Joey Porter vs Brandon Marshall

Joey Porter, never accused of needing to come out of his shell, was critical of Broncos WR Brandon Marshall after the Dolphins beat the Broncos 26-17.

“He’s one of those soft receivers, where he has to have the ball all the time. If he don’t get it, he’s going to mope and cry. He did it to himself,” Porter suggested.

Brandon Marshall is also someone who likes to talk. And here's what he had to say about Joey Porter, who leads the NFL in sacks.

“Yeah, Joey Porter’s one of them guys, when you got guys who talk a lot of trash, just want to talk about people or put people down, they have their own insecurities,” Marshall said. “And his insecurities I don’t know. But he’s definitely one of those guys who all those muscles are popcorn muscles. He’s soft.”

“You know, we hear stories floating around the league all the time about him as far (as being) in nightclubs dancing with his shirt off like a girl or in the playground getting beat up back in California,” Marshall said. “He’s one of those guys that no matter how big he is, he can still get knocked on his butt and he’s soft. He’s soft at heart and you can tell by the way he talks.

It doesn't really matter what people say off the field. It matters what happens on the field.

Carson Palmer - out for year, Tommy John surgery next?

ESPN is reporting that Carson Palmer is done for the year, but is delaying the decision to opt for Tommy John surgery. The report is that Tommy John surgery would repair the issue with his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Jake Delhomme, who had Tommy John surgery last year, has come back and is throwing the ball without problems this year. According to the report, Palmer's injury is not as bad as Delhomme's was so they are taking a more conservative approach.

However, the Cincinnati Bengals are 0-7 on the year. It would make sense to move forward with the surgery and get Palmer healthy sooner rather than later. Considering the issues that Tom Brady is having with his knee, it's a reminder that sometimes surgeries have complications. Although the surgeries would be different and each case is always unique, why not be proactive to better guarantee a healthy Palmer for the start of 2008?

On the year, Palmer has struggled when he was in the lineup. He has a QB Rating of 69.0 and has thrown more INTs (4) than he has TDs (3) on the year.

Eagles release Tony Hunt

The Philadelphia Eagles released RB/FB Tony Hunt, the former Penn State Nittany Lion RB.

Hunt's release hardly was a surprise. The Eagles switched the 2007 third-round pick out of Penn State from running back to fullback only 2 weeks before the start of the season, even though he had very little experience as a blocker.

Hunt was drafted by the Eagles in the 3rd round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Hunt has 25 career rushing yards on 14 attempts with 2 TDs.

When it rains, it pours

The New Orleans Saints have lost starting rookie CB Tracy Porter for the season. He was placed on Injured Reserve after dislocating his right wrist.

The Saints have been playing without Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey and Sedrick Ellis.

They still have a potent offense even without Colston and Shockey. However, their defense has struggled and will most likely struggle even more without Ellis and now Porter.

Chris Johnson, Ray Lewis buddies

This week, the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans play each other in what should turn out to be similar to a street brawl. The Ravens and Titans both do 2 things well: run the ball and stop the run (play good defense).

Well, Ray Lewis called Titans' rookie RB Chris Johnson this week.

"It was a nice little conversation,'' Johnson said. "He seems like a really good guy. He told me he liked my game and he likes what I have been doing and he has been following me since college. He told me to continue to keep it up and if I ever needed to talk about anything I have his number. I thought it was pretty cool that he called.''

"I'm sure people fear him on the football field. I won't fear him,'' Johnson said. "You have to go in there with the same mentality and that's one of the things he said to me. He said he is just out there having fun and we talked about having fun on the field.''

It's good for the rook to not "fear him", but it will be difficult for him to put up big numbers in week 5. I expect somewhere around 60 yards rushing.

Jerious Norwood to take direct snaps

Offensively, it seems like the trend of the 2008 season in this copycat league. Jerious Norwood may take some direct snaps.

Running back Jerious Norwood noted how Miami’s Ronnie Brown accounted for five touchdowns while taking direct snaps in the shotgun formation last week against New England.

The Falcons have deployed a similar formation with Norwood at the controls.

“I got a chance to see a few clips,” Norwood said. “Ronnie Brown did a great job. He scored four touchdowns and he threw one. He had a good game that day.”

I expect more teams to use this formation going forward.

Bob Sanders to miss up to 6 weeks?

Bob Sanders "could miss up to six weeks after spraining his right ankle last weekend at Minnesota, and team officials are contemplating whether Sanders may need arthroscopic surgery on his knee, too."

Interestingly enough, even-numbered years have been tough for Sanders. He played 6 games in 2004 and 4 games in 2006. Now, he will miss up to 6 games of 2008.

Said Melvin Bullitt, Sanders replacement: "I feel like I'm prepared. It's always hard to replace a player like Bob, who was the defensive player of the year and, in my opinion, is the best safety in the league."

Here are the next 6 weeks of games: vs Jacksonville, bye, at Houston, vs Baltimore, at Green Bay, at Tennessee

Hopefully for the Colts it's no longer than 6 weeks, because the schedule is then: vs New England, at Pittsburgh, vs Houston and at San Diego