Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 8-2-19

Sports
Jameis Winston Might Already Be Ahead Of Where Bruce Arians Wants Him To Be
Melvin Gordon Could Reportedly Continue Holdout Until Midseason
MELVIN GORDON
Melvin Gordon is intent on staying away from the Los Angeles Chargers as long as possible if the team does not sign him to a long-term con- tract extension, and he seems quite serious about missing regular season games should it come to that.
Gordon’s agent said ear- lier this month that not report- ing by Week 1 is a possibility, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on Tuesday that the star running back could sit out until midseason.
Ezekiel Elliott Will Reportedly Continue Holdout In Mexico
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT Ezekiel Elliott spent a lot
of time in Mexico two seasons ago when he was suspended for violating the NFL’s per- sonal conduct policy, and it would appear he is going to do the same while continuing his contract holdout this summer.
According to a report from Mike Fisher and Kevin Turner of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Elliott was at DFW International Airport on Mon- day awaiting a flight to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Julio Jones Says
For Jameis Winston, being selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 NFL Draft was just the culmination of a meteoric rise to stardom — from Heis- man Trophy winner to Na- tional Champion to No. 1 pick.
And, after Winston led the Bucs to surprising record of 9-7 in just his second sea- son, it seemed as though Tampa Bay had finally found their guy. But the narrative has changed the past two years, thanks to back-to-back 5-11 seasons and off-the-field issues. Now, in Year 5, it’s time for Winston to put up or shut up.
Fortunately, the Bucs are in his corner, evident by their hiring of Bruce Arians this
JAMEIS WINSTON AND BRUCE ARIANS
offseason. While Winston may have struggled last year, he was quite good over the last seven games, despite the team’s record. And, it seems that the former FSU star may already be ahead of where Arians wants him to be at this point in camp.
Julio Jones chose to re- port to training camp last week despite wanting a con- tract extension, but the At- lanta Falcons star says he will not take part in any game action until the regular season begins.
While speaking with re- porters on Tuesday, Jones said he will not play in At- lanta’s first preseason game on Thursday or any of the three exhibition games after that.
Jones presented it as if it was his decision, but the Fal- cons probably support it. He has been dealing with a foot injury this offseason, and it has become common prac-
JULIO JONES
tice in recent years for star players to sit out preseason games. With Jones seeking a new contract, he probably wants to limit his injury ex- posure as much as possible.
He Will Not Play In
Preseason Games
Bucs Ownership Wanted Bruce Arians To Call Plays
BRUCE ARIANS AND BYRON LEFTWICH
Jerry Jones On Ezekiel
Elliott: You Can Win
When the Bucs hired Bruce Arians, they hired him not only as head coach but to call the plays.
Arians, 66, delegated those duties to offensive coor- dinator Byron Leftwich.
Leftwich, 39, is a former NFL quarterback who has never called plays.
Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys are locked in a contract negotiation stale- mate, and team owner Jerry Jones has made it fairly clear where he stands on the matter.
Jones spoke with CBS 11 Sports on Sunday about El- liott’s holdout, and he stopped just barely short of saying he believes the Cow- boys could win a Super Bowl without the star running back. Jones pointed out how Emmitt Smith was the first running back to win the rushing title in a season when his team — the 1993 Cowboys — won a champi- onship.
“The point there is, you don’t have to have a rushing champion to win a Super Bowl. Emmitt was the first one to do it,” Jones said. “That’s one of the dilemmas at running back is that the league knows that you can
JERRY JONES AND EZEKIEL ELLIOTT
win Super Bowls and not have the Emmitt Smith back there or not have Zeke back there.”
What Jones meant is that the Cowboys are trying to find a way to sign Elliott to an extension while also leav- ing enough money to ad- dress other positions. Because so many teams have been successful without star running backs, he believes that makes it difficult to de- termine the market value for the position.
So Joel and Bryan
Glazer “were not real fired
up that [Arians] said he’s not
going to be calling the plays,”
Andrea Kremer reported
Tuesday on HBO’s Real Arians said. “I said, ‘Just Sports with Bryant Gum-
bel.
Arians confirmed to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times that he had to sell ownership on Leftwich.
“Yeah, there was a real good conversation about it,’’
trust me. My hand is there. I’m right over his shoulder. He is trained and ready to go.’ It’s just something I wanted to do.’’
Super Bowl Without
Rushing Champion
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