The clock is ticking for Michael Crabtree. He remains the lone unsigned rookie from the 2009 NFL Draft and after this weekend’s schedule is complete, he will have missed three games as a part of what appears to be a pretty talented San Francisco 49ers team. Michael’s agent, Eugene Parker, is at an impasse with the Niners and neither side seems willing to budge on contract negotiations. The 49ers have made their offer. And the Crabtree team has rejected it. If the two sides don’t come to some kind of agreement before November 17, Michael will be forced to re-enter …read more

N.Y. Jets head coach Rex Ryan named rookie Mark Sanchez their starting quarterback for the 2009 season this morning at a press conference. Mark will begin his journey as the Jets starting QB on September 13 at Houston. I’m not surprised by this decision. A lot was made of Mark’s less-than-perfect performance (3-of-8 passing for 43 yards with a touchdown and interception) in Monday night’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. But he made some good throws, too. Make no mistake. There are going to be growing pains. The Jets would be pretty naive to think there won’t be interceptions …read more

N.Y. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez won’t really have to get used to being the center of attention. He had plenty of practice as the starting QB for the USC Trojans the past season-and-a-half. But every move he makes is going to be held under a microscope by the New York media. So, he’d better be prepared for the best and the worst.
The best, for Mark, would be a GQ pictorial that came out earlier this week. Today’s minicamp practice was leaning toward the worst. Working with the Jets second team offense, Mark struggled with 7-on-7, red zone and two-minute drills. …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The National Football League announced today the names of 46 players who have been granted special eligibility for the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25-26. Each of the 46 players has met the league’s three-year eligibility rule and each has submitted a written application in which he renounced his remaining college football eligibility. The deadline for receiving applications was January 15. In alphabetical order, those players are:
Asher Allen DB Georgia Kenny; Britt WR Rutgers; Eben Britton OT Arizona; Donald Brown RB Connecticut; Everette Brown DE Florida St.; Carson Butler TE Michigan; Jairus Byrd DB Oregon; …read more