, occasionally reacting to whatever is going on in the actual scene…Cason is player on the field that is there to not make plays, but occasionally react to the movement around him.
He.....
…..disrupts the other team in that he always down there…..Im not saying keep him on the roster im just saying he gets down there quick
by BennieBladesFan on Aug 28, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Sean, this is a little off the topic but do you have any data on which SB Nation sites are the most active?
In my travels around the other team sites, it seems that POD is one of the busiest, if not THE BUSIEST team site. The only site I found that has more comments and articles and fanposts was [possibly] the Eagles site.
It would be interesting to see how we stacked up. Kudos for the great job you are doing with this site. A tip of the hat helmet to Drew for his sterling contributions too.
I second the kudos
It’s great that even in a long offseason there’s always fresh content. Thanks to everybody for their contributions, especially Sean for putting in the hours every day to maintain/admin PoD.
Not sure
A ton of blogs are very active, especially on the NFL front. That would be interesting to see, though.
Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog
Punting at the Dallas GodzillaTron...
Looking at Dallas’ home games, they have five of the top 15 punters from last year (in distance, I couldn’t find these guys ranked by hangtime), including Shane Lechler (OAK) and Mike Scifres (SD), multiple ProBowlers each.
2008 Rank (yards) TEAM……AVG
2 Shane Lechler OAK……48.8
6 Mike Scifres SD……45.7
7 John Ryan SEA ……45.6
14 Jason Baker CAR……44.1
15 Jeff Feagles NYG……44.0
I hope these guys keep repeatedly hitting the scoreboard—they certainly have the legs to do so—just to piss off the Cowboys fans and embarrass Jerry Jones for this stadium screw-up. What a great scene that would be!
If there is a re-do on a punt, can anyone see and advantage to either squad, the returning team or the punting team, or does everybody get beat up pretty equally? Maybe as a delay tactic?
Yeah, you're right, and it's probably harder on the blockers up front trying to protect the punter
but wouldn’t it be fun just to watch a punting unit Breakout against the Dallas Jumbotron?
What about making a run at Marshall?
I don’t know how much room we have with the cap and all the money related issues, but the guy is a beast. I know it would seem like the old lions to go out and get a WR but this is not the draft. Marshall is a proven thing; albeit he has some off field issues but I am sure there is a way to build in protections in a contract for the team if he gets in more trouble and can’t play. B. Johnson is a decent player but not even close to Marshall’s level and having Marshall on one side and Megatron on the other would be amazing. i would be willing to part with a 3rd round pick and maybe something more for him. What do you guys think. I mean Denver is in a tough spot now and can’t really expect to get far value for him anymore.
Marshall is a beast!
Young, talented, and nearly impossible to cover…I dare say the Lions would have the best receiving tandem in the entire NFL if not one of the best ever to take the field together. After almost a decade of watching talentless players make lackluster plays, I would love to actually have what we were supposed to be getting. A group of wide receivers that would give defensive coordinators nightmares. I would take on the off the field issues in a heartbeat to bring him in. But hey…that’s me.
He did just get suspended for insubordination
So how happy would he be to come onto last year’s worst team, and be a #2 receiver? (even if you don’t call him a “#2” receiver, he’s still not quite as good as CJ and doesn’t know the offense yet so he wouldn’t get the receptions he would probably want).
I’d love it if we could have someone with Marshall’s talent paired up with CJ, but not a diva receiver who quits on his team, or mouths off when he’s not happy—we basically just had the same thing with Roy Williams only not quite as bad as Marshall is being.
Everything I've read...
…makes it seem as though he is mostly irritated with the destruction of a dynamic offense, and his role in whatever the new one will be. Was he chirping that much last season when Cutler and him were pairing up for all that offense? If he was, I honestly don’t remember it. Let’s not forget that this is the same franchise that pissed off their franchise quarterback enough to demand a move as well. Not that I condone players demanding their way out of a bad situation, but there’s obviously some bad blood between management/coaches and the locker room. Again, I would prefer players keep their frustration out of the media, and having the media jam it down our throats, but let’s be honest…if you went from Jay Cutler dropping bombs downfield to Kyle Orton dinking and dunking underneath I think you’d be pissed too. I know I would be.
I hear you but...
I think a change of scenery, a new contract, and the chance to prove Denver and the naysayers wrong would produce a much different person on and off field. I agree he is not on CJ’s level talent wise but he can still put up the stats he is used too. Two 80 – 100 reception &10 TD a year WR’s on one team is possible and that combination produces wins and winning cures any problem.
I think I already said this....actually I know I did....lol
Culpepper, Bryant Johnson, and a 3rd rounder to Denver for Marshall….I would do that trade all day and twice on tuesday.
Talent wise
That sounds great.
But Marshall is gonna want a contract and that’s gonna be a lot of money at QB, WR1, and WR2.
Our RB is gonna want money someday (unless we just follow the young cheap RB theory and let em go get money elsewhere).
God forbid we draft a high OT or DT or DE next year…cha-ching. Free agent Cornerbacks make a ton of money too.
Maybe it works. I imagine Manning, Harrison, and Wayne cost some money for a few years and that worked out pretty well. I don’t know if Wayne was expensive though.
I don’t play Madden so I’m in a low percentile of fans with salary cap knowledge…
by HoorayForEverything on Aug 28, 2009 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Right on
Culpepper is a one year player at most and Bryant Johnson has shown nothing in a few years in the league, hopefully the Lions go after Marshall – Calvin Johnson needs another damn good receiver to pair with.
by LionsfaninCT on Aug 29, 2009 12:30 AM EDT up reply actions
Marshall's next off the field incident will get him suspended 8+ games because of his history
and he may or may not be healthy right now. He has issues on top of issues.
It's shocking what you can miss sometimes. The amazing color changing card trick.
by shake n bake on Aug 29, 2009 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions
How fitting that EP kicked was against the Lions
and of course they commited a penalty on it.
Notes thoughts
I’m pretty worried about missing Henry and Buchanon for the match, Peyton and Wayne will destroy our secondary. In saying that, I’m thrilled that the Johnson’s and Grew are gonna be on the field. We may finally see what this year’s offence can offer.
It’s good to hear that people are still lining up to get tickets for this team, I’m sure there would be quite a few other fanbases that wouldn’t be nearly as enthusiastic.
Lastly, It’s good to hear about the divide in the Vikes locker room, the more the better.
2009 = The start of the Lions Golden Age (We hope).
Gunther might step up the blitzing %
Hurrying Peyton into making 2 or 3 step throws instead of having all day in the pocket for those 30 yard+ gains. That’s going to be more productive than sitting back in a dime/prevent package and getting picked apart.
When the LEGAL side-effects of a substance, cause more harm to the person, than the side effect of the substance its self, we have an injustice.
- Jimmy Carter
Missing Ervin already.
Just how bad was Ervin hurt? He ran for more yards in one game that Cason seems to get in one season. What a disappointment.
Typical Cason run. Run left, get touched, fall down.
Oh well, what did I expect. Still won’t win unless our lines do their job.
NFL Network Stream
working, and fast. http://www.justin.tv/frankcal20
When the LEGAL side-effects of a substance, cause more harm to the person, than the side effect of the substance its self, we have an injustice.
- Jimmy Carter
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