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The annual pillow fight with the Panthers is Thursday! Yeehaw!
Offense... Tomlin said there's no plan or order for the backup QBs in this game, but its plain as day to see that Rudolph is the QB2. Its being reported that Rudolph is still going to play, but IMO they should hang him up and let Dobbs be featured for an entire half, then let Hodges mop up the 2nd half. If they are going to garner any trade interest for Dobbs, then this is the game to do it. If no calls come, then Dobbs likely remains the QB3 and Duck gets wasted to the PS where someone should be willing to take him off their hands. If Rudolph plays, then Duck doesn't make the 53. Also time to feature Benny Snell. He has the most to prove out of anyone, but Edmunds still needs to prove he's worth considering and they both appear to be in a head to head battle for the RB3. So I expect those 2 to split the lion's share. Not sure what to expect as far as the WRs. But all eyes should be on Spencer to make his final push. Honestly he reminds me a lot of Damoun Patterson from last preseason. Made waves but ultimately got cut to the PS. And if I'm being honest I liked Patterson better than Spencer.
Defense... Final chance for guys like Skipper, UG3 & Spillane. If Skipper keeps making plays then he'll force the team's hand. I don't see how they could cut him, much like Hilton did back in '17. I think its safe to say Ola has made the 53. Skipper has better upside & potential than Chick. But the coaches love Chick for his durability & ST play. Skipper should be tried at ST in this game. If he does well that only makes the decision that much easier. Also curious to see how they divvy up the snaps at safety. Kelly, Dangerfield, & Allen all have cases to make. Kelly's spot is most likely secure, but being a relatively unknown commodity still makes this game important.
Who's Hurting???
Offense... Tomlin said there's no plan or order for the backup QBs in this game, but its plain as day to see that Rudolph is the QB2. Its being reported that Rudolph is still going to play, but IMO they should hang him up and let Dobbs be featured for an entire half, then let Hodges mop up the 2nd half. If they are going to garner any trade interest for Dobbs, then this is the game to do it. If no calls come, then Dobbs likely remains the QB3 and Duck gets wasted to the PS where someone should be willing to take him off their hands. If Rudolph plays, then Duck doesn't make the 53. Also time to feature Benny Snell. He has the most to prove out of anyone, but Edmunds still needs to prove he's worth considering and they both appear to be in a head to head battle for the RB3. So I expect those 2 to split the lion's share. Not sure what to expect as far as the WRs. But all eyes should be on Spencer to make his final push. Honestly he reminds me a lot of Damoun Patterson from last preseason. Made waves but ultimately got cut to the PS. And if I'm being honest I liked Patterson better than Spencer.
Defense... Final chance for guys like Skipper, UG3 & Spillane. If Skipper keeps making plays then he'll force the team's hand. I don't see how they could cut him, much like Hilton did back in '17. I think its safe to say Ola has made the 53. Skipper has better upside & potential than Chick. But the coaches love Chick for his durability & ST play. Skipper should be tried at ST in this game. If he does well that only makes the decision that much easier. Also curious to see how they divvy up the snaps at safety. Kelly, Dangerfield, & Allen all have cases to make. Kelly's spot is most likely secure, but being a relatively unknown commodity still makes this game important.
Who's Hurting???
- Haden (ankle) returned to practice today. Said he's around 90% in terms of health. Not expecting him to sniff the field in this game. Said 1000% chance he plays week 1.
- Chickillo (chest)... Didn't pick up on this last week. No word yet on the severity, but his spot could be at risk with Skipper showing out.
- Dupree (thumb)... No indication of the severity of this injury yet. But don't expect him to play or practice much other than individual work.
- Ola (meniscus surgery)... Reported as a 2-4 week timeframe of recovery. This Friday marks 2 weeks. Should be ready week 1, else they should have done the surgery sooner.
- Davis (ankle)... Working through a sprain. Said it wasn't serious and is targetting week 1.
- Snell... Said he's 100% this week. When asked if he was ok with a heavy workload this week he said "With Benny Snell Football, you take a full workload every game"
- D Johnson (hip)... Tomlin stated "(speaking of Snell & Johnson) They need in-helmet prep in order to be given a legitimate chance to play. We'll play those guys next week, and didn't feel it was appropriate against TEN given the time they missed in prep for that game" but did not disclose whether he was at full health or not.