In the aftermath of his heated exchange with local radio hosts, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has succeeded in one thing: deflection.
Despite the team’s blowout loss on his 82nd birthday, Jones has completely taken the heat off his players and coaching staff during their bye week. It’s been all about Jerry’s outburst — very little about the Cowboys’ underachieving offense or their struggling defense.
EXCLUSIVE: Jerry Jones made waves on the radio Tuesday.
Last night in Atlanta, he told @DMRussini why he pushed back on hosts questioning his lack of offseason moves.
Listen: https://t.co/G7MT07dBjG pic.twitter.com/F1E0QRKklf
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 16, 2024
Jones told me at the owners’ meetings in Atlanta that he has no plans to fire head coach Mike McCarthy or any coordinators. He also added that Dallas won’t be making roster moves before the NFL trade deadline in November. He may be an irritated owner at the moment, but he still believes in what “Jerry the GM” has built.
The Cowboys are off this weekend, but we have tons of action, starting early on Sunday in London. This is what I’m hearing from around the league:
• Tomlin’s QB choice results in heads being scratched across the league
• Miami Dolphins fans rejoice: Tua has a return date
• Ten names to watch (and one you can probably forget) as the trade deadline nears
• Saquon Barkley says it’s just another game, but is it?
• Kickers have become too good, and the NFL might have a plan to stop them
Tomlin’s bold move
What the hell is Mike Tomlin doing? That’s the question being asked around the league, including in the Steelers’ own building (and even in the building of the New York Jets, Pittsburgh’s Week 7 opponent), as Tomlin is set to make a curious quarterback change on Sunday night.
Tomlin has earned the benefit of the doubt. He’s one of the best coaches in the NFL, and he has tons of credibility in league circles and in locker rooms in Pittsburgh and beyond. It’s hard to question him, but this one is a puzzler.
The Steelers are sitting at 4-2 with Justin Fields as the starter, and now Fields is being benched for Russell Wilson, deemed healthy after a training camp calf injury. Over the last six weeks, Fields has been playing with confidence and has the support of his teammates. Tomlin noted that Fields’ ability with his legs helps this offense get out of trouble time and time again, which is why the Steelers will have a package for Fields — I expect to see him at some point on Sunday.
The biggest worry about Fields when he arrived in Pittsburgh via trade last March — shortly after the team signed Wilson — was his mental state. He’d been through a rough breakup in Chicago, with the Bears giving up on the former first-round pick and starting over with No. 1 pick Caleb Williams. Many head coaches and general managers worried that Fields had lost his mojo. Give credit to Tomlin and GM Omar Khan, though. They took a chance in trading for him, and the Steelers built Fields back up.
Some around the league posed this question: If you are going to switch to the QB who hasn’t taken one live regular-season snap, why do it against a fierce Jets defense? Pittsburgh has the New York Giants next week — wouldn’t that make more sense for Wilson’s debut? Maybe it’s that if Fields had a great game against the Jets, the door would be completely shut on Wilson.
What made this last week bizarre is that it seemed like every current and former Steeler was raving about Fields (Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger said publicly the team should stick with him). Yet, Tomlin went the other way. He’s in charge, but on this one, he may be on an island.
Many in the Jets’ building are wondering what’s going on too — but make no mistake, they are happy about the news. They know Wilson will be knocking off rust and may even be dealing with some nerves. He’s getting his first start as a Steeler in prime time, at home, with former President Trump in attendance. It’s a gamble. Wilson, a former Super Bowl winner and nine-time Pro Bowl selection, has been a different player since being traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Denver Broncos in 2022. His swag is at an all-time low.
How could he have moxie after what he has gone through? For the past two years, Wilson has been absorbing cheap shots from TV commentators, former head coaches and trolls on social media. For a guy who was once on top of the football world, talking about winning MVPs and finishing his career with multiple Super Bowls, it’s been a hard and humbling fall. Deep inside, even he has to wonder if he can ever again resemble the player he once was.
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One other thing to consider that may or may not be impacting this decision: If Fields plays 51 percent of Pittsburgh’s snaps this season, the trade compensation to the Bears changes from a sixth-round pick to a fourth-rounder. I don’t actually believe Tomlin is factoring that into his thinking, but some people I’ve talked to around the league have speculated.
More than anything, league-wide, many are questioning why Tomlin would make a move like this when things are going well. We’ll find out Sunday night if Tomlin is smarter than everyone — or if this decision blows up, as some fear it might.
If all goes as planned, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel will be calling plays for Tua Tagovailoa next weekend. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Tua has a return date
Many believe he shouldn’t play football again, but Tua Tagovailoa has decided, conclusively, to continue his playing career. And the Miami Dolphins are down with their quarterback’s program.
The NFL said last week it would defer to independent and team doctors and would not step in to prevent Tagovailoa from playing. Head coach Mike McDaniel, who has a close relationship with his quarterback, shared with his team that Tua’s practice window opens up Wednesday, and the quarterback is expected to practice. As long as there are no setbacks, the hope is for Tagovailoa to play in the Week 8 game against the Arizona Cardinals.
It’s easy to see why McDaniel and GM Chris Grier want him back. Miami’s offense has been a disaster in 2024, averaging a league-worst 12.0 points per game after finishing second in the NFL last season (29.2). Miami put Tagovailoa on injured reserve immediately after the Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills, during which the quarterback was diagnosed with a concussion for the third time in two years. The IR designation required him to miss at least four games.
This time also allowed the Dolphins and Tagovailoa to step away and discuss next steps while he was seeing multiple specialists and undergoing tests. I’m told he has not had any lingering issues from the concussion and would play right now if he could, though the required time off was helpful for the team and player. They were able to avoid fluid timelines and erase any additional pressure on Tagovailoa to return.
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Trade deadline names to watch
The trade deadline is 17 days away, and many around the league are keeping an eye on these names:
• Panthers QB Bryce Young and WRs Diontae Johnson, Jonathan Mingo and Adam Thielen
• 49ers WR Deebo Samuel
• Bears RB Khalil Herbert and DE Dom Robinson
• Titans WRs Treylon Burks and DeAndre Hopkins
• Browns DE Za’Darius Smith
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Maxx Crosby’s name has come up over the last few weeks, especially last week in the wake of Aidan Hutchinson’s injury. The reality is that every team would want a player like Crosby on their defense, and owner Mark Davis knows that. Davis has been emphatic that they are not trading their captain, and despite Crosby sounding like a player who has heard the chatter, he says he remains focused on winning as a Raider and staying in Las Vegas.
The Jets fell to the Bills in Jeff Ulbrich’s head-coaching debut. (Elsa / Getty Images)
The interim coach conundrum
Robert Saleh has paparazzi following him around grocery stores in New Jersey, but it is interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich who is leading the Jets.
The team will give Ulbrich every chance to win the full-time job — and won’t be making any more coaching changes before the end of the season. (And no, there is no world in which Bill Belichick winds up the “HC of the NYJ” for a second time; he’s made it pretty clear how he feels about the team and owner Woody Johnson.)
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Even if the Jets believe Ulbrich is suitable to take over permanently by the end of the year, they’ll still have to go through the NFL’s hiring process, which requires teams to interview candidates from minority groups, part of the Rooney Rule.
Raiders owner Mark Davis knows a little something about the dilemma Johnson could face if Ulbrich impresses enough to earn the full-time job. Davis, with a push from his star players — now-Jets wide receiver Davante Adams among them — gave interim coach Antonio Pierce the full-time job after last season.
“You have to admit you made a mistake; that’s not always easy, and for me, I haven’t gotten it right yet,” Davis said. “So, hopefully, it’s right with Antonio Pierce. It’s been 13 years since my father passed away, and we haven’t won.”
Pierce was the second interim coach the Raiders have had in recent years. Following Jon Gruden’s 2021 resignation after it was revealed he used racist, homophobic and misogynistic language in emails, special teams coach Rich Bisaccia was elevated to interim head coach. He didn’t get the full-time job despite leading the Raiders to the playoffs (which Pierce didn’t). The Raiders then hired former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels — who was fired after Week 8 last season and replaced by Pierce, the linebackers coach at the time.
“With Antonio Pierce, I saw the immediate culture change; he returned to believing what it means to be a Raider,” Davis said. “There are 32 teams — and none like the Raiders. He brought that attitude. I know where that came from. He saw the Raiders as a kid growing up, and he knows what that looks like.”
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We’ll see if Davis thinks Pierce is still right for the job after this season. As for the Jets, they haven’t gotten it right in 13 years either, with no playoff appearances since the 2010 season, the longest drought in the four major professional sports leagues, tied with the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL.
Saquon makes a Giant return
The story of Saquon Barkley leaving New York for the rival Philadelphia Eagles has been one of the major storylines of the 2024 season. Most of the sizzle stems from “Hard Knocks,” which followed the Giants front office during the offseason. The show captured owner John Mara telling GM Joe Schoen: “I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that.”
Well, Barkley went to Philly, and now the former Giants captain returns to face the team that let him walk. Barkley came on our “Scoop City” podcast during the summer to give his side of what happened, what Schoen told him and how dealing with angry fans affected his mental state. You can watch the interview here:
No player has been more vital to the success of the Eagles this season than Barkley, and while he’ll say he doesn’t care about facing his former team, the rest of the Eagles do. As Jalen Hurts and new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore tried to develop the passing game with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith missing time, Barkley has been a consistent presence for this offense. Now that the Eagles have all their playmakers in the lineup, look for Barkley to have some favorable looks to run against.
While Barkley may say this is just another game, after all we saw and heard, it seems it will be anything but.
And the kicker: penalized for too much success?
Kickers in the NFL are good. Maybe too good. Could we see some rule changes because of it?
Kickers made 77 kicks of 50 or more yards through six weeks, which is 14 more than we’ve seen through the first six weeks of any season in NFL history. Those long kicks accounted for 20 percent of the 339 field goals made through Week 6, which are the second-most total field goals at this point in the season in NFL history (behind last year’s 342).
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These are (theoretically) the 32 best kickers in the world, and this season it’s been like those prime years of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, only for specialists. But while the NFL tweaked the rule book to encourage more great passing offenses over the years, it has considering making life harder for the kickers.
The NFL traditionally uses historical data to try to keep the game consistent from season to season. Now, chatter is picking up that the league could consider narrowing the goal posts in an effort to bring those kicking numbers closer to what we’ve seen in the past. While I don’t expect any changes this season (or even next), it could be brought to the table if these kicking numbers continue to trend up.
One current head coach strongly opposes narrowing the goal posts.
“It doesn’t make sense to penalize the improved accuracy of these kickers,” he said. “This reminds me of the U.S. Open when they bring the fairways in to make them harder to hit; they want to make this the hardest tournament of the year. For the golfers, they can adjust their equipment. The kickers? Well, they just have a foot. We need to embrace the outstanding performances, not penalize them for their improvements.”
We’ll see if this topic continues to gain momentum; data indicates kickers will be less accurate in colder weather as we head into November and December. Then, we’ll see where the discussions land this offseason.
(Top photo: Barry Reeger / Imagn Images)