The time is now to get grades up. You have a week to get grades up. If you have a C you have to get A’s to make that C a B. A’s are better than C’s and C’s are better the F’s.
Get to work, do your homework, and participate. If you do these few things, your grades will get better.
Do the right thing.
What have the coaches been saying in their weekly news conferences? Brendan Roberts takes a quick-hitting look at the goings-on for each of the 16 NFC teams:
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys:
Coach Wade Phillips said there was no set game plan as to how many carries Julius Jones and Marion Barber III will get every Sunday, but he did offer some explanation as to why Jones got one more carry (15) than Barber (14) despite rushing for 57 fewer yards (32 to Barber’s 89). “For some reason, Barber was having trouble breathing,” said Phillips. “There are different factors that go into how much they play, and that includes how they’re feeling and if one of them is banged up.” Hmm, something to be said about that. Just speculating here, but Barber likely was just struggling with the South Florida heat and humidity. However, it could be a good indication that the young back is not quite ready to take over the feature back role, as some expect. Phillips said he sees that Barber is doing some great things and that he will continue to be featured at the goal line, but the head coach added that “the other guy is doing some good things for us, too.” The platoon is still in order. Patrick Crayton dislocated his finger Sunday, but he taped it up, returned to the game and later had a 49-yard punt return.
New York Giants:
Coach Tom Coughlin was barraged with questions about his porous defense, and for good reason since it has given up an NFL-high 80 points in the first two weeks. He seemed as unable to explain his team’s defensive struggles as the reporters questioning him. No major overhaul is in order. Instead, Coughlin and his assistants are going to make small tweaks and hope for improvement as Michael Strahan plays into game shape, Mathias Kiwanuka picks up his LB responsibilities, rookie Aaron Ross develops into a solid cornerback and Osi Umenyiora works his way back to health. “We’ll keep working at it. … The players that we have are the players we have,” Coughlin said. Translation: This defense is still a gold mine for your fantasy offensive options. But the big question fantasy owners had was the status of Plaxico Burress, who sprained a finger and injured his ankle Sunday. Coughlin said Burress has been battling the ankle injury for some time and probably will be able to play through it, but it still sounds like he’ll be questionable, at best, this week in Washington. Also, fellow WR Steve Smith suffered a fractured scapula (shoulder blade). No surgery is necessary, but he’ll miss at least two weeks and likely much more. But at least Eli Manning is OK — there were no questions about his health this week.
Philadelphia Eagles:
Andy Reid and the Eagles were booed off the field, which was not expected in Donovan McNabb’s first game back at Lincoln Financial Field since knee surgery. But the Eagles struggled to make the plays they needed to make in the red zone, and Reid took responsibility for that in the postgame news conference. He added that a big part of the team’s problem was the inability to rush the ball near the goal line — could it be because they lack a short-yardage back? — and that McNabb still had some rust to shake off. But ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio offered some insight after the game, saying that Reid noted there were “other quarterbacks on this team,” which is perhaps an early indication that the team won’t live with bad quarterback play for too long. With one touchdown in 23 possessions, the Eagles shouldn’t. But expect McNabb to have a long leash, which he should.
Washington Redskins:
After losing reliable tackle Jon Jansen (ankle) for the season in Week 1, the Skins appear to have lost another top offensive lineman Monday night. Guard Randy Thomas left the stadium with his left arm in a sling with what The Associated Press called a triceps injury and coach Joe Gibbs called a biceps injury just after the game. The Skins showed few ill effects after Thomas’ departure, and coach Gibbs commended veterans Jason Fabini and Todd Wade for their fill-in work. However, one would think that the loss of Jansen and potentially Thomas will eventually catch up to the offense, especially young quarterback Jason Campbell.
The county wide Tennis Match is at Bearcreek Middle School, October 6th (13th if rain).
Welcome back to school. The time to “make the right decisions” starts now.
In the future I will be posting information on people who have made “the right decisions”, and some who have made the wrong decisions.
