National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The Minnesota Vikings defensive line — and the strength of their entire team (sorry Adrian) — is in jeopardy of being completely dismantled. Defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams are scheduled to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tomorrow to discuss testing positive for a weight-loss diuretic (aka StarCaps) that is on the list of substances banned by the league. They’re both looking at possible four-game suspensions. And defensive end Jared Allen will also meet with Commissioner Goodell to talk about his recent questionable hits on quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers (Packers) and Matt Schaub (Texans). He’s …read more

Getty Images
National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
With key offseason acquisitions like defensive end Jared Allen and receiver Bernard Berrian, the Minnesota Vikings had the kind of 2008 expectations worthy of a Super Bowl contender. As it turns out, the first half of this season didn’t quite go as planned. But coming off one of their most complete games of the season, a 28-21 win over the Houston Texans, the Vikings are back to .500 and close to playing the kind of football they expected of themselves in training camp. I interviewed Vikings cornerback (and 2nd leading tackler) Cedric Griffin from …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Here’s an NFL rarity. Green Bay Packers receiver Greg Jennings won’t discuss a potential new contract until after the season is over. He doesn’t want to be a distraction to his teammates. Not even after quarterback Aaron Rodgers got his new deal this afternoon. Greg’s deal is not set to expire until after the 2009 season, but Monday is the deadline for NFL teams to apply any increase in a player’s base salary to the 2008 salary cap. This allows teams to use up any available room they have now. Well, the Packers have (ok, …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The Green Bay Packers locked up quarterback Aaron Rodgers through the 2014 season today. Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations (wow, that’s a long title) Ted Thompson made the announcement this afternoon:
“As we talked about in the past, we try to be proactive in our discussions with our current players and we felt like this was an appropriate time to try to come to an agreement with Aaron. We feel like this is good for the organization and the players, and we will continue this approach as we move forward.”
Terms of …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The Green Bay Packers will have to wait until Sunday morning to find out if quarterback Aaron Rodgers is fit to play against the Atlanta Falcons. His throwing shoulder is still bothering him. Aaron injured it in a loss to Tampa Bay last week. And it will be during pregame warmups that the final decision will be made. Aaron is officially listed as questionable but did manage to get some throwing in yesterday. If Aaron can’t go, it’s rookie Matt Flynn’s job. Head coach Mike McCarthy thinks the team is ready either way:
“Hopefully [Aaron] will …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers hurt his right shoulder during a 30-21 loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs today. Aaron left the game before the Packers first offensive possession of the fourth quarter and returned seven minutes later with his team down 23-21. The Packers don’t expect to know how serious the injury is until tomorrow (Aaron himself said it might be dislocated or separated) and head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t have any idea if his all-or-nothing quarterback will be OK for next week’s game:
“I have no idea. It’s too early to tell. He …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
After all the mental anguish Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers went through in the Brett Favre “unretirement” saga this past offseason, I’m surprised he’s able to complete a forward pass. All he’s done is start the 2008 season with back-to-back stellar performances, beating two division rivals (the Vikings and Lions) in compiling 506 passing yards, four touchdowns and a top five 117.8 QB rating. Those are — dare I say — Brett Favre-like numbers. But Packers head coach Mike McCarthy notices one glaring difference. Aaron is less likely to throw the ball into a …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Check out this incredible catch by Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones during tonight’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals. On a first-and-ten at the Bengals 30, quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw the ball wide to James over the middle of the field, forcing him to really stretch out to make a juggling grab in traffic. But J2 did so without hesitation (no alligator arms), got sandwiched between DBs Deltha O’Neal and Marvin White, emerged without his helmet (which flew about five yards upfield), stayed on his feet and raced into the endzone for a …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Finally, the other guys. After two weeks of going against teammates in training camp, all NFL clubs will be able to see a real, live opponent this weekend. It’s the first full weekend of NFL preseason football, bookended by nationally televised games tonight and Monday night.
Tonight – New Orleans at Arizona (ESPN, 8 p.m.) New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who has completed the most passes for the most yards in the NFL over the past two years, thinks there is always room for improvement — by himself and his team. He wants to get back …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Brett Favre was reinstated into the National Football League by Commissioner Roger Goodell today. The decision will become officially effective at 1 p.m. EST tomorrow when Brett will be added to the Green Bay Packers active roster. The Packers accepted Brett’s forced return to the team today after failing to come to a financial agreement that would manage to make him happy while staying retired. A $20 million financial agreement, mind you. So to recap, Brett would rather make $12 million to play football vs. $20 million to not play football. I know, it probably …read more