- Matthew Stafford had his usual Sunday morning game of quidditch with his pals Harry and Hermione before Detroit’s loss yesterday.
- The problem with treating draft picks like they’re Halloween candy is that there’s nothing left to trade when you have a truly dire mid-season need that arises because of an injury. That’s partly what could hold the Raiders back from landing Carson Palmer, but the far larger and more stubborn obstacle continues to be Mike Brown.
- The recently demoted Kyle Orton could also draw interest from a Raiders front office desperate for a quarterback after Jason Campbell‘s season-ending injury, although reports of Orton’s trade request have been greatly exaggerated.
- Denver could be a hot spot for the minimal trade deadline activity due to the Broncos’ 1-4 record. Wide receivers Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal have requested trades, and Mike Klis of the Denver Post writes that San Francisco is showing the strongest interest in Lloyd, but New England and St. Louis are also involved.
- Cowboys running back Felix Jones will likely miss at least one week with a high-ankle sprain.
- Most critics–including us–were quick to blame Jim Harbaugh for the post-game shouting match yesterday in Detroit that in hindsight has become very overblown. But ESPN’s Kevin Seifert has seen Jim Schwartz and his profanity-laced sideline flailing routine many times, and he thinks the Lions coach could have followed his own post-game protocol a little better.
- The 49ers players were as fired up as their head coach, and they were honking horns while leaving the parking lot. The always mild-mannered people of Detroit were quick to tell them who’s really No. 1.
- Chris Cooley is a frustrated and broken man.
- Rex Grossman couldn’t spread the ball around yesterday, or at least not to his teammates. But if you hand him some blame he’ll be more than happy to pass that around the locker room.
- Hogs Haven has likely the most logical, emotion-free reaction to Grossman getting yanked and the re-emergence of a quarterback “controversy” in Washington.
- Donovan McNabb still thinks he’ll be the starting quarterback in Minnesota next week.
- As expected, A.J. Hawk‘s one-finger salute to the Green Bay sideline yesterday was an inside joke with his teammates.
- Sports Pickle discovered an anagram that may or may not tell us something about Christian Ponder‘s expected career arc.
