The Week in Quotes: September 25, 2020
FACIAL HAIR FACE-OFF
"The mustache versus the beard … I think the beard is cooler. Guys that grow mustaches have patchy sides."
-- Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick throws down the gauntlet prior to Thursday Night Football's duel between the two most iconic sets of facial hair in the league.
"I'll let mine speak for itself ... but I'm gonna have respect for my elders. Especially when they're much, much elder."
-- Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew pays his respect to those that came before him, but isn't afraid to throw a jab along the way. (Adam Schefter, ESPN via Twitter)
WORST-GASE SCENARIO
"Whoever's got a pulse right now, we're ready to go."
-- New York Jets head coach Adam Gase is scraping the bottom of the bag looking for targets for Sam Darnold. With the Jets' top three receivers all out with injuries, the only two options to play Sunday are Braxton Berrios and Josh Malone. (Greg Joyce, New York Post via Twitter)
Reporter:"This is a year plus of you guys struggling to be able to move the ball on offense-- "
Adam Gase:"We moved the ball early. We moved the ball, we've just gotta finish in the red zone."
R:"So was this like a successful day for you on offense?"
AG:"No. We moved the ball. At the beginning of the game. Then we had some injury issues, we were down to two wide receivers. We didn't execute in the red zone, we gotta put it in to get seven. We have to stay with the other team. If our defense is struggling, we have to do better on offense. We have to find a way to get in the end zone. When we're kicking field goals, it's not gonna help us if they're scoring touchdowns."
-- Gase got annoyed with a reporter questioning the Jets' ability to move the ball on offense. In reference to Gase's comments about how well his team moved the ball, the Jets offense crossed midfield three times before garbage time, with one trip being set up on the San Francisco 22-yard line after a Nick Mullens interception. The Jets walked away with six points on those three drives. Also -- whose decision is it to kick field goals, coach? (Charles McDonald, NY Daily News via Twitter)
WIN PROBABILITY WAS INVENTED FOR FALCONS GAMES
"We've got to go capture it when the moment comes… From where I saw, it was a slow roller and one that we should make the aggressive move to go get it. The front three are usually blocking as the high bouncers go to the second side, so the front line, generally on an onside kick, they're looking to get a block first, then the high hop goes to the next player. So when that instance happens and it's not one that's a high hopper you transfer in and you go to your ball… They definitely know the rule."
-- Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn ensured skeptics that his kick return team does, in fact, know the rules to an onside kick. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
MORE FOOD ON THE TABLE, EVERYONE EATS
"Regardless of whether I got mine or not, it's definitely time for him to get his. I even left some money on the plate. I took less so he could get more, so to say. I would definitely love to see my boy get extended. It means a lot to the team."
-- Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen must be happy about his three-year, $17.3-million extension. Cohen, however, won't be fully satisfied until wide receiver Allen Robinson gets his deserved extension as well. Cohen was one of several Bears teammates who got involved in the #ExtendAR/#Extend12 social media movement, bringing the need for Robinson's extension to the public. (Chicago Sun-Times)
HOT ROD BUILDS A HOT ROD
"I just spent it building some LEGO sets and just talking to my girlfriend. That was about all I could do to take my mind off of it and not think about it too much, and not let it be something that affects me too much."
-- When roster cuts loomed for current Indianapolis Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, he took his mind off things by building LEGO sets with his girlfriend. Blankenship specifically built a LEGO Ferrari car and a LEGO Star Wars set the night he found out he would be the Colts kicker. (Sports Illustrated)
CAN'T QUESTION HIS LOGIC
"I don't know. I've been telling them we can't start winning until we stop losing and right now we are doing things to beat ourselves with the turnovers and sacks and safeties and penalties on third downs on defense. I'm just not going to deal with it anymore."
-- Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer made it clear to his 0-2 team that they, in fact, cannot win games while they are losing them. (ESPN)
HOME ALONE 3: STUCK AT SOFI
"Maybe he can miss the bus."
-- Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was asked how he plans to deal with Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. His answer: hope he doesn't have to. (Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN via Twitter)
"Even if he did, shoooooooot, we'd send a limo."
-- Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp making it clear that the team will do whatever is needed to get Donald to the stadium on time. (L.A. Rams WR Cooper Kupp via Twitter)
SOCIALLY DISTANCED SECONDARY
Instagram Commenter: "Why u guys playing to far away from the WR?"
Sean Murphy-Bunting: "COVID"
-- Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting had some topical humor ready for the lack of press coverage run by the Bucs secondary. (Greg Auman, The Athletic via Twitter)
METLIFE MOUTH
"At the end with the f----in penalty. Oh, pardon me. At the end with the penalty, obviously that's something we've got to clean up and we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. You can church up that language in the quotes."
-- New York Giants head coach Joe Judge is still working on the whole "clean your language up for the media" thing. (Pat Leonard, NY Daily News via Twitter)
DON'T KNOCK IT 'TIL YOU TRY IT
"Just because I'm vegan doesn't mean I just go outside and pick up grass and, you know, put ranch on it -- well, I guess that's not vegan -- or put balsamic on it and eat it. I still love good food."
-- New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton wants to dispel the stigma around vegan meals, ensuring that ranch on lawn clippings is NOT a nutritious meal. He added that he was eating a lot of Chinese food and steamed vegetables. (Nicole Yang, Boston Globe via Twitter)
THIS WEEK IN SOCIAL MEDIA
LEAVE YOUR MARK
-- Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr left his mark on the walls of Allegiant Stadium after bringing home the team's first win in their new home on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints.
JAXSON DOES HIS OWN STUNTS
UPDATE: The Jaguars mascot is still the most insane individual on the face of the planet pic.twitter.com/Jlu25d6lz3
— Pick Six Podcast (@picksixpod) September 25, 2020
-- Who said Thursday Night Football couldn't be exciting?
… *ALL* OF HIS OWN STUNTS
I HATE FOOTBALL 🤬🏈 pic.twitter.com/BtcqYAdQaq
— sammy guevara (@sammyguevara) September 25, 2020
-- During halftime of the Thursday night game in Jacksonville, the Jaguars showed All Elite Wrestling's Stadium Stampede match -- which was filmed at an empty TIAA Bank Field in May -- on the stadium's big screens. During the match, Jaguars mascot Jaxson de Ville was laid out by AEW star Chris Jericho. de Ville got his revenge on Thursday night, dunking Jericho's toadie Sammy Guevara into the stadium's pool with an RKO outta nowhere.
Comments
8 comments, Last at 28 Sep 2020, 4:09am
#4 by RobotBoy // Sep 27, 2020 - 3:45am
'There are 884 players who are making more money than Cam Newton this season. He was reportedly open to a backup role with the right team in May. When he agreed to terms with the Patriots in late June, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter they were the only team to offer him a contract, and only one other team, Cleveland, even had a conversation with him. The majority of the arguments as to why Newton wouldn’t work for a team—be them financial, health-related, or concerns about his role—are purely hypothetical. Since 29 teams never called after Carolina cut the quarterback in March, they simply don’t know.'
NFL Teams Should Be Embarrassed That They Let the Patriots Get Cam Newton So Easily, The Ringer
It's too early to run a take quite this hot on Newton but still, if you were a GM, wouldn't you consider it basic due diligence to put in that call? Maybe they were afraid he'd take them to a vegan restaurant.
#5 by Aaron Brooks G… // Sep 27, 2020 - 8:25am
Which teams do you think should have called?
The Pats were the right team to take a flyer. Good line and a good team with a gaping vacuum at QB, with neither a promising young player or an entrenched starter at the position.
I’m not sure how well Newton projects as a #2. I think he needs to be some place he’s the starter.
#7 by Perfundle // Sep 27, 2020 - 11:57pm
Good line and a good team are reasons why Cam should choose New England, but teams without both should have got in contact with him as well. I'd say that the Broncos, Bears and Chargers should definitely have tried to get him at least.