NFC NORTH

DETROIT

New coach Dan Campbell comes out swinging.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Lions held an introductory press conference for head coach Dan Campbell on Thursday and his opening statement will likely win him a few fans in Detroit.

Campbell played for the team for three seasons and said he wanted the job “bad” when it became open last year. He said he came into the process knowing that Detroit was a great community and identified the ways he wanted the team to identify with their home.

“This place has been kicked, it’s been battered, it’s been bruised and I can give you coach-speak all day long, ‘Hey, we’re gonna win this many games.’ None of that matters and you don’t want to hear it anyway. You’ve had enough of that s–t. Excuse my language. This team is going to take on the identity of this city. This city’s been down and it found a way to come up. It’s found a way to overcome adversity. . . . We’re gonna kick you in the teeth and when you punch us back, we’re going to smile at you. When you knock us down, we’re gonna get up and when we get up we’re going to bite a kneecap off.”

The knockdowns and kneecap biting continued from there and Campbell wrapped up by saying that “before long we’re going to be the last one standing.” Campbell continued on to say that he knows it won’t always be easy, but that the team is going to fight and claw for every inch because “good teams find a way to get it done.”

As Campbell said, words only go so far but the prospect of seeing the kind of action those words promise is a welcome one in Detroit.

GREEN BAY

Thoughts from QB AARON RODGERS on his place in this time from Rob Demovsky ofESPN.com:

Everyone else might be wondering how many chances Aaron Rodgers will get at a Super Bowl, but the Packers quarterback says he’s not one of them.

Just days away from his fifth NFC Championship Game — and his fourth since his lone Super Bowl appearance 10 years ago — Rodgers insisted that he’s not looking at Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a best last-chance scenario. Not even at age 37 and with his possible eventual replacement now on the roster.

“I’m always just trying to stay present, especially this year as much as anything, and enjoy the moments,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “I hope there’s more opportunities, but I don’t know. I mean, I really don’t. That stuff is out of my control. My future is a beautiful mystery I think. The present is such a gift to be able to stay in the moment and to have gratitude for being in this situation again, and being with the guys and having fans in our stadium and maybe snow in an NFC Championship Game. I’m going to enjoy these moments for sure, and just not worry about what happens down the line.”

That’s been Rodgers’ approach most of the season. After the Packers traded up to draft quarterback Jordan Love in the first round of last year’s draft, Rodgers acknowledged that he might no longer be able to control how his time ends in Green Bay.

But since that moment, his teammates and coaches have reported Rodgers to be in as good a mood as they’ve seen from him. The result might end up being Rodgers’ third career MVP.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity again to be leading these guys, to have played the way I want to play, to be called upon for a greater leadership role,” Rodgers said. “Those things are really, really important to me. But all that other stuff … is stuff that I’m just not going to focus on. Because to me it is a beautiful mystery what happens down the line, but there’ll be a time when we meet that future, and right now I’m just going to enjoy the present.”

Good stuff from Hall of Famer Gil Brandt, writing at NFL.com, on the draft day fall of Rodgers:

I know the story behind Rodgers’ infamous green room embarrassment, but I haven’t shared it widely until now. It seems appropriate on the eve of an NFC Championship Game that pits Rodgers against Tom Brady — two of the biggest draft mysteries in the history of the NFL. As someone who recruited players and brought them to the draft for more than two decades, I had a bird’s eye view of the 24 hours that led up to the drama that unfurled in the Javits Center in New York City on April 23, 2005.

I actually saw it coming, like the headlights of a locomotive going at top speed with no brakes. I even tried stopping it, but it was a runaway destined to crash.

The NFL, under Goodell’s watch, has done a marvelous job moving the draft around to different cities each year. The ones in Chicago, Philadelphia and Nashville, as well as the one here in my hometown of Dallas, were all special in their own ways. But New York City was unique and an easy selling point for players I was recruiting.

In 2005, we only invited six to the draft: Two quarterbacks (Rodgers and Utah’s Alex Smith), two running backs (Auburn’s Ronnie Brown and the late Cedric Benson from Texas), one wide receiver (Braylon Edwards from Michigan) and one defensive player (CB Antrel Rolle from Miami). By recent standards, a very small group.

My job as a recruiter was to call teams and find out who they were going to select in the first round, then try to piece it all together like a mock draft. They trusted me to keep the information confidential, and I did. It allowed me to do my job of getting the top players to New York for a week of draft festivities. It was a promotional tool and it worked. News outlets from around the country followed the players’ every move around the city, taking photographs and video of them in famous parts of the city to chronicle their week in the Big Apple.

About 10 days out from the beginning of draft week, I got a commitment from Smith, who I had learned was San Francisco’s target with the top overall pick. That information was leaking out everywhere. I knew it, Smith knew it and so did Rodgers, who was non-committal in accepting his invitation. I understood. No one wants to be second, no one wants to risk being the last man standing.

But Rodgers finally agreed. Some might say blindly, because it was unknown at the time of his acceptance, days before the players were to board a plane for the East Coast, exactly where he would go. I knew where the other players would land in the draft with some certainty, but because of a confluence of factors, Rodgers was always the wild card.

Miami held the second pick and needed a quarterback with A.J. Feeley (8 starts), Jay Fiedler (7) and Sage Rosenfels (1) all taking turns starting for the Dolphins in 2004. But there was a new sheriff in Miami and his name was Nick Saban, who came from the college ranks with no previous decision-making powers in the little time he was in the NFL, a reason he was seen as unpredictable in this draft by most observers.

Fortunately for me, coach Saban and I go way back. I got to know him when he was the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick, a year after leading Toledo to a 9-2 record in his first head-coaching job. I recommended him to Michigan State in 1995 and again five years later to LSU.

Anyway, Saban and I spent a lot of time together on the road at pro days after he was hired by the Dolphins. He picked my brain on prospects and I learned his leanings in the draft. In mid-March of that year, we found ourselves together in four different cities in four days. Two of the stops were on back-to-back days in Salt Lake City and Berkeley, home of the Cal Golden Bears.

Smith’s Wednesday workout at Utah was outstanding. He showed off an athleticism that in my mind — and more importantly I believe in Saban’s mind — separated him from Rodgers, who followed Smith the next day with an impressive pro day of his own at Cal. The two campuses are separated by 725 miles, but the difference between Smith and Rodgers was razor thin.

Saban and I had dinner with Smith and his parents the night of his workout. It was becoming clear to me that the new Dolphins coach had his mind already made up about what to do with his team’s first pick.

Although he never told me directly, I believe he wanted a quarterback in the draft, and in his final evaluation, it was Smith and Smith only. It seemed he liked Rodgers, but he loved Smith. He would talk to me about the days of trying to recruit Reggie Bush to LSU and seeing a lot of Smith at Helix High in San Diego where the two played on the same team. He was very familiar with Smith, and in Saban’s case, I believe, familiarity bred contentment.

Rodgers was more of a wild card for not only Saban but the rest of the NFL. Why did no one recruit the Chico, California, quarterback out of high school? Why did he end up at Butte Community College? And what was up with that high-ball grip he was taught at Cal by coach Jeff Tedford? And speaking of Tedford, why did so many of his previous college star quarterbacks (Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Kyle Boller) have less-than-stellar careers in the NFL? Would Rodgers be next in line?

These were all questions Saban considered when he decided if Smith was not there at No. 2, he’d pass on Rodgers and take a running back, or trade down. The morning of the draft, he called me around 7 from his car phone and asked which running back I would take first. We both agreed that Ronnie Brown was the guy.

With Brown all but certain to go to the Dolphins, something I was sure of a few weeks before Saban’s final call to me the morning of the draft, I was starting to see what could happen. A slide by Rodgers was inevitable; just how far was the question. At this point, I knew of teams that actually preferred Auburn’s Jason Campbell over Rodgers, so I wasn’t even sure if Rodgers would be the second quarterback taken (or third, considering uber-athletic Arkansas QB Matt Jones was being bandied about as a first-round tight end conversion).

I was piecing every bit of information together that I could, and if teams were being honest with me — and they always had been — I knew the first 23 picks, and none of them included Rodgers. Pick No. 24 was held by the Packers, who, of course, had Brett Favre on their roster.

At 5:30 p.m. Friday, less than 24 hours before the start of the draft and after returning from a long day with the players touring landmarks in New York City, I put in a call to John Dorsey, my trusted friend who was Green Bay’s director of college scouting at the time. I told Dorsey that Rodgers would be available and to be ready to pounce if the late Ted Thompson, the Packers’ first-year GM at the time, was willing to put his neck on the line and pull the trigger on a quarterback. Dorsey assured me that if Rodgers was still there, the Packers were going to take him.

Earlier that Friday, I wondered how I could gently tell Rodgers about his draft fate. I remember how oblivious he seemed to the reality while touring the city on the bus, taking pictures of the other five players with his flip phone, generally having a good time.

I had made a dinner reservation at the world-famous Carmine’s for myself, and in a quiet moment on the bus, I invited Rodgers to tag along. Just he and I in a private booth. He happily accepted.

(Seven years earlier I did the same thing with Ryan Leaf, whose mother called me Friday morning before the 1998 draft and asked if I had any pull to make reservations at Carmine’s that same night for a group of, wait for it … 38 people. You must remember: Getting a reservation at Carmine’s for a Friday night is like trying to get into the Pentagon. Trying to get 38 people less than 12 hours from the reservation on a Friday night of the draft? Let’s just say there might only be a handful of us who could pull that off. I did, and Carmine’s management often reminds me that it is still a record for their NYC restaurant. Now , back to the story …)

Rodgers and I arrived at 7 p.m. We sat down and I walked him through the situation.

“Look,” I began. “The Packers say they are going to take you with the 24th pick. I know this must come as a great disappointment, and I would understand if you decided to not show up.”

“Mr. Brandt,” Rodgers replied, “my parents will be here in the morning and they want to attend. And besides, I want to be here. It was my choice and I will honor my acceptance.”

Looking back, I’m not so sure Rodgers trusted me fully. And I don’t blame him. He was being fed all kinds of information and mine was just another piece to add to the large pile. At one point someone in the 49ers organization told him he would be their pick. Two days before the draft, Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden called Rodgers and intimated that if he was still around at Pick No. 5, he would be the Buccaneers’ choice.

It seemed preposterous that a quarterback of Rodgers’ talents could slide to the 24th spot in a draft loaded with quarterback-needy teams. By my count, of the 23 clubs ahead of the Packers, all but maybe one or two had a much better case to make for taking Rodgers than Green Bay did.

But like with most things related to the draft, it’s not that simple. It was complicated even further by the era in which this particular draft took place: There was no rookie wage scale (could teams afford to pay a first-round quarterback and a highly paid veteran while staying under the cap?) and a great deal of importance was being placed on running backs (three of the first five picks in 2005 played the position). Plus, add in all the questions surrounding Rodgers and his background, and suddenly the unexplainable seems explainable.

Still, it all seemed improbable on the day of the draft. I didn’t see a lot of Rodgers before he and his small entourage, including his agent and parents, entered the green room at the Javits Center. But he was visibly nervous, like all players are knowing the biggest moment of their young life is about to happen.

Then it started. Smith went to San Francisco, Brown went to Miami, Edwards to Cleveland, Benson to Chicago and running back Cadillac Williams to Tampa Bay, quickly leaving Rolle and Rodgers as the only ones left in the green room. Three picks later, Rolle was taken by Arizona.

The Cheese stood alone.

It was as uncomfortable as I ever felt for anyone. And I felt guilty that I had played a role in putting Rodgers through the torture of waiting for more than four hours, with national TV cameras focused in on every facial grimace and with the cleaning crew having cleared every other table but his, before his name was called.

I remember going over to his table and trying to console him with examples of players who had to wait on draft day only to reach the greatest heights in the NFL: Warren Sapp, Randy Moss, Thurman Thomas, Dan Marino. I’m not sure it registered. I think he was too caught up in his thoughts of payback.

We know how this one turned out. The Packers took him at No. 24 and Rodgers is re-writing NFL history. It was difficult for all of us, especially Rodgers and his family, to witness at the time, but from a humbling and motivational standpoint, it probably was the best thing that could have happened to him.

Like Paul Tagliabue told Rodgers when newly drafted quarterback crossed the Javits Center stage to shake the commissioner’s hand: “Good things come to those who wait.”

In Rodgers’ case, I would amend that to the greatest things. And after Sunday, maybe even Super.

How would history be different if the Buccaneers had taken Rodgers instead of Cadillac Williams?

– – –

Former GM Ted Thompson has passed away.  More Demovsky:

Former Packers general manager Ted Thompson — who drafted Aaron Rodgers, traded away Brett Favre and built the team that won Super Bowl XLV — has died, according to coach Matt LaFleur. He was 68.

Thompson, who played 10 seasons in the NFL with the Houston Oilers (1975-84), served as Packers general manager from 2005 through 2017. The Packers moved him into a consultant role for the 2018 season in part because of his declining health.

In May 2019, after he was inducted into the Packers hall of fame, Thompson announced that he was suffering from an autonomic disorder, a condition that causes weakness and cognitive issues. Packers president Mark Murphy did not cite Thompson’s health as a reason for the decision to remove him as general manager immediately after the 2017 season.

Thompson said at the time of his announcement that his doctors did not believe his condition “fit the profile of someone suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”

“Our condolences go out to his family,” LaFleur said Thursday. “Certainly he’s a guy that’s held in the highest regard in this building and I think just around the league. He’s had a tremendous impact, not only on people in this building and obviously Gutey [current Packers GM Brian Gutekunst] and a lot of our personnel people, but people in other departments as well. His impact is still felt to this day when you look at our roster, but I think he’s had a tremendous impact amongst many people across the league when you look at the other GMs that have learned under him.

“So certainly we’re sitting here with heavy hearts today. I’ve only had a few opportunities to meet him over the last couple of years, but I just know how important he was to many people in this building.”

NFC EAST

PHILADELPHIA

The Eagles coaching search continues, as word leaks that Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley did not want the job (joining Brian Daboll).  Chris Franklin ofNJAdvanceMedia.com:

The Eagles reportedly wanted Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley to replace Doug Pederson as the team’s new head coach. However, Riley did not want to join the Eagles.

Sign up for Eagles Extra: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text directly with reporters

According to Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Paul Domowitch, Riley was the Eagles’ top choice to become the team’s head coach and offered him the job, but Riley declined.

Riley has been the head coach for Oklahoma since 2017 and has won the Big 12 title in each of the four seasons he has led the team. He also led Oklahoma to a national championship game appearance.

The Eagles continue to search for a head coach. Two of the candidates the Eagles have interviewed have taken jobs elsewhere. San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh took a job with the Jets, and Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was hired by the Atlanta Falcons.

Update (10:21 a.m.): The story written by Domowitch has since been updated to state that Riley was not interested in the job and that the Eagles did not extend an official offer.

Here is some buzz from Domowitch (filtered by Bleeding Green Nation) on two other candidates:

JOSH MCDANIELS

There was a lot of buzz about McDaniels being the Eagles’ guy earlier this week. That’s since cooled off with reports that Jeffrey Lurie is not sold on him. Unsurprisingly, McDaniels’ reputation in the league isn’t very favorable.

“He doesn’t have an ability to really connect with people on a human level,” said one NFL executive who has dealt with McDaniels. “He’s very arrogant. Great head coaches are extremely confident. But there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Josh crosses it.”

Domo points out that that the Eagles are considering a guy who flamed out in Denver and embarrassingly backed out of the Indianapolis Colts’ head coaching job “tells you all you need to know about their level of desperation in this coaching search.”

On that note, it seems like the Eagles’ strongest candidates at this point (McDaniels, Duce Staley, Nick Sirianni) are names no one else was really considering this year. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Eagles are wrong for thinking differently. But it could speak to their inability to attract a perceived top candidate, for whatever that’s worth.

DUCE STALEY

The title of Domo’s article is “Why Carson Wentz could be a reason the Eagles are reluctant to make Duce Staley their head coach” and here’s what he had to say on that point:

As for Staley, the Eagles curiously continue to regard him as little more than a last resort.

He is loved and respected by the players, and would bring some much needed tough love back to a locker room that had started to take advantage of Pederson, who let them get away with “too much stuff that the public never heard about,” according to one team source.

According to another team source, Staley didn’t much care for the way the organization babied Wentz. Lurie and Roseman both may be concerned that if Staley was the head coach, any chance of straightening out Wentz would go out the window.

“It works against him because he wouldn’t let Carson get away with the things he’s been able to get away with,” the source said. “And Carson knows that. So, if Carson is part of the conversation, then that may not work in Duce’s favor either.”

Things I’ve heard about Staley line up with the characterization that he doesn’t like how the Eagles have treated Wentz with kid gloves. Philly’s assistant head coach is known for being intense and even too much for the liking of some.

It’s concerning to hear that Staley could be disqualified in part because he coaches hard and Wentz doesn’t like that. Why is a player who played like the worst starting quarterback in the NFL last year potentially dictating this organization’s big decisions?

If Wentz doesn’t prefer Staley, one would think McDaniels would also be ruled out. By contrast, Wentz’s influence could mean Sirianni is the most likely candidate. Wentz liked Frank Reich and he might want the Eagles to bring him the next closest thing to Philly’s old offensive coordinator.

WASHINGTON

The Washington Football Team seems to be hiring executive Martin Mayhew away from the 49ers.  Mayhew was a gutty cornerback for some of Joe Gibbs great Hogs teams.  Mark Maske and Nikki Jhabvala of the Washington Post:

Even more change could be coming to the Washington Football Team.

While working to hire Marty Hurney as its general manager, the team is also trying to add Martin Mayhew to an unspecified front-office role, a person with knowledge of the discussions said. No deal has been finalized for Mayhew, and the team has yet to announce the addition of Hurney.

Mayhew, a vice president of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers, was one of six candidates, along with Hurney, to interview with Washington over the past week. If a deal comes to fruition, he would return to a franchise he helped lead to a victory in Super Bowl XXVI as a player and to a region where his career in an NFL front office began.

NFL Network first reported the possibility of Mayhew’s hiring.

Washington is working on a deal to hire Marty Hurney as team’s new GM

It’s unclear what exactly Mayhew’s role would be alongside Hurney and Coach Ron Rivera, who is still the top football decision-maker for Washington.

When Rivera was hired last year, the team shifted to a coach-centric front-office structure that gave him final say over personnel decisions. His vision, he said at the time, was to create a collaborative front office, where he works closely with the head of personnel and other executives on major decisions.

Washington’s senior vice president of football administration, Rob Rogers, will continue to manage the team’s salary cap and lead contract negotiations, so how the responsibilities will be divvied among Rivera, Hurney and Mayhew — and the ripple effect of their impending hires — remains to be seen.

Mayhew, a former cornerback whose play defied his 5-foot-8 frame, spent nine years in the NFL after the Buffalo Bills drafted him in the 10th round in 1988. After injury derailed his rookie season, he played four seasons in Washington (1989-92), starting alongside Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrell Green, before moving on to Tampa Bay for another four seasons (1993-96).

While in D.C., Mayhew began taking night courses at Georgetown University Law Center to prep for a second career in an NFL front office. He retired in 1997 and, following his stint in Tampa, returned to Georgetown to complete his law degree. Mayhew, who interned in Washington’s pro personnel department for nine months, was hired as the original XFL’s director of football administration, and when the league folded, he headed to Detroit, spending 15 seasons, including the last eight as GM, with the Lions.

Mayhew took over the GM role three games into the Lions’ 2008 season during which they finished 0-16, and turned Detroit into a playoff team three years later. Along the way, he oversaw the draft selections of quarterback Matthew Stafford and defensive linemen Ndamukong Suh and Ezekiel Ansah, orchestrated a trade of wide receiver Roy Williams that netted three picks, and helped lead the Lions to two postseason appearances. But he was fired midway through the 2015 season after the Lions went 41-63 under his watch.

After a year as the New York Giants’ director of football operations, Mayhew moved on to San Francisco, where he worked for two years as the team’s senior personnel executive and another two as a VP of player personnel.

Although he doesn’t have a history of working alongside Rivera, Mayhew interviewed for the Carolina Panthers’ GM opening in 2018, when Rivera was their head coach. The team instead named Hurney its full-time GM for a second stint.

Mayhew’s potential arrival could cloud the future of others in Washington’s front office.

Kyle Smith, the team’s 36-year-old VP of player personnel who was promoted last year to the team’s top personnel position, did not interview for the GM role. Smith started with Washington as an intern in 2010 and quickly worked his way up, becoming an area scout, then its director of college scouting and then, as of last year, the head of both college and pro efforts.

Washington’s 2020 offseason was widely regarded as a success. Smith worked alongside Rivera to help land key pieces in the draft, veteran free agency and the trade market. Smith is still under contract, but it remains to be seen how, if at all, the hires of Hurney and Mayhew would affect his standing in Washington.

NFC SOUTH

NEW ORLEANS

Some are saying like he played like he was washed up on Sunday.  His wife, Brittany, reminds us that he may have been more beat up.  Jeff Nowak of the New OrleansTimes-Picayune:

Drew Brees missed four games in the Saints’ 2020 season due to 11 cracked ribs and a collapsed lung, but those were just the injuries that were made public.

According to a post from Brees’ wife, Brittany, he was also fighting through major foot and shoulder injuries throughout the year.

“The fact that you played this entire year with a torn rotator cuff, torn fascia in your foot, … then later 11 broken ribs and a collapsed lung,” Brittany Brees posted Wednesday morning, “makes me think I should not have taken the epidural while giving birth to our kids.”

…

Drew Brees did not make reference to either of those injuries throughout the season, though he was seen playing with tape on his shoulder and appeared on the Saints’ official injury report with a right shoulder injury before a Week 8 matchup against the Bears against the Chicago Bears, Week 9 against the Bucs and Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Brittany Brees didn’t specify exactly when those shoulder and foot injuries occurred.

The 11 cracked ribs and collapsed lung were discovered after he was forced out of the second half of the Week 10 win over the 49ers.

Brees missed Weeks 11-14 with Taysom Hill starting as he spent time on injured reserve, but was not listed on the injury report with a foot injury at any point and did not have an injury designation on the Saints’ injury report for Weeks 15-17, the wild card win over the Bears, nor the divisional round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“This is definitely not how I prayed this year would end and to say y heart is broken for you is an understatement,” Brittany Brees’ post continued. “… Your children have watched you handle it all with integrity, grace, and the most amazing work ethic. We r (sic) so proud of you.”

NFC WEST

SAN FRANCISCO

Matt Barrows of The Athletic on the expected departure of VP Player Personnel Martin Mayhew to Washington.

Mayhew and Adam Peters have been 49ers general manager John Lynch’s top lieutenants since 2017 and both men have had the title of vice president of player personnel for the past two seasons.

Washington hasn’t announced what Mayhew’s specific title will be, but he’ll likely assist the team’s incoming general manager, Marty Hurney. Because of that, the 49ers are not expecting any draft-pick compensation as part of the NFL’s effort to diversify the head coach and general manager positions across the league.

The team will get additional picks at the end of the third round in the 2021 and 2022 drafts after the Jets hired Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent and the NFL’s first Muslim head coach. If Mayhew had become a general manager or “primary football executive” elsewhere, the 49ers also would have received a third-round pick in the 2023 draft.

– – –

While Peters primarily handled college scouting and the draft, Mayhew focused on pro scouting, although there was overlap between the two.

It’s possible that Lynch doesn’t make any moves in reaction to Mayhew’s departure. After all, Lynch now has four years of experience in the general manager role and may no longer need two lieutenants. He also will retain Peters, who interviewed to be the Carolina Panthers’ general manager, a position that ultimately went to Seattle executive Scott Fitterer.

If he did want to promote someone, there are two prime candidates: Ethan Waugh, the team’s director of college scouting who has been with the organization for 17 seasons, and Ran Carthon, the director of pro personnel.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

It hasn’t happened yet, but apparently Raheem Morris is likely to succeed Brandon Staley as Sean McVay’s DC.  Kenneth Arthur of TurfShowTimes.com:

Are the Rams hiring Raheem Morris as their next defensive coordinator? Those have been the rumors on Tuesday and as of roughly 4 PM PT, Josina Anderson was reporting that sources say Morris in indeed being hired while The Athletic’s Jourdan Roridgue confirms that her sources also say things are going in that direction.

But nothing has been confirmed by anyone with the Rams that the Rams will in fact hire Morris to replace the departed Brandon Staley.

Morris, 44, worked under Jon Gruden and alongside Sean McVay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the mid-aughts. He never served as an NFL defensive coordinator prior to being promoted by the Bucs to become head coach in 2009, when he was only 33 years old. The Bucs went 3-13 in his first season, then 10-6 in his second but missing the playoffs.

Morris was fired after Tampa Bay went 4-12 in 2011.

He returned to the Mike Shanahan tree, working for Washington from 2012-2014, then was hired by Dan Quinn to be an assistant head coach with the Falcons in 2015. Morris spent five and a half seasons under Quinn, until he was promoted to interim head coach in 2020 after Quinn was fired following an 0-5 start.

Morris led the team to a 4-7 record, ranking 29th in yards allowed and 19th in points allowed.

If hired by the Rams, which makes sense given his long history with Sean McVay, he’ll be taking over the number one defense by points and yards allowed in 2020.

Arthur fails to mention that McVay and Morris were both on the Washington staff together in 2012-14.

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITY

WR TYREEK HILL says that shoving his position coach on Sunday was all about firing up his teammates.  Jason Owens of YahooSports.com:

Tyreek Hill raised eyebrows when he shoved his position coach on Sunday.

As CBS went to commercial break during its broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Cleveland Browns, cameras caught Hill yelling on the bench and standing up to shove wide receivers coach Greg Lewis after a Chiefs drive stalled for a field-goal attempt.

Lewis didn’t immediately respond and was seen shortly after the incident smiling through his mask. The interaction raised obvious questions. Was Hill’s shove malicious? If not, what was going on?

Hill didn’t address it on Sunday other than to tweet that he loves Lewis like an uncle.

He provided a deeper explanation on Wednesday when speaking with media as the Chiefs prepared for Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills. He told reporters that he was trying to spark some energy with his teammates when he shoved Lewis.

“I play the game with so much passion,” Hill said. “We put so much into this game. Like, I come off the sideline like fired up and I just give my coach a shove.

“That’s just me and my personality, man. I’m just fired up and I’m just happy just to be in the NFL and just to be a part of this great organization.

“A lot of people seen it as me being a hothead on the sideline, being a diva. It wasn’t nothing like that. It was just I’m fired up, trying to give the guys energy. … Think about it. If I would’ve really pushed my coach, everybody would’ve been holding me back.”

Head coach Andy Reid also downplayed the shove on Monday, telling reporters that the incident wasn’t as bad as it looked.

“They were messing around,” Reid said, per ESPN’s Jeff Darlington. “I know how it came off, but if you look at a minute later, they’re laughing over there. If you talk to both of them, they’ll tell you they were just messing around.”

Lewis hasn’t publicly spoken about the shove, which isn’t out of the ordinary. Position coaches generally don’t speak with media. But the Chiefs are clearly fine with brushing the incident off as nothing and looking forward to Sunday’s game.

AFC NORTH

PITTSBURGH

DC Keith Butler reached the end of his contract and some speculated his run with the Steelers was at an end.  Apparently, not so.  Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com:

Although Steelers coach Mike Tomlin vowed change following an early exit in the playoffs, at least one significant face on the coaching staff is staying the same.

Defensive coordinator Keith Butler is returning to his role with the Steelers for at least one more season, a source confirmed to ESPN. The news was first reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Butler, 64, has been with the organization since 2003 and in his role as defensive coordinator since 2015. Butler’s previous contract expired at the end of the 2020 season.

The Steelers’ defense finished as a top-five unit, finishing first in a handful of defensive categories, such as opponent total QBR (55.9) and sacks (56).

The unit, though, declined in the final month of the season. Once the league’s best run defense, the Steelers finished allowing 111.4 rushing yards per game and 4.31 yards per carry, good for 11th and 13th, respectively, in the league. The passing defense was stronger, holding opponents to 194.4 passing yards per game and 5.91 yards per attempt, both ranking third in the NFL.

The Steelers previously parted ways with a handful of coaches, including offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett and defensive backs coach Tom Bradley. Other coaches on staff also have expiring contracts and their futures haven’t been determined.

The Steelers also are expected to elevate quarterbacks coach Matt Canada to offensive coordinator, a source told ESPN last week, but the deal hasn’t been finalized.

Canada appears to be pronounced like the country, and not with a Spanish inflection that would rhyme with Granada.

But there is another candidate, a name we all know, per this report from CBSSports.com:

Despite a reported leader in the clubhouse, the Pittsburgh Steelers are doing their due diligence when it comes to finding their new offensive coordinator. The team met with longtime NFL coach Hue Jackson to discuss their vacant coordinator position earlier this week, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini. The news comes several days after it was reported that Matt Canada is expected to be named the Steelers’ next offensive coordinator after the team did not renew Randy Fichtner’s contract earlier this month.

– – –

A QB DWAYNE HASKINS sighting.  Bryan DeArdo of CBSSports.com:

Dwayne Haskins, less than a month after being released by Washington, will visit with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Haskins has also reportedly had contact with the Carolina Panthers.

The 15th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Haskins was released following a subpar performance in Washington’s Week 16 loss to the Panthers. Haskins’ highly-publicized violation of the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols also contributed to his release. After being released, Haskins described what he called the “worst week of his life” during an interview with WUSA9’s Darren Haynes.

“Gotta be accountable for the decisions you make in life, and be able to move forward and make the best decisions,” Haskins said. “I have no doubt in my mind that I can overcome this, grow and become a better person, a better athlete, a better quarterback and a better leader because of this. That’s something I’m praying and working on to show. I’m hoping that a new change in scenery will help with that.”

THIS AND THAT

RIVERS – A HALL OF FAMER?

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com assesses the Hall of Fame candidacy of QB PHILIP RIVERS:

Philip Rivers has retired from the NFL. In five years, the man who finishes fifth on the all-time passing yardage and touchdowns list will be considered for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

Will he make it?

On the first try, probably not. He didn’t play in a Super Bowl, unlike the other two quarterbacks taken (with Rivers) in the first 11 selections of round one of the 2004 draft. Eli Manning won a pair of Super Bowls, as did Ben Roethlisberger.

Beyond not being the most accomplished of his class, Rivers never was the best quarterback in the game, or second best. In 17 seasons, Rivers never was named a first-team or second-team All Pro. That’s no surprise, considering that Rivers spent the bulk of his career competing with the likes of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees — each of whom will get a bronze bust on the first try.

Rivers won’t, and should’t, gain entry on his first eligibility for admission. Eventually, he likely will. And here’s what will help him: TV.

If Rivers becomes a broadcaster, he’ll become a beloved broadcaster. He’ll be great at it. And in time his football accomplishments and TV accomplishments will combine, boosting his candidacy as a player.

That’s how John Madden made it as a coach (the video game helped, too). It’s how Dick LeBeau made it as a player, with his coaching accomplishments getting him over the top.

So, yes, Rivers eventually will get in. And what he does next could help him get there.

The DB would be more optimistic on the chances of Rivers.  We think he very well could be a first year of eligibility guy, although maybe not if Drew Brees is in the same class.  We would think that when he is the best QB in a class (so maybe after waiting past Brees, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger), he will be in.

He is a fantastic endurer and stat compiler who is also very well-liked by the media.  He will not need TV to get in, although if he is active in that field it can’t hurt.