In our latest mailbag, we tackle the power of fan unhappiness to drive organizational decisions, the opinion of Vontaze Burfict’s play and suspension throughout NFL locker rooms, and how Saquon Barkley could be so close to being back already. Thanks as always for your questions.
Do organizations notice or care about fan unhappiness? For example, when it seems like there is a huge swell of support to bench player X or to fire the coach or GM, do organizations give any weight to fan opinions or just ignore it until they stop buying tickets? — Greg S.
Yes, of course, they notice. What they can’t do though is get run by the Twitter world. That’s what you can’t do. We’re not out there every single day at practice so we don’t see what happens behind the curtain. We also don’t know what they’re working on to see who’s messing up and who’s not. There’s a reason why teams stick with quarterbacks longer than we know, it’s because they see what happens in practice every day. But, yes, it’s a business. Of course, they see it, of course, they know. When the Giants decided to bench Eli Manning a couple of years ago there was such an incredible outpouring of resentment from outside the organization. The switchboards at Giants Stadium were getting lit up. They ended up hearing the fans and switching back. The fans pay all of our salaries, every one of us.
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Can you give us your opinion of the pulse in NFL locker rooms on Vontaze Burfict’s play and his suspension? — John V.
All around the league, no one (other than members of his own team) has a problem with the suspension. If you can’t follow the rules, you’re out. They’ve told him over and over and over and you are dealing with guys’ safety. You can play to inflict pain but don’t play to injure someone. That’s what they view he’s doing, so there’s no one who has an issue with this besides the Raiders. Regardless, you’ve got to play within the rules. you can’t blow them off time and time again.
Would a guy like OBJ, who draws a lot of attention to himself, or someone like Vontaze Burfict, who’s obviously a dirty player, be more of an issue in a typical (if there is such a thing) NFL locker room? — Zach K.
I would say Burfict, only because they can’t rely on him because of the suspensions. Guys want to make sure you’re reliable. Odell Beckham Jr., I think they know what they’re getting with him. He’s very liked in the locker rooms. he’s a likable guy. Actually, as crazy as it sounds, so is Burfict. It’s more of an issue when your teammate and your captain gets suspended.
Jay, how in the world is Saquon Barkley already almost back? — Markus K.
Dude, zero explanation whatsoever. Zero! You come across guys like this every generation who are just absolute freaks of nature. This is the type of injury where guys end up still being in a walking boot for a couple of weeks yet he’s already out there cutting and running. Some guys defy the medical odds. I remember when Adrian Peterson blew out his knee, he was with the Vikings at the time. I go to Vikings camp and he was pleading — PLEADING — to let him practice and let him run loose. I mean with anyone and everyone, including me, to tell Eric Sugarman their head trainer that he was good to go. Sugarman is one of the best trainers in the league. “Can’t you tell Sug I’m good to go? Can you tell Childress I’m good to go?” Why he’s asking me I got no idea but I’m assuming I wasn’t the only one. But AD was doing everything, including running with parachutes and harnesses. I remember walking over to Sug to ask about AD saying, “He’s begging to be put out there.” Sug said, “Jay, we see that he’s good to go but we’re just not used to someone being back as fast as he is. We just haven’t seen it before.” Certain guys are just freaks of nature. They’re just blessed by God. They defy anything else. Saquon, apparently, is one of them.
Jay, what are people saying about the Jaguars’ quarterback situation? Do people think that Nick Foles will play another snap for the Jags? Thanks. — Matt W.
They’re in a great position. What we’ve seen now is your backup quarterback is probably the second most valuable guy on the entire team, in any place. You see all the quarterbacks who have already gone down or who have already been replaced. Certain coaches have a rule that you can’t lose a job over injury, certain coaches don’t have that. We’ll see where the Jags are. We’re still a month or so away from Foles returning.
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One thing about Nick Foles is the guy is incredibly consistent. He’s unbelievably confident and he has a great rhythm for the offense. He runs that offense and gets the ball out. They may have found the quarterback of the future. We’ll have to see what happens over the next month. What they do have in Minshew, at the very least, is what Nick Foles was in Philly replacing Carson Wentz. At the bare minimum, they have that kind of insurance.
Nick Chubb is so good and is one of those runners that gets better the more carries he has. What happens when Kareem Hunt returns after his suspension? I’m afraid having two backs that good might not be a good thing. Am I wrong? — Phil F.
You can never have enough good players but Nick Chubb is the starter. Even in camp, guys were saying he’s on another level. He’s their guy. Kareem Hunt will be a change of pace or another option but they’re going to ride with Chubb.
Biggest surprise, bust, and takeaway from the first quarter of the season? Also, any bold predictions you care to make? — Brandon B.
Y’all are trying to trap me into another OBJ trade prediction, huh? Nothing yet. I want to really make a splash when I do and make it seem so bizarre that I get killed again on Twitter only to have yet another day-drinking day of glory.
But to your other questions … hmmmm, biggest surprise of this season so far? Probably the Bills. I thought they were going to be improved but I didn’t think it would be this much. They’re tough. You don’t want to face off against them. Bills Mafia running strong.
Biggest disappointment? Probably the Dolphins and Broncos. The fact that it’s even being mentioned that they’re trying to tank and bust. I can’t for the life of me think that a guy like Brian Flores would go out there and try and lose football games. It’s popular to say but he’s a real football dude. I just don’t see that. I can’t see a real football dude being okay with tanking. No. I don’t think so, I really don’t. I think the problem they have is all the players in the locker room believe they’re tanking and that shows in their play.
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I’m absolutely stunned that the Broncos’ defense has been this unproductive under Vic Fangio. Just not like his defenses.
If you were the Vikings’ owner/GM what would you do in the short-term to help this team? — Quinn R.
Oh, man. I have to somehow, someway, get Kirk Cousins to play. I’ve probably have to shorten my offense, make quick throws, I have to get his confidence up with quick completions because he doesn’t have any confidence right now. He’s not seeing stuff out there.
Do you see Eli Manning playing for any other team? — Steven S.
It’s up to Eli. He has a no-trade clause in his contract. I know he doesn’t want to not play. Eli is an absolute competitor. I think it’s killing him to not play, although I think he’s ecstatic they’re winning. If there’s a winning team that has a quarterback go down, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go elsewhere. I don’t know what is in Eli’s mind but if I’m Eli and a quarterback on a winning team goes down, I tell the Giants I’m okay to get traded over there for the chance at another ring. Eli is still very serviceable.
Hey Jay, do you see the Patriots targeting a receiver such as Emmanuel Sanders at the trade deadline? — David P.
It wouldn’t shock me. They’ve obviously signed big-name receivers the last couple of years in free agency and they tried to trade for Randall Cobb last year but were rebuffed. Obviously, they’re looking for another receiver there, which is why they brought in Antonio Brown. So, it wouldn’t surprise me.
Jay, thanks for all that you do for the NFL. What are your thoughts on Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans? Do you think they have any chance in the muddled AFC South? — Shovik B.
I think the AFC South is exactly where he wants them because Mike Vrabel wants his teams to be filthy, nasty, nothing pretty about them, just like Vrabel (I hope he’s reading this). That’s what he wants. He wants to make everything a dogfight so I think he’s exactly where he’s hoping to be.
(Photo: Robert Deutsch / USA Today)