Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 8-26-22

Sports
'Sturdier' Lamar Jackson Might Be A Little Faster
Tom Brady Returns
After Absence Due To
‘Personal Things’; Bucs
Lamar Jackson is al- ready the most dynamic run- ner at quarterback in NFL history (sorry Michael Vick).
Now Jackson could be bigger, and even faster, than before.
Jackson said he was around 205-208 pounds last season. This offseason, he committed himself to bulking up during his training in South Florida.
stadium practice near the start of training camp, Jack- son said he was around 230.
Will the added weight change Jackson as a runner this season?
"I'm interested to see. When I see him kick it into fifth gear here, his engine is bigger this year," Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman said. "So, he might be a little bit faster. We'll just see how it goes, but it's looking pretty good."
Play Colts Saturday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles says Tom Brady returned to the team this week, after the quarterback’s recent ab- sence from the team.
“He had a good practice,” Bowles stated Sunday. Brady has been away from the team since 11 August to deal with what Bowles had described as “personal things”. The absence had been agreed with the team in advance although last week Bowles said there was “no definitive date” for Brady’s return.
Brady has had short ab- sences during preseason in the past, but this is the first time in the 45-year-old’s long career he has taken signifi- cant time off during training camp or preseason. Stars such as Brady usually play very little part in preseason games in order to avoid in- jury, and Bowles said he was unsure if his quarterback would appear in the team’s final warm-up against the In-
LAMAR JACKSON
TOM BRADY
dianapolis Colts on Saturday. “We’ll see how practice goes and we’ll make those de- cisions at the end of the
week,” Bowles said.
Brady led the NFL in
passing yards and touch- downs last season but will be without Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen for a large part of 2022 due to a knee injury. In addition, two of his key re- ceivers, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, are recovering from injury.
The Bucs open their regu- lar-season campaign against the Dallas Cowboys on 11 September.
When Jackson reported
Chargers Derwin James Agrees
for mandatory in mid-June, Jackson said he was up to 220 pounds. At the Ravens'
To $76.4M Deal, Becomes NFL's Highest-Paid Safety
Bucs HC Todd Bowles
Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James did not appear to stop smiling throughout training camp practice Wednesday, and for good reason.
Only hours earlier, James and the Chargers agreed to terms on a multi- year contract extension.
A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that the deal is for four years and worth $76.4 million, with an average annual value of $19.13 million, making him the highest-paid safety in NFL history.
"I'm feeling amazing," James said after practice, talking with reporters for the first time since reporting to training camp more than three weeks ago.
James said he never
DERWIN JAMES
doubted a deal would get done.
"All along, we were just very close," Chargers coach Brandon Staley said about negotiations. "I think these contracts, when they're so big, it's just over little things. You just have to stay patient and positive with the process."
Gives Positive Update
On Tristan Wirfs' Injury
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers have already lost too many offensive linemen to in- jury this year, with Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen and guard Aaron Stinnie both going down with serious knee injuries.
It was refreshing, then, to get some good news in this department Sunday from Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, who updated the status of All-Pro right tackle Tristan Wirfs, who left Thursday’s joint practice with the Tennessee Titans due to a strained oblique.
Bowles told the media Sunday that Wirfs is consid- ered “day-to-day,” with the in- jury, and that it shouldn’t be anything serious that would
TRISTAN WIRFS
knock him out for any signifi- cant period of time.
Jensen’s status still has- n’t been given a definitive up- date, but Stinnie was confirmed to have suffered a torn ACL and MCL during Satuday night’s preseason loss to the Tennessee Titans, and will miss the rest of the season.
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