|
Quarterbacking questions shake up early season
2008-09-13
NEW YORK (Reuters) - From Tom Brady's battered knee to Vince Young's fragile psyche, quarterbacking questions dominate Week Two of the NFL season. The New England Patriots, one of the NFL's blue chip franchises, watched its Super Bowl stock plunge this week when quarterback Brady was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The Patriots will roll into Meadowlands on Sunday riding a 20-game regular season unbeaten run but without Brady at the helm are rated as underdogs to a New York Jets team that won just four games last year. This season, however, future Hall of Famer Brett Favre is piloting the Jets while Matt Cassel will be at the controls for the Patriots, and making his first start since high school. "He (Cassel) played more than any other quarterback, by far, in the preseason and has taken a lot of snaps in training camp," Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters. "I think that is the best preparation he could have for this year. "It is what it is. I don't think there's anything, more or less, that could be made out of it." San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith is already out for the season with a shoulder injury while Tennessee Titans Young, Kansas City Chiefs Brodie Croyle and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jeff Garcia will spend Week Two on the sidelines with various ailments. Young will sit out Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a knee injury but it was his emotional state after being booed during a season-opening loss to Jacksonville that had coach Mike Fisher concerned enough to ask police to help locate his quarterback earlier this week. The Titans quarterback later denied being depressed, saying the situation had been blown out of proportion. "I'm fine. I'm good," Young told the Tennessean newspaper. "I just needed (time) to get through some things. "I was never depressed; I just hurt a little bit. When it happens again, I'll know how to handle it." Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers will continue to be under the microscope this weekend as the Packers travel to Detroit to face the Lions. Rodgers, who was in the spotlight last week leading the Packers to victory in his first start following Favre's soap opera departure, will once again try to prove he is a worthy successor to the three-time MVP. Atlanta rookie Matt Ryan, who completed his first NFL pass for a touchdown and led the Falcons to victory over Detroit and Baltimore Ravens Joe Flacco, a winner in his debut against the Bengals, will also be out to prove their opening week successes were not flukes. The Falcons travel to Tampa Bay to meet the Buccaneers while the Ravens face the Houston Texans in a game that was moved from Sunday to Monday because of Hurricane Ike. (Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto, editing by Greg Stutchbury)
| 
