NFL Reinstates New England Patriots Wide Receiver Josh Gordon

NFL Reinstates New England Patriots Wide Receiver Josh Gordon

Featured

by | Aug 17, 2019 | Featured, NFL

To start training camp, Phillip Dorsett was the only returning wide receiver for the New England Patriots. Chris Hogan left in free agency, Cordarrelle Patterson opted to follow suit. Julian Edelman was being held out with a thumb injury and Josh Gordon was still on an indefinite suspension.

Fast forward to today and Josh Gordon is officially a member of the Patriots once more. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the suspension was lifted and Gordon would be able to rejoin the team on Sunday.

Gordon won’t be allowed to play in any preseason games but is cleared to retake the field when the Super Bowl champions start their quest to defend their title on September 8th against the Pittsburgh Steeler.s

Last season, Gordon played in 11 games with New England, He totaled 40 receptions for 720 yards and three touchdowns before he was once again forced to watch from the sidelines after violating his previous reinstatement protocols.

Towards the end of those 11 games, Gordon and Brady started to develop a clear connection with each other but the receiver would miss the entirety of New England’s postseason run.

With him back, the Patriots suddenly go from inexperienced to deep at wideout. Gordon and Edelman will be back once the games count and their absence has allowed for rookies N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers get valuable practice reps during training camp.

Before tonight, Dorsett was in line to be atop the team’s depth chart. Now he’s more likely to be fourth in the pecking order when Week 1 kicks off.

Aug 17, 2019 No Comments
Curren$y Brings Next Music to Cruise to with Hot August Night

Curren$y Brings Next Music to Cruise to with Hot August Night

Celebs

by | Aug 16, 2019 | Celebs, Featured

The creator of Jet Life has delivered again, Curren$y has teamed up with producer Nard & B  to give us something to ride during those hot August nights. Today Curren$y has released a seven-track EP entitled “Hot August Nights.” Nard & B instrumentals give a similar but different vibe to past projects with his signature laid-back bars. 

Arguably the hardest working man under the independent banner, following collab album with Berner “Pheno Grigio.” “Hot August Nights” includes two previously released singles ‘Right Now‘ and ‘Eyes Closed,‘ and standout track ‘Another Score,’ pays respects to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle and how he can’t believe his no longer here. He even tweeted his disbelief the day Nipsey was assassinated on March 31.  

It wouldn’t feel like vintage Spitta without the car talk and bud reflections, then again who does this better than Spitta? Longtime fans will surely enjoy soundtracking their evenings with this one. 

Stream it below:

Aug 16, 2019 No Comments
SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #19 Stephon Gilmore

SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #19 Stephon Gilmore

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by | Aug 16, 2019 | Featured, NFL

19. Stephon Gilmore 

Team: New England Patriots

Position: CB

Experience: 7 Years

The Buffalo Bills selected Gilmore with the tenth overall pick in the first round of the 2012 Draft. Gilmore played 5 seasons for Buffalo earning one Pro Bowl nomination in 2016. His stellar performance wasn’t enough to catapult the Bills into contention, as the Bills best record with Gilmore was a measly 9-7 2nd place finish in the AFC East in 2014. However, his play didn’t go unnoticed by mastermind Head Coach Bill Belicheck. The Patriots went out of the norm, as they spent big money grabbing Gilmore away from Buffalo at the cost of 65 Million (40 Guaranteed) over the course of 5 years. 

As mentioned earlier, Gilmore did have some success in Buffalo. In  2016 he tied for the league lead in INTs with 5. Although the Bills had trouble manufacturing points, their defense was always stingy throughout Gilmore’s tenure, large in part to the terrific play of their secondary and pass rush. Gilmore turned into a whole new monster with New England. Will Belicheck’s schemes in place, he has been able to transform Gilmore into an even bigger threat for opposing QBs. 

Although Gilmore numbers dropped in his first season as a Patriot in 2017, his overall effect on the game was just as great. With a significant decrease in the number of balls targeted his way, offenses simply chose to avoid his 1 on 1 coverage on their #1 receiver. Gilmore is known for his exceptional bump and run coverage on defense, a strategy in which he lines up directly across from the wideout on offense and uses his great physicality and footwork to impede the receivers route. Gilmore has remarkably strong hands and impeccable timing in breaking up passes. 

Gilmore had a spectacular 2018 campaign. He suited up for all 16 games in the regular season for the Patriots. His primary role was to shadow the oppositions best receiver in 13 of the contests, in which he allowed only 42 catches on 90 targets for 466 yards. Gilmore led the league in forced incompletions (24) as well pass break-ups and interceptions combined (29).  His play earned him recognition from Pro Football Focus as the number one ranked cornerback of 2018. Gilmore added another Pro-Bowl to his collection along with his first selection to the All-Pro first team. 

Gilmore elevated his game to the next level in the 2018 playoffs. In the Patriots three game stretch facing Philip Rivers, Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff, Gilmore was targeted a total of 19 times. In these 19 attempts, the opposing QBs posted an astounding 38.2 passing rating, legitimately worse than every single pass landing out of bounds (Pat Thurman-PFF). Gilmore heads into 2019 as a Super Bowl Champion and arguably the best corner in the game. Paired with Bill Belicheck and the Patriots, Gilmore is peaking at the perfect time in his career. 

Aug 16, 2019 No Comments
NFL SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #20 Jalen Ramsey

NFL SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #20 Jalen Ramsey

Featured

by | Aug 15, 2019 | Featured, NFL

20. Jalen Ramsey

Team: Jacksonville Jaguars

Position: CB

Experience: 3 Years

In this league, confidence goes a long way. Despite his youth, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey might be the most confident player in the entire NFL. The assuredness that he is the best player at his position didn’t just begin in the league, it’s a belief that’s fueled Ramsey through every level of football he’s ever played. It’s not a quiet confidence either, he will let anyone within hearing distance know how he feels about his skills. In an era of subtweets and burner accounts, Ramsey isn’t afraid to attach his name to anything he says. He also goes out on the field and backs up every single word.

Although he hasn’t been in the NFL for long, Ramsey has quickly made an impact. Much like Darrelle Revis and Richard Sherman before him, Ramsey’s skillset allows for him to completely shutdown one side of the football field. He’s not just a great football player, he’s also a freak athletically. At the 2016 NFL Combine he ran a 4.41 40-yard dash, jumped 41.5 inches on his vertical leap, and recorded a broad jump of 135 inches. Combined with physical measurements (6’1” and 208 pounds) and you have the makings of a perfect corner in the modern NFL.

In three seasons Ramsey has started every single game. 2017 was his breakout year. He was part of the reason that the Jaguars had the best defense in the league that year. He pulled in a career-high four interceptions and was named First-Team All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl. Though Jacksonville was unable to repeat their success record-wise a year ago, Ramsey’s play stayed at a high level. He had three interceptions, a career-high 62 solo tackles and was named to the Pro Bowl for a second consecutive season.

With another year of seasoning under his belt it stands to reason that Ramsey will only be better. He’s shown the versatility to defend speedy wide receivers like Tyreek Hill and T.Y. Hilton, big receivers like A.J. Green and tight ends Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski. Jacksonville knows that they have a defender who is capable of handling the best receiving option on the opposing team week in and week out. While he’s made his mark mostly on the left side of the defense he’s not afraid of moving around the formation depending on who he’s matched up against. In the secondary, Ramsey is the ultimate weapon.

Unlike in 2018 when he made headlines with his honest breakdown of the opposing quarterbacks on the Jaguars’ schedule, he has been relatively silent—or should we say measured, because Ramsey is never silent—this offseason. While it’s possible that the star cornerback has turned over a new leaf, it’s more likely that if Jacksonville finds itself as a contender and playoff team in the AFC that we will hear plenty from him this year. Having a player this special and this sure of himself isn’t something that every team has. Letting Jalen Ramsey be Jalen Ramsey is the key to the Jaguars regaining their swagger on the field this season.

Aug 15, 2019 No Comments
Is it Time to Worry About Andrew Luck?

Is it Time to Worry About Andrew Luck?

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by | Aug 14, 2019 | Featured, NFL

Last season, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had arguably the best year of his NFL career. He threw for 4,593 yards, 39 touchdowns, 67.3 completion percentage, and set career highs in completions (430) and attempts (639). The team went 10-6 and lost in the Divisional Round to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a comeback season for the former number one overall pick who missed all of 2017 with a shoulder injury.

The shoulder injury was a curious one as it was an injury and surgery that was supposed to only sideline the signal-caller through the offseason, Luck wasn’t even ready to throw a real football in training camp. In the end, he sat the entire season to make sure that he would be perfectly healthy in the future.

Well, we’re in the future and Luck is not healthy. The Colts had spent money and draft capital to try and fortify their roster so that their season wouldn’t live or die on the play of Luck. Pundits were highlighting Indianapolis as a team capable of making a run to Miami for Super Bowl LIV in February 2020.

All the progress and good feelings came to a screeching halt when it was first announced that Luck was dealing with another injury. However, it wasn’t an upper-body injury but instead discomfort in his calf that sidelined him. In March, an MRI revealed that he was dealing with a calf strain in his right leg. During organized team activities (OTAs) and training camp in May and June, the Colts opted to hold out Luck for some practices. By July, head coach Frank Reich was referencing the calf strain and resulting Achilles tear of NBA superstar, Kevin Durant when discussing the precautions the team was taking with the face of their franchise.

Then on Monday, Colts owner Jim Irsay provided us with an update that the team believed that it was a small bone—the os trigonum—that was responsible for the persistent pain that the quarterback was dealing with.

Yet, one day later, general manager Chris Ballard refuted that report (it turns out only 5-10 percent of the population even has an os trigonum) and said that it has become more of an ankle injury. “From the start we’ve been dealing with a calf injury,” Ballard said, via ESPN’s Mike Wells article. “In March through camp, dealing with a calf and then little area below his calf, which Andrew kind of referred to as a lower leg where he was dealing with some pain, almost in the ankle area. The injury wasn’t getting better and hadn’t been practicing, so in the course of dealing with the calf injury, it appears that now we have an ankle issue.”

The NFL season gets underway in less than a month and the Colts aren’t ready to comment on what Luck’s status will be to begin the year. Compare that to 2017, when Irsay was on record saying he didn’t believe the quarterback would miss any time and it’s easy to make an assumption that the current injury situation is worse than the shoulder injury that kept him off the field for an entire season.

When he’s healthy, Luck is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. However, in the last four seasons, including 2019, he’s only been 100 percent healthy for one of them. If he is able to return to the field this year then all eyes will be on how he looks. If not, he will likely get brandished with the tag of being injury prone.

Over the course of five months, this injury has not only worsened but moved to a completely different part of the body. It is surely time for this franchise to panic.

Aug 14, 2019 No Comments