Time for some more links, including more about knee-gate...
Cardinals defensive coordinator search held up by Steelers | ProFootballTalk
Pittsburgh ruined former Steelers assistant Ken Whisenhunt’s bid to win a Super Bowl two years ago. The Steelers’ latest run to the big game is proving to be a much more minor nuisance.
2005 re-draft gives 49ers you know who - NFC West Blog - ESPN
A few thoughts on Mel Kiper's 2005 NFL re-draft, covering the first round and available to Insider subscribers:
Arizona Cardinals: Is Ken Whisenhunt Giving Russ Grimm a Free Pass? | Bleacher Report
The Arizona Cardinals closed the 2010 season ranked 29th in the NFL in total team defense. Four days later, defensive coordinator Bill Davis was relieved of his duties. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "accountability" is simply defined as, "an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions."
2010 NFL Draft: 5 Players The Arizona Cardinals Should and Shouldn't Pick | Bleacher Report
I know that the offseason is what many people who hate the NFL can't stand the most. But those who love pro football really love the offseason.
Carson Palmer and the NFC West - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Mike asks via Facebook: "Mike, what are the chances of Arizona going after Carson Palmer via trade? I'd think the No. 5 overall choice for Palmer would make more sense than trying to trade for Kevin Kolb."
Following up: Carson Palmer and NFC West - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Carson Palmer isn't going anywhere just yet, but if the Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback gets his way, he'll be playing elsewhere in 2010. How would he fit in the NFC West?
2010 All-NFC West Offense - NFC West Blog - ESPN
A look at my all-NFC West picks for the 2010 season, beginning with the offense:
2010 All-NFC West Defense - NFC West Blog - ESPN
A look at my all-NFC West picks for the 2010 season, continuing with the defense:
2010 All-NFC West Specialists - NFC West Blog - ESPN
A look at my all-NFC West picks for the 2010 season, concluding with the special teams:
Espo: Is Fitzgerald in the Pro Bowl a bad thing? - ArizonaSports.com
It was announced late Sunday that Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald would be heading to Hawaii this week for the Pro Bowl replacing Green Bay Packers receiver Greg Jennings. It's great news if your Fitzgerald but is it good for the team as well?
Super Bowl XLV, Packers and Steelers, is one for history books - Peter King - SI.com
Green Bay and Pittsburgh have combined for nine Super Bowl titles. Despite current venom from fans and others, Jay Cutler still Bears QB of future. Much more, including coaching news, weekly awards and 10 Things I Think
Steelers-Packers Super Bowl a dream scenario for fans, more Snap Judgments - Don Banks - SI.com
Musings, observations and the occasional insight from an interesting, but rather uneven Championship Sunday in the NFL ...
KTAR Audio
ESPN's John Clayton breaks down championship Sunday and Cards DC.
Video Gallery
Top 5 Plays - Special Teams
Arizona Diamondbacks acquire Armando Galarraga from Detroit Tigers
The Arizona Diamondbacks announced they have acquired right-handed pitcher Armando Galarraga from the Detroit Tigers for right-handed pitcher Kevin Eichhorn and left-handed pitcher Ryan Robowski.
Phoenix Suns end trip falling to the Philadelphia 76ers
The Suns ended their trip with a fall.
Final Cutler injury update: Grade II MCL tear | ProFootballTalk
First things first: An MCL sprain is the same thing as an MCL tear, so Lovie Smith’s explanation of Jay Cutler’s injury was consistent with previous report. Our final Cutler injury update of the day comes from Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times. He reports Cutler has a grade II MCL sprain/tear, which is usually a 3-4 week injury. It sounds like it won’t require surgery.
Cutler lucky he didn’t tear ACL—expert - Chicago Sun-Times
The head physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers said quarterback Jay Cutler should not have finished the game and insisted he was fortunate that he didn’t endure a more serious knee injury.
The Cutler controversy
I can’t lie – I was one of those who saw Jay Cutler on the sideline Sunday and had LaDainian-Tomlinson-versus-the-Patriots flash through my mind. Ultimately, I didn’t think too much about it, though, because like the Tomlinson situation, it was impossible to know whether the player really had a choice in the matter. But it certainly stokes the debate about this game, doesn’t it? It definitely made me think of the situation from a lot of different angles.
Slamming Chicago Bears' Jay Cutler just isn't right
Congratulations, all of you, for possessing Ph.Ds in cardiovascular science. Fantastic! Really. Jay Cutler must find comfort in knowing the inner workings of his chambers and ventricles are under the watchful eyes of such experts. What was that? An NFL quarterback leaves the game with an injury, and suddenly the condition of his heart is questioned by athletes, by media, by fans?
Comparing Brees to Cutler not fair - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN
Although their season has been over for a couple of weeks, the New Orleans Saints suddenly are back in the spotlight.
In defense of Jay Cutler - Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
"Quitter" is about the worst label you can put on an NFL player. It's a culture where toughness is lionized and valued above all else -- if you're "tough," you're accepted, and if you're not, you have no one's respect. After what happened yesterday, Jay Cutler is probably stuck with the "quitter" label for the rest of his career. At the very least, it's a question mark that'll follow him around for a long time.
Cutler's toughness questioned; reliability will be now too - ArizonaSports.com
Somewhere today, Chris "Beanie" Wells understands. He gets exactly what Jay Cutler is going through.
Bears bungled backup quarterback situation | ProFootballTalk
Lost in all the talk about the knee injury that sidelined Jay Cutler in the Bears’ NFC Championship Game loss has been the fact that the Bears completely botched their backup quarterback situation on Sunday by foolishly installing Todd Collins, and not Caleb Hanie, as their No. 2 quarterback.
Mike Brown says Bengals won’t trade Carson Palmer | ProFootballTalk
We’ll it’s official. Bengals owner Mike Brown has confirmed that quarterback Carson Palmer has requested a trade. And Brown says he declined.
Why did so many players criticize Cutler? - NFC North Blog - ESPN
It's not surprising that Chicago Bears fans are lashing out over the knee injury that prevented quarterback Jay Cutler from returning to Sunday's NFC Championship Game. As would be expected, fans are angry and frustrated and found an easy target. It happens. What has been stunning to me, however, is the volume of NFL players who joined the chorus. This might not have happened even two years ago, but the advent of Twitter has given players a voice at a time when they used to be out of the public eye and, like us, are caught up in the emotion of watching a game on television.
Jay Cutler Is Not A Quitter, He's A Victim Of The NFL's Moron Soap Opera - SBNation.com
Jay Cutler is a terrible actor and a very good quarterback, and this should explain everything about why a torn ligament became a sweeping indictment of his character on Sunday.
Lovie Smith: "Our quarterback is a tough guy" | ProFootballTalk
Bears coach Lovie Smith said at his press conference today that quarterback Jay Cutler has an MCL sprain, and he lashed out at NFL players who took to Twitter to question Cutler’s toughness.
Palmer strongly feels "separation" would be best for both parties | ProFootballTalk
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer isn’t backing down from his trade request, although he’s doing it in the most polite way possible. Here’s a handwritten statement issued by agent David Dunn, via the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Chris Harris, Bears "pissed off" at criticism of Jay Cutler | ProFootballTalk
After Sunday’s loss to the Packers, Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher made clear his views regarding the external criticism of quarterback Jay Cutler. On Monday, Bears safety Chris Harris made his views known during an appearance with Adam Schein and Rich Gannon of Sirius NFL Radio.
Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown not planning to trade Carson Palmer - ESPN
The Bengals aren't willing to trade Carson Palmer, who wants to leave one of the NFL's least-successful franchises while he's still in his prime.
Is it fair to question Jay Cutler's heart? - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN
The Chicago Bears have now told us that quarterback Jay Cutler suffered a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during a 21-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. But I'm pretty sure that diagnosis won't quiet the critics who felt like Cutler could've played through the injury in the second half.
Cutler's toughness never an issue in Denver - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN
An AFC West alumnus is at the center of a league-wide controversy once again.
Cutler drama: A high school catfight - NFC North Blog - ESPN
I found myself falling in total agreement Monday while listening to Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo defend their quarterback's toughness. Nothing in Jay Cutler's playing history suggests he is deficient in that area, and I don't think this 24-hour referendum has truly been about that issue.
In defending Cutler, Jerry Angelo takes shot at union | ProFootballTalk
The story of the day has come from the Bears-Packers game, and more specifically the failure of Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler to finish it.
Maurice Jones-Drew backs off Jay Cutler criticism | ProFootballTalk
A day later, Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew would like to revise and extend his 140-character remarks about Jay Cutler’s toughness.
Heath Evans, others say Drew Brees played with torn MCL | ProFootballTalk
As the debate continues regarding the Jay Cutler MCL tear/sprain/whatever, word has emerged that another fairly high-profile quarterback of whom you may have heard played with a torn/sprained/whatevered MCL during the season.
Philip Rivers: "I’d have to be taken off in a cart" | ProFootballTalk
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been compared a lot over the last 24 hours to Philip Rivers. The Chargers quarterback memorably left a Divisional Round game after the ’07 season with a torn MCL and ACL, but was able to play in the AFC Championship after surgery on his MCL.
Colin Kaepernick, Leonard Hankerson, Jake Locker updates from Senior Bowl practice - NFL - SI.com
One of the biggest weeks of pre-draft scouting kicked off Monday as the largest single collection of NFL coaches, scouts and general managers gathered for the 2011 Senior Bowl.
Unprecedented social media attack dooms Cutler - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
Social media can be cruel, especially when a pack of teenage girls gang up on a peer and spread insults based on speculation, assumption and gossip. Most of it, of course, is fueled by the need to build their reputations.
Charles Barkley criticized critics of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler - ESPN Chicago
Charles Barkley was at Soldier Field on Sunday for the NFC Championship Game, and he said he knew Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was going to get criticized for leaving the game in the third quarter with a knee injury. But what caught Barkley by surprise was the criticism of other players around the league via Twitter.
Brady unanimous choice for AP's All-Pro Team - ESPN
Tom Brady is a unanimous choice for The Associated Press 2010 NFL All-Pro Team, the seventh straight year a player has gotten every vote.
Questions arise as to whether Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion | ProFootballTalk
Lost in the chatter after the Bears-Packers game regarding a quarterback who didn’t play after suffering a knee injury is the question of whether a quarterback in the same game played with a head injury.
Lions’ Zack Follett: Matthew Stafford is "a china doll" | ProFootballTalk
The Jay Cutler controversy is dying down, and it’s been a few hours since we’ve had a story about an NFL player questioning a quarterback’s toughness, so we’d like to present some of the words that Lions linebacker Zack Follett spoke in an interview on ESPN Radio in Fresno.
Chicago car salesman keeps his Packers tie, loses his job | ProFootballTalk
John Stone is a car salesman and big Packers fan. Webb Chevrolet in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn is an official sponsor of the Bears’ radio broadcasts. The dispute over Stone’s decision to wear a Packers tie to work at Webb Chevrolet on Monday led to Stone no longer working at Webb Chevrolet.
Ravens expected to hire Teryl Austin as secondary coach | National Football Post
The Baltimore Ravens have interviewed former University of Florida defensive coordinator Teryl Austin for their secondary coach vacancy and he's considered the leading candidate to land the job, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation.