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NFL

Quinn on Mack injury: 'Concerned, not panicked'

HOUSTON — Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn for the first time expressed concern about center Alex Mack, who continues to recover from a left fibula injury as the team approaches Sunday’s Super Bowl LI matchup with the New England Patriots.

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Mack, who didn’t practice all of last week and was limited Monday and Wednesday, was limited again Thursday at Rice University. Quinn commented on Mack’s status to pool reporter Peter King, who noted how Mack struggled at times throughout practice.

“I just know his toughness and strength is so great,” Quinn said. “The good thing is, I know he’s feeling better than he did in the NFC Championship Game. But yeah, I’m concerned. I’m not panicked, but I’m concerned.”

Mack first suffered the injury in Atlanta’s win over Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game. He initially exited for just one play but then sat out the final series of the game.

If Mack suffers a setback before Sunday or simply can’t push through, Ben Garland would step in for him. Mack arguably was the best free-agent acquisition in the league last offseason, helping to solidify the offensive line in front of lead MVP candidate Matt Ryan. Mack not only assists in giving Ryan clean pockets, he also gets out in space and delivers vicious blocks to spring running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

Quinn was asked about brushing up on the offensive game plan with Mack limited.

Falcons center Alex Mack didn’t practice all last week and has been limited this week because of a left fibula injury. Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports

“This game, because of the multiple fronts by New England, requires a lot of prep work by the center,” Quinn said. “Identifying this look, this front, this player’s positioning, they [Mack and Garland] spend a lot of time in the film room together normally. … and I would say it’s been even more these two weeks because this opponent requires even more.”

In other injury news, wide receiver Julio Jones was limited again coming off a toe sprain, and veteran defensive end Dwight Freeney, 36, was held out with a calf injury. Both are expected to be ready for Sunday, and Quinn called Freeney’s absence just a maintenance day.

The Falcons wrap up the week of practice Friday afternoon and will have a walk-through Saturday.

NFL

Union head: NFL should pay cheerleaders fairly

HOUSTON — A day after a group of cheerleaders filed a potential class-action lawsuit in federal court against the NFL, alleging league executives and team owners conspired to suppress wages, players union executive director DeMaurice Smith excoriated the league for not doing more to pay the women fairly.

“I think the league should be better than that,” Smith said during the annual NFL Players Association news conference, “and I think it requires better leadership and I think it requires a better decision by a group of people that everyone in this business can be paid fairly, and we’ll jump into any fight where we think people aren’t.”

Smith said he hadn’t heard from the plaintiffs in the suit, but has paid attention to legal action taken three years ago against individual teams that alleged wage and sex discrimination. The suits were settled for a reported $2.6 million.

“Let’s just be blunt, they were being paid less than minimum wage, and so in a league that makes billions and billions of dollars it took a group of women to come together to seek and file a wage and sex discrimination action against the National Football League only to have that settled,” Smith said. “And now nearly a year later another case has popped up. So, one, we’re a union and we believe that people should be paid their fair wage and we have those fights with the National Football League.”

After Smith concluded his answer, Panthers center Ryan Wendell jumped into the discussion, saying that his wife, Meridith, had been a cheerleader before they were dating and that it was “ridiculous” the way the women were treated.

“I encourage them in their efforts,” Wendell said. “They deserve it, they’re part of the show.”

The suit, filed on Tuesday in California against the NFL, alleges the teams collude to keep wages for the women artificially low.

This suit differs from the four filed against individual teams because it claims the NFL itself is a joint employer of the cheerleaders. As such, the claim has been filed in federal court. In the past, the league has argued that the 26 teams employ the women.

A spokesman for the NFL said the league has no comment.

Since the suit was filed and two plaintiffs appeared on Good Morning America, attorney Drexel Bradshaw said the women have been inundated with personal online abuse from NFL fans.

“They love the team just as much as the fans,” Bradshaw said. “This suit isn’t filed against the fans, it’s filed against the billionaire owners of the league.”

One of the named plaintiffs, Caitlin Yates, is declining further interviews. Another is named as a Jane Doe to protect her identity.

The suit refers to the cheerleaders as female athletes, and claims that teams do not recruit the best performers among them — unlike the way the best players compete for roster spots. The jobs make minimum wage, the suit alleges, but sometimes cheerleaders are not paid for appearances and practices. The cheerleaders still make significantly less than an NFL mascot, the suit claims, in a multi-billion dollar industry.

The counter argument is that cheerleaders don’t perform for the money, but for exposure to other opportunities. And yet, cheering for a professional team is in many ways the acme of the profession.

“There are federal laws that prevent this type of abuse from happening,” said Dan Werley, a sports lawyer with no link to the case. “So employees with less leverage aren’t taken advantage of in this scheme.”

Wendell said his wife sustained a concussion in a game, and that cheerleaders risk a lot to be able to perform for teams they love. But low pay shouldn’t be part of the equation, he said.

“I think the NFL touches its fans in a lot of ways,” Wendell said. “NFL players can’t be everywhere, so you have this proxy in the cheerleaders.”

The continued low pay for the largest group of women to wear NFL uniforms sends a message contrary to one the league is trying to cultivate.

Last week, the NFL held a career forum for women who play tackle football and could be in the pipeline some day for jobs in scouting and officiating. On Friday, the league hosts its second annual women’s summit, which this year will feature speakers to inspire for teen girls.

The league has hired women at the VP level and given them authority. Last year at the first women’s summit, commissioner Roger Goodell announced a Rooney Rule for women to apply in all front office positions at the manager level and up.

NFL

Chiefs' Berry says he won't play under tag in '17

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Safety Eric Berry played the 2016 season for the Chiefs as their franchise player, but once apparently is enough.

Berry told NFL Network he wouldn’t play for the Chiefs under the franchise tag again in 2017.

“I’m definitely not going to play under the franchise tag this year,” Berry said. “I want to end my career in Kansas City. I want to play there. I love the city, I love the vibe. I love my teammates. I really look at them more than teammates. We’ve been through a lot, and they supported me a lot.

“But I don’t feel comfortable playing under the franchise tag this year.”

The Chiefs designated Berry as their franchise player last year after the sides couldn’t agree on a long-term contract. Berry skipped the offseason practices and the early portion of training camp but eventually signed the Chiefs’ mandatory one-year contract worth about $10.8 million.

Berry, 28, had perhaps his best NFL season. He returned an interception for a touchdown to spark a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Carolina Panthers in November and returned one for a touchdown and another for two points to lead to a win over the Atlanta Falcons in December.

Berry, speaking before an NFL Play 60 event in the Kansas City area last week, told ESPN he wanted to remain with Kansas City and that the Chiefs had been in contact with his agent only the day before.

NFL

Falcons coach used assist from Von Miller to help unleash Vic Beasley Jr.

HOUSTON — There are times when Richard Smith’s coaching “style” can feel like 99 parts “tough” and one part “love,” but the Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator saw a need this past offseason and a remedy.

Smith believed the Falcons needed more sacks, more impact plays, more everything from defensive end Vic Beasley Jr., so Smith asked one of the better pass-rushers he’s ever coached – Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller – for an assist.

“I’ve watched [Beasley] before, in college, then in Atlanta, I knew all about him,” Miller said. “But Coach Smith kind of put us together in the offseason when I was talking to him. And I’ve been calling, texting [Beasley] since. He’s one of my guys now. I feel like I have a great relationship. But when Coach Smith wants something, you know, I’ll do that.”

Toss Smith’s name at Miller and you will almost certainly get a smile, followed by Miller shaking his head with a “ah, Coach Smith …”

Smith was Miller’s first position coach in the NFL after the Broncos made Miller the No. 2 pick of the 2011 draft. Smith, who uses plenty of what Miller has called “get-your-attention language,” had the task of taking an immensely gifted player and turning him into a well-rounded pro.

It was much the same task Smith and the rest of the Falcons’ defensive coaches faced with Beasley, who was the eighth pick of the 2015 draft. Beasley’s rookie year often played out at the intersection of potential and transition, given he finished the year with flashes of what he could do to go with just four sacks.

“People were all over him last year, saying ‘he’s a bust, he’s a bust,”’ Smith said. “He said at the end of the year he was tired of answering all these questions, and I said, ‘Well, let’s do something about it.”’

In his second season, Vic Beasley Jr. had 15 1/2 sacks and six forced fumbles for the NFC champion Falcons. Photo by Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images

So, they got to work, Beasley said. They worked to get Beasley stronger, worked to know more about what blockers wanted to do in each situation and they worked to find the player Smith said “you know is in there.” And the almost weekly conversations with Miller were also part of the improvement.

In a season when Beasley led the league with 15.5 sacks, he saved his best performance for Miller to see up close and in person. Beasley sacked Broncos rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch – who played for an injured Trevor Siemian – 3 1/2 times in the Falcons’ Week 5 victory in Denver.

“He’s like my brother,” Miller said. “You see what he can do. I feel like if he wants to bounce things off me, we just talk. But the sky’s the limit for him; he’s still got more to show.”

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“I saw a lot of similarities in our games when I was coming into the draft,” Beasley said. “And I think almost every week we would talk, and I think this offseason we might get together to work out.”

The arrival of Dwight Freeney to the Falcons has had an impact on Beasley as well, given Freeney’s knowledge of how offenses attack impact pass-rushers and his ability to explain what pass-rushers can do in those situations.

Beasley said he was an interested viewer when Miller essentially overpowered the Carolina Panthers in the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 win. Miller was the MVP of the title game with 2 1/2 sacks and two forced fumbles, one of which Malik Jackson recovered for the Broncos’ first touchdown.

To rise to those kinds of moments, Beasley knows he’ll have to find a way to deal with attention from the Patriots on Sunday. He led the team by an 11-sack margin – Adrian Clayborn, who finished the season on injured reserve, was second on the team with 4.5 – and understands what’s headed his way.

“I look forward to the matchups,” Beasley said. “I worked extremely hard in the offseason. Coaches spent a lot of time with me, and Dwight brought a lot to the team. … He’s a great leader and I think he had lot do with a lot our success this year. … I’m just going into it with a relentless approach. … It’s the kind of situation you always want to play in; it’s for a championship.”

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