O’Sullivan continues to impress Belichick

Back in 2006, the quarterback New England kept on its practice squad was J.T. O’Sullivan. Now, the Patriots will go from working with O’Sullivan to playing against him as New England readies to play San Francisco.

What stands out about O’Sullivan now to Patriots coach Bill Belichick are the same things that led New England to sign him.

“He’s athletic, good arm, is a very mobile guy in the pocket and can make all the throws,” Belichick said about O’Sullivan, who went on to Detroit and then his current job in San Francisco. “He has a strong arm and can get the ball down the field. He has a good touch on the ball and can stay alive with his feet. He’s been very productive for them.”

Rams will stick with QB Green for now

If the Rams are making a quarterback change and going back to Marc Bulger from Trent Green, that news will have to wait until at least Tuesday.

Former Rams head coach Scott Linehan said a brief goodbye to his former players in a team meeting, left, and new head coach Jim Haslett stepped in to say a few words — none of which included any personnel changes — before dismissing his team until Tuesday.

So any official quarterback change will have to wait.

Trade Palmer Part 2

NFL Network’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Carson Palmer will be the emergency third quarterback for the Bengals today. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start and is now a viable fantasy option for desperate fantasy owners.

Get Palmer out of your lineups now. This could be bad news for T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson, also. Look for Chris Perry to see a ton of carries vs. Cleveland.

It’s raining in New Jersey

Just an FYI…

It’s currently raining at Giants Stadium for the Arizona-New York Jets game, but the current weather forecast is for only a 40 percent chance of precipitation throughout the afternoon.

Still, it’s hard to sit the likes of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin unless you’re in a much smaller league.

Trade palmer now!!!!!!!!!!

A report this morning indicates that Carson Palmer’s elbow could keep him out of action this afternoon. He’ll be a game-time decision to face Cleveland, so be sure to keep tabs on him with our weekly inactives. If Palmer is out, Ryan Fitzpatrick will start in his absence.

Based on the matchup, Fitzpatrick would be a viable last-minute option in larger fantasy leagues.

LaDainian Tomlinson has rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns this season. While that might look like his normal line against the Raiders, that is his total after three games. Fantasy owners, no doubt, are feeling a little skittish right now.

And who can blame them?

Many of you Tomlinson owners likely celebrated when you drew the top pick in the draft. Or rejoiced when the guy in front of you took Adrian Peterson. (Ironically, the top three running backs in the draft — Tomlinson, Peterson, and Brian Westbrook— are all facing injury issues.)

But if there is one game where Tomlinson is bound to break out of his fantasy slump (yeah, he had a pair of touchdowns against the Jets, but only 67 yards), it will be in Week 4 against the Raiders. Tomlinson has rushed for 1,709 yards and 16 touchdowns in 14 career games against the Raiders. Far more than any other team. (Kansas City is next with 1,261 yards and 10 touchdowns entering 2008.) If there was ever a time for one of LT’s 30-point weeks, this is it.

New segment Fantasy picks

this is people you should avoid and people you should trade for

Burress, Giants working towards settlement

New York wasted no time suspending Giants Plaxico Burress, and the lawyers wasted no time trying to get it resolved before it goes to an arbitrator.

One day after the Giants suspended Burress for one game against Seattle, lawyers for the NFL Players Association started talking to the the NFL lawyers about a possible grievance.

But before it goes to the arbitrator under the CBA grievance procedures, there could be a settlement between the NFL and NFLPA lawyers. Despite several hours of discussion Thursday afternoon, no settlement had been reached — for now.

Talks are expected to continue Friday, with all sides wanting to reach a resolution as quickly as possible. But no resolution Thursday … so far. Now the sides will hope for one Friday.

Easy to root for Bucs’ Bryant

You don’t have to be a Buccaneers fan to be rooting Sunday for Tampa Bay kicker Matt Bryant.

Despite burying his infant son Saturday in Texas, Bryant is expected to kick for the Buccaneers versus the Packers on Sunday.

Bryant notified team officials he plans to fly back to Tampa in time for Sunday’s game. Tampa had been preparing contingency plans for kicker in the event Bryant could not bring himself to kick. But now he will, with football fans from all sides pulling for him.

WR Porter will play for Jags Sunday

Jacksonville tried turning around its season last Sunday with a dramatic victory over Indianapolis. Now the Jaguars will get another boost.

For the first time this season, Jaguars high-priced free-agent wide receiver Jerry Porter is expected to play Sunday versus Houston.

Porter missed much of training camp and Jacksonville’s first three games with a torn hamstring. It has been slow to heal but Porter now is well enough to play and the Jaguars plan to use him Sunday.

Browns QB Quinn could see big bonus

If Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson struggles Sunday against Cincinnati, he is expected to be benched in favor of Browns backup Brady Quinn.

And while economic hardships have slammed this country, Quinn’s earning power is about to skyrocket if he is inserted into the lineup Sunday or anytime soon.

Quinn’s contract includes clauses that state if he plays 55 percent of the Browns offensive snaps this and next year — or 70 percent in 2009 — his base salaries in 2010 and 2011 will jump an extra $11 million.

As it is now, Quinn’s base salaries in 2010 and 2011 are scheduled to be $700,000 in each year. But if Quinn plays in 55 percent of the Browns plays this and next year, his base salary jumps $5 million in 2010 and $5.95 million in 2011.

It is with this in mind that the Browns structured Anderson’s three-year, $24.5 million contract the way they did. Anderson is scheduled to make $9.5 million in 2010. But the Browns are going to pay that money to only one quarterback — Anderson or Quinn. Anderson’s chances are whittling away; Quinn’s could be coming as early as Sunday in Cincinnati.

Titans’ Hope, Raiders’ Wilson fined

It’s another fine Friday.

Titans safety Chris Hope was fined $7,500 for unnecessary roughness vs. the Texans (specifically, on a run play, he tackled the opponent using the “horse collar” technique).

Raiders safety Gibril Wilson was fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness vs. the Bills (specifically, on a run play, he unnecessarily struck the opponent in the head area).

Road trip: Chargers will rack up frequent flyer miles

Get the peanuts, water and personal DVD players ready.

Starting this weekend, with a trip to Oakland, the Chargers will start piling up frequent flyer miles faster than any team in the league.

The Chargers will be road tripping it four of the next five weekends — first Oakland, then off to Miami before coming home to play host to New England, then flying to Buffalo and London to play the Saints, and back to San Diego once again for a well-deserved bye.

Compliments of NFL Network researcher George “Pudding Pie” Li, the Chargers, all together, will travel a whopping 16,674 miles on those road trips. Time for the Chargers to pick up some good DVDs for the long trips ahead.

Interesting numbers heading into Week 4 games

We did this last Friday and liked it enough that we now plan to do it every Friday. With Sunday approaching, some revealing numbers provide a hint as to what we might see.

Four teams — Buffalo, Tennessee, Denver and Dallas — have the chance to start this season 4-0. If they do, they can start talking magic numbers, because these are some pretty magical numbers here.

Since 1990, 45 of 53 teams who started 4-0 have made the playoffs — 84.9 percent. Here are the eight teams that started 4-0 and did not make it:

Team	Final record
2003 Vikings	9-7
2002 Chargers	8-8
2000 Jets	8-7
1999 Patriots	8-8
1996 Chiefs	9-7
1995 Rams	7-9
1993 Eagles	8-8
1993 Saints	8-8

• One reason Tennessee is 3-0 is its stamina. In the second half of its three games this season, the Titans have outscored opponents 27-3. On the flipside, Jacksonville has been outscored 17-0 in the first quarter this season.

• One stat shows how dismal the season has been for the Kansas City Chiefs: Heading into Sunday’s game versus Denver, the Chiefs have more turnovers (6) than touchdowns (5).

• San Francisco quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan is no fluke. One stat proves that: O’Sullivan is averaging 9.4 yards per passing attempt, third best in the NFL. The only quarterbacks averaging more yards per attempt are Philip Rivers at 9.9 and Tony Romo at 9.7.

• On the basis of history, Atlanta has a chance to pull the upset this weekend in Carolina. In the Falcons-Panthers series, the road team has won the last five games.

• Cincinnati and Cleveland have struggled offensively, so much so that these two teams have combined for 68 points and 1,298 yards — Denver alone has scored 114 points and racked up 1,296 yards.

• In his first 99 passing attempts with the Packers, Brett Favre threw three touchdown passes and one interception. In his first 99 passing attempts as a starter with the Packers, Aaron Rodgers has thrown four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Rodgers now has gone 148 passing attempts without an interception, putting him in the company of the all-time Packers greats:

Most consecutive attempts without an interception in Packers history:

Bart Starr (1964-65)	294
Brett Favre (1995-96)	163
Bart Starr (1963-64)	152
Aaron Rodgers (2007-08)	148
Brett Favre (2001-02)	148

• There’s a reason Houston has no choice but to contemplate moving on at quarterback fromMatt Schaub to Sage Rosenfels. Schaub is now 4-9 as a starter for Houston, and in his last 11 starts, he’s 2-9. This season, Schaub has thrown five interceptions, four fewer than he threw in his 11 games last season.

• Chris Chambers has become a fantasy owner’s dream. Chambers has scored a touchdown in five straight games, the longest touchdown streak of his career.

• One thing Brian Griese does as well as any quarterback in Tampa is win. Griese has won seven of his past eight starts. And he has had some success against Green Bay, including a 3-0 mark, with 716 passing yards, three touchdown passes and one interception.

• No team looks any better than the Cowboys. But Dallas is going to have to figure out how to conquer its division, starting Sunday with Washington. Since 2004, the Cowboys are just 12-13 vs. the NFC East. Against non-division opponents during the same time span, the Cowboys are a much-more impressive 28-14.

• Turns out Darren McFadden was not the only great running back to leave Arkansas. His college teammate, Felix Jones, is now the first player in Cowboys history with a touchdown in each of his first three career games. And just as Jones is streaking, so is Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware, who has at least one sack in six straight games.

Fantasy owners: Sit Palmer! OMG!!!!????WTF

NFL Network’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Carson Palmer will be the emergency third quarterback for the Bengals today. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start and is now a viable fantasy option for desperate fantasy owners.

Get Palmer out of your lineups now. This could be bad news for T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson, also. Look for Chris Perry to see a ton of carries vs. Cleveland.

McNabb, Westbrook questionable for matchup with Bears

PHILADELPHIA -- Donovan McNabb returned to practice Friday, but the Eagles could be without Brian Westbrook for Sunday's game at the Chicago Bears.

McNabb was a full participant in Friday's practice after sitting out all week with a chest contusion he sustained in the first half of last week's 15-6 win over Pittsburgh. He is questionable for Sunday's game.

Eagles coach Andy Reid said McNabb was able to make all the necessary throws in practice.

"During the practice, he felt good," Reid said.

The Eagles will likely miss Pro Bowl guard Shawn Andrews and tight end L.J. Smith, who are both listed as doubtful.

However, the big question mark remains the health of Westbrook, Philadelphia's best playmaker.

Westbrook injured an ankle while hurdling a teammate in the Pittsburgh game. He sat out practice all week, but has said he plans on being ready to play.

"We'll see how he does here, over the next couple days," Reid said. "I mentioned before that it's going to go right to the wire there."

Westbrook gained a league-high 2,104 yards from scrimmage last season with 12 touchdowns. His production has tailed off this year as the Eagles have had success getting the ball down the field despite missing their two top receivers from last season, Kevin Curtis (sports hernia) and Reggie Brown (hamstring).

Brown returned to the lineup last week but played sparingly. Reid said he expects him to get more opportunities this week.

Curtis has returned to practice with the team but is listed as doubtful.

Hester misses practice on Wednesday

Just as the Eagles were missing key offensive players during Wednesday’s practice, so were Sunday’s opponent the Chicago Bears.

Chicago wide receiver Devin Hester missed practice again Wednesday with his rib injury. The Bears don’t know whether he’ll be able to practice Thursday or play Sunday against the Eagles.

Of course the Eagles aren’t concerned about Hester yet — they have their own injury woes. But it’s more intrigue and questions leading up to Sunday.

Millen, Harrington together again in unemployment

Sometimes storylines overlap so much it almost seems as if fate has brought them together.

Now there is another example.

On the same day that the Lions relievedMatt Millen of his duties, the New Orleans Saints cut quarterback Joey Harrington, the symbol of the despair in Detroit under Millen.

Harrington was the quarterback whom Millen tried to build his franchise around. He was the quarterback that Millen consistently backed even to the point of diminishing returns.

And now, almost symbolically, the two lost their jobs on the same day.

Packers CB Harris will try to play again this season

Despite suffering a serious spleen injury Sunday night against the Cowboys, Packers CB Al Harris is going to try to play again this season, according to The National Football Post, a website which is co-owned by Harris’ agent, Jack Bechta.

But it does not sound overly promising.

Giants stay true to team concept

New York’s approach helped the Giants win the Super Bowl last season and it contributed to the team’s decision to suspend wide receiver Plaxico Burress for one game.

“We want to make sure that the message is loud and clear,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Wednesday. ”We have had success here because of the team concept.  And the team concept means basically that everyone is accountable and responsible and that we don’t let the other guys down.  And that is what we are trying to do.

“We are trying to acknowledge one of our guys has had a violation of a team rule and we want him back and we want him back under very good terms.  We try to do this thing the right way.”

The right way is the Giants’ way, not Burress’, although others might disagree. Burress plans to file a grievance against the Giants to try to reduce the lost pay or rescind the suspension.

Search for Upshaw’s successor continues

The next step in trying to find a successor to Gene Upshaw will come Tuesday, when an NFL Players Association search committee meets with five search firms in the union’s Washington D.C. offices.
The NFLPA’s search team includes NFLPA player president Kevin Mawae, and player reps Mike Vrabel, Jeff Saturday, Tony Richardson, Donovan Darius and Dominque Foxworth. They would interview even more search firms but the players have only Tuesday, the players’ in-season day off, free.
One person campaigning for the NFLPA’s Executive Director job is former linebacker Jamir Miller, who recently sent current player reps an e-mail with the heading, “What the NFLPA really faces in the upcoming CBA negotiations, and why Troy Vincent does not deserve to be considered for the executive director’s position

My football picks

Week one :

Panthers win over Chargers : I picked the panthers this week because i like them and the charger but i cant see them winning against delhomme end no commment i pick panthers.

Giants win over Redskins : I picked the giants because there the defending superbowl champ last time they played i think it was the redskins won but this time is will be alot different you have the defending champ i can see the campbell is getting good at that west coast offence even if Osi is out your still gonna have trouble so all im saying is they win by a couple just over ten but i cant see redskins getting the win.

Detroit loses against Falcon : I picked the falcon because there a big but also i can only see them winning if matt ryan does amazing and if micheal turner runs like a dear. and i think they can do that matt ryan will need to throw for over 200 but with that arm he can do it but thatmoney better not get to his head this is a young team but  can see them winning the game all they nedd to do is bring guys in there fifth year to seventh year.

Bengals lose Against Ravens : I picked Raven cause i think joe flacco can do it theres not alot of Starting qb''s that come from Division 2 but this kid has it all he has the arm and the accuracy this guy will bring it to you any day that why i can see this kid throwing ove 100 yard since willis is out he'll be throwing it alot but i  think he'll get the help from the running game and his great Pro bowl tight End Todd Heap and who can forget about the defence you have great veteran players like Suggs who is a Pro Bowl linebacker and Defensive end and i cant see the bengals winning Palmer isnt the same he cant throw it to his third receiver he need to chad theTj chand barely made it to the pro bowl last year we want the palmer that throw 30 touchdown a year .

Bill win against the Seahawks : i picked the bills because last year  one of the break out team they were up the with the browns and jacksonville so this year is there year i can see them getting alot of wins 9 at least i cant see seahawk win because you have a guy like julius jones i dont beleive in julius they have and had a better chance with shaun alexander wit two receivers out julius need stronger that olone is ok but they need improvement but matt needs receivers.

Jet win over dolphins : I Picked the jets because dolphin they should of helped in the defensive line in the draft and on the other hand the jet they did great bringing Bret to new york Breat is one of the best Qb's last year he shared the Mvp and was the oldest man in football and dolphins there too young jet the got some good guys in the draft they made sure they got guys that can play dual positions.

Cheifs loss to Pats : I picked the pats because they have randy moss one of  the best Wide receivers ever but hes facing a good cheifs defence but you also nee to talk about one of the best if not the best QB in the league Tom brady but i think this will be it for the duo i think what happend to Mcnabb and T.O will happend to randy and brady . i also think brady will get injured because everyone remembers how brady got injured before the superbowl i think he'll get injured. but i still this they will win the game .

Bucs loses to Saints : I picked the Saint cause i think this will be the saints year again i think last year wasnt the saint of 2006 this was saint that sucked i think this will be a succeful since bush is redy not a rookie or sophmore i can see bush being one of the best running backs this year.but that bucs defence is good too but i dont think the'll follow threw i think this will be a close game.

Green bay wins against vikings : vikings are a young team so cant see them winning against the packers . but this will be a close game with adrian peterson on the run with chester taylor but with tavaris jackson i dont think the'll win but i can see Aaron Rodgers having a huge game with Driver and Jennings . but i can also see adrian havin about 90 to 110 yards.

Steelers win against Texans : i picked the steelers here because i dont think texans will win matt schaub but since Big Ben go sacked alot last year i can see its gonna be a long day for him i think the steeler should get new offensive linemen or they will lose every single game. but its not only o-olines fault its also Willie parkers fault he not healthy so he will be going to rehab this year no dought so steelers win by 5 to 10.

Eagles win against Rams : were talking about the St.louis the worst team in the nfl (one of the youngest) they cant play if there life depended on it they need more veteran help they also should of brang in a backup QB the can play culpepper would be good fit i cant see there starting qb (forgot his name) get threw a game) he will be seeing alot of rehab time unless he gets better blocking.

Week Two :

Chicago losses to carolina : i think carolina will be hot this year. i cant see bears win this game since the bears were in the supper bowl in 2006 - 2007 they havnt been the same so i cant see them win this game there starting Kyle ortin ..... Kyle orton will need to lead them this year the only way they win is if jake delhomme get injured.

Eagle losses to Cowboys : I pick the  cowboys because cowboy have lost to the eagle 2 time in a row ( two seasons in a row) it will not happend this year i think the cowboys might even win the superbowl this year but eagles still have a chance there is a young and quick desuan jackson this guys is great after his first NFL  start i think he might even win rookie of the year great player but i cant see them winning the game but it will be close.

Charger lose to Denver : denver one of my favorite teams this year but cutlerr is surprized me in the first week withought his top receiver after i saw how poorly the charger played i dont think they'll win but i think Lt might play a great game .

Colt Win against Vikings : I picked the Colts because peyton i think he might win Mvp this year he will be the best Qb now the Brady out and now that some of his receiver are healthy he can now play some ball viking good team but cant see them winning ill tell you why this is a young team against a veteran team . all i need to say is skill alway wins against talent.