The suddenly reeling New York Jets are going to have to try and get back on track without their immense nose tackle Kris Jenkins. Jenkins tore the ACL in his left knee during the Jets' dispiriting 16-13 overtime loss to the Bills on Sunday and he was placed on injured reserve Monday afternoon which ends his 2009 season.
"It comes with the game," Jenkins said. "My feelings are hurt that I won't be able to be out there fighting with my teammates."
His teammates might be finding it a lot harder to win their future fights without Jenkins occupying the middle of the line. They'll have to figure something out, though, because there's not much chance of swinging a deal before Tuesday's trade deadline.
The Browns won four games last season. It cost Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel their jobs, and has led to an offseason full of speculation about whom the team will draft with the fifth-overall pick next Saturday.
Cleveland's collapse was mildly surprising; it won 10 games in 2007 and just missed the playoffs. With the quarterback position seemingly decided -- Derek Anderson went to the Pro Bowl in '07 -- only the defense needed fixing. Trading for Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams accomplished that (in theory, anyway) and all that remained was winning the Super Bowl.
It's a departure from Cleveland's free-agent strategy so far this offseason -- sign as many former Jets' castoffs as can fit under the salary cap -- but wide receiver David Patten, most recently of the Saints, is now under contract.
The 35-year-old, 13-year veteran played for the Browns in 2000, but emerged as one of Tom Brady's go-to guys during a three-Super Bowls-in-four-years stretch in New England. From 2001-04, Patten hauled in 165 passes (including 16 TDs) in 54 games with the Patriots. He had 54 more receptions with New Orleans in 2007 before injuries sidelined him last season.
There were no bright spots in the 2008 Lions season, except that it ended. Predictably, coaches were fired, players were released and the arduous task of rebuilding is now underway. (Although, to be fair, Detroit has been rebuilding for the entire decade, but that was part of some Matt Millen master plan gone horribly wrong.)
The draft has become one of the biggest events of the year for NFL fans. Maybe because everybody's a winner on draft day, or maybe because hope springs eternal and all that. Whatever the reason, we're fully trying to horn in on the action. Hence our first FanHouse mock draft of the '09 offseason. And we'd like to stress "mock."
When the Detroit Lions acquired Leigh Bodden from the Cleveland Browns this past offseason, it was supposed to help strengthen a secondary that, for the most part, couldn't cover itself with a blanket. Of course, it should have been a bad omen for Lions fans when Matt Millen, the man who made the trade, predicted that Shaun Rogers, the player he gave up to acquire Bodden, would take home the NFL defensive player of the year award if he was healthy. How's that for a confidence builder?
As it turns out, Bodden, a highly-touted player in Cleveland, never really lived up to expectations and was a pretty big disappointment during the '08 season -- which probably explains why will be released by the Lions after just one season in the Motor City.
The Browns are just a few weeks into the Eric Mangini administration and there are already rumblins'. Apparently, the Browns' new head coach has already removed a mural of former Browns greats that once hung near the player's entrance, and not only that, he snubbed Shaun Rogers at a recent public function. A function, it's worth mentioning, that Rogers had hoped to meet Mangini. Oh, the humanity.
Turns out, it was just a misunderstanding. You see, Mangini had no idea that Rogers was in attendance. I can only assume this public function was a Who's Who among Cleveland-area 400-pound African Americans. Otherwise, I have no idea how Shaun Rogers isn't the most recognizable person in every room.
As the regular season concluded, the FanHouse football writers all got together in a secret meeting in Will Brinson's mother's basement to discuss the players of the year. Who was the best coach? Which rookie stood out? Who was the most valuable player?
After much deliberation (and tons of meatloaf), here are the FanHouse NFL Award Winners. Only players/coaches who got votes were included in the final results.
His last game not withstanding, can you really argue with 20 sacks? The Cowboys' linebacker was also involved in 84 tackles and six forced fumbles in 2008.
So the NFL has robbed us of the usual late-season slate of Saturday afternoon games, but what they've given us in return is much, much better. Okay, not really -- for starters, as it currently stands, about 250 people get NFL Network, which means that a lot of you will be shut out of tonight's Ravens-Cowboys game.
Not only that, but most people who don't blog for a living have stuff to do on Saturday night. I suspect Roger Goodell doesn't care about such things.
Wow. Warren Sapp is so fat that the fat house fun mirror makes him look skinny. Which, I think, means that Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton would look like Rob and Fab. I'd pay to see that.
By the way, I'd love to see the CBS folks "accidentally" use the fat lens on broadcasting's moral beacon, Jim Nantz. I'm guessing he'd find it hilarious in much the same way Joe Buck loved Randy Moss' decision to pretend moon Packers' fans.
The suddenly reeling New York Jets are going to have to try and get back on track without their immense nose tackle Kris Jenkins. Jenkins tore the ACL in his left knee during the Jets' dispiriting 16-13 overtime loss to the Bills on Sunday and he was placed on injured reserve Monday afternoon which ends his 2009 season. 
The Browns won four games last season. It cost 
It's a departure from Cleveland's free-agent strategy so far this offseason -- sign as many former Jets' castoffs as can fit under the salary cap -- but wide receiver 
There were no bright spots in the 2008 Lions season, except that it ended. Predictably, coaches were fired, players were released and the arduous task of rebuilding is now underway. (Although, to be fair, Detroit has been rebuilding for the entire decade, but that was part of some 
When the Detroit Lions acquired 
The Browns are just a few weeks into the 
As the regular season concluded, the FanHouse football writers all got together in a secret meeting in 
