Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 9-1-15 Edition

Sports
Buccaneers Need To Protect Jameis Winston Better
Seahawks Rookie Frank Clark Accused Of Attacking Philip Rivers
The Seahawks drafted Frank Clark in the second round after the defensive lineman reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in a domestic vio- lence case.
Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Frank Clark angered multiple offensive linemen on the Chargers, who accused the rookie of trying to attack San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers while under a pile dur- ing Saturday's preseason game. Chargers left tackle King Dun- lap was flagged for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty after yanking Clark from the scrum.
Dunlap told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he did not see the incident but said he wanted to protect Rivers after hearing his teammates yelling at Clark.
"That guy was on top of Philip, and that's our quarter- back," Dunlap told the news- paper. "I protect the quarterback at all costs."
Rivers was sacked on the play by Seattle's Jordan Hill, but Clark's alleged antics after the play drew far more atten- tion from the Chargers.
Clark said after the game that he is an "emotional player" but acknowledged that he will try to avoid similar incidents in the future.
"I'm a real emotional player, but there are ways you react and ways you don't react," Clark said. "You've got to be smart in this game. That was something [Richard Sher- man] was telling me after- ward, that whole thing -- even though I didn't get called for anything -- just to avoid situa- tions like that."
Ray McDonald Indicted For Rape; Ahmad Brooks Charged In Related Assault
AHBAD BROOKS And RAY MCDONALD
Jameis Winston isn’t the only rookie the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to worry about getting ready for the regular season.
Winston didn’t have a good game in a 31-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night. Winston completed 6- of-15 passes for 90 yards and was intercepted once. But it wasn’t all Winston’s fault.
You can put a large portion of the blame on the offensive line.
“It’s pretty simple,’’ coach Lovie Smith said. “It’s one- on-one. The same battles we won last week, we didn’t win tonight. There’s only so much you can do. Eventually it comes down to a one-on-one game, and we didn’t win that.’’
That may have something to do with the fact that the Bucs started two rookies on the of- fensive line. Ali Marpet started at right guard and Donovan Smith started at left tackle.
Winston, who played into the third quarter, was sacked four times and pressured on several other pass attempts.
The Bucs would be wise to use it as a learning experience
JAMEIS WINSTON
for their two rookie offensive linemen. For better or worse, the plan is for Smith and Marpet to be starters on opening day.
The Bucs knew the dangers of putting two rookie linemen in front of a rookie quarter- back in the offseason. But they made no moves to bring in vet- erans to play ahead of them.
The coaching staff believes Marpet and Smith have a chance to be quality starters. Each had ups and downs dur- ing training camp. Now, time is running short.
The regular season starts in two weeks, and the Bucs need use that time to get their rookie offensive linemen ready.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A Santa Clara County grand jury in- dicted former San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald on one count of rape of an intoxicated person. The announcement came Wednesday, with the indict- ment stemming from an inci- dent Dec. 15 at McDonald's home.
Current 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks also has been charged by the Santa Clara County District Attor- ney's Office with misdemeanor sexual battery for an alleged assault the same day involving the same victim. The case against Brooks was an- nounced Wednesday as well.
The 49ers sent Brooks home from Colorado, where they are holding joint practices with the Broncos before play-
ing a preseason game against Denver on Saturday night.
"The organization is aware that a misdemeanor charge has been filed against Ahmad Brooks stemming from a De- cember 2014 matter. We take any charge against a member of this organization seriously and are in communication with the NFL. Ahmad is re- turning home to California and will not participate in Sat- urday's game," 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said in a statement released by the team.
McDonald is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 25. He faces a maximum of eight years in prison.
Brooks faces a maximum of six months in jail. His arraign- ment hadn't been scheduled.
Lovie Smith: "There's Not Much We Did Well"
Redskins Considering Trading RG III
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a somewhat demoral- izing 31-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns Saturday night at Ray- mond James Stadium, and head coach Lovie Smith was- n't too impressed with the team's overall performance.
"We didn't play as well as we played last week... We've seen enough, though, to see that we can be a good football team. That's what we're going to build on. We're going to go back, coach up the mistakes, correct them, and we'll win football games this year," Lovie went on to say.
Of course, it is still the pre-
LOVIE SMITH
season, and Lovie doesn't be- lieve any team has peaked yet. He certainly doesn't think his team has.
"We're a good football team that didn't play well tonight."
High-ranking Washington Redskins front-office officials and coaches want to part ways with quarterback Robert Griffin III, but are meeting resistance from team owner- ship, according to team and league sources.
The Redskins even have had trade conversations about Grif- fin with a handful of NFL teams, but have found no inter- est, and it remains unclear whether ownership would allow Washington to trade him, sources said.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that Griffin has lost his starting quarterback job, and depending on the events and conversations in the com- ing days, possibly his roster spot. Outside of ownership, there has been a groundswell of support from a strong segment of football people within the or- ganization to change quarter- backs, but there is a question about whether they have the authority to part ways with Griffin, sources said.
Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan was hired this past offseason to rebuild the team, so he looms as a pos- sible X factor in any big per- sonnel decision that involves Griffin as teams trim their
Robert Griffin III's time in Washington could be running out as top-ranking Redskins officials are considering trad- ing or releasing the quarter- back, according to sources.
rosters from 90 to 53 players over the next week. Mc- Cloughan's ability to produce a resolution that all sides can live with now looms large.
One of the main issues now for the Redskins and other teams is Griffin's contract, which is guaranteed for $16.1 million in 2016 for injury only. When the Redskins announced they picked up the fifth-year option in Griffin's contract in April, many expected it to tie him to the franchise through 2016. Instead, it may have the opposite effect.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015