Dolphins, Philbin In Win-Now Mode

It’s time for the Miami Dolphins to get out of the quicksand of mediocrity which they’ve been residing in with head coach Joe Philbin.

With the offseason spending spree with includes the prized free agent catch of the offseason, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, it’s time for the Dolphins to make a move to the postseason.

“We’ve done an awful lot,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said via the team website. “You can look around. In every single area, we’ve made changes. We’ve thought outside the box. We’re looking to be the best in class. You can see the players that we’ve attracted, what they expect and you put it all together, that’s what makes winning teams. We’re all looking to win.”

The big question that arises is what is going to happen to head coach Joe Philbin if the team fails to win.  We have suggested that Philbin is on the hottest “hot seat” in the NFL entering this season.

With a schedule that includes just five games against playoff teams from a season ago, with their first date against a playoff team coming in Week 8 against the New England Patriots, the Dolphins figure to be a contender.

Clemons Doesn’t Report To Jaguars Camp; Not Their Biggest Issue

It was time for all the Jacksonville Jaguars veterans to report to training camp Thursday, and defensive end Chris Clemons was nowhere to be found.

It’s being reported that Clemons’ absence is because of “personal reasons.”

“I can’t get too much into it,” Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley said. “There are some personal things that he’s going through. I can tell you this that we’ve been in really good communication with him. If you were to ask me is it concerning, I would say yeah. I’ve told you that I would always be open as much as I can with you. This one is a little concerning not so much for the staff or the team or things like that but I think more concerning for Clem. My hope is that we can work through this but it’s been great communication. I just talked to him again this morning and talked to him last night. We’ll see how it is. Hopefully we come up with a decision to speed things up a little bit quicker. I don’t see this as a situation that’s extended.”

It’s certainly a good thing that the Jaguars have been in contact with Clemons and hopefully the situation will be resolved soon, as Clemons is an important member of the defense. A defense that currently has its best player, defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks as well as rookie safety James Sample beginning on the PUP list.

Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley sees Marks’ absence as a bigger issue than Clemons, not only because he’s a superior player.

“That one is more of a challenge to us,” Bradley said of Marks. “We’ll see how he progresses. He’s done a really good job in the offseason but I think that’s more week to week as we go through it. You see the strides even greater now but he was here all during the summer, worked out with our training staff so I think as they get a chance to get him on the field more and start running a little bit more maybe it will progress even faster.”

Will Marks be ready for the Jaguars season opener against the Carolina Panthers?

“My hopes is that he’ll be ready week one. I’m not sure,” Bradley stated. “I think there’s some things yet to be seen. We are not going to rush it, you know?”

Brady Appeal Moves To New York

Immediately after Roger Goodell and the NFL issued a statement that they’re upholding Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, the league decided to file a lawsuit in a federal court in Manhattan seeking confirmation of the arbitration award.

Yesterday, the NFLPA filed a competing lawsuit in Minnesota, but earlier this morning on the Dan Patrick Show, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah confirmed that the case had been transferred to New York.

This is a very small victory for the NFL side, as the NFLPA has had great success with the rulings in Minnesota Court.

The NFLPA will file for an official injunction tomorrow morning to get the suspension lifted until the court can hear the case.

Notable PUP’s

As training camps open up across the NFL, teams have designated certain injured players for their Physically Unable To Perform (PUP) lists.

Some of the more notable players include:

Mario Williams, DE, Buffalo Bills

Sen’Derrick Marks, DT, Jacksonville Jaguars

Kevin White, WR, Chicago Bears

Mike Neal, DE, Green Bay Packers

DeVante Parker, WR, Miami Dolphins

Darren McFadden, RB, Dallas Cowboys

Rolando McClain, LB, Dallas Cowboys

Golden Tate, WR, Detroit Lions

Joique Bell, RB, Detroit Lions

Jadeveon Clowney, LB, Houston Texans

Sio Moore, LB, Oakland Raiders

Vontaze Burfict, LB, Cincinnati Bengals

Brandon LaFell, WR, New England Patriots

Dominique Easley, DL, New England Patriots

Stevan Ridley, RB, New York Jets

Dennis Pitta, TE, Baltimore Ravens