Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Quick Hits: Preseason Week 2

We are half way finished with the preseason. Isn't that an exciting thought? In the meantime, lets continue breaking down the main points of week 2 of the preseason. This previous week gave us a little more insight to certain teams, particularly how good the depth of certain teams will be.


-Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones had a solid week, posting a 4/65/0 stat line. Sure, it doesn't look that great on paper and I didn't think much of it at first, but this is great news for Lions fans wondering how next season will look without Calvin Johnson. If Jones can continue to make excellent sideline catches and be a consistently safe target, Jones and Golden Tate could help alleviate the loss of Megatron.

- RGIII is back! ...maybe. After a rather atrocious week 1 of the preseason (4/8 67 0/2), Griffin took us back to 2012 with a 6/8 96 2/0 stat line. He also grabbed 36 yards on the ground on three carries. The Browns would love to see more of this RGIII and less of week 1 RGIII. In Hue Jackson's offense, RGIII has seemingly no excuses.

- Speaking of RGIII, I noticed the other day on NFL Network a conversation was being had about RGIII's celebrations after his touchdown passes. Bottom line, you are definitely allowed to celebrate in the NFL, to a certain extent. I have no problem with Griffin celebrating his touchdowns. I do have a problem with his interesting off the field history. Griffin has been known to be a locker room cancer and considering how long it's been since he has had success, I would personally like to see a more humble version of himself. At the end of the day, Griffin has no interest in what I think. One thing I want to make clear: this is not a race thing. So can we please not make this a race thing?

- Landry Jones couldn't have looked much worse if he tried. He threw not one, not two, not three, but four interceptions against the Eagles. With Ben Roethlisberger's inconsistent health, the last thing the Steelers needed to worry about was uncertainty for their backup quarterback.

- The Tajae Sharpe hype-train is real, so jump on while you still can. Following the trade of Dorail Green-Beckham to the Eagles, Sharpe looked to become one of the top three receivers on the Titans depth chart. Sharpe has garnered high praise all off season and has caught all eight of his targets for 103 yards.

- Vernon Hargreaves is alive and well, in case you were wondering. The Buccaneers first round pick recorded two interceptions this week against the Jaguars. This is a very nice sign, as the Bucs will lean heavily on Hargreaves to help against the pass after ranking just 16th in the NFL last season.

- Karlos Williams was surprisingly cut this week after reports surfaced that he showed up to camp overweight. This is another hard lesson for players to learn. It isn't hard to keep your body in shape when you are a professional athlete. There's no excuse. So decide if you want to play football or eat that extra dessert and skip your work out. As unfortunate as it is to see talent get wasted, I really hope Williams gets it together after a major wake up call.

- Washington running back Matt Jones will be sidelined for the rest of the preseason at a minimum after suffering a second degree AC sprainsecond degree AC Sprain in his left shoulder. This isn't welcome news in Washington, considering how week the team is at running back. This will add some pressure to Kirk Cousins to pick up the passing game from where it left off last season, should Jones be injured longer than two weeks.

- Antonio Cromartie was claimed off of waivers yesterday, thanks to the Indianapolis Colts. Cromartie spent last season with the Jets before being cut this offseason. Cromartie will be relied on as a veteran presence in the secondary while Pro Bowler Vontae Davis remains out with a medial ankle sprain.

- And unfortunately, we end this article on a very sour note. Giants kicker Josh Brown has been suspended one game for accusations of domestic violence against his wife. According to ESPN.com, Brown's wife claims she was attacked over 20 times by the kicker. This is absolutely disgusting. Nothing is good about the situation. Not Josh Brown. Not the report about how many times his wife was attacked. Not even the NFL poor at best suspension. One game for beating up your wife more than 20 times? And here we "thought" the NFL learned the lesson from the Ray Rice saga. Don't even get me started on the Greg Hardy situation. No. Instead, the NFL appears to have taken steps backwards. Not just one step. The NFL fell down six flights of stairs on this one. Domestic violence is unacceptable in any circumstance, much less in the sports world. But for this to be on public display, with everything we know about the situation, and the NFL believes one game is sufficient? I am sorry. That is terrible. No, it's worse than terrible. I am at a loss of words.

Sorry, to end on such a sour note, everyone. But look at the bright side, preseason week three is upon us! The "dress rehearsal week" of the preseason will give us an excellent look of what's to come this season. Enjoy it everyone, and I'll see you all next Wednesday.



Richard Bradshaw is available to follow on twitter @RichieBradz36. Thank you for the read.

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