AP

The Cleveland Browns announced Wednesday they have added five scouts to their personnel department to serve under general manager Michael Lombardi.

Brent Blaylock, Brendan Donovan, Matthew Manocherian and Patrick Moore were brought on to serve as college scouts while Frank Edgerly will be a senior pro scout for the team.

Edgerly has spent the past four years working as a scout for the New England Patriots.

Donovan spent the last two years as the director of on-campus recruiting for the University of Florida. Moore served as an assistant coach for Fordham University from 2007-2011. Manocherian spent the last three years as a scouting assistant for the New Orleans Saints

Blaylock may have the most interesting path to the Browns as he spent the last two years working for Penske Racing. Prior to his time in motorsports, he served for three years as assistant director of football operations for the University of Miami after a year working in the Miami Dolphins operations department.

AP

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie offensive tackle Luke Joeckel had believed he was going to be the first player selected during the NFL Draft in April. It didn’t happen as the Kansas Chiefs selected Central Michigan’s Eric Fisher with the first pick instead.

Instead, Joeckel had to wait an extra 15 minutes before being selected by the Jaguars with the second overall pick.

But when Joeckel’s expectation had been to be the top overall pick in the draft, there was still some disappointment when his name wasn’t the first to be called by Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“At the time it was not the most pleasant thing ever,” Joeckel said on the Draft Tracker podcast at NFL.com.

Joeckel said he’s happy to be with the Jaguars and he believes it’s a good fit for him as well. Eugene Monroe is set to enter the final year of his rookie contract and Joeckel could ultimately replace him on the left side of the line after this season. For now, Joeckel is slated to be the Jaguars right tackle. Still, not being the top pick won’t be something he soon forgets.

“It definitely kind of put a chip on my shoulder, not being the first tackle taken,” Joeckel said.. “Which is a good thing. It’s a good thing to help drive you and help compete against another guy in your same position. A guy that got the first pick in front of me.”

Just don’t expect Aaron Rodgers to share in Joeckel’s pain of falling a whole one slot on draft day.

AP

Regarded as a potential deep threat, Vikings first-round receiver Cordarrelle Patterson has something that arguably will be even more valuable over the balance of his career, if he keeps it — the ability to get open at the top of his route.

Veteran Greg Jennings praised Patterson for what Jennings calls “that definitive step,” which creates separation from the defensive back.

“I remember coming out [of college],” Jennings said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com.  “I had that definitive step.  That kind of gets washed out because everything they teach you is that they want everything to look the same.  The definitive step starts to kind of fade away, but that’s what creates that separation.  I just told him, do not lose that.  Because the more I see him do that, the more I remember when I used to do that and create so much, even more separation.  I’m starting to creep that back in. . . .

“That’s a gift. You can’t really teach that.  He has it.  And I remember, that was me.  I was coming out and sticking everything.  And the coaches were like, ‘We just want to round it, we just want to round it.’  Slowly but surely, I started rounding everything.  The route still looks good, but it just doesn’t have that crispness about it.”

As for Patterson’s speed, that’s a given.  “If you see the back of his jersey, you might a well stop running, because it’s over,” Jennings said.

The Vikings have been trying to keep expectations low for Patterson as a rookie.  With first-round phenoms like Randy Moss in 1998 and Percy Harvin in 2009, too much pressure to excel could turn Patterson into another Troy Williamson.  Vikings fans would surely settle for something in between, since that would mean the offensive has discovered balance.

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The Dolphins got their Mt. Rushmore today, and three of them were easy:  Shula, Marino, Csonka.

The only discrepancy between Pro Football Talk and PFT Planet came on the question of whether Bob Griese or Jason Taylor should get the fourth spot.

Watch the video, hear the debate, check out the voting results, and chime in below.

Along the way, feel free to argue for or against our decision to omit team founder Joe Robbie from the list of finalists.

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For three of the spots on the Bills’ Mt. Rushmore, the process was easy: Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and O.J. Simpson.

For the last spot, things got slightly more complex.

I gave it to receiver Andre Reed, and PFT Planet awarded it to defensive end Bruce Smith.

Check out the video of the segment from the Pro Football Talk on NBCSN discussion, featuring Frank Wycheck, Ross Tucker, Erik Kuselias, and yours truly.

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Last week, former NBA coach Phil Jackson called the term Redskins “highly offensive.”  This week, a former NHL coach of Native American origin agreed with the assessment.

“I’d be very offended,” former Sabres and Islanders coach Ted Nolan told Tim Graham of the Buffalo News regarding the prospect of being greeted with a label the D.C. football team insists is an honor.

“There are certain things you can’t call black people or Chinese people or Jewish people. We as Native Americans, or First Nation people as we’re called in Canada, we find it offensive, too,” Nolan said.

“Sure, the Redskins name has been around for generations, but when you’re a person of that race and someone calls you a redskin, they don’t know why they’re saying it, where the word comes form or what the word means,” Nolan said.

“I never did like the word. And that’s where the president of the United States lives.  It doesn’t compute.”

With that, Nolan becomes the most prominent Native American with ties to the sports world to speak out against the name.  His words could influence other Native Americans to abandon their nonchalance regarding the term, causing opposition to become more organized — and to expand.

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Controversial Chargers physician David Chao recently resigned his post with the team due to health concerns, along with a desire to spend more time with his family.

The decision apparently was influenced by a fairly important external development.  According to Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today, a pair of San Diego hospitals had barred Chao from performing surgeries.

“I have been informed that Dr. Chao has lost his surgical privileges with the only two hospitals he had surgical privileges with: Scripps Mercy [Hospital] and Scripps [Memorial Hospital],” an attorney said in a sworn declaration submitted in connection with a pending lawsuit against Chao.  “This has led, apparently, to Dr. Chao resigning his position with the Chargers. This will also inevitably lead to the closure of . . . Dr. Chao’s surgical practice.”

Chao’s attorney disputed the claim, arguing that Chao still had a page on the hospitals’ website.  And then Chao disappeared from the hospitals’ website, according to Schrotenboer.  A spokesperson for the facilities declined comment.

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The Mt. Rushmore process moves to the AFC West on Friday, with the team that has won the division the last two years.

The Broncos, who once won a pair of Super Bowls with John Elway on the field, is now shooting for another one (or more) with Elway running the football operation.

It’s a given that Elway will have one of the spots.  Vote for him and up to three others from the 12 finalists below.

We’ll pull the sheet off the mountain, as we always do, on NBCSN’s Pro Football Talk.

AP

The Panthers signed wide receiver Dale Moss on Wednesday, the NFL disclosed in its transactions.

Moss, 24, was waived by the Bears on June 10. The 6-4, 197-pound South Dakota State product entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Green Bay in 2012. He  played basketball in college before transitioning to football in 2011.

Moss is the nephew of Johnny Rodgers, the 1972 Heisman Trophy winner for Nebraska.

In a corresponding move, the Panthers waived-injured another wide receiver, R.J. Webb. The nature of his injury is unknown. Webb signed with the Panthers on May 13 after trying out with the club during its rookie minicamp. The 25-year-old wideout played for Furman University from 2005 through 2009.

The Panthers have 13 wide receivers, with Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell the starters.

AP

The Cowboys have unanswered questions at safety, but at least they have them all under contract at the moment.

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, the Cowboys agreed to a deal with third-rounder J.J. Wilcox Wednesday.

That leaves only their top two picks, first-round center Travis Frederick and second-round tight end Gavin Escobar without deals.

Wilcox could challenge for a starting job this year among an odd lot of players in the secondary there, but his speed (he’s a former receiver and running back at Georgia Southern) and hitting ability figures to lead to a role on special teams in the short term.

In the never ending quest to make the in-stadium experience more desirable than staying at home (except for the “clear plastic bags only” thing), teams are looking for ways to upgrade their NFL venues.

The Jaguars announced today that they’re joining the battle to have the biggest and best video systems.

The team unveiled today an agreement with Jacksonville to make roughly “$63 million in major enhancements” to EverBank Field.  The enhancements will include new video boards in each end zone, measuring 55 by 301 feet each.

That’s 301 feet.  As in one foot longer than the length of the field.

A new platform area will be added to the north end of the stadium, which will result in the removal of 7,000 seats.

The Jags will kick in roughly $20 million, with the City of Jacksonville picking up the rest.  The Jags will be responsible for any cost overruns.

Jaguars fans already are declaring that this means the team will never move.  And while it makes the abandonment of Jacksonville less likely, it’s still too early to rule out a split schedule between Jacksonville and England.

After all, it’s only $63 million in enhancements.  It’s not like they’re building a new stadium.

AP

Veteran tackle Barry Richardson wasn’t the only player to sign a contract with the Titans on Wednesday.

Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean reports that the Titans have signed cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson, one of their two third-round picks in April’s draft. With Wreh-Wilson under contract, the Titans only need to sign first-round guard Chance Warmack to put a bow on their entire draft class.

Wreh-Wilson made 39 starts and intercepted eight passes during his career at the University of Connecticut, but probably isn’t headed toward a starting job in his rookie season with the Titans. Jason McCourty will start at one corner and Tommie Campbell has been pushing Alterraun Verner, who has also seen time at safety during OTAs, for the starting job on the other side.

Second-year player Coty Sensabaugh also figures into the mix somewhere, so Wreh-Wilson isn’t just going to have immediate playing time handed to him during camp.

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As we run through our series of Mt. Rushmores for each NFL team, we occasionally run into a person who would be a candidate for a Mt. Rushmore that covers the entire NFL rather than just one organization.

Don Shula is one such person. He has won more games than any other coach, owns two Super Bowl rings and guided the Dolphins to a 17-0 season to become the only NFL team to go an entire year without a loss since World War II.

On Wednesday, though, the topic will just be the Dolphins when Shula joins Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Network to talk about the three men who should join him as faces of Miami’s franchise. Shula will talk to Erik Kuselias about his greatest strengths as a coach, his memories of players like Larry Csonka and Manny Fernandez and much more.

Mike Florio, Ross Tucker and Frank Wycheck will also be on hand as the Mt. Rushmore for the Bills is unveiled as well.

It all gets started at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

AP

The Titans have signed a veteran free agent, and his mission isn’t so much to kill as it to take up space.

The team announced they had signed veteran tackle Barry Richardson, who has 49 career starts with the Rams and Chiefs.

The Titans were running short-handed up front anyway, with three starters limited to individual work during minicamp, so they needed some bodies.

Richardson would be solid backup when their regulars are well, but he’s started every game the last three seasons, so he lends some needed experience.

AP

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford is doing something new this season.

He’ll work with the same offensive coordinator for two straight seasons for the first time since entering the NFL. Pat Shurmur and Josh McDaniels were one and done in St. Louis, but Brian Schottenheimer is back for another year and Bradford says he has a “much better feel” for what Schottenheimer wants to do on offense than he did in their first year together. Schottenheimer concurs and says that the increased familiarity has led to a quantum leap forward for the offense.

“The day Sam walked back into the building [this offseason] we started making adjustments,” Schottenheimer said, via Mike Sando of ESPN.com. “We are a thousand years ahead of where we were last year.”

While an increased comfort level with the offense is significant, it isn’t the only reason why the Rams might feel like they’ve gone from working with stone tools to the Industrial Revolution in a matter of months. Adding wide receivers Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey in the draft after signing tight end Jared Cook and tackle Jake Long has given the Rams offense a very different look than it had last season.

There are still questions to answer for a young Rams offense and there may be growing pains still to come, but the combination of new faces and organizational stability is a promising one for St. Louis.