(05-28-2019, 05:09 PM)FBT Wrote:

(05-24-2019, 08:15 AM)NH3 Wrote: Let's keep it positive by saying that we released our safeties for a reason that reflected their play or the lack of. Taven, when relocated to his natural position has already shown signs of improvement to say the least. Also I expect Ramsey and Bouye to have another stellar year at their positions. Barring injuries our defense will continue to hold it down while the offense picks it up. That's the formula for success.

Time Will Tell.

NH3...

Injuries are definitely a huge concern until we see how solid our depth is this year.  I'm not really worried about Malik being gone.  Good guy.  Rock solid player.  But, how much longer could that last at his position?  We needed to get younger/cheaper somewhere.  He was always expected to be a sacrificial lamb.

I tend to agree with you that the defense will be somewhat different, but still strong enough to hold it down for the team.  I think Foles landed in a pretty good spot here thanks to the defense.  As long as Leonard doesn't stay stuck in a 2018 mentality, and we see improved play with the receivers/TEs, and we can stabilize the line, the offense has the potential to really make some strides.  I think he's good enough to elevate the players around him, and as long as we don't end up in a similar injury situation as we did last year, Dungy's analysis could be prophetic.

(05-28-2019, 03:06 PM)Bullseye Wrote: I was excited about the defense coming into the year, but there are a couple of things that have served to dampen it.

First was the news regarding Telvin Smith.

next was the injury suffered by Josh Allen.  The Jaguars have said it's a bruised knee and nothing, yet Allen will miss the remainder of the OTAs. 

After that, was the news that Telvin's presumed replacement, rookie LB Quincy Williams, was taken off the field today in a golf cart (which may or may not have been serious per Searcy).

Finally, one of the 1010 XL talking heads added perspective this morning, noting that between the two starting safeties (Harrison and Wilson), there are less than ten (10) combined starts.  Considering how important S is to our scheme, it is something of a concern.

I sincerely hope all of these things are all minor in the overall scheme of things football wise.  Hopefully, Smith is well and up for a return next year (if not sooner), Allen and Williams are healthy and will be perfectly healthy by training camp, and Wilson and Harrison (more concerned about Wilson) will fit seamlessly into the defense and provide superlative coverage and tackling in a level of player equal to if not greater than their immediate predecessors.

The Telvin thing is a hit, but at the end of the day, the defense has enough talent to address his missing the season.  

I'm not going to get to worked up over a player riding off in a golf cart.  The heat has been ridiculous the past few days.  Odds are it was heat realated, and Quincy Williams will be fine.  The last time a local radio guy reported an injury like that on air, it turned out to be the player needed to drop a deuce and didn't want to go into the port-o-let.  Talking head speculation was off the charts.  The fact that nobody is talking about any potential injuries in the local media is a good sign.  Of course, they're all focused on Foles missing the practice for personal reasons.  Maybe they really didn't even notice.  I guess we'll see when they take the field for the next session.

I'm really not concerned about the Allen injury.  Would you rather see him suffer an injury like we've seen previously with our first rounder that causes him to miss his rookie season?  Or, is it better to bubble wrap the guy for voluntary practices.  Personally, I think the guy needs to bury himself in the playbook, attend all of the meetings, and give his body a break.  These draft picks tend to wear out pretty quickly their rookie year because they never really get a chance to break from football due to the combine, private workouts, and doing the dog and pony show for the draft.  I think the team wants to avoid a minor injury becoming a problem, and I'm perfectly fine with that.  Training camp is adequate time for him to get football ready.

If there was a legitimate concern about the level of play for the starting safeties, the team probably would have pursued one of the free agents that were available to them.  I guess we're going to have to trust their process.  It's certainly something to be a little worried about, but this defense is so talented that I'm sure they'll make it work.

I agree.  It's May and way hotter than normal.  I usually can handle heat pretty well and at my age I feel that I'm in reasonable shape (not an athlete by any means).  This past couple of days I have had to "knock it off" and get inside to the air conditioning,... even after drinking plenty of water and Gatorade as well as snacking on cold fruit.

If there were any major injuries I'm sure we would have heard something by now.

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