Coaches say they can deal only with the players on hand.Fans worry that this summer rite in the NFL
Womens Calais Campbell Jersey , training camp holdouts, won't hurt their team's chances for a championship.This year's crop of no-shows includes an All-Pro receiver, the Saints' Michael Thomas ; a versatile and rugged running back, the Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott; a standout offensive tackle who might be the key to the Redskins' offense, Trent Williams ; and budding stars: defensive ends Jadeveon Clowney of the Texans and Yannick Ngakoue of the Jaguars, and running back Melvin Gordon of the Chargers.Elliott was not on the Cowboys' charter plane to training camp in California, and Friday team owner Jerry Jones confirmed that his star back was "late." How late Elliott might wind up being is mere projection, but he has proved to be an irreplaceable part in Dallas.He is due to make $3.9 million in the fourth year of his rookie contract and $9.1 million in the final year, which is a team option. The fourth overall pick from the 2016 draft has won two rushing titles in his three seasons."Everybody is under contract," Jones said. "It's a part of what goes on in football. Football is business. It's pro football, you know where you are on every contract. Every contract we have an agreement."The common denominator in all of this is, naturally, money.The common approach is for teams to publicly say nothing but nice things about the missing-in-action players while taking a hard line in negotiations.Such as:"I can tell you unequivocally that we want Jadeveon Clowney here," Houston coach Bill O'Brien said. "He's a part of this team. We want him here. There's always a difference when you're talking about money relative to wanting him on the team. That's something that the agent and our organization are working on, but ... we would love to have him here. He's a really talented football player that's made a lot of good plays for us in the past."And:"He's trying to get this thing done," Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone said. "We're trying to get this thing done. We're excited for him. He's going to come. He will report. I don't know when. I know it'll be before a certain date. And, when he comes, we'll be excited about it."While money always is an issue, the dynamics of the holdouts are dissimilar for Williams and Clowney compared to Elliott, Thomas, Gordon and Ngakoue.Both are veterans
http://www.thejaguarslockerroom.com/authentic-dede-westbrook-jersey ;, Williams heading into his 10th season, Clowney his sixth. The others are on rookie deals and believe they have far outperformed those wage-scaled contracts.Williams, while injury prone, is considered a leader in Washington and, even at less than full strength, the Redskins' best blocker. He is upset with the team's handling of his health, including the removal of a growth on his head earlier this year. His beef is as much about trust as dollars and cents.Clowney has not signed his franchise tag, which is tendered at $16 million, preferring a long-term deal. Le'Veon Bell set a precedent last season when the then-Steelers running back sat out rather than sign. He's now with the Jets. But it's more likely Clowney will reach an agreement by September, or take the $16 million for 2019.Another pass rusher, Ngakoue, comes off a career-best year and is entering his fourth season. As a third-round draftee in 2016, he isn't making top dollar yet, set to be paid just over $2 million this year. Considering his numbers are as good or better than several other defensive end who cashed in recently (Frank Clark, Demarcus Lawrence), it's hardly surprising Ngakoue is idle.But he must report to the Jaguars 30 days before their first game to accrue his fourth season and have a shot at unrestricted free agency in 2020. So Aug. 9 would seem to be a firm deadline for him to show up.Thomas is the focal point for Drew Brees' passes in New Orleans' high-wire offense. Talk about numbers, try 125 receptions, 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns as, by far, the only proven Saints wideout.In the final year of his rookie contract
Jalen Ramsey Jersey , Thomas would make more than $1.14 million as a 2016 second-rounder. So there's nothing surprising about his holdout when the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Sammy Watkins and Nike Evans have cashed in.Saints coach Sean Payton says he's not surprised by Thomas' holdout, which the receiver foreshadowed on social media by writing: "I want every penny that's mine. I don't want a penny more or a penny less."For more NFL coverage:
http://www.pro32.ap.org and
http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL The Jacksonville Jaguars are preparing to play without running back Leonard Fournette again, maybe even for a longer stretch than before.Fournette re-injured his right hamstring in a 31-12 victory against the New York Jets on Sunday, and coach Doug Marrone has no timetable for his return.Marrone said tests show the injury is no worse than it was before returning. Considering Fournette missed two and a half games after initially tweaking it and came back too soon, it makes sense that the Jaguars (3-1) would be even more cautious this time around."It's the same thing," Marrone said Monday. "There's a thing that's just pulling at it. It's legit. There is something there, and we've just got to do everything we can to get that out. That whatever thing is that feels like it catches. That's all I know. I don't know all the doctor talk about it. I'm just trying to give you the layman's talk. It's just, 'Hey, I just got this little thing. It feels like it catches. It doesn't enable me to open up.'"Jacksonville plays at Kansas City on Sunday and almost certainly will be without Fournette.The Jags should be getting used to it by now. The second-year pro has missed five of 20 regular-season games and left his only two starts this season because of hamstring tightness.He ran nine times for 41 yards in the season opener in the first half, and carried 11 times for 30 yards against the Jets in the first half.Marrone declined to speculate on how long Fournette would be sidelined."I really don't know. Believe me, if I knew exactly what the deal was and I could tell you, three, six, 10, IR, whatever, I would," Marrone said. "I just don't know. Those injuries are tough, you know. ... I thought he was looking good. I really did and then, you guys are out there
Womens Brandon Linder Jersey , so I mean you guys see him working. But it's different when you're playing a game. The game's different."Even though Jacksonville is 4-1 without Fournette in the starting lineup, no one questions how important he is to the team. The run-first, old-school Jaguars built their entire scheme — offensive identity, really — around Fournette and his skillset."You put your whole offense around, you build it around a running, physical, downhill type of mentality," safety Tashaun Gipson said. "So when you lose that guy, who's one of the best at his position, it's tough. It's definitely tough."T.J. Yeldon is expected to continue getting the bulk of the work during Fournette's absence, with Corey Grant serving as a change-of-pace option.Yeldon has 205 yards and a touchdown on 49 carries this season. He also has 14 receptions for 125 yards and two scores."I've got faith in anybody they put back there because we know they're going to run hard," reserve center/guard Tyler Shatley said. "You just hate to see somebody with so much talent not be able to showcase it. I know (Fournette)'s worked hard and has rehabbed hard in trying to get better. Injuries are part of the game, but you just hate to see somebody have to work through that and not be able to perform how they want to."Quarterback Blake Bortles might be the biggest beneficiary, forced to carry more of the offensive load. Bortles threw for a career-high 388 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets, giving him two games with at least 375 yards passing in the last three weeks."Blake has a way of showing up when he needs to show up," Gipson said. "If you take away the (Tennessee) Titans game, when I don't think anyone played their best game, the offense just finds a way. And they've been doing it since the end of last season. They're taking opportunities of what the defenses will give them. That's paying big dividends for us. The best defense is the defense that's sitting on the sidelines. We did a lot of that in the first half Sunday."I'm not too worried about the offense."
Coaches say they can deal only with the players on hand.Fans worry that this summer rite in the NFL Womens Calais Campbell Jersey , training camp holdouts, won't hurt their team's chances for a championship.This year's crop of no-shows includes an All-Pro receiver, the Saints' Michael Thomas ; a versatile and rugged running back, the Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott; a standout offensive tackle who might be the key to the Redskins' offense, Trent Williams ; and budding stars: defensive ends Jadeveon Clowney of the Texans and Yannick Ngakoue of the Jaguars, and running back Melvin Gordon of the Chargers.Elliott was not on the Cowboys' charter plane to training camp in California, and Friday team owner Jerry Jones confirmed that his star back was "late." How late Elliott might wind up being is mere projection, but he has proved to be an irreplaceable part in Dallas.He is due to make $3.9 million in the fourth year of his rookie contract and $9.1 million in the final year, which is a team option. The fourth overall pick from the 2016 draft has won two rushing titles in his three seasons."Everybody is under contract," Jones said. "It's a part of what goes on in football. Football is business. It's pro football, you know where you are on every contract. Every contract we have an agreement."The common denominator in all of this is, naturally, money.The common approach is for teams to publicly say nothing but nice things about the missing-in-action players while taking a hard line in negotiations.Such as:"I can tell you unequivocally that we want Jadeveon Clowney here," Houston coach Bill O'Brien said. "He's a part of this team. We want him here. There's always a difference when you're talking about money relative to wanting him on the team. That's something that the agent and our organization are working on, but ... we would love to have him here. He's a really talented football player that's made a lot of good plays for us in the past."And:"He's trying to get this thing done," Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone said. "We're trying to get this thing done. We're excited for him. He's going to come. He will report. I don't know when. I know it'll be before a certain date. And, when he comes, we'll be excited about it."While money always is an issue, the dynamics of the holdouts are dissimilar for Williams and Clowney compared to Elliott, Thomas, Gordon and Ngakoue.Both are veterans http://www.thejaguarslockerroom.com/authentic-dede-westbrook-jersey ;, Williams heading into his 10th season, Clowney his sixth. The others are on rookie deals and believe they have far outperformed those wage-scaled contracts.Williams, while injury prone, is considered a leader in Washington and, even at less than full strength, the Redskins' best blocker. He is upset with the team's handling of his health, including the removal of a growth on his head earlier this year. His beef is as much about trust as dollars and cents.Clowney has not signed his franchise tag, which is tendered at $16 million, preferring a long-term deal. Le'Veon Bell set a precedent last season when the then-Steelers running back sat out rather than sign. He's now with the Jets. But it's more likely Clowney will reach an agreement by September, or take the $16 million for 2019.Another pass rusher, Ngakoue, comes off a career-best year and is entering his fourth season. As a third-round draftee in 2016, he isn't making top dollar yet, set to be paid just over $2 million this year. Considering his numbers are as good or better than several other defensive end who cashed in recently (Frank Clark, Demarcus Lawrence), it's hardly surprising Ngakoue is idle.But he must report to the Jaguars 30 days before their first game to accrue his fourth season and have a shot at unrestricted free agency in 2020. So Aug. 9 would seem to be a firm deadline for him to show up.Thomas is the focal point for Drew Brees' passes in New Orleans' high-wire offense. Talk about numbers, try 125 receptions, 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns as, by far, the only proven Saints wideout.In the final year of his rookie contract Jalen Ramsey Jersey , Thomas would make more than $1.14 million as a 2016 second-rounder. So there's nothing surprising about his holdout when the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Sammy Watkins and Nike Evans have cashed in.Saints coach Sean Payton says he's not surprised by Thomas' holdout, which the receiver foreshadowed on social media by writing: "I want every penny that's mine. I don't want a penny more or a penny less."For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL The Jacksonville Jaguars are preparing to play without running back Leonard Fournette again, maybe even for a longer stretch than before.Fournette re-injured his right hamstring in a 31-12 victory against the New York Jets on Sunday, and coach Doug Marrone has no timetable for his return.Marrone said tests show the injury is no worse than it was before returning. Considering Fournette missed two and a half games after initially tweaking it and came back too soon, it makes sense that the Jaguars (3-1) would be even more cautious this time around."It's the same thing," Marrone said Monday. "There's a thing that's just pulling at it. It's legit. There is something there, and we've just got to do everything we can to get that out. That whatever thing is that feels like it catches. That's all I know. I don't know all the doctor talk about it. I'm just trying to give you the layman's talk. It's just, 'Hey, I just got this little thing. It feels like it catches. It doesn't enable me to open up.'"Jacksonville plays at Kansas City on Sunday and almost certainly will be without Fournette.The Jags should be getting used to it by now. The second-year pro has missed five of 20 regular-season games and left his only two starts this season because of hamstring tightness.He ran nine times for 41 yards in the season opener in the first half, and carried 11 times for 30 yards against the Jets in the first half.Marrone declined to speculate on how long Fournette would be sidelined."I really don't know. Believe me, if I knew exactly what the deal was and I could tell you, three, six, 10, IR, whatever, I would," Marrone said. "I just don't know. Those injuries are tough, you know. ... I thought he was looking good. I really did and then, you guys are out there Womens Brandon Linder Jersey , so I mean you guys see him working. But it's different when you're playing a game. The game's different."Even though Jacksonville is 4-1 without Fournette in the starting lineup, no one questions how important he is to the team. The run-first, old-school Jaguars built their entire scheme — offensive identity, really — around Fournette and his skillset."You put your whole offense around, you build it around a running, physical, downhill type of mentality," safety Tashaun Gipson said. "So when you lose that guy, who's one of the best at his position, it's tough. It's definitely tough."T.J. Yeldon is expected to continue getting the bulk of the work during Fournette's absence, with Corey Grant serving as a change-of-pace option.Yeldon has 205 yards and a touchdown on 49 carries this season. He also has 14 receptions for 125 yards and two scores."I've got faith in anybody they put back there because we know they're going to run hard," reserve center/guard Tyler Shatley said. "You just hate to see somebody with so much talent not be able to showcase it. I know (Fournette)'s worked hard and has rehabbed hard in trying to get better. Injuries are part of the game, but you just hate to see somebody have to work through that and not be able to perform how they want to."Quarterback Blake Bortles might be the biggest beneficiary, forced to carry more of the offensive load. Bortles threw for a career-high 388 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets, giving him two games with at least 375 yards passing in the last three weeks."Blake has a way of showing up when he needs to show up," Gipson said. "If you take away the (Tennessee) Titans game, when I don't think anyone played their best game, the offense just finds a way. And they've been doing it since the end of last season. They're taking opportunities of what the defenses will give them. That's paying big dividends for us. The best defense is the defense that's sitting on the sidelines. We did a lot of that in the first half Sunday."I'm not too worried about the offense."