National Football League

Around the NFL for Week 8

Published Oct. 29, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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AROUND THE LEAGUE

Bush-whacked: Again, the cat's out of the bag on this one, but The Sports Xchange can say without equivocation that New Orleans tailback Reggie Bush, who is still rehabbing his fractured right leg, will not play against Pittsburgh on Sunday night.

"It's 100 percent (he won't play)," agent Joel Segal told The Sports Xchange. "But it's getting close."

The Sports Xchange reported weeks ago that Bush, who was injured in the second game of the season, would return before the six-week stretch that was originally prescribed for his recovery. Bush and the team are confident the second overall pick in the 2006 draft will return for the Saints' Nov. 7 game at Carolina.

There was a lot of outside media criticism of Saints officials for keeping Bush, and his $8 million salary this season, leading into camp. But many Saints players were outspoken about his importance to the offense, and they now point to his absence as an element in the club's problems. With Bush set to pocket $11.8 million in 2011, it might be a little tougher for Saints officials to keep the former Southern Cal star around next season.

But one Saints official told The Sports Xchange he expects Bush to sign an extension, which will reduce his '11 base salary, before things ever get to the tough-decision point. And if the Saints opt to not pay Bush, several clubs will make him "financially whole," provided he's healthy.

In the dark: As reported earlier this week by the Twin Cities newspapers that cover the team, Minnesota backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is "ready to go" if Brett Favre is not able to start the Vikings' game at New England on Sunday afternoon. But as of Friday morning, honest, Jackson wasn't certain about Favre's status for the game and probably won't be until pregame warmups.

"You just get yourself ready, prepare as if you're going to be the guy, like you always do, and see what happens," Jackson told The Sports Xchange on Thursday afternoon.

There exists a suspicion among a few Minnesota players, who shall remain nameless, that coach Brad Childress would prefer to sit Favre for at least a week, allow his ankle to heal and take his chances with Jackson, whom the Vikings drafted in 2007. So it will be interesting to see if Favre limps onto the field at Gillette Stadium for the key game.

Jackson has not started a regular-season game since the finale of the 2008 campaign or a game in general since the wild-card playoff loss to Philadelphia that ended the Vikes' 2008 season on Jan. 4, 2009. The fifth-year veteran has only 170 attempts since the start of the 2008 season and only 21 the past two years. You think Bill Belichick doesn't have a pretty good game plan for facing either a gimpy-ankled quarterback or a guy who hasn't started in 21 months?

Unlucky Pierre: The Saints' starting tailback, Pierre Thomas, will miss a fifth straight game Sunday because of a badly sprained left ankle. There was some media speculation that Thomas' absence in recent weeks might be related to issues other than the ankle, but that doesn't appear to be the case. In fact, Thomas showed up at the team facility Thursday sporting a walking boot and somewhat dejected by the lack of physical progress he has made lately.

That said, there are some folks in the New Orleans hierarchy who believe the fourth-year veteran has been less than happy with his contract. A previous Tip Sheet reported that Thomas was seeking a multi-year deal along the lines of Steven Jackson's six-year, $44.8 million contract in St. Louis. That might have been a tad overstated, but there is no doubt Thomas wanted a pricey, multi-year deal.

The Saints, who prefer a tailback-by-committee-and-circumstance approach, were not going to pay that kind of money to a onetime undrafted college free agent who is very good but who hasn't carried 200 times in a year or rushed for even 800 yards. Local media reported that a multi-year contract would get done before the season started. But Thomas ended up signing the one-year restricted free-agent tender for $1.684 million. He's not thrilled by that, but New Orleans officials insist his attitude is not connected to the length of his recovery.

Maybin mess: In response to the coaching staff's decision to make him inactive last week for the first time in his pro career, Buffalo Bills second-year linebacker Aaron Maybin said the move was "a slap in the face."

But for Maybin, the 11th overall selection in the 2009 draft, the real haymaker might be yet to come. It probably won't arrive this season, not with the salary-cap ramifications and the fact the Bills have paid so much to the former Penn State star, despite his lack of production. But the Bills could release Maybin after this season and take the cap hit for doing so, for a lot of reasons.

First, the 3-4 experiment in Buffalo, a large part of the reason the Bills chose Maybin in 2009, is all but over. Buffalo seems set to go back to a 4-3 front, and Maybin, who sources told The Sports Xchange is down to 235-240 pounds, isn't a good fit for the scheme. An explosive outside rusher in college, Maybin isn't stout enough to play end in a 4-3 and isn't athletic enough to line up at linebacker.

Second, Maybin, whose one career start is one more than his sack total in 21 games (he also has only 14 tackles), isn't viewed by the Buffalo staff as a hard worker.

And finally, the current Bills staff, which doesn't have a lot of use for Maybin, has no investment in him. Neither general manager Buddy Nix nor coach Chan Gailey was part of the decision-making hierarchy that opted for Maybin in the '09 draft.

And there is some chance they might not meet again any time soon, instead continuing the dialogue by conference call in the next few weeks.

"I don't know that everyone necessarily has to be in the same room," Sexton told The Sports Xchange. "I think it's a good step that we're all working together to find some common ground. Something has to be done, because right now it's a mess and the honest guys are suffering along with everyone else. In the public perception, all (agents) are being painted with the same brush."

One idea broached by the panel: a universal recruiting calendar that would dictate when agents could and couldn't have contact with players.

While all of the alleged chicanery is going on, a tip of the cap to two of the quarterbacks expected to be first-round picks next spring but who supposedly are doing things the right way. According to discussions with several agents who plan to pursue them as clients, Jake Locker of Washington and Ryan Mallett of Arkansas have rebuffed overtures and plan to wait until their respective seasons are completed before sitting down with prospective player representatives. If it's true, good for them.

Gonzo a go-go: Despite reports that Indianapolis wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez had aggravated the high ankle sprain that has limited the fourth-year veteran to one game this year and subsequent suggestions that coach Jim Caldwell was being less than forthright about the player's physical condition, The Sports Xchange has been told by Gonzalez's representatives that no such injury occurred.

That said, with tight end Dallas Clark gone for the year because of a season-ending wrist injury and wide receiver Austin Collie sidelined for at least a few weeks by hand surgery, it's time for the 2007 first-rounder to demonstrate he is worthy of such a lofty draft status.

The former Ohio State standout was chosen in 2007 because he was regarded as the top slot receiver in the draft and was projected to replace Brandon Stokley in that key role for the Colts, who usually align with at least three wideouts. But injuries have held him back. Gonzalez has played in only two games since the end of the 2008 season and has just 12 catches since grabbing a career-best 57 balls in '08.

He'll likely get plenty of chances in the slot now, assuming the original ankle injury is healed, and he said this week that's just about the case. With Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon on the outside and a legitimate opportunity to make up for some of the frustration he has suffered the past couple of seasons, Gonzalez is expected to make plays in the passing game.

The Colts seem confident Gonzalez will play well. But if he doesn't, it won't be because of a reinjured ankle but because the old injury is not yet 100 percent. We know it, and they know we know it.

Slot cars: It's easy to use New England's Wes Welker, who has three straight years of 100-plus catches, as the gold standard for slot receivers in the league. The Pats star certainly has the best quickness, particularly over a 10- or 12-yard stretch, of any inside receiver. And short-area quickness, and the ability to run through the kind of traffic one usually encounters in the middle of the field, are prerequisites for the slot receiver position.

But if you're looking for an up-and-comer who is both quick and fast, you might want to consider Cincinnati rookie Jordan Shipley. The former Texas star lasted until the third round of the draft, in part because he ran only a 4.57-second 40-yard dash at the Combine and wasn't perceived as being nearly as fast as advertised. But the Bengals' scouting staff, which is often criticized, got some better 40 times on Shipley and considered him tougher than a lot of clubs did.

The No. 84 pick overall in April, Shipley has established himself as the club's slot guy and also as one of the fastest slot receivers in the league.

"Did you see the guy? He just exploded," Atlanta safety Thomas DeCoud said after Shipley took a short pass 64 yards for a touchdown last week. "I mean, the man can run (fast)."

Shipley has 21 catches for 321 yards and one touchdown in six games. But his 15.3-yard average is second best among pure slot receivers with more than a dozen catches. That's a respectable projection to 56 catches for the year. And expect Shipley to get the ball more as he and quarterback Carson Palmer become more comfortable with one another.

Freaky Freeman: One can debate the claim of Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris that his Bucs are "the best team" in the unsettled NFC. But it's hard to argue with the way the Bucs are retooling with youth, even if the club is criticized for its spending practices and the team might not sell out a single home game this year.

And it's difficult to quibble with the man around whom Morris and general manager Mark Dominik have opted to build. Second-year quarterback Josh Freeman, the Bucs' first-round pick in 2009, looks to be the real deal. And he's a guy fast becoming the face of the franchise. One of the NFL's biggest quarterbacks and a player who reminds some of Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger in terms of size and mobility, the former Kansas State standout has registered seven victories in his brief time as a starter, and he engineered fourth-quarter rallies in five of those wins.

Freeman is a guy who appears calm and confident, and he seems to prompt those same feelings in his teammates.

"He's definitely the man in control," said tight end Kellen Winslow. "He's 'freaky cool,' man. He doesn't let anything get to him."

Call it the "Mildcat": When he leveled Cleveland receiver-turned-single-wing-quarterback Josh Cribbs a couple of weeks ago, Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison pronounced the play "the end" to the Wildcat formation. He wasn't quite right yet, of course, but Harrison might have been prophetical. One league general manager who keeps good tabs on formations but who had yet to complete his update of last week's games, told The Sports Xchange this week the Wildcat has "easily been used less than 100 times" league-wide this season.

"Probably less than 70 times and that's, what, not even an average of one a game?" the GM said. "It's essentially disappearing over the horizon."

The Miami Dolphins, who introduced the Wildcat to the NFL lexicon two years ago, have unofficially used the formation just 16 times in 2010 and gained 27 yards. Tailback Ronnie Brown, the Dolphins' principal Wildcat practitioner, has only 22 yards on 11 runs. Miami hasn't used the Wildcat at all in two of its past three games.

Said Brown: "It's still in (the playbook), but ..."

Wally world: Kansas City GM Pioli gets plenty of credit above, and deservedly so, for the Chiefs' revival this season. But his predecessor, Carl Peterson, did a lot of good things, too, for the franchise and the Lamar Hunt family and shouldn't be summarily relegated to persona non grata status.

One of the things Peterson did well was to sign promising undrafted college free agents to multi-year deals, usually for two seasons and occasionally for three. The standard free-agent deal around the league, even to this day, is for one season. The normal rationale in the NFL is that the signing team still has the player controlled as an exclusive-rights free agent, even with just a one-year contract. But Peterson's frequent preference for the multi-year contract paid some dividends for the Chiefs and is doing so again this season.

Signed to a three-year contract as an undrafted player in 2008, former Alabama standout defensive lineman Wallace Gilberry has been a valuable and productive reserve for the club. In six appearances, Gilberry has six tackles and two sacks. That might not sound like much, but in the 3-4 defense, linemen aren't paid to make tackles. And the two sacks are more than anyone on the Kansas City roster with the exception of linebacker Tamba Hali. That's more sacks than former first-round picks Glenn Dorsey (a half a sack) or Tyson Jackson (zero) this year.

Gilberry, who is big enough to play end and sometimes moves inside to tackle, registered 41/2 sacks in 2009. And the best part is that Gilberry, who can be a restricted free agent in the spring but might approach the Kansas City brass about an extension before he hits the market, is making only $475,000 for 2010.

Not so merry man: In what is believed to be the fourth switch of representation in his six-year career, San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman changed from one prominent agent to another, going from Tom Condon to David Dunn five months ago. Scuttlebutt is that Merriman believed the move would lead to his trade or release. But the trade deadline has passed, and two weeks after he went onto injured reserve with a "minor" designation, meaning the Chargers had to cut him when healthy. So Merriman is still not free. Speculation is the Chargers' brass is playing hardball because it believes Merriman's calf injury isn't as bad as made out to be. It costs the Chargers $192,294 for every week they keep Merriman around, and San Diego probably won't sit on him forever, but there seems to be something besides just football at work here.

Len Pasquarelli is a Senior NFL Writer for The Sports Xchange. He has covered the NFL for 33 years and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. His NFL coverage earned recognition as the winner of the McCann Award for distinguished reporting in 2008.