If 49ers wanted to change kickers, it can’t be Cundiff

At this point, the 49ers almost have no choice but to stick with kicker David Akers.

But if they did decide to bring in another one, their first choice is off the table. Billy Cundiff, who was signed to light a fire under Akers’ seat earlier this month, would be ineliglble to return, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.

For the same reason disgruntled running back Brandon Jacobs was effectively stashed once the playoffs began (since waiver claims aren’t filed until after the Super Bowl), Cundiff can’t come back to play for the 49ers after they released him Friday.

Akers hit the upright with a 38-yard field goal yesterday, the latest in a series of shaky performances this year, which will doubtless undermine whatever bit of confidence they had left in him.

AP

Someone really ought to tell Dashon Goldson how reputations get made.

The Buccaneers safety, who is a regular guest on the league’s weekly fine list and has been suspended for being a repeat offender, said it bothers him that people consider him dirty.

“I remember being on the good side of it, hearing commentators, analysts talking about how perfect, how good, how I do it the right way, and all of a sudden with the new rule I’m a dirty player, a nasty player, targeted and I’m not playing the game how it’s supposed to be played,” Goldson said, via Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com. “I think that’s ridiculous, and [I'm] being targeted, I feel, because it’s been a few times people have been in the situation or worse situations than me and haven’t gotten penalized like I’ve been.”

Goldson said he thinks players and coaches respect his style (although he might not have asked the people he keeps hitting illegally).

“I think the players, they understand the game and how it’s supposed to be played,” Goldson said. “They’re more on my side than anybody else, and coaches on top of that.

“Now with the new rule, you do have some of those guys, as far as coaches, who complain about hits. And they’re the same guys I’m sure who are teaching their players how to hit and congratulating them when they make a big hit.”

In a sense, Goldson has a point. Because he’s a recidivist, the league is going to look at his actions more closely, and use him as an example to create a deterrent factor for other players.

But he should also look at the tape, and see how he developed the reputation to begin with.

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As the University of Texas does, or doesn’t, search for a new head coach, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t seem to be interested.

“Are you trying to be funny?” Harbaugh said when asked by reporters about the possibility of a jump to the NCAA on Thursday, via Steve Corkran of the Bay Area News Group.

That remark from Harbaugh didn’t make it into the official transcript circulated by the team.  This one did:  “I don’t ever talk about any jobs other than the one I have.”

He’ll have his current job through at least 2015.  NFL coaching contracts typically aren’t as easily escaped as college contracts, unless the coach negotiates the ability to walk away whenever he wants, like Nick Saban did eight years ago in Miami.

Texas isn’t the first high-profile college program to potentially be interested in Jim Harbaugh.  According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, USC recently made a run at Harbaugh, who “flat out rejected” the overture.

It’s unknown whether A.D. Pat Haden responded by saying, “What’s your deal?“

Harbaugh’s deal is that he’ll likely get a new deal from the 49ers after this season.  And if Texas pays Nick Saban or someone else $10 million per year, Harbaugh could be in line for a big raise.

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The Lions release their first practice report of the week on Thursday and running back Reggie Bush will be listed as out.

Tim Twentyman of the team’s website reports that Bush is not participating in practice as the team prepares to face the Ravens on Monday night. Bush was questionable to play in last week’s game because of a calf injury, but was on the 46-man active roster for the game before winding up sidelined when he aggravated the injury during warmups.

Bush said Wednesday that there was no way he could have pushed through the injury and played last weekend. He said he plans on playing Monday, though.

“It’s one of those things where I can’t really wrap my brain around it because it’s never happened to me before,” Bush said. “I still don’t really understand how it happened. It’s just one of those things and I look forward to getting back this week.”

Bush’s feelings won’t stop his status from remaining uncertain. Given what happened last Sunday, it will likely remain that way until Bush is actually on the field on Monday night.

AP

Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton will play tonight against the Chargers, but he’s not happy about it.

Knighton is among the many NFL players who have spoken out against the league’s practice of having regular Thursday night games, saying that it shows the league cares more about making money for NFL Network than it cares about giving players enough time to recover between games.

“It’s about the NFL, their logo, making money and what the fans want. You know, they don’t really care about us,” Knighton told the Denver Post.

Knighton says players need a full week to recover from a game, and half a week just isn’t sufficient.

“I say Thursday, I’m probably around 75 percent, 80 percent,” Knighton said. “By Saturday, I’m probably around 90, and Sunday morning I feel good.”

For its part, however, the NFL says there are no more injuries in Thursday games than there are in games on other days. And so, while tonight’s game is the last Thursday game this season, the Thursday games will continue. No matter what the players think.

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It looks like Tom Brady has a good chance at having tackle Nate Solder protecting his blind side on Sunday against the Dolphins.

Solder suffered a concussion in last weekend’s victory over the Browns and missed Wednesday’s practice while going through the league’s concussion protocol. Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reports that Solder was back at practice on Thursday, however.

Solder, who has never missed a regular season game in his three NFL seasons, will still need to pass another test before he’s cleared to play in a game, which should happen as long as his return to practice doesn’t result in a new round of concussion symptoms. If it does, New England will likely have to look elsewhere for a left tackle this weekend.

The only member of the Patriots who did not practice on Thursday was wide receiver Aaron Dobson. Dobson has missed the last two games and remains without a timetable for his return from a sprained foot.

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Wednesday was a busy day for Bears quarterbacks.

Josh McCown was named the NFC offensive player of the week and then coach Marc Trestman brought word that he was “optimistic” Jay Cutler would return to the lineup against the Browns this weekend. John Mullin of CSN Chicago will join Mike Florio on PFT Live to discuss how things will play out at the position for the Bears this week and whether he thinks the team is making a mistake switching back to Cutler given how well McCown has played.

Thursday’s also the day to break down the picks for that Bears-Browns game and everything else that will make up the schedule in Week 15. MDS will join Florio for that exercise as they draw closer to naming the champion for their year-long battle.

You can watch it all live at noon ET by clicking here.

AP

Texans interim head coach Wade Phillips didn’t pull any punches when asked what this season has been like.

“Well, it’s obviously a nightmare,” Phillips said on a conference call with Indianapolis reporters. “It’s been so many games and so close, and just not being able to make the one or two plays. It’s not like we’re getting beat by 20 points every game, so it’s been very frustrating.”

Phillips is right, to a point: The Texans’ last seven losses have all been by seven points or fewer. Of course, one of Houston’s two wins came on a field goal as time expired, and the other was in overtime. So while you can say that the Texans have been only one or two plays away from winning any of their last seven games, you can also say the Texans are only a couple plays away from being 0-13.

Still, Phillips says it’s frustrating because the Texans are losing a lot of games they think they can win.

“You feel like you can win, but we haven’t,” Phillips said.

Some would say the best thing for the future of the franchise would be to lose their last three games and earn the first pick in the draft. But Phillips doesn’t see it that way.

“It’s pride and people are playing for their jobs and coaching for their jobs, obviously,” Phillips said.

Phillips is coaching for an opportunity to keep his job, and to get the “interim” removed from his title. He’d like to think he’s the man to keep the Texans’ 2014 season from being a repeat nightmare.

AP

With multiple Week 14 games featuring frozen precipitation and an open-air New Jersey Super Bowl looming, it makes sense to make sense of the NFL’s rules regarding in-game snow removal.

The official rulebook never mentions the term snow.  The league’s game operations manual addresses what is and isn’t permitted when it comes to snow removal.

For starters, and to clear up some lingering confusion regarding the situation in Philly during Sunday’s game between the Lions and Eagles, the field can be plowed at halftime.  As explained by ESPN.com, that didn’t happen on Sunday because there wasn’t enough space to put the multiple inches of snow that had fallen during the first half of the game, and not enough time to clear the playing surface.

During a game, the following rules apply, as quoted to PFT by the league office:

AP

Though the football thing seems to be working out for him at the moment, Russell Wilson still has options.

The Texas Rangers chose the Seahawks quarterback in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft this morning, spending $12,000 to get his rights away from the Rockies organization for a little attention and a good example.

“From a baseball standpoint, we feel like if he ever decided he wanted to come back to play again that he’d be a guy we’d want in our system,” Rangers assistant general manager A.J. Preller said, via Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “The biggest thing that intrigued us on Russell from afar is the makeup, the way he goes about his business, the professionalism, the competitor, the message we try to preach throughout our organization, for us to at least have that as part of our organization.

“At the end of the day, he obviously has a lot bigger things that he’s working on right now, and we don’t want to interrupt that aspect of it. But if at some point down the road he decides he wants to do baseball again, we decided it would be a positive to have him with us.”

Preller said they don’t expect him to give up his football career, and haven’t had any contact with him.

Wilson was a fourth-round pick in the baseball draft in 2010, and hit .238 in parts of two minor league seasons.

He’s been slightly more successful in football.

AP

Last week was a good week.  But not as good as it could have been.

With a 14-1 mark through Sunday’s games and a 3-0 record in the disagreements with MDS, a Cowboys win would mean a 15-1 week, a four-game sweep of MDS, and a six-game deficit with three weeks to go.

But the team that once went 15-1 for a full season thumped the Cowboys, and the gap was only narrowed by two games.

Through 14 weeks, MDS now has an eight-game lead.

For the week, I was 14-2 and he was 12-4.  For the year, he’s 138-70.  I’m 130-78.

This week, we differ once again on four games.  All of our prognostications appear below.

Chargers at Broncos

MDS’s take: The Chargers can put a lot of points on the board, but Peyton Manning will carve up a weak San Diego defense, and the Chargers won’t be able to keep up. Denver takes another step toward home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

MDS’s pick: Broncos 38, Chargers 28.

Florio’s take:  The sun won’t be shining on a night when critics will have another chance to stick the narrative that Peyton Manning struggles in the cold where the sun doesn’t shine.  A week after thrashing Eli Manning’s team, Philip Rivers and company will be reminded that Peyton’s squad currently is a lot better.

Florio’s pick:  Broncos 42, Chargers 24.

Redskins at Falcons

MDS’s take: This terrible game is interesting to draft watchers and to friends and family of Kirk Cousins, but not to anyone else. Atlanta is bad, but they haven’t totally quit on their season like Washington has, so I’ll go with the Falcons.

MDS’s pick: Falcons 27, Redskins 17.

Florio’s take:  A pair of 2012 playoff teams currently are jockeying for the first pick in the draft.  The Rams, who hold Washington’s first-round selection, are rooting for their old NFC West rivals to wake up and take down Kirk Cousins and company.  If anyone actually shows up at the Georgia Dome, they may be pleased with the results.

Florio’s pick:  Falcons 28, Redskins 13.

Bears at Browns

MDS’s take: Jason Campbell and Josh Gordon can put up some points against this Bears defense, but I expect Jay Cutler, Alshon Jeffery, and Brandon Marshall to put up more points against Cleveland’s defense.

MDS’s pick: Bears 24, Browns 21.

Florio’s take:  Two of the best young wideouts in the NFL meet in Cleveland.  Josh Gordon will once again have a big game in a loss.  Alshon Jeffery will once again have a big game in a win.

Florio’s pick:  Bears 24, Browns 20.

Texans at Colts

MDS’s take: Injuries are killing the Colts, and I think they’re going to be one-and-done in the playoffs. But they’re still better than the Texans, who are marching toward the first overall pick in the draft.

MDS’s pick: Colts 27, Texans 20.

Florio’s take:  If it wasn’t for teams that currently are in Houston or that used to be in Houston, the Colts would be winless since beating the quarterback who used to be in Indy.

Florio’s pick:  Colts 28, Texans 17.

Bills at Jaguars

MDS’s take: Credit the Jaguars for the way they’re continuing to play hard after a lot of teams would have quit, but I think it comes to an end on Sunday, when EJ Manuel will thrive on the scaled-back offense that the Bills’ coaches are giving him.

MDS’s pick: Bills 27, Jaguars 24.

Florio’s take:  For the second straight week, the Bills visit a team that started the season 0-8.  For the second straight week, the Bills will fall victim to that team’s stunning turnaround.

Florio’s pick:  Jaguars 24, Bills 10.

Patriots at Dolphins

MDS’s take: In one of this week’s few games matching up two teams with realistic playoff hopes, the Patriots will remind the Dolphins who owns the AFC East.

MDS’s pick: Patriots 31, Dolphins 20.

Florio’s take:  A couple of teams in the AFC East get together in a game that profoundly impacts a couple of teams in the AFC North.  The Dolphins will continue an unlikely run to January, which is bad news for the Ravens — but good news for the Bengals, who are trying to catch New England for the No. 2 seed in the conference.

Florio’s pick:  Dolphins 28, Patriots 27.

Eagles at Vikings

MDS’s take: The Eagles are rolling right now, and although the Vikings have been playing competitive football, they don’t have the personnel on defense to stop Philadelphia’s offense. This should be an easy win for the Eagles.

MDS’s pick: Eagles 27, Vikings 14.

Florio’s take:  The three-win Vikings have three opportunities to play spoiler.  Spoiling the next-to-last game at the Metrodome will be an Eagles team that has won five in a row and is 5-1 on the road.

Florio’s pick:  Eagles 27, Vikings 20.

Seahawks at Giants

MDS’s take: The Giants’ defense couldn’t stop the Chargers last week and they won’t be able to stop the Seahawks this week. Throw in a couple of Eli Manning interceptions against a great Seahawks defense, and this game won’t be close.

MDS’s pick: Seahawks 35, Giants 14.

Florio’s take:  The Seahawks make their first of two visits to MetLife Stadium.  Next time, they’ll be playing an AFC team there.  And it won’t be the Jets.

Florio’s pick:  Seahawks 40, Giants 21.

Saints at Rams

MDS’s take: The Saints bounced back nicely from their blowout loss to the Seahawks by blowing out the Panthers. New Orleans will win another blowout on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Saints 34, Rams 16.

Florio’s take:  Taking the Saints out of the Superdome increases the chances of beating them.  Putting them in a different dome against a so-so team decreases the chances of beating them.

Florio’s pick:  Saints 30, Rams 20.

49ers at Buccaneers

MDS’s take: Give Greg Schiano a lot of credit for the way he got his team to turn things around late in the season, but Mike Glennon is going to struggle against a tough 49ers defense, and San Francisco will win.

MDS’s pick: 49ers 28, Buccaneers 10.

Florio’s take:  What once appeared to be a cakewalk for the Niners becomes a tougher task.  Tough enough for the Niners to stumble.  If Jim Harbaugh thought last week’s win over the Seahawks was a three-and-a-half-hour root canal, he’ll think this week’s game is a three-and-a-half-hour encounter at the bottom of the pile with Steelers center Cody Wallace.

Florio’s pick:  Buccaneers 17, 49ers 16.

Cardinals at Titans

MDS’s take: Arizona’s defense will miss injured cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, but the Ryan Fitzpatrick-led Titans offense still won’t be able to do much of anything. The Cardinals will win and keep their playoff hopes alive, although they look like they’re going to be the best team to miss the playoffs.

MDS’s pick: Cardinals 20, Titans 10.

Florio’s take:  The Cardinals make only their second trip ever to Tennessee, where they lost in 2009.  This time, they get the job done.

Florio’s pick:  Cardinals 24, Titans 21.

Jets at Panthers

MDS’s take: The Jets’ offense had a surprisingly effective game last week against the Raiders, but the Panthers are not the Raiders. This will be a blowout.

MDS’s pick: Panthers 34, Jets 10.

Florio’s take:  The advice given by Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to his twin brother Rex  regarding beating the Panthers consisted of this:  Get a time machine, go back to 2006, and sign Drew Brees.

Florio’s pick:  Panthers 27, Jets 17.

Chiefs at Raiders

MDS’s take: Give Kansas City credit for consistency.  The Chiefs have been destroying bad teams all season long. They’ll do it again on on Sunday.

MDS’s pick: Chiefs 36, Raiders 17.

Florio’s take:  The Chiefs are locked in to the No. 5 seed.  The Raiders are locked in to irrelevance.  Advantage playoff team.

Florio’s pick:  Chiefs 27, Raiders 20.

Packers at Cowboys

MDS’s take: The Packers are pessimistic about Aaron Rodgers‘ chances, and that makes me pessimistic about the Packers’ chances. Although the Cowboys’ defense is bad enough that a Matt Flynn-led Packers offense can score some points on them, the Packers’ defense is every bit as bad, and a Tony Romo-led Cowboys offense will score more.

MDS’s pick: Cowboys 31, Packers 28.

Florio’s take:  Jerry Jones said there’s no one he’d rather have running his defense than Monte Kiffin.  Maybe Jones meant to say he’d rather have no one running his defense than Kiffin.  Anyone could coordinate the Cowboys defense to hold down the Packers, if they again don’t have Aaron Rodgers.

Florio’s pick:  Cowboys 27, Packers 14.

Bengals at Steelers

MDS’s take: If Antonio Brown had kept his foot inbounds on the Steelers’ wild last play on Sunday, Pittsburgh would be right in the thick of the playoff race and this would be a very big game. Instead, the Steelers are all but eliminated, and the Bengals should cruise toward the AFC North title.

MDS’s pick: Bengals 24, Steelers 17.

Florio’s take:  The Bengals roll back into Pittsburgh with the better team and better prospects for the balance of the season and beyond.  The bigger question is whether Cincy can finally win in the postseason.

Florio’s pick:  Bengals 17, Steelers 14.

Ravens at Lions

MDS’s take: The NFC North is wide open for the Lions, and yet the Lions aren’t playing like a team that wants to take it, with losses in three of their last four games even though they had fourth-quarter leads in all three. And yet I believe the Lions are going to show up on Monday night and make a statement against a Ravens team that is also fighting for a playoff spot.

MDS’s pick: Lions 24, Ravens 21.

Florio’s take:  The Ravens know how to get the playoffs.  The Lions know how to not get to the playoffs.

Florio’s pick:  Ravens 30, Lions 27.

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Enough time has passed that Chargers linebacker Manti Te’o is no longer necessarily a punch line.

He’s also turned enough pages on the calendar that he doesn’t always look like a rookie.

The second-rounder from Notre Dame is beginning to show signs that he’s developing into an NFL linebacker, after a slow start to his career.

“I’ve made that big jump,” Te’o said, via Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego. “I still have to think about what I have to do; I still have to think a little bit. But I’m not thinking half as much as I was. There’s where it becomes fun, and that’s where you’re able to make plays. A lot of guys, it takes a while. It takes a while as a rookie. . . .

“Now, it’s about refining things and remembering the small details. As far as the big picture, I think I have the understanding of what it looks like now. That’s kind of why I’ve been able to have a little more success now on the field, just that comfort level and trust in my teammates that they have for me and the trust that my coaches have for me.”

The biggest obstacle he had to overcome was the first one, a foot injury nine snaps into his first preseason game. That cost him the next six weeks of practice, and set him behind.

“He missed so much time in training camp — he missed all those reps; he didn’t have that,” Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. “So when he first got back, playing at the early part of the season, that was his training camp. He’s made some mistakes, and he’ll tell you that. It’s that learning curve. With young players, there’s a lot to learn. He’s done a nice job. He’s getting better every week, and that’s the key.”

Te’o has shown that he’s willing to work through specific problems, and has become a solid player for the Chargers.

As he grows into his role, they hope he becomes more than that.

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Every pass-rusher who stars in the CFL doesn’t turn into Cameron Wake.

But it doesn’t hurt to look, just in case.

According to Tom Curran of CSNNE.com, the Patriots worked out defensive end/outside linebacker Cordarro Law.

Law had 14.0 sacks for the Calgary Stampeders this season, third-most in the league. Originally an undrafted rookie from Southern Mississippi, he was in camp with the Seahawks in 2012.

The Patriots have been willing to look to the CFL for help before. They signed defensive tackle Armond Armstead this offseason, but he’s still on the non-football injury list after a surgery to remove an infection.

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Earlier this week, Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson met a homeless man who told him that the Lions were a “sorry” team.

Burleson said he understood where the man was coming from and seemed to channel those feelings when he was asked about the Lions’ chances of making the playoffs on Wednesday. Burleson didn’t go full Mora in his response to the question, but made it clear that the Lions can’t be thinking about the postseason right now.

What should they be thinking about? Burleson took a page from Allen Iverson’s book on that one.

“We’re not even thinking about the postseason,” Burleson said, via MLive.com. “With coming off a loss, making the mistakes we just talked about, we shouldn’t even be thinking about the playoffs. We should be thinking about practice.”

The Lions should be able to pinpoint the biggest reason for losing three of their last four games fairly easily. They’ve turned the ball over 16 times in those games, handing opponents chance after chance to put points on the board. Whatever else they practice, holding onto the ball should be priority one on Monday night against the Ravens.

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Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson wasn’t the first pick in the 2013 NFL draft.  He wasn’t even the first pick in his team’s draft, going second behind cornerback Dee Milliner.

But Richardson now believes that he’s done enough through 14 weeks to justify being the first guy taken in a hypothetical do-over draft.

“Probably No. 1, most likely,” Richardson said of his prospects, via Matt Ehalt of ESPN.com.  “Kansas City?  Yeah.  I went into the draft thinking I’d be the No. 1 pick.  I had a shot.”

Another candidate for the top pick in a Mulligan draft would be Panthers defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, who went one spot after Richardson.  Coincidentally, their teams square off this weekend.

“Thirteen, 14 and now we’re both going for defensive rookies of the year,” Richardson said.  “Can’t ask for much better than that.”

While it’s too early to label the underachieving top-10 picks as bust, Richardson and Lotulelei likely would both go higher if the teams knew then what they know now.

The twelve taken before Richardson and Lotulelei were:  (1) Chiefs tackle Eric Fisher; (2) Jaguars tackle Luke Joeckel; (3) Dolphins defensive end Dion Jordan; (4) Eagles tackle Lane Johnson; (5) Lions defensive end Ziggy Ansah; (6) Browns linebacker Barkevious Mingo; (7) Cardinals guard Jonathan Cooper; (8) Rams receiver Tavon Austin; (9) Milliner; (10) Titans guard Chance Warmack; (11) Chargers tackle D.J. Fluker; and (12) Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden.

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More than three months ago, the NFL struck a comprehensive settlement with the thousands of former players who had sued the league for concealing the effects of head injuries.  The settlement, if approved, will apply to all retired players.

But every retired player has the right to opt out of the settlement.  Former Cowboys, Giants, and Broncos quarterback Craig Morton apparently will.

On Tuesday, Morton sued the NFL and NFL Properties in California federal court.  The 11-count, 373-paragraph complaint, a copy of which PFT has obtained, alleges that the NFL knew or should have known the risks of repeated blows to the head.  The complaint specifically alleges that quarterbacks like Morton historically have been more exposed to head injuries, given that defensive players try to “sack” them.

At paragraph six, the complaint mentions that the term “sack” possibly traces to Morton himself, citing our article from June 2013 in which Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy explained that the late George Allen told his Redskins players, “[W]e’re going to take that Morton salt and pour him into a sack.’”

Some will say that Morton is now looking for a sack of money.  Others will say he’s pursuing justice.  Regardless, the proposed concussion settlement gives all former players the ability to pursue their own legal actions.

If enough of them opt out of the settlement and press forward against the league, someone eventually could force the NFL to do that which it surely hopes to avoid ever doing — disclosing what it knew and when it knew it about head injuries.