CINCINNATI — Before new Cincinnati Bengals assistant Steve Jackson flipped on his computer’s camera, he needed to get into character.
He put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses and reached into his closet for a plaid, multicolor sport coat, one that looks like it belongs at a country club instead of a virtual meeting with the team’s defensive backs.
Even if he looked like a game show host, he was still a football coach. And despite the inability to see players in person, coaching still needed to be done.
Joe Burrow will be counted on to resurrect the Bengals. And it seems like a logical progression from his high school days in southeast Ohio.
Carolina Panthers left tackle Russell Okung will appeal a dismissed unfair labor claim against the NFL Players Association, his attorney announced Monday.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dismissed Okung’s initial claim last week, saying the evidence “did not contravene the employer-employee relationship, nor did it run afoul of the policies of the [National Labor Relations] Act.”
TEMPE, Ariz. — Whenever the Arizona Cardinals get back to work, rookie offensive lineman Josh Jones won’t have the same steep learning curve that his fellow first-year players have.
Sure, he’ll have to learn about life in the NFL and how to take care of his body, but Jones is already intimately familiar with the Cardinals’ offense. He ran an extremely similar scheme as a left tackle under coach Dana Holgorsen at the University of Houston last season — a version of the Air Raid that relied heavily on the run in the same way the Cardinals do.
Kingsbury and Holgorsen both come from Mike Leach’s coaching tree. Kingsbury played for Leach at Texas Tech while Holgorsen played under Leach at Iowa Wesleyan and then coached with him at Valdosta State and Texas Tech. In fact, Holgorsen hired Kingsbury to be an offensive quality control coach at Houston in 2008, kickstarting Kingsbury’s coaching career.
“There’s a lot of good synergy there,” Kingsbury said after Jones dropped to the Cardinals unexpectedly in the third round. “We’re so thrilled it worked out. We did not expect him to be there.”
INDIANAPOLIS — High school freshman Michael Pittman Jr. was in denial.
He didn’t want to listen to his father, even though the elder knew a lot more about football than his son.
The conversation took place after a game at Valencia (California) High School when Pittman Jr. didn’t get a lot of carries out of the backfield.
• He was right. Pittman Jr. in 2019 was a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the top receiver in college, after finishing with 101 catches for 1,275 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was one of only four receivers in the FBS to have at least 100 receptions last season. “I think in any other year, he’s a first-round pick,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “Because of the strength of the receiver class, you get a first-round talent early in the second round. I’ve had great fortune to be around some really good receivers during my 11 years here at USC. Mike falls right in line with
So Pops knew what he was talking about, huh? “He constantly reminds me of it,” Pittman Jr. said laughing. “He’ll bring it up an y time we’re talking about old stories. But it’s really from his playing experience. It really didn’t become a big deal until I was in high school, and then it really hit me that my dad played 11 years as an NFL running back, which is almost unheard of.” Pittman Sr. was a fourth-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 1998. He rushed for 5,627 yards and 25 touchdowns during his 11-year career that also featured stops in Tampa and Denver. He won a Super Bowl with the Bucs — rushing for 124 yards in the victory over the Raiders — and played on teams that featured some of the best coaches and future coaches in the NFL, such as Jon Gruden, Sean McVay and Mike and Kyle Shanahan.First-round talent