Clayton's Blog: Observations from Thursday night (A Few Skins Mentions)

[Califan007 The Constipated]

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=2149909&name=clayton

Here are some observations I had after watching some preseason action Thursday night.

1. It wasn't pretty watching the early battle between Patrick Ramsey of the Redskins and Kyle Boller of the Ravens. Despite their talents, they are making bad decisions. Fortunately for the players and their teams, the mistakes are correctable.

2. Allowing Brett Favre to play for more than a quarter against the Titans was too much of a risk. Favre limped off the field with an ankle injury in the first quarter, but returned to action and threw a touchdown pass. Serving as a strange consolation, the sequence in which Favre got hurt might help solve the right guard debate. William Whitticker, though a talented seventh-round pick, had trouble blocking on that play, as well as a few others. Scott Peters did well and may have won the job. The Packers probably need to go with a more experienced guard heading into the season.

3. Anthony Thomas ran well enough to probably make the Cowboys, even if they will be four deep at halfback. It might be too much of a risk for the Cowboys to go into the regular season with second-year back Julius Jones and two rookies (Marion Barber and Tyson Thompson).

4. The Texans' poor showing against the Bucs in a 38-14 loss was eerily similar to their bad performance against the Steelers in the preseason last year. It's no big deal for the Eagles to lose 37-14 to the Jets because they didn't play their starters. The Texans had their starters out there in the first half and looked bad. This is a talented team that should do better. David Carr was particularly bad, with two interceptions.

5. It appears Justin Gage has won the Bears' receiving job on the other side of Muhsin Muhammad. Still, rookie Mark Bradley continues to look good. He'll help rookie quarterback Kyle Orton.

6. Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell does look better this year than he did last year. He's running with more strength. Ramsey is the starter; that isn't in question. But if the Redskins go back to Brunell -- which probably will happen at some point -- he will do better than his 48 percent completion rate of last year.

7. The Titans look like they have a good defensive end in Antwan Odom. He has put good pressure on quarterbacks during the preseason. He finished well against the Packers.

8. The Packers still have to be concerned about the flags being thrown at cornerback Ahmad Carroll. He was benched after two penalties were called on him. He was the most penalized cornerback last year. Joey Thomas may end up with the starting cornerback job on the other side of Al Harris.

9. Forget about the idea of having Pacman Jones as a punt returner. He has muffed four punt returns in two games. He's not ready to get in position to make the catches.

10. Darren Sproles adds an exciting element to the Chargers' offense. He's a 5-foot-6 version of Barry Sanders. Philip Rivers tossed a ball to him as he was being sacked, and he took it into the end zone for a touchdown against the 49ers. The guy has speed and moves. He's a terrific addition as a role player on offense along with special teams.

Quick hits

• Saints fourth-round choice Chase Lyman reached agreement Thursday on a contract to end his holdout. That leaves only one unsigned player: Rams third-round choice Richie Incognito. Lyman, a wide receiver from California, is expected to miss the season because of a knee injury, so he wasn't expected in training camp. The team will have a roster exemption until Sept. 12, but he will either go on the injured reserve list or the physically unable to perform list so he doesn't eat up a roster spot. Incognito is coming off a knee injury suffered during the scouting combine in Indianapolis. He could be able to play sometime this season. He's been training in Phoenix. The Rams are going to try to continue talks with him Friday, but the two sides aren't close to a deal.

• As long as defensive tackle Corey Simon is healthy, the Colts' plan would be to use him around 15 snaps in the opener against the Ravens. Simon, signed to a five-year, $30 million contract by the Colts Thursday, has to watch out for potential hamstring injuries. The Colts require a lot of running for their defensive linemen. Simon will have to undergo a major adjustment in the drills he will run, but the team is aware of that. The Colts don't plan to rush things. They believe Simon is the missing piece and a major value for their defense. They plan to be smart about things.

• The phones haven't been busy for former Broncos halfback Maurice Clarett. He cleared waivers Wednesday and is waiting for teams interested in signing him. It appears he is headed to the practice squad at best. Every team has been contacted and the response hasn't been good. Clarett has been put on hold until after the final cut down. It's not out of the question for Clarett not to get a practice squad opportunity. If an NFL team doesn't take a chance on him, Clarett might have to consider the CFL for next year or playing in NFL Europe in 2006.

• In case you were wondering, a total of 43 veterans with at least four years of experience were released in the cut down to 65 this week. Wide receivers drew the most interest in re-signings. Peter Warrick signed with the Seahawks. Darnerien McCants went to Philadelphia. Peerless Price has visited the Patriots, Dolphins and Cowboys. Troy Edwards signed with the Jaguars. The surprising thing was that only eight players were claimed on waivers.

[bubba9497]

the great gazoo spoke

[carter23]

where else has it been reported that dmac signed with the eagles?