Daily Briefing

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing The Week One ratings are in – and they are high.  ESPN.com: The NFL’s kickoff weekend ended up having the second-highest TV ratings for Week 1 over the past five seasons.   The 16 games averaged 17.4 million viewers on television and digital properties. That is a 7% increase over…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing NFC SOUTH   NEW ORLEANS This from Adam Schefter: @AdamSchefter Saints have had a “handful of offensive coaches” test positive for COVID, calling into question their status for Sunday’s game vs. Carolina, per source. But as one Saints’ source said, “We’ll be just fine.” The DB is old enough to…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing NFC EAST   DALLAS QB DAK PRESCOTT shone in his return to action Thursday night.  Josh Alper ofProFootballTalk.com:   There was nothing but confidence from the Cowboys when it came to how quarterback Dak Prescott would do in his return from last season’s fractured ankle and this summer’s shoulder trouble,…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing NFC NORTH   GREEN BAY With the opener three days away, QB AARON RODGERS seems to be in a good place as what is likely to be his final season with the Packers dawns.  Bill Huber of SI.com: It wasn’t a guarantee about six weeks ago, but Aaron Rodgers on…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing Union president J.C. TRETTER disputes the contention that the NFLPA advocated for the “emphasis” on taunting that is to come.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: Rich McKay, the chair of the NFL’s Competition Committee, recently explained that the league made the taunting rule a point of emphasis at the request of…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing NFC EAST PHILADELPHIA An update on TE DALLAS GOEDERT and his contract.  Nick Shook of NFL.com: Zach Ertz is happy again in Philadelphia. The Eagles might need to overachieve to keep his running mate content.   Dallas Goedert is entering a contract year in 2021, his fourth and final season…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing Bill Belichick said the Patriots have had vaccinated players get COVID.  His comments drew the ire of the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer.  Matt Votour of MassLive.com: After Bill Belichick told the media the reason he cut Cam Newton wasn’t related to the quarterback’s decision not to be vaccinated, the New…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com has his eye on the NFL’s vaccination rate – and he hypothesizes that those who still resist are almost exclusively starting level players: Rosters have dropped to 53, and vaccination rates reportedly have not.   Via Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the vaccination “has remained…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing This from the AP: NFL players can wear social justice messages on their helmets again this season and “It Takes All of Us” and “End Racism” will be stenciled in end zones for the second straight year as part of the league’s Inspire Change platform.   The league will also…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing The consensus of the pro-Vax media is not that Jaguars coach Urban Meyer may have denied deserving players a job because of their anti-vax principles, but that he truthfully said anything about it.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Officially, NFL teams are not supposed to hold a player’s vaccination status…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing The vast majority of NFL players, those vaccinated, will be tested once a week now, not every two weeks.  Coach Bruce Arians of the Buccaneers is unimpressed with the change of policy.  Jenna Laine of ESPN.com: Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said Sunday that despite his team’s recent uptick…

AROUND THE NFL Daily Briefing This is interesting – more than 3,000 college football players this fall are playing as graduate students. The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame today released a list of 3,284 student-athletes who have already earned their undergraduate degrees and will be playing college football this fall while…