Cold off the press

-- Actual news to report this Thursday! Marc Bulger - formerly of the Rams - will now be lining up in purple for the Ravens. He's been brought in as a veteran back up to Joe Flacco and I have to nod my head and say that it's another solid pick up in Baltimore this season. Will Bulger light up the scoreboard if needed? Probably not. But behind the Ravens line and with their run based attack, Bulger is experienced enough to get it done if Flacco is out for whatever reason. It's a good move. The Ravens also picked up CB Walt Harris, at a guess I would say just to add some depth to their secondary. But again, it's a solid move and the Ravens look like they're building a team this year. Not collecting talent or big names, but team building. Does a date in Dallas call for the Ravens? It's a little early, but the signs are promising.... -- Steve Smith has given the token speech about regretting his injury after it emerged that he broke his arm playing flag football with adults, not at a youth football camp as many previously believed. But a token speech is all it was. Smith tried to defend his position on Charlotte radio station WFNZ-AM by pointing out that he could easily be injured in all manner of everyday situations and then later joked on a telephone interview with NFL Total Access host Rich Eisen that he could potentially get injured slipping on a diaper. And while that's true, there's nothing in Smiths contract that stops him from slipping on diapers or cutting off a finger on a lawnmower. There is however - like almost all NFL contracts - some wording that prevents him from playing sports. For a very good reason. Say, like the risk of breaking your arm if you take a heavy fall. I don't care how dangerous flag football is or isn't. I don't care if Smith knows a ton of people who are off playing basketball right now. That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you have a contract which entitles you to large sums of money and prevents you from taking part in other sports. End of story. Is he going to pay some of the money back? How do his team mates feel knowing the best receiver on the team is going to miss the whole of training camp because he wanted to out shine some amateurs in a YMCA league? If I was his coach I'd be pretty damn pissed off right now, mainly because of the blase (I cant find the special character e') attitude shown. If I was his team mate, I'd be even more so. Some people just don't get it. -- And talking of locker room fractures and dismay, it's the Albert Haynesworth saga!! Yes, Haynesworth has said he'll be back in training camp and that he was only 'holding out' from voluntary camps, but the question still remains as to what will happen to Haynesworth when he returns. The Redskins want him to be a NT in their 3-4, Haynesworth wants to sit over a gurad and make hell in the oppositions backfield all day long. The answer? Ma'ake Kemoeatu They picked up the NT for a reason. Maybe initially just as an insurance policy against the chance that Haynesworth did indeed leave, but now the opportunity is ripe for Kemoeatu to be put to good use, sitting over the center and freeing up Haynesworth to play DE in the 3-4 scheme. How does the old phrase go; when all you have is lemons, make lemonade.... ? -- And in one last final and seamless transition, we go from a disgruntled pass rusher to the topic of my post yesterday, which was pass rushing in general, particularly with interest in the Defensive Tackles of a 4-3 getting penetration. Easier said than done you might say. And you'd be right, but to give you some idea of how it's done and what you should expect out of guys like Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh this season (though don't set the bar too high), I point you in the direction of the excellent brophy football (www.brophyfootball.blogspot.com) who has just posted a series of videos by Pete Jenkins on defensive line play. Keep an eye out in the first video for the Pull slide and swim. Have a great day everyone.