There continues to be optimism about Broncos running back Javonte Williams’ availability for the start of training camp.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton said this spring that Williams has a good chance to avoid going on the physically unable to perform list as he makes his way back from last year’s torn ACL and Williams was able to participate in OTAs on a limited basis to further stoke those good feelings. Williams made an appearance at teammate Pat Surtain II’s football camp on Sunday and said that he believes he is on track for a full return once the Broncos report to camp.
Williams said that he has continued working with the team’s training staff since the offseason program came to an end and that he’ll continue to consult with them about “how I feel, moving, just trying to get my speed back to normal, things like that” before a final decision on clearance. Williams was clear that he thinks he’ll get the green light.
“I mean, that’s the plan. I feel like I’m ready to go ,” Williams said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com.
Williams ran for 903 yards as a rookie and had 204 yards on 47 carries before getting injured in Week Four last season. Samaje Perine signed with the Broncos as a free agent this offseason and will join Williams in the team’s backfield once the 2021 second-round pick gets fully cleared.
John Lynch finally made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Class of 2021, in his ninth year of eligibility and his eighth year as a finalist. Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens said he believes Cowboys safety Darren Woodson should be in Canton over Lynch, a safety for the Buccaneers and the Broncos in the same era as Woodson.
“I’m thinking about a guy like Darren Woodson that’s not in the Hall of Fame, but John Lynch is. How in the hell do you quantify that?” Owens asked rhetorically, on Fubo Sports’ Getcha Popcorn Ready.
Hall of Fame receiver Andre Reed, who appeared as a guest with Owens, agreed that Woodson “no doubt” should be in the Hall of Fame.
Woodson and Lynch’s careers overlapped by 11 seasons. Woodson was named All-Pro three times to twice for Lynch, though Lynch’s nine Pro Bowls were four more than Woodson. Neither was all-decade. Woodson won three Super Bowl rings and Lynch one.
“When I got with the Niners, like I said, I didn’t know anything about no rivalry with the Cowboys and the Niners, I knew nothing about that,” Owens told Reed. “But when it comes to the game plan [it was about where is Woodson]? Granted John Lynch did some great things here and there, but I’m not looking for John [on the field]. I wasn’t. But when I played from my rookie year on, and I played against the Cowboys, I had to identify [where Woodson was]. Just because a guy starts on a defense and he is the No. 1 guy back there in the secondary for that defense, for me overall in totality, that doesn’t mean he’s impacting what I’m going to be doing. Yeah, he has to be accounted for that day because you’re game planning, but I wasn’t scared of No. 47 (Lynch]. And when I was with the Eagles and he was with Denver at the time [shrugs].”
Woodson got a step closer to Canton this year, becoming a finalist for the first time.
Bradley Chubb is now a member of the Dolphins, but he was with the Broncos until being traded around last year’s deadline and that means he got a close view of quarterback Russell Wilson’s disappointing first season in Denver.
During an appearance on Dolphins teammate Tyreek Hill’s It Needed To Be Said podcast, Chubb was asked about that experience. Hill said that one “pro” of not being with the Broncos anymore was that Chubb does not have to hear Wilson say “Let’s Ride” any more and noted one instance when Wilson dropped his catchphrase in the wake of a Broncos loss.
Chubb said that was “a little sad,” but that Wilson didn’t walk around the team’s facility saying it and he had a generally positive review of the way Wilson handled a difficult year.
“He gets so much flak. It’s crazy, bro, because he do the absolute most that he can possibly do to make sure that he’s the best he possibly can be, you know what I mean?” Chubb said. “He doesn’t miss a step. When he has a fluke year like this, bro, you just have to chalk it up. Bro, you had a bad year. But it gets so glorified because of who he is, who he’s been, what he’s done. You have to look it as a nod to who you are as a person. ‘I’m on this pedestal, everybody wants to knock me down.’ That’s how it is with him. All the different allegations, he has to sit there and take it. It was dope to see how he just stayed the same person throughout it all. It was unfortunate that we just couldn’t reach the potential that we all thought we was going to be.”
Hill seemed to agree with the idea that Wilson took too much criticism for a down year, but he and Chubb will have their attention elsewhere as they try to move to the top of the AFC East this season. Wilson and the Broncos will be fending for themselves with a new head coach and what they hope will be a brighter future.
Shannon Sharpe is out as the co-host of FS1’s Undisputed. So who’s in?
No one knows.
According to Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com, Undisputed will be on hiatus on August 28, due to the struggles to find a replacement for Sharpe .
Part of the problem is that Sharpe, a Hall of Fame tight end, left quickly. Part of the problem, reportedly, is that not many want to work with Skip Bayless, who calls the shots for the debate show.
As one unnamed source explained it to McCarthy, the shutdown of the show will leave Bayless beside himself.
“Shannon’s exit moved way faster than they expected,” the source said. “So they had no choice but to go on hiatus. Skip has never done anything like this during all his years at FS1 or ESPN. Not being on the air during all these NBA moves is killing him.”
Bayless also won’t be on the air for NFL training camps and preseason, at which time he would surely be pretending to piss and moan about the Cowboys. He’ll return once the preseason has ended, and as teams prepare to trim rosters from 90 to 53.
That’s the one undisputed thing about this development — it’s far from ideal for FS1 or for Bayless.
Last week, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce appeared on the latest installment of the contrived celebrity golf tournament. Charles Barkley, who makes everything he’s involved in more interesting and entertaining, was part of the coverage.
While discussing where Kelce ranks among the all-time great tight ends, Barkley mentioned Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, who recently left FS1’s Undisputed. And Barkley took a shot at Sharpe’s former on-air partner, Skip Bayless.
“I want one of those jobs where I can get fired [and] get a buyout for working with an idiot ,” Barkley said.
Last month, Barkley made a similar comment during his NBA gig with TNT.
“I read an article today . . . that if you work with a damn idiot, they’ll buy you out ,” Barkley said. “Apparently, if you work with a damn idiot, they’ll buy you out. So I just want you all to know, I’m open to the buyout.”
We don’t know whether Bayless responded the first time. He did respond the second time. “Still chuckling over a clown calling me an idiot ,” Bayless tweeted, via SI.com.
Bayless would be better off letting it go, but he’s not wired that way. He’ll “embrace debate” wherever he can find it, and his skin is wafer thin . And he wants the attention, even if he’s picking a fight he can’t win — not with a guy like Barkley.
It remains to be seen who will end up taking Sharpe’s place on Undisputed. It would be great if Barkley got the job. And if Barkley and Bayless were on the air together, it would be obvious pretty quickly as to whether Barkley is right about calling Bayless an “idiot,” and whether Bayless is right about calling Barkley a “clown.”