Gerald McCoy: We do what we’re coached

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The end of the Giants’ 41-34 win was highlighted by an angrier than normal Tom Coughlin giving Bucs coach Greg Schiano a piece of his mind about the way the Tampa defensive line knocked down Eli Manning in an attempt to dislodge the ball as Manning knelt down on the final play of the game.

Several other Giants players expressed disgust with Tampa’s actions after the game was over and guard Chris Snee, via Mike Garafolo of USA TODAY, accused Bucs players of diving with helmets into the knees of the Giants. Garafolo also spoke with Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy after the game and McCoy gave a hint about where the defense came up with the idea of crashing the line on the final play.

“We do what we’re coached,” McCoy said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Schiano apologized for nothing during his postgame presser, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. That style of coaching could wind up getting Bucs players hurt in the future. Schiano’s stressed aggressiveness at every turn since taking over the Tampa job and that edginess helped the Bucs for much of Sunday’s game so he might be willing to take that risk. Even so, there wasn’t much to gain from the actions at the end. There almost certainly wouldn’t have been time for a play if the Bucs recovered a fumble without returning it for a touchdown and Tampa could see other teams willing to take a swipe at them in response to such behavior.

The Giants and Bucs don’t play again this season so there won’t be a chance for any Giants looking for a little revenge to get it until a future season. Should another team take offense to something that the Bucs do on the field this season, though, there could be a bigger conflagration than we saw at the Meadowlands on Sunday.

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The Dolphins made their acquisition of cornerback Chris Culliver official on Wednesday morning and they also announced the departure of two veterans from the roster.

Linebacker Danny Lansanah was released a week after joining the team in a move that appeared to be designed to increase the team’s defensive and special teams depth. The change of course suggests Lansanah wasn’t the fit that Miami was anticipating, but his experience — 22 starts for the Bucs over the last two seasons — could get him a look elsewhere before the summer is out.

The Dolphins also released offensive lineman Jacques McClendon. McClendon, who plays center and guard, was on and off the Dolphins active roster last year and played in three games before re-signing with the team in March. He’s also spent time with the Jaguars, Lions, Steelers, Falcons and Colts.

The moves leave an opening on Miami’s 90-man roster ahead of Friday’s first preseason game.

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Bills WR Marquise Goodwin would rather be in Rio, but he’s in Buffalo and his coaches say he is showing a good attitude.

The Dolphins’ offense is looking good, at least if you can judge it by training camp practice.

Patriots LB Jamie Collins is having a good camp.

Jets CB Darrelle Revis may have lost a step, but not more than one step.

Ravens backup QB Ryan Mallett is hoping for good playing time in the preseason.

Bengals second-round pick Tyler Boyd is on the rise.

Browns WR Rashard Higgins is aiming for seven touchdowns this season.

The Steelers like what they’re seeing of WR Eli Rogers.

Texans WR Jaelen Strong is the No. 2 receiver on the Texans’ depth chart.

A look at what it’s like to be the 90th man on a 90-man roster in Indianapolis.

The older players in the Jaguars’ secondary may struggle to make the roster.

The Titans need more consistency from WR Dorial Green-Beckham.

The Broncos hope RB Devontae Booker proves to be the steal of the draft.

Says Chiefs DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches of his bench press, “I’m warming up 335, 340. It’s crazy. Last year I was like at 230 — 275 was my max. I was struggling.”

The Raiders are playing it safe with first-round pick Karl Joseph.

Chargers FB Chris Swain is balancing football with his service to the Navy.

The Cowboys will have a crowd of 90,000 at their preseason opener.

Giants S Landon Collins had a scare after an awkward fall but got up OK.

The Eagles have a long list of injuries.

Washington CB Josh Norman is getting his teammates into soccer.

The Bears are finally getting ready to see WR Kevin White.

The Lions’ offensive line is getting in some good work against the Steelers’ front.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is ready for the season to start.

Vikings backup QB Shaun Hill is the only player on the team who was also in Minnesota during the Mike Tice era.

Ric Flair visited Falcons practice.

Panthers LB Luke Kuechly took his first-ever day off, at the request of the Panthers’ team trainer, who believes he could use some rest.

Saints DE Cameron Jordan missed practice for his daughter’s birth.

The Buccaneers are in a mood to hit someone else.

Cardinals QB Carson Palmer plans to end his career in Arizona.

Rams special teams coach John Fassel is popular with his players.

San Francisco coach Chip Kelly wants precision from his quarterbacks.

Seahawks OL J’Marcus Webb sees no reason they can’t be great.

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The Ravens have plenty of star power on their physically unable to perform list. But coach John Harbaugh is confident that all of those players will be on the field for the start of the regular season.

Via Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun, Harbaugh said he expected outside linebackers Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil and wide receivers Steve Smith and Breshad Perriman to be ready on Sept. 11.

“As far as the preseason, it goes back to we’ll see,” Harbaugh said. “They all want to play. They’re all working really hard to play in the preseason.”

Harbaugh declared Suggs “the closest” to coming back, after coming back from last year’s torn Achilles.

“He had the injury the soonest, he’s already on me about practicing,” Harbaugh said. “I’m holding him back right now. He’ll be out there soon practicing. How much we play him [in the preseason] remains to be seen. The other guys are probably a little longer away than he is.”

Smith, 37, also tore his Achilles last year. Dumervil had foot surgery and Breeland is still working back from knee problems that cost him his entire rookie season.

AP

Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has returned to practice after sitting out several days with a hamstring injury, which fits with coach John Fox’s initial description of the issue as a minor one.

Jeffery said Tuesday that he’s feeling better and downplayed connections to last year’s run of injuries that wound up keeping him out of the lineup for seven games. The first of those injuries was to his calf, causing him to miss the entire preseason, and Jeffery then hurt his hamstring after returning to play in the season opener.

This injury obviously hasn’t affected Jeffery as long or as seriously, but the team may still feel that caution is the best route to take regarding his availability for Thursday night’s game against the Broncos. Jeffery said he’ll wait to hear what the coaches want to do and that he hopes to get playing time in the preseason even if it isn’t this week.

“It’s always good to get on the same page in the preseason,” Jeffery said, via the Chicago Tribune. “So it can carry over to the regular season.”

Fox said that “everybody needs some” action in the preseason as long as their body can take it, which suggests Jeffery will see the field as long as he avoids further trips to the trainer’s office. That’s a big if based on last season and one that won’t stop being an issue come September.

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Sure, Tim Tebow has every right to conjure a dream and pursue it — even if he’s pursuing it not in the old-fashioned climb-the-mountain way but in the newfangled I-deserve-to-be-placed-on-the-top-of-the-mountain-now way. As to this specific dream, there’s an unmistakable sense that the outcome may have been carefully arranged before the dream was announced to the world.

Consider the timing and the manner of the unveiling of Tebow’s new venture. His agents at CAA handed the news to a coworker, who agreed to give the situation credibility (perhaps at the expense of a little of his own), as Adam Schefter declared to his five million Twitter followers as they sat down for their morning coffee (and promptly spat some of it against the screen) that Tebow would take up baseball with the same kind of nonchalance that Schefter would pass along the news of a team signing its punter to a new contract.

Immediately after the initial tweet came an article that conveyed without scrutiny quotes and other nuggets that gave more superficial credibility to the incredible notion that a guy who hasn’t played baseball since 2005 could hold a workout for all Major League Baseball teams and actually attract real interest. Then came a “report” from Darren Rovell of ESPN (another coworker) that the Dodgers had given Tebow a private workout before the season, that “a scout” was present for the workout (who the hell else would have been there?), and that the Dodgers thereafter showed interest.

In the aftermath of the initial flurry of “news” came the perfunctory, meaningless, publicity-seeking offers from a minor league team, one of which was passed along by Schefter on Twitter without mention of the obviously reality that this is the kind of crap minor-league teams always do. After that, plenty of videos on ESPN.com have emerged regarding Tebow’s new endeavor, including one showing him repeatedly hitting a ball with a bat (but none actually showing where the ball actually goes).

What ultimately bothers me about this isn’t that Tebow has decided on the brink of 29 to take up a sport that requires years of focus and diligence and effort to master (even for those who truly possess real skill), but that it all feels contrived. Whatever the end game — and it won’t be a surprise if a Major League team not in contention decides when the rosters expand to 40 to give Tebow a job in order to sell tickets in September — it feels as if those behind the project already knew how it will unfold before they pulled the pin on the process of unfolding it.

Regardless of how it plays out, the life story of Tim Tebow now has another wrinkle that will add 10 minutes or so to the final cut of the seemingly inevitable movie from Disney, the company that owns ESPN.

AP

There have been reports that Bills linebacker Reggie Ragland suffered a partially torn ACL when he hurt his knee in practice last week, although Bills coach Rex Ryan said Tuesday that they wouldn’t know the extent of the injury until the swelling went down.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that surgery will also give doctors a better idea about how badly Ragland was injured. Ragland is reportedly set to have surgery later this week that will help determine if he’s going to miss the entire season or if the rookie will be out 6-8 weeks.

Rapoport adds that initial tests have created an expectation that he’ll land on injured reserve, although the change in rules allowing teams to activate a player without previously designating him for return ahead of time means that the move could happen regardless of how certain the team is of his recovery timeline.

The Bills started adjusting to life without Ragland by signing veteran linebackers Brandon Spikes and David Hawthorne and they may end this week with a better idea about how much they’ll be using him.

AP

The Lions and Steelers practiced together on Tuesday, which meant that Lions cornerback Darius Slay got a chance to match up against Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.

Slay’s day ended with the cornerback saying he needs to do a better job when the teams do more joint work on Wednesday. Brown got the best of Slay in a variety of settings, including three straight go routes that led to a pair of touchdowns for the Steelers wideout and a post route that led Brown to tell the Steelers sideline that he was “killing” Slay. Slay didn’t disagree with that assessment when he spoke to reporters after practice.

“Oh man, the first one I said I expected that for the crowd, that was cool,” Slay said, via the Detroit Free Press. “But three of them in a row I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m already fitting to die here.’ Like, ‘Come on, you’re going to run another deep route?’ He said, ‘I’m going deep all day Slay.’ I said, ‘No you cannot. I’m not fitting to go with you more today. Not today.’ He tried to kill me, man.”

Slay said that he’s never seen a receiver like Brown — Slay played four snaps when the two teams met in 2013 — and had to adjust his style to a player who is “shifty and can make big-time plays.” Slay also called Brown “the best in the business,” an opinion he shares with plenty of others who have tried to stop Brown.

AP

Former Baylor coach Art Briles has expressed confidence that he’d be back in coaching next year, after being forced out of his previous job during a widespread sexual assault scandal, and the ensuing coverup.

And when he does, he’ll have an endorsement from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in his pocket.

Via Todd Archer of ESPN.com, Jones said he didn’t condone what happened at Baylor, but had nothing but praise for the coach who was forced out of the school earlier this summer.

“He’s a peer with his peers,” Jones said. “Certainly I think he would be a great asset to an organization, . . . at any level. At any level. He’s a football coach and really understands talent and can evaluate talent. . . .

“I would vouch for him as a person. He’s a top-quality person. I’d want my grandson, if he had the chance, to play for him.”

Briles visited Cowboys camp Tuesday, and watched practice alongside Jones and boxer Oscar De La Hoya. It’s the fifth NFL camp he’s visited this summer, along with trips to see the Rams, Browns, Bengals and Titans. Of course, he has a wide network of former players in the league, but he’s also sowing the seeds for future employment.

“I’m dumbfounded and trying to process everything as it goes, but it is what it is,” Briles said. “Reality is reality and so what I’ve got to do is redefine myself and start a new chapter. And that’s what I’m doing.”

Briles wouldn’t go into too much detail bout his departure from Baylor, but said he had learned from what happened there. He also said he hoped to find work as soon as next season. And he doesn’t think the cloud of what happened in Waco will follow him.

“Because I know who I am, I know what I’ve been for 60 years,” Briles said. “So people may doubt what you say, but they’ll always believe what you do and I’ve always lived my life in a righteous manner.”

Briles’ daughter Jancy worked for years in the Cowboys’ public relation department, which is at least part of the reason Jones was willing to speak out on his behalf.

AP

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn’t playing Sunday night anyway, so the Hall of Fame game being canceled didn’t impact his workload.

That’s because the Packers built the long break in for their 32-year-old star, whose practice Tuesday was his first work since last Wednesday’s practice.

“It’s been a nice rest,” Rodgers said, via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “I didn’t ask for it, but I appreciate it. Mike [McCarthy] does a great job of taking care of us, and me especially. This, according to him, was planned to have a nice little rest for my legs and my arm. But I still had to do workouts.

“I think I was probably the only guy who worked out on Sunday because I was out there so early running around and doing some stuff with our strength staff.”

Of course, Rodgers has been running McCarthy’s system that August reps are less important than they might be for others, as he said he’d be ready for the season to start “right now.”

“It’s important to stay in tune with what’s best for your offense,” McCarthy said, “and also balance that with what’s best for Aaron. We’re charting his reps, particularly his throwing. The five-day period of him being off was by design. So I feel good about where he is. He feels good.

“Really, the focus is more on Brett Hundley and our two young guys. That’s the target we need to hit as far as giving those three men the opportunity and amount of work. I’m more worried about them three than I am about Aaron Rodgers.”

So for now, Hundley and Joe Callahan and Marquise Williams will get the bulk of the work, as the Packers continue to ease Rodgers into the season. He may play in Friday’s preseason game against the Browns, but won’t be out there too long.

AP

First-round pick Sheldon Rankins is already showing signs of paying big dividends for the Saints this year.

But even he didn’t realize how big his play yesterday was when he made it.

According to Josh Katzenstein of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, one of the highlights of yesterday’s joint practice with the Patriots was the Louisville defensive tackle picking off Tom Brady and taking it the other way.

“I didn’t really realize it was Tom Brady until after when somebody told me, ‘You just picked off a four-time Super Bowl champion,'” Rankins said. “And then it kind of sunk in a little bit, but I just try to go out and practice hard, be in the right places when I needed to be there and I was. . . .

“I caught it, just had a flashback to my running back days and just go score.”

Rankins said he was a running back until the 10th grade, when he converted to defense. The Saints are glad he did, as they’re hoping he can be a foundation piece for a team that desperately needs to improve on that side of the ball.

AP

Some questions have been raised about Washington cornerback Josh Norman’s decision to work for FOX this season, a decision he made without asking the team if it was OK. But Norman says it’s simple: His TV segments will be filmed during his time off, so there should be no issues for the team.

“It’s my off time. I can do whatever I choose,” Norman told Dianna Russini of ESPN.

Coach Jay Gruden wasn’t aware that Norman was going to work on TV this season until the media clued him in. Gruden said, “That’s the first, uh, I have no idea what you’re talking about” when a reporter asked him about it.

It might have been a little awkward for Gruden to have to answer that question, but Norman is right: He’s allowed to do what he wants in his time off. He’s not the first active player to work for a TV network, and he wasn’t required to ask the team for permission.

AP

After rushing for just 31 yards with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013 and struggling to find another opportunity, Justin Forsett seized a starting job with the Baltimore Ravens and rushed his way to the Pro Bowl.

Forsett didn’t find the same success a year ago as the Ravens struggled. A broken arm eventually ended his season in November.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has been encouraged by what he’s seen of Forsett so far in training camp and sees similarities to the back that rushed for 1,266 yards and eight touchdowns in 2013.

“Justin is quietly having an excellent camp,” Harbaugh said Monday, via the team’s website. “He looks to me like he did two years ago.”

While Forsett is now 30 years old – the proverbial end point for the careers of running backs – he doesn’t have nearly the mileage of other aging rushers. He has just 733 total carries in eight years in the NFL. Though he had a role as a rotational player with the Seattle Seahawks in 2009-10, he received just 115 carries over the ensuing three seasons split between Seattle, Houston and Jacksonville.

“I see the same running back we had two years ago, in terms of his speed, his explosiveness, his vision,” Harbaugh said. “He really looks good. I know there’s a lot of talk about the other guys, but he’s playing really well.”

Forsett is in competition with several backs on Baltimore’s roster in camp. Buck Allen, Terrence West and rookie Kenneth Dixon. In addition, Lorenzo Taliaferro remains on the PUP list.

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On the same day Rams coach Jeff Fisher told reporters that 2016 No. 1 overall draft pick Jared Goff will soon be getting more first-team reps, the annual Hard Knocks inside training camp show debuted on HBO and featured Rams camp.

Goff got the treatment from the show’s cameras and producers that you’d expect a top pick in Los Angeles to get. He’s the headliner, even before he’s the starter, and the first of the show’s five episodes started by showing how far Goff still has to go.

A montage of botched snaps, whether or not they were Goff’s fault, was followed by clips of Goff talking with coaches and trying to relay plays through the huddle. The show’s producers also carefully chose a clip of Goff on set with NFL Network after one practice saying he’s never been a backup quarterback at any level.

At one point cameras caught Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams telling Fisher and other Rams staffers that Goff has never huddled — “not in middle school, not in high school” — so it’s understandable that he’s getting used to both the verbiage of the offense and relaying it.

“Offenses in the NFL, you’ve got to have a f—–g catalog to call plays,” Williams said.

The HBO cameras were also on hand for a one-on-one session with Goff and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke.

“Everybody is watching what you,” Weinke told Goff. “You can’t f—–g hide. It ought to give you chills.

“This doesn’t just happen. You don’t just say, ‘Hey, I’m No. 16, I’m the starting quarterback. That ain’t f—–g happening.”

Like happens on any good quasi-reality show, the struggles are followed with brighter moments. Cameras caught Goff getting extra post-practice work with wide receiver Kenny Britt, asking Britt for more reps to make up for poor throws, and later caught Williams telling his defense it needed to keep the offense out of the end zone for one play in an 11-on-11 situation.

Right on cue, Goff threw a touchdown pass.

“That was real,” cameras caught Rams defensive lineman Mike Waufle saying to his fellow coaches after one Goff pass. “He threw a strike. That’s a quarterback, man.”

AP

Yes, Case Keenum continues to be the starting quarterback of the Rams. But he’s not a normal starter. Normal starters get all the practice reps with the other starters.

Keenum eventually will be replaced with rookie Jared Goff, the first overall pick in the draft. Currently, Goff is getting more first-team reps in advance of his inevitable ascension.

“That’s part of the process,” Fisher told reporters on Tuesday regarding Goff’s opportunities with the starting offense. “As I mentioned, he’s getting walk-through reps with the ones. This is one of the first or second times he’s gotten live reps with the ones, but that will increase.”

Asked whether the media can read into those remarks an indication that a quarterback change is imminent, Fisher said, “Read whatever you want. I’m going to start him when he’s ready to play. It’s all about the process and it’s about being patient.”

Fisher made similar comments last year regarding then-rookie running back Todd Gurley, creating the impression Gurley would be brought along slowly and then eventually throwing him into the fray and watching him thrive. If it worked with Gurley, maybe it will work with Goff.

The only risk in this approach comes from the possibility that the Rams with thrive with Keenum, because once they switch to Goff it will be very hard to switch back.

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The San Francisco 49ers indecision over their starting quarterback has been reflected in their depth chart released ahead of the preseason opener on Sunday against the Houston Texans.

Via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, the 49ers unofficial depth chart released Tuesday night lists Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick as co-starters.

Offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins said the matter of who will start the game Sunday hasn’t been discussed yet by the coaching staff.

Both quarterbacks can’t actually start the game so a decision will have to be made at some point in the next several days. The 49ers aren’t tipping their hand as of yet.