The Linc – People close to Jason Kelce believe he won’t retire this year

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 2/12/22.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Jason Kelce reveals this year was supposed to be his last, but indications are the Eagles center will be back – Inquirer
Every year for the last four, Kelce has entered the offseason not sure if he has played his last down. He said Friday that he’ll take a few more weeks to decide, but indications are that he’ll return for a 12th season. Several people close to Kelce, while not saying they know what his decision will be, have said they believe he won’t retire. “I understand that,” Kelce said to The Inquirer. “I’ve done the same thing the last four years and I’ve come back. Before the season started, I honestly thought it was going to be my last year. I thought there’s no chance I could possibly do it another year after that.“And the season went well. I was healthy for a large portion of it. We ended on a good note, minus the playoff loss, which sucked. But so there’s definitely a lot of things right now that are making me entertain the idea of playing another year.” Kelce said he feels healthy, which is probably the most important factor in his possible return. He hasn’t missed a game since 2014, but he’s played through many injuries and accumulated various bumps and bruises. But the scaling back on his practice load has allowed for the 34-year old to heal more easily.

Jason Kelce explains his process to decide on his future – NBCSP

Kelce spoke with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark for the Takeoff podcast on Thursday from Southern California before the NFL Honors awards presentation. Kelce, 34, was the Eagles’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. […] “Everybody wants to know, including me,” Kelce said. “I’m still trying to figure that out. I just think it comes down to, I definitely want to play. It just comes down to whether or not I think I can dedicate myself to doing it the right way and the way it needs to be done. If I can do that, I’ll play. If I can’t, that will be it. “But I’m going to step away for a couple weeks and really try to evaluate. Just get away from the emotion of everything and see if I can do that again.” Kelce has a strong relationship with the Eagles’ front office and will likely want to make his decision in a way that gives the organization plenty of time to come up with a plan if he does decide to retire. If he comes back, the two sides will need to iron out a new contract, but that shouldn’t be too big of an issue.

Super Bowl predictions 2022: Who’s going to win on Sunday – BGN
The Bleeding Green Nation writers picks are in for Super Bowl LVI! The Los Angeles Rams are the favorites to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Despite this, a majority of BGN writers are actually betting on Joe Burrow’s side.

Dick Vermeil: ‘I’m sincerely so grateful’ – PE.com
EI: You took over an Eagles team that had been in the dumps for a long time. Why did it turn around? DV: “Fortunate for me, there were some good football players. No draft choices (because of trades), but (Eagles Hall of Fame linebacker Bill) Bergey was there. (Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver) Harold Carmichael was there. John Bunting was there. Frank LeMaster was there. Jerry Sisemore, Guy Morriss, Randy Logan, Charlie Smith, they were there. “But they had to put together and improved. And as good as they were, they had to get better. You know, good players lose games, too. You have to improve everybody’s contribution. You’ve got to make sure – and I can remember, I appreciate it so much – my best player at that time was Bill Bergey. How he bought in once he recognized what we were doing, how he bought in to becoming the toughest, hardest worker on the practice field. And he was the best player, probably the highest-paid player. Then the John Buntings and the Harold Carmichaels, all these guys jumped in and did the same thing, so anybody new coming into the program had unbelievable standards to meet, to be respected on that football team. We get (Eagles Hall of Fame quarterback Ron) Jaworski in and build him into the ability that he had to be, you know, it takes time to build a quarterback, it really does. The problem today is you don’t get enough time to coach them on the field. You just don’t, especially in intense environments. I feel for these new, young coaches.”

GamePlan: Raheem Morris Won’t Have to Wait Long for His Next Chance – SI
The Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers dominoes. This offseason has potential for a lot of quarterback movement—but so much of it will likely be dictated by what happens at the highest level, and specifically whether Rodgers and Wilson get antsy again and try to join Deshaun Watson on the trade block. If Rodgers and Wilson stay put, and Watson settles the lawsuits against him, then the Texans will be positioned to get a lot for their 26-year-old franchise quarterback (we’ll have more on this Monday, but the way Lovie Smith is talking about Davis Mills tells me that Houston will be all ears on Watson from the jump this time around). If the other two try and escape Green Bay and Seattle, on the other hand, the landscape gets a little more complex. And the quarterbacks on the next level down, players like Jimmy Garoppolo could have their opportunities to start elsewhere affected by what happens with the elite as well. The reason why I’m raising this obvious question now? Look at the calendar. Last year, it was Feb. 9 when Wilson made his appearance on the Dan Patrick Show—and revealed that he thought Seattle had fielded trade calls on him. Nine days before that, the Rams and Lions had agreed to the Matthew Stafford trade. And in the week leading up to the Stafford trade, the Rodgers situation was ignited by Rodgers himself ruminating over an uncertain future after losing the NFC title game, then doubling down on the thought on the Pat McAfee Show two days later. Which is to say we’re already behind last year’s chaos, so pieces are likely to start moving soon (and maybe within the Super Bowl weekend news cycle).

NFL returns to Mexico in 2022, the Cowboys could make sense as one of the teams – Blogging The Boys
Speaking at his pre-Super Bowl press conference, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced on Wednesday that the league will once again have a game in Mexico for the 2022 season. The league last played a game at Azteca Stadium in 2019, but due to COVID-19 protocols they have not returned the last two seasons. The Dallas Cowboys large international following, particularly in Mexico, makes them a prime candidate to play in this game. The NFL will also play its first ever game in Germany in 2022, and one each season for the next four years.

Big Blue View mailbag: Draft, QB trainers, more questions – Big Blue View
Jeff, I do not believe the hiring of Martindale makes defense a higher priority in the draft. I have always thought that if the Giants keep the No. 5 and No. 7 picks that they could easily be split between an offensive and defensive player. What I do think is valid is that this could — make that, probably does — change the type of defensive players the Giants will look for. Martindale and Patrick Graham both run 3-4 base defenses, but they run vastly different schemes. Graham runs a more conservative, keep plays in front of you, disguise coverage defense that is not blitz heavy. Martindale is blitz-happy, caution to the wind, cornerbacks on an island guy. You need different players. Top-tier pass rushers are nice for Martindale, but not absolutely necessary. He wants to scheme pressure. What is necessary are guys who can run and cover. That means top-notch cornerbacks. Linebackers who can run — as in, not Reggie Ragland. A do-everything safety like Kyle Hamilton of Notre Dame. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Giants lead toward coverage guys more than edge rushers in the draft.

The Cult Of Colt: All Of That… For This? – Hogs Haven
On this edition of The Cult of Colt podcast, Comrades Bryan & Gumbi take a walk down memory lane and recant what has happened since June 2020 and the journey Jason Wright and co have taken us on. We re-live some of the promises made by the Washington front office to the deteriorating and rapidly unhinged fan base as part and parcel of the team’s CYA PR fire drill rebrand. We commiserate with the fans and talk about how we truly feel about the er— hoax naming process that finished with the lackluster announcement on The Today Show. But wait… there’s more! The Cult of Colt gives some shocking thoughts on the finale of “Making the Brand” and interesting changes to the uniforms of our (turn head sideways and with a slightly high-pitched confused voice) Washington Commanders…?

Report: Jaguars expected to hire Jim Bob Cooter as pass-game coordinator – Big Cat Country
Cooter, 37, most recently was a consultant with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021, working under Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni to assist with situational game planning and other facets of the offensive gameplan. “I was calling the play to [offensive coordinator] Shane [Steichen], Shane did a good job of talking in there — when we’re in two-minute situations, [passing game coordinator] Kevin Patullo was really doing a lot of, ‘Hey, here’s our scenario of what we’re in,’ Jim Bob Cooter is getting all the scenarios for us from the two-minute around the league so we can prepare for it,” Sirianni said in preseason last year.

4 reasons the Bengals will win Super Bowl LVI – SB Nation
No. 3: Ja’Marr Chase has the ability to win the game’s most critical matchup. So much of this game will hinge on the battle between Ja’Marr Chase and Jalen Ramsey, which I’d love to have a camera on all game long. Chase is quickly becoming one of the NFL’s strongest physical receivers, and Ramsey relishes taking on guys like that. However, Chase is really a unicorn when it comes to how he plays. He is so physical, but would rather catch short slants and hitches, then use his athleticism to get upfield. In this way he’s a very different challenge to Ramsey than Mike Evans was in the Divisional Round , where the Buccaneers relied on big catches and air yards to move the ball downfield. Make no mistake: Ramsey can cover every single route. He’s one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL for a reason. However, this is far from the Rams’ forte. They gave up 2,614 YAC this season, second worse in the NFL, so it’s more about who can help Ramsey in this matchup. If we assume it’s a 50/50, then how much is Chase’s 50 percent hurting the Rams? In addition, only eight teams had more missed tackles that the Rams did this season. This is a really critical stat for the Bengals and they will love the opportunity to burn Los Angeles with their favorite offensive technique.

Super Bowl Digital Row feat. Russell Wilson, Travis Kelce, Dick Butkus, Deion Sanders, Aidan Hutchinson and Adrian Peterson – The SB Nation NFL Show
We bring you a star-studded lineup of guests to close out Super Week 2022! Russell Wilson tells us how he went from releasing a list of teams to which he would accept a trade to wanting to stay in Seattle (1:13). Travis Kelce tells us what went wrong the Chiefs this year (8:35). Dick Butkus absolutely crushes Matt Nagy the Bears (18:32). Aidan Hutchinson on why he’s going to have success in the NFL (32:29). Deion Sanders on the NFL’s diversity issues (41:47). Adrian Peterson on whether he wants to keep playing, and when he knew Eric Bieniemy should be a head coach (56:13)

The NFL had the Brian Flores lawsuit coming – Vox
The Houston Texans announced this week that Lovie Smith would be their new head coach. Fifteen years ago, he became the first Black head coach (by a matter of hours) to win a berth in the Super Bowl. Now he’ll be the first Black man to lead three different NFL franchises on the sidelines. It’s good to see Smith, the team’s defensive coordinator last season, get another shot to lead an NFL team after coaching the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Texans’ hire of Smith, however, cannot make up for the damning allegations in a recent lawsuit filed against the NFL and three of its teams: Black head coaches in the NFL are neither hired at representative rates nor kept around for very long.

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