The Jets have become the epicenter of quarterback ineptitude. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick still wants a job in the NFL.
It’s a perfect match, from the player’s perspective.
Kaepernick recently sent a letter to the Jets seeking consideration for a spot on the team’s practice squad. The letter publicly surfaced on Tuesday, posted to social media by rapper and producer J. Cole.
Per multiple sources, it is authentic and real. And while I believe that Kaepernick was indeed blackballed by the NFL and victimized by collusion aimed at punishing him for making players aware of their rights to protest during the national anthem, I also believe that this latest effort is a misguided publicity stunt aimed not at returning to the NFL for the first time since the 2016 season.
In the September 21 letter to Jets G.M. Joe Douglas, Kaepernick requests an “opportunity to come in and lead the practice squad . . . with the sole mission of getting your defense ready each week.”
The terminology is a little off; it prompted us to confirm and re-confirm that the letter was actually real. Kaepernick presumably meant to say he wants to lead the scout team each week.
Regardless, his broader goal is to provide the Jets with an alternative to Zach Wilson, in the event things don’t work out. And the reality is that, if this is Kaepernick’s prerogative, it makes far more sense to not turn it into a spectacle.
The mere fact that the letter came to light will make it even less likely that the Jets will accept the offer. “Why would they release that?” said one source with knowledge of the team’s thinking. “If you’re truly trying to get in with a team, why create drama?”
The letter identifies Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, UCLA coach Chip Kelly, Ravens coach John Harbaugh, and Raiders owner Mark Davis as references. Frankly, if Kaepernick truly wants to play again (and not just generate free publicity from his supposed effort to play again), he should be texting Davis over and over and over. Davis brought him in for a workout last year, and Davis’s starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, currently is in the concussion protocol.
What happened to Kaepernick was wrong. But the NFL successfully ran out the clock on his NFL career. At this point, it’s over and it’s done and no one will be signing him. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. While he has every right to take every opportunity to draw attention to the situation, this doesn’t feel like a true effort to play again — and the early indications are it will not work.
Arizona’s victory over Dallas marked Jonathan Gannon’s first win as an NFL head coach and it was also Joshua Dobbs’ first W as a starting quarterback.
Dobbs has been in the league since 2017, entering the NFL as a Steelers fourth-round pick. But this is his first chance to be a consistent starter, as the Cardinals await Kyler Murray’s return from a torn ACL.
On Monday, Gannon praised Dobbs for his play through the season’s first three weeks.
“I think he’s played winning football for us since he’s been here,” Gannon said in his press conference. “I think you guys will continue to see his improvement as he gets more and more comfortable. You can ask him, he’s pretty comfortable right now. He’s making a bunch of plays for us, he’s got good command in the huddle, and he never has any flinch, which I love about him. He’s doing a good job.”
Dobbs has completed 72 percent of his passes for 549 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions — good for a 98.1 passer rating. He’s also rushed for 93 yards with a TD.
In Sunday’s victory over the Cowboys, Dobbs was 17-of-21 for 189 yards with a touchdown plus six carries for 55 yards.
It’s unclear when Murray will return, but Dobbs looks like he’ll continue to be a steady hand piloting Arizona’s offense for the time being.
1. 49ers (3-0, last week No. 2): They are starting to look like a team of destiny.
2. Dolphins (3-0, No. 3): They are starting to look like a team of destiny.
3. Eagles (3-0, No. 4): The Eagles should have been wearing one of those Honolulu blue ski masks when stealing D’Andre Swift from the Lions.
4. Chiefs (2-1, No. 5): Something something title of a Taylor Swift song.
5. Cowboys (2-1, No. 1): “Thank you for not saying, ‘How ‘bout them Cowboys?’”
6. Bills (2-1, No. 7): If the defense keeps playing like it has, they could trade Josh Allen for Zach Wilson and still win.
7. Seahawks (2-1, No. 10): Do they deserve to be this high? Well, if not them then who?
8. Lions (2-1, No. 11): Fortunately for Jared Goff, he’s not paid for his leaping ability.
9. Steelers (2-1, No. 12): More George Pickens, more Jaylen Warren, more wins.
10. Ravens (2-1, No. 6): So much for that super-easy September schedule.
11. Browns (2-1, No. 17): De-fense and De-shaun were more than enough for a team that seemed lost in Week 2.
12. Packers (2-1, No. 18): Where have all the “Packers are gonna stink” people gone?
13. Falcons (2-1, No. 16): Even though they lost, they’re still looking like potential contenders.
14. Colts (2-1, No. 24): Nearly 40 years after they snuck out of Baltimore, the Colts showed up and stole the home team’s lunch money.
15. Buccaneers (2-1, No. 14): As long as they win the games they should win, they’ll be fine.
16. Commanders (2-1, No. 15): “That boy is an I-N-T.”
17. Saints (2-1, No. 19): It’s time for Jameis Winston to shine. Or fail miserably trying.
18. Jaguars (1-2, No. 8): This isn’t the kind of start that will get taxpayers willing to fork over a billion dollar for stadium renovations.
19. Bengals (1-2, No. 21): They took one hell of a risk in playing Joe Burrow. And it took plenty of work to get the reward.
20. Chargers (1-2, No. 22): The Chargers out Vikings-ed the Vikings.
21. Cardinals (1-2, No. 32): Think of how good they could be if their offseason decisions prioritized winning this year.
22. Texans (1-2, No. 31): They found their quarterback, and they unexpectedly found a win that could get things moving in the right direction.
23. Patriots (1-2, No. 26): Thanks to the Jets, Bill Belichick has a good chance to avoid landing in the AFC East basement for the first time since 2000.
24. Rams (1-2, No. 23): When you punt with six minutes left on fourth and 5 while down by 10 points, you don’t deserve to win.
25. Titans (1-2, No. 20): The Titanic encountered something other than an iceberg in the Cuyahoga River.
26. Giants (1-2, No. 13): Last year is officially over.
27. Jets (1-2, No. 9): This year is officially over.
28. Vikings (0-3, No. 25): The Vikings out-Chargered the Chargers.
29. Raiders (1-2, No. 27): Death, taxes, and Jimmy G getting injured.
30. Panthers (0-3, No. 30): Is it too late to sign Cam Newton again?
31. Broncos (0-3, No. 28): Fortunately for the Broncos and their fans, weed is legal in Colorado.
32. Bears (0-3, No. 29): Is there anyone Kevin Warren won’t be firing?
Over the past 10 years or so, the NFL has systematically secured more and more control over key decisions made, or not made, during games. And that has put even more responsibility on the league office to make the right decisions, all the time.
The problem is that, in the opinion of plenty of people working for the teams, the league isn’t making the right decisions. Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson should have been ejected on Monday night for shoving an official. 49ers tackle Trent Williams should have been ejected on Thursday night for punching an opponent.
The situation is diminishing the confidence that the teams have in the process. And it’s not just an issue of making good real-time decisions about ejections. As explained earlier this week on the Wednesday edition of #PFTPM, there have been early-season instances of, once again, the clear-and-obvious/"50 drunks in a bar” standard not being used when activating replay review.
The league centralized replay review to ensure that the correct standard would be applied consistently, and that the temptation of the game-site referees to officiate the play from scratch would be resisted. From time to time, the standard takes a back seat to what the person making the decision at the league’s command center thinks happened.
That’s another factor that continues to rankle coaches and executives throughout the league. Who’s making these decisions? Who’s in the room when these decisions are being made? Who’s influencing those who are making these decisions?
There are reasons to believe that firewall between the NFL’s business interests and the integrity of the game has crumbled. As one team executive pointed out this week, how is it an affront to the integrity of the game for a player betting on some other sport from his phone in the locker room but not an issue when the decisions being made by the league office during games are all over the place?
There’s an easy solution for all of this. Get the calls right. Apply the “clear and obvious” standard in replay review. Eject players who should be ejected. And don’t try to justify it after the fact with obvious word salads and gaslightings.
Just get it right. The process is fine if they get it right. If they don’t get it right, the natural result will be a high amount of suspicion regarding the process.
The Giants blitzed the 49ers early, often, and repeatedly on Thursday night. The 49ers were ready for it.
“We knew it was a possibility,” coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Friday, the day after San Francisco’s 30-12 win. “They’ve definitely been like that before. That is a little bit of their system. Some games they do more than others, but we knew that was a possibility going into it, similar, to how Miami was last year. They had a similar philosophy. So no, it didn’t surprise us.”
Shanahan also was impressed by the manner in which quarterback Brock Purdy handled being blitzed on 33 of 39 drop-backs.
“After watching the film, I was even more impressed than I felt last night after the game,” Shanahan said. “And we missed a number of blitz pickups where he had some free hitters in his face. I think that always makes it harder with accuracy and stuff because you’re going to get the balls tipped and stuff if you throw it right. So you got to kind of avoid those things and I thought he hung in there, made few mistakes and had a hell of a game.”
The 49ers have had three straight hell of a games. They’re 3-0, and they’ve scored exactly 30 points each week.