See? I told you: I step out for a minute and stuff starts to happen. With Sedrick Ellis marching in, the biggest thing standing between the Bengals and first-round pick Keith Rivers is DE Derrick Harvey. Unfortunately, it looks like the Jaguars are digging in their heels.
Asked if Ellis’ deal would help to expedite talks with Harvey, Del Rio expressed pessimism.
“I don’t think so,” [head coach Jack Del Rio] said. “Not based on the numbers that came in.”
Harvey’s representatives, who have not returned phone calls, are believed be seeking between $18 million and $19 million in guaranteed money (a 20 percent increase over last year’s No. 8 slot), which would put the defensive end in the same pay range as veteran quarterback David Garrard, who recently signed a long-term extension.
“You’re paying guys that have never done anything more than star football players in this league, [who] have played for years, established themselves at this level [and have shown] what they’re capable of,” Del Rio said. “It can be a little frustrating. We don’t negotiate publicly, but I’m just trying to give you a sense of where I am right now in dealing with this. Hopefully, he wants to be here bad enough [that] we’ll work something out.”
Meanwhile, the bad news at DE continues for the Bengals. DE Robert Geathers joined Antwan Odom on the sidelines last night with his own foot injury. Oh well. On the flip side, things could be worse.
Update: Geathers is back in pads this afternoon. However, Deltha, Indiana Jones, TJ, Rudi and Kenny Watson aren’t practicing. Chad Johnson is doing drills with the DBs.
CBS Sportsline’s Clark Judge files his report from Georgetown. In his accompanying Five Things to Know piece, I was dismayed to read this:
4. Defensive end Antwan Odom isn’t on the field, either. He’s suffering from a sprained foot and is not expected back immediately. The club does anticipate having him for the season opener, however, and it better. “He will provide us a first- and second-down pass rusher, as well as one on third downs,” said coach Marvin Lewis. “That will allow us to apply first-and-second-down pressure without having to blitz.”
Argh. It always drove me crazy that former DE Justin Smith took 97% of defensive snaps. Sure, the Bengals were getting their money’s worth out of him, but how effective is the guy going to be as the game rolls on? I don’t want to see Odom out there the same amount of time. Rotate him with Frostee Rucker more and keep both of them fresh. And blitz some more, damnit! All the “bend but don’t break” defensive philosophy of the Breshnahan era did was to keep the offense off the field while the D surrendered seven- and eight-minute drives. Take some risks. Sure, you’ll get burned some, but at least it gets the O back out quickly and who knows? You might even make a few big defensive plays, too.
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“And blitz some more, damnit! All the “bend but don’t break” defensive philosophy of the Breshnahan era did was to keep the offense off the field while the D surrendered seven- and eight-minute drives. Take some risks. Sure, you’ll get burned some, but at least it gets the O back out quickly and who knows? You might even make a few big defensive plays, too.”
Amen. It is unbelievable that was used as a strategy. When you have a defense that will be scored upon methodically because they are terrible, you have to take chances. If it goes bad the defense just doesn’t get as tired and our excellent offense is back on the field quicker. Not being able to recognize things like this makes me nervous about our coaching.
I agree, it seems sometimes (and even more than sometimes) that the Bengals’ coaching staff lack flexibility and adaptablity. When “the plan” isn’t working, they look like the proverbial deer in the headlights. I’m hoping Zimmer provides a break from that.