star-telegram.com: Charean Williams

NFL INSIDER

Sun, 04 May 2008 04:39 CDT

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

Jeromey Clary is the first to admit he was not NFL-ready out of college. So he brought his lunch pail, punched his time card and went to work.

Two years later, the former Mansfield High School standout is richer for the experience.

He is the San Diego Chargers starting right tackle and recently was awarded $253,015 in "performance-based pay."

"He has a chance to be a heck of a right tackle for us," Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said last week. "He has the attitude, and he's more athletic than people give him credit for. Out of everybody last year, he made the biggest strides.

"I don't know if he surprised the coaching staff, but he kind of surprised me. When Shane Olivea went down, he came in and the play didn't drop off at all. In fact, he may have raised the bar a little bit."

Clary, who played at Kansas State, was a sixth-round pick of the Chargers in 2006, but he didn't make the 53-player roster and spent the season on the team's practice squad.

"In college, I never redshirted, so I was kind of thrown to the wolves," Clary said. "I think I was a little bit ahead of how old I really was. Once I got into the league, I think it finally caught up with me, and I needed that year to really hone my skills and focus in on the things that were wrong with my game....

"I learned 10 times more in that one year than I learned in four years in college."

When then-starter Olivea injured his lower back in the first quarter of a Week 2 game against New England, Clary got his first extensive playing time. He made his first start the next week against Green Bay.

By the end of the season, Clary owned the job. He started the last six games of the regular season and all three playoff games.

Olivea was released at the end of February. And, despite mock-draft predictions that the Chargers would select an offensive tackle in the first round, San Diego didn't use a choice on an offensive lineman until the seventh round, when they took Texas A&M's Corey Clark. The Chargers believe in Clary.

"He was a big part of our success," Chargers coach Norv Turner said at the NFL owners meetings in March. "He stepped in at right tackle and played well. He's got a bright future, because he's a hard-working guy who is a talented football player."

Clary, 24, wants his future to begin now.

"I just want to play to the best of my ability," Clary said. "I think last year I played like I was young, and I don't want to play like that anymore. I want to play like I'm a veteran."

Calling Jerry Jones

The Cowboys and Browns have made four draft-day trades in the past two years.

Last year, Cleveland gave up its 2008 first-rounder to take quarterback Brady Quinn with the 22nd pick and then traded a third- and some mid-round picks to move up for cornerback Eric Wright.

This year, the Browns twice traded with the Cowboys in the fourth round, moving up to get Missouri tight end Martin Rucker and UNLV linebacker Beau Bell.

"They know we're willing to make a trade, and they're a team that's always been active over the years," Browns general manager Phil Savage told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. "There's not a lot of negotiation. It's like, 'We'll do this, if you do that.' You can cut to the chase more quickly with them than some other teams."

Chiefs like Charles

NFL Insider: Kolb has chance to be 'one play away'

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:22 CDT

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb spent the weekend fishing Lake Granbury. This fall, though, the Stephenville product doesn't want to be telling any fish stories about the one that got away.

Eagles coach Andy Reid recently said Kolb will be given every opportunity to win the backup job from A.J. Feeley.

"It's obviously a big step, because you're one play away then," Kolb said in a telephone interview. "You've got to pay attention a little more; you've got to be ready; you've got to stay focused.

"I'm treating it like I'm going to go out there, and I'm going to compete the best I can. I'm going to compete like I'm going out for the starting job, because that's what I feel like I'm doing. When I get my chance, I've got to be ready to roll with it and make some plays."

Rumors have persisted that the Eagles will attempt to trade Donovan McNabb, who missed 21 games with injuries the past six seasons. But Reid said McNabb will return to Philadelphia for his 10th season.

Chances are Kolb will start the season behind McNabb.

Kolb, the 36th overall pick last season, played in only one game as a rookie. He had mop-up duty in the Eagles' 56-21 victory over Detroit in Week 3. Kolb was sacked twice, had three rushes for minus-2 yards and lost a fumble. He did not attempt a pass.

But Kolb said he is better prepared to play after spending a year behind McNabb and Feeley. The Eagles, who began their off-season program March 17, will get their first look at the second-year quarterback May 2 during their first mini-camp.

"This is always a big off-season for a rookie," Reid said. "He gets a lot of individual attention. ...Kevin is the only rookie [quarterback] going through that. It's been good for him.

"To say I know where he is, it's a projection. I think I do, but he hasn't been a starter, and you know Philadelphia is a pretty easy city to play quarterback."

Reid, in case you didn't figure it out, was kidding about that last part.

Clewis hopes for shot

Outside linebacker Will Clewis has had the odds stacked against him for a few years now. He didn't get much notice out of Fort Worth Eastern Hills, and he went to Navarro College for two seasons. Even though he was an all-conference pick as a sophomore, Clewis didn't have many options out of junior college.

He ended up at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he had 117 tackles in 2006, ranking fourth in NCAA Division II. Last season, he had 113 tackles.

Clewis is realistic about his NFL chances, knowing he likely won't be drafted but hoping for a chance as a free agent.

"I'm used to this, being counted out," said Clewis, who ran a 4.56 at Bandit Day at UT-Arlington on April 4. "It's been that way my whole life, and it's the same thing now. ...I feel like I can compete with the best of the best. I just need a chance."

The Eagles have shown the most interest, Clewis said.

Wilfork defends himself

Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork was fined three times last season -- for a low hit on Bills quarterback J.P. Losman, for a facemask on Chargers running back Michael Turner and for pointing his finger in the facemask of Giants running back Brandon Jacobs. It has earned him a reputation as a dirty player.

"I think sometimes people look at me and say, 'Oh, he's such a dirty player, blah, blah,'" Wilfork told The Boston Globe. "I'm not. I love what I do. Every fine I got this year ...I had a great chance to argue and I did, aside from the Jacobs one. That was just stupid on my behalf. Everything else was ridiculous. But, what can you do? I wont stop being the player I am, because I play with a lot of emotion."

NFL Insider

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 04:38 CDT

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson has never missed a game because of injury. Yet, critics questioned his heart after he played only four plays in the Chargers' 21-12 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

The Chargers bear much of the blame for the heat Tomlinson has endured this off-season. They took him off the injury report before game day, despite his hyperextended left knee not being healed, and they failed to provide a definitive explanation for Tomlinson's absence during the game.

"I was disappointed the way it was handled," Chargers coach Norv Turner said. "I know some of it goes back on us in terms of how it was communicated during the game. Anyone who knows LT and what he's accomplished knows that if he could have played, he would have played. If that injury would have happened in Week 2, he probably would have missed six weeks. He tried to come back and play in a week. He got hurt again on the second play.

"I think the disappointment LT showed was real. You play as many years as he has and do all the individual things he has done, here he is with a chance to go to the Super Bowl and now you can't be a part of it. That's hard."

Turner expects Tomlinson to use the criticism as motivation in 2008.

Young working hard

Titans quarterback Vince Young has been hitting the books in Austin this spring. Now, he also is studying his playbook in Nashville. Young, who is taking 12 hours at UT, began working with new Titans offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger a little more than a week ago.

"Vince came in for a week, and together, they went inside and worked on his footwork," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "That's where the focus was, and Mike was very pleased, as was Vince, as to what was taking place on a daily basis. I think he's made significant strides to this point with his footwork.

"They now are in a part of the off-season where they are going back through coverage concepts, whatever offensive changes we've made."

Heimerdinger spent 2000-04 in Tennessee, where he helped turn Steve McNair into a co-MVP during the 2003 season. It is the reason Fisher called Heimerdinger after he fired Norm Chow.

"Coach Heimerdinger got Steve McNair in his fourth year as a starter, and two years later, Steve was co-MVP," Fisher said. "He's getting Vince now in his third year as a starter. We'll have to wait and see what happens. But I'm excited about that, the combination."

McAllister's future

Deuce McAllister is 29 years old. He plays running back. He is trying to come back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and microfracture surgery on his right. It's no surprise, then, that the Saints have concerns about McAllister's football future.

"I think you have to have some concern with what he does and the position he plays," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "As best we can, we're trying to gather all the information and seeing how he responds to the treatment and rehab."

The Saints have pushed back a roster bonus that McAllister was due in March to give them more time to evaluate McAllister's rehab. He is on schedule but a long way from a comeback.

"I know what he'll give us," Payton said. "I've got a good bead on what we have in the player. He's a strong, strong person. So I'm pulling for him."

The Saints aren't worried about their running back situation, though, having re-signed Aaron Stecker to go with Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas.

My Five Cents

1 Shaun Alexander, who had postseason surgery to repair a cracked bone in his left wrist, had the cast removed but still is in a splint. The Seahawks, who signed Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett in free agency, are expected to cut Alexander when he's healthy.

2 The Patriots could ask linebacker Junior Seau to return for a 19th season. Seau, who is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, has played in two Super Bowls but does not have a ring. "We'll evaluate the situation with Junior a little bit further into the spring," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "We'll see where he is."

NFL Insider: Campbell has no reason to look over his shoulder

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:01 CST

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

Todd Collins agreed to return to the Washington Redskins on Friday. But that means nothing to Jason Campbell.

Campbell will go into training camp as the Redskins' starter, new coach Jim Zorn said.

"Jason Campbell is going to be the No. 1 quarterback," Zorn said. "... I don't want Jason Campbell to feel like, 'Oh my gosh, if I make one mistake I'm going to be pulled.' That's not the way to go into any camp, and it's not the way to go into any football season. He's going to play 16 games. He's going to lead us into the playoffs, as far as I'm concerned, and that's that."

Campbell, 26, dislocated his left kneecap in Week 14 against the Chicago Bears. Collins won that game and three starts after that, then went 1-1 in the playoffs.

Campbell, who has started 20 games in his three-year career, played for four offensive coordinators at Auburn and now is in his third scheme with the Redskins.

Zorn said he hopes to better utilize Campbell's mobility in his multiple offense.

"I'm surprised by how tall he is with how well he moves his feet," Zorn said. "I think that's the thing I'm going to work on the most with him, is just his mind-set on moving better in the pocket. I don't want him to think of himself as only a drop-back passer. I want him to think of himself as a guy who can move as well."

Forget about Fitzgerald

The Cardinals aren't close to restructuring Larry Fitzgerald's contract, prompting speculation that they might seek a trade.

But general manager Rod Graves said the Cardinals have no intention of parting with the Pro Bowl receiver.

"Larry is a core player, and like so many players we're excited about who are our core players, we're going to do everything we can to keep that core in place," Graves said.

The way the Cardinals structured the contract, a trade is virtually impossible anyway.

Fitzgerald is four years into his six-year rookie contract, and incentive clauses have pushed his salary to more than $14 million this year and more than $17 million next year. That's why the Cardinals are seeking to restructure the deal. It's also why Fitzgerald wants more than $31 million in guaranteed money in a restructured deal.

CB a hit at combine

Tennessee State cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has made some money this off-season.

Rodgers-Cromartie, the cousin of Chargers All-Pro cornerback Antonio Cromartie, was MVP of the Senior Bowl.

At his combine workout Tuesday, Rodgers-Cromartie had the top marks by a cornerback in four events and ran the fifth-fastest time (4.33) of any player at any position in the 40-yard dash.

"Every year we see a couple of kids at that Senior Bowl and some seem in awe of the situation and some take advantage of it; they look like they belong," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "He looked like he belonged. He was physical in the game, which was one of the questions about him."

Long shot

St. Xavier (Ill.) kicker Shane Longest might have the longest shot of any of the 333 players at the NFL Scouting Combine. He was the only NAIA player to receive an invitation to the combine.