Gästebuch » erring to a third-down conversion

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler expressed little concern about his one-game suspension Davante Adams Jersey Youth , his shoulder injury or his future with the franchise.

The 23-year-old Fowler was equally nonchalant about the progress he seemingly made in the past year.

"Did I go to jail?" he said following the team's first training camp practice Thursday. "There we go."

Fowler spoke publicly for the first time since the NFL suspended him without pay for the season opener at the New York Giants, a one-game penalty for attacking a man in a parking lot near his hometown in July 2017.

Fowler eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery, criminal mischief and petty theft. The case was closed in March, with Fowler sentenced to a year of probation and 75 hours of community service.

The NFL handed down its punishment last week.

"We really already knew it was going to happen," said Fowler, who will be eligible to play Week 2 against New England. "It's a situation that happened last year so the NFL finally took it into their hands this year. We talked and they told me what it was going to be. I just appreciate them hearing me out, hearing my side of the story. It could have always been worse, so I'm going to just take this game and be ready when we come back for the Patriots."

The suspension will cost him $214,000.

Missing additional games could cost him even more.

The Jaguars declined to exercise the fifth-year option in Fowler's rookie contract in May, likely meaning the third overall pick in the 2015 draft will become a free agent after this season.

A career year could mean a lucrative deal elsewhere.

"Go out there and play as best as I can every Sunday," he said. "That's it."

Fowler has 53 tackles and 12 sacks in two seasons. He missed his rookie year after tearing a ligament in his left knee during the first day of a rookie minicamp.

He played in every game since his return, but mostly as a backup to Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue. The Jags apparently don't view Fowler in the team's long-term plans Buccaneers Ryan Jensen Jersey , which is why they declined to pay him $14.2 million in 2019.

His off-filed troubles are partly to blame.

The former Florida standout was arrested last year after confronting a 55-year-old man who made a comment about his driving. St. Petersburg police said Fowler exchanged words with the man before hitting him and knocking off his glasses. Fowler then stepped on the glasses before taking the man's grocery bag and tossing it in a lake.

Fowler also was arrested in Miami Beach in March 2016 and charged with misdemeanor counts of assault against a police officer and resisting arrest without violence. The charges were later dropped. That arrest came a little more than two weeks after a video surfaced showing Fowler refereeing a violent fight between his girlfriend and an ex-girlfriend. He also has a long list of traffic violations.

"It is something where you have to go out every day and you have to prove (yourself) until you get to a level of consistency where there is trust," coach Doug Marrone said. "I think it is a matter of doing the right things each and every day, and we will see how it goes."

Fowler's health is his biggest concern these days.

He injured his left shoulder late last season and opened camp on the physically unable to perform list. Incapable of lifting weights for part of the offseason, Fowler lost some pounds. But much like everything else, he doesn't see it as a concern.

"Well, I'm actually big," he said with a smile. "I honestly think it won't matter. It doesn't matter. Weight does not matter with this one. I'm a straight dog. It don't matter. Once I put on them pads, it's a wrap. I'm just getting stronger. Coaches are looking out for me and being concerned and looking out for my health, so all I can do is just get stronger and you guys will know when I'm out there again."
Andrew Luck came out of the preseason opener unscathed.

Some of his teammates weren't as fortunate.

Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich announced Friday that promising rookie receiver Deon Cain suffered a season-ending knee injury and running backs Marlon Mack and Robert Turbin will be listed week to week after sustaining other injuries.

"Really unfortunate. Obviously, he was having a great camp," Reich said during a conference call with reporters. "We'll support him and he'll come back stronger next year."

All eyes, of course Kenny Young Color Rush Jersey , were on Luck 鈥?who made his first game appearance in almost 600 days and looked like his old self.

He completed 6 of 9 passes for 64 yards, leading the Colts to field goals on their first two drives and even bounced up quickly after taking his first big hit on the surgically repaired right shoulder before leaving the game.

It was exactly what the Colts 鈥?and an anxious fan base 鈥?needed to see from the top overall pick in the 2012 draft.

"Hopefully it brought a smile to the whole city (of Indianapolis) and really the NFL," Reich said. "I think what's cool in this league is that guys root for each other and quarterbacks root for each other, so it's really a boost for the league and for our team."

But losing the other three players could alter the Colts' preseason plans.

Cain, a sixth-round pick out of Clemson who slid down the draft board because of off-the-field questions, was playing so well at training camp he was moving up the depth chart and appeared to be in position to challenge for one of the top three jobs in the receiving rotation.

He spent the offseason working out with recently inducted Hall of Famer Randy Moss and consistently showed the coaches he was neither afraid of making catches in traffic nor using his 6-foot-2, 202-pound frame to win jump balls.

Reich wasn't even sure when Cain tore his anterior cruciate ligament though he believed it came when Cain made a cut, trying to come back for the ball on a deep route.

"One of the traits Deon was flashing was an ability to really win against press coverage and that's really an attribute at this level," Reich said. "But we know we've got something special in Deon Cain. He's a good guy who can become a great player."

Losing Cain means the Colts are likely to stick with four-time Pro Bowler T.Y. Hilton, free agent acquisition Ryan Grant and veteran Chester Rogers as their top three receivers.

And, for now, Reich seems content filling the other jobs with other players already in camp such as veteran K.J. Brent Authentic Leighton Vander Esch Jersey , who has impressed, too.

But the more pressing concern is at running back, where the Colts are thin.

Indy plugged Mack into the starting job left by departed workhorse Frank Gore.

Mack played all of last season with a torn labrum in his shoulder and left in the first quarter Thursday with an injured hamstring.

Turbin, a short-yardage specialist who was projected to be the No. 2 back, left the Seattle game with an injured ankle. He already has been suspended for the first four regular-season games for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancers.

Mack and Turbin are now listed week to week, leaving the Colts with just four other running backs on the roster 鈥?veteran Christine Michael, who missed all of last season with an injured knee, rookies Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins and veteran Josh Ferguson, who missed the game with a hamstring injury.

"That run at the end of the game (by Wilkins), that was a big-time run," Reich said, referring to a third-down conversion that helped seal Indy's victory. "It's only a couple-yard run Authentic Justin Jones Jersey , but those are the kind of runs that win games."

Notes: Reich said receiver James Wright also will be week to week with an injured knee. ... Rookies Quenton Nelson and Darius Leonard also impressed Reich. Nelson, the No. 6 overall pick and highest chosen guard in more than two decades, helped keep the pocket mostly clean for Luck and showed he could be an asset as a pulling guard, too. Reich said Leonard, a second-round pick, "flashed" on a couple of plays at linebacker, too. ... The Colts return to training camp Saturday afternoon and will host the Baltimore Ravens for a joint practice late next week.
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