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

Billy McMullen: Seahawks' newest "go-to WR"?

The Seahawks have suffered a seemingly endless amount of injuries to their WR corps. So many that Matt Hasselbeck used the phrase "go-to wide receiver" to describe Billy McMullen.

A week ago, Billy McMullen was hanging out with his wife in Richmond, Va,, working out and wondering if any NFL teams might still seek his services.

Now he's the Seahawks "go-to receiver," in the words of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, a primary figure in Mike Holmgren's passing game. Which tells you more about the Seahawks' dire straits than McMullen's qualifications.

"I hadn't really planned on using Billy at all, unless an emergency took place," said Holmgren, who met McMullen on Wednesday and began working him into the offense primarily on scout team duties. "But an emergency took place."

After missing all of 2007, McMullen's making the most of an opportunity. But can the luck get any worse for the Seahawks?

Tom Brady: out for the year?

Today the New England Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 for their 19th consecutive regular-season victory, which broke the record. Their own record. However, Tom Brady was hit in the knee, left the field and never returned. Early reports indicate Brady may be out for the year although he has an MRI scheduled for Monday.

In the AFC East, I thought the Patriots would finish 12-4 with the New York Jets at 9-7 and the Buffalo Bills at 8-8. The Jets and the Bills are serious playoff contenders, but I thought they would be contending for the 6th wildcard seed.

Matt Cassel played well in Tom Brady's absence. But he hasn't started a football game since he was in high school after backing up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and Tom Brady in New England.

Although it's not a knock on Cassel, he's no Tom Brady - the league's reigning MVP. Granted Brady seemed to have come out of nowhere to replace Drew Bledsoe, but it seems unrealistic to think the same thing can happen again. So, let's say that Tom Brady is worth 2 of the Patriots 12 wins. That reduces their win total to 10.

After today's games, the Bills especially and the Jets too seem capable of winning 10 games. I still think the Patriots will manage to win the AFC East (even without Brady), but it's no longer a lock like I thought it was 12 hours ago.

Jan Jansen Demoted To 2nd String?

Jim Zorn has demoted the long-time anchor of the Redskins offensive line, Jon Jansen, and promoted Stephen Heyer to starter at RT.

The player nicknamed Rock, the team's longest continuous serving veteran who has unquestionably owned the right tackle spot when healthy since 1999, was adjusting to an unexpected demotion. Days before his first regular season game as a head coach, Jim Zorn announced that second-year player Stephon Heyer now has Jansen's starting job.

At 32 years old, Jansen will now carry the dreaded title of "utility backup" -- and an expensive one at that. The player who signed a five-year, $23 million contract extension last year now has to be ready to fill in at tackle or guard, even though he had never gone through some much as a drill at guard until Sunday.

The article goes on to mention how tough it can be for a demoted player to adjust, especially when being around teammates. Zorn mentioned how he had felt when he was demoted as Seahawks starting QB. But apparently that experience didn't develop his ability to explain it well to Jansen.

"There were some reasons thrown around. Nothing that I felt was reason enough," Jansen said. "But they're the coaches, I'm the player, and we'll go out there and do what we're supposed to do."

I don't think anything Zorn could have said would have been "reason enough" for Jansen. For an athlete, especially one who has been good for so long, it is difficult to accept.