Sports Briefing | Football: Goodell: Some NFL Teams Could Be London Regulars

Commissioner Roger Goodell said Saturday the league is looking into whether such a scenario would "advance our cause here by growing the fan base quicker." He is talking to several teams about becoming regulars in the British capital, a development he thinks would be "very powerful and lead us to what we ultimately would like to do — have a franchise here in London."

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making their second trip in three years to Wembley to play the Chicago Bears on Sunday. It is the fifth regular-season game held in London since 2007.

The league decided this month to keep playing in London through at least 2016, with an aim to play at least two games a year.

Goodell said multiple games in Britain could happen as early as next year, and he hopes more teams will agree to make regular trips.

"We want as many teams to come over. We want to see the more popular teams come over," Goodell said at a question-and-answer session with international fans. "Should we focus on just a couple of teams as consistently coming back here to build a fan base around those teams? The Bucs are coming back now for a second time in a five-year period of time. And the idea is, will that allow them to build a fan base quicker?"

Goodell praised the Glazer family, which owns both the Bucs and Premier League team Manchester United, for taking a leading role in promoting the game overseas. He said the Bucs are one of several teams the league has been in discussions with over more London visits.

"Obviously, the Glazer family has an interest over here with Man U," Goodell said. "And I think they want to see the Bucs become a global franchise. And I think that's a great thing for Tampa. I think it's a great thing for the NFL."

The league's ambitions haven't been dampened by a decrease in ticket sales this year. Sunday's game is the first of the five regular-season games at Wembley that is not expected to be a sellout. Organizers say an estimated 75,000 tickets have been sold, with the stadium's capacity about 82,000.

Goodell echoed organizers' claims that the lower sales were caused by the lockout, which meant tickets didn't go on sale until September — several months later than usual.

"We started late," Goodell said. "But we're thrilled with our ticket sales. We obviously love to sell as many as we have, and we're still selling."

He said the NFL has no plans to play in other European countries in the near future, looking to establish as big a presence as possible in Britain first.

"We want to bring our game to continental Europe. The issue is, we want to make a success out of it in the U.K.," he said. "We think this (London) has got all of the basics that we need to be successful. It's got an advanced fan base, a strong media market, a great stadium. We have a long history here. So all those things contribute, let's make it work. And if we can be successful here, then we can take that model, potentially, to continental Europe."

Goodell was joined by Jerome Bettis, the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back who is one of several NFL stars who have flown to London to promote the game. "The Bus" was given a warm reception by a knowledgeable group of about 100 fans, but said he's had to tweak his nickname this week to fit in.

"I'm a double-decker now," he said.

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Perfect time for East teams to rest

Three teams in the SEC Eastern Division should be thanking those in charge of scheduling this year.

Saturday, Florida (4-3, 1-3), Georgia (5-2, 4-1) and No. 14 South Carolina (6-1, 4-1) are all off, and their bye weeks couldn’t come at a better time.

Major injuries may have altered the direction of Florida and South Carolina’s seasons, while Georgia is looking to get mentally right before the home stretch. With the easiest second-half stretch of any East team, Georgia might have the best chance to win out going forward.

[+] Enlarge AP Photo/Brett FlashnickSteve Spurrier says some other Gamecocks will have to step up in order to replace Marcus Lattimore.South Carolina, who is without star running back Marcus Lattimore for the remainder of the year, still has games at Tennessee, Arkansas and hosts Florida.

For Florida, the bye comes before its annual meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., with Georgia. The Gators then host Vanderbilt before taking on South Carolina. Florida is hoping quarterback John Brantley can come back as soon as next Saturday, but coach Will Muschamp isn’t sure if that will happen.

So, this bye week will be extremely critical for all three of these teams.

“We gotta learn how to block a little bit better, throw and catch,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.

It’s also the time to find a quality attack to help soften the blow of losing Lattimore. This extra time should be used to coach up new starter Brandon Wilds and get receiver Bruce Ellington more reps in the Wildcat. Wilds went from possible redshirt to starter and while he isn’t near the player Lattimore is, Spurrier said he’s been impressed by his work ethic and athleticism.

Wilds can’t be consumed with trying to be Lattimore. He isn't and can’t be Lattimore. This is the time for him to concentrate on doing what he does best and improve upon that.

Getting Ellington more prepared in the backfield should help, too. Spurrier said the concern with running so much Wildcat is teams will load the box to disrupt it, but with Ellington, who was a high school quarterback, he’s a throwing threat. He’s attempted three passes thus far, but making him a more active thrower could benefit the Gamecocks’ offense.

“We’ll try to replace Marcus the best way we can,” Spurrier said. “Hopefully, some of the other offensive players can step up a bit more.”

Expect a more active Connor Shaw in the pocket as well.

Georgia is actually getting healthier with linebacker Alec Ogletree set to return for the Florida game, and the possibility of receiver Malcolm Mitchell (hamstring) coming back, too.

Georgia can also focus on cleaning up some of its fundamental issues, coach Mark Richt said. The first part of the bye was light and used to tighten up technique, whole Florida preparation begins Thursday.

“I would say by Monday we’ll have 90 percent of the plan in,” Richt said.

What could disrupt that plan is not knowing Florida’s starting quarterback. Florida could throw three quarterbacks out in Jacksonville. Richt said he’s seen enough film of each to know what they can do, but not knowing the starter is a concern.

“It’s hard to get a plan for three guys and it sure would be nice to know who’s going to play,” Richt said, “but I doubt we’ll know that until the last moment.”

And the Gators? They are two games out of first and are on a three-game slide. Not having Brantley has hurt, but Florida is banged up on both sides of the ball. Florida might need the bye more than any team.

“We just need to take care of Florida and as we work into the weekend here, start on Georgia,” Muschamp said.

That means getting young quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel better prepared, resting injured players and finding new ways to jump start an inept offense.

Florida stumbled into the bye, but now is the time for this coaching staff to sit back and figure out what is truly working and what isn’t. Right now, a lot isn’t, so making adjustments across the board is a must.

Muschamp doesn’t talk much about the future, but he said his players know where they stand and how important a win fresh out of the bye is.

“It’s pretty obvious that we need some help at this point,” Muschamp said. “They understand where they are and what’s at stake in the situation to get to Atlanta.”

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Jets Kickoff and Kick Return Teams Among N.F.L.’s Best

“Kick it as deep and as far as you can,” he said after the Jets practiced Friday.

In a perfect world, said Mike Westhoff, the Jets’ special-teams coordinator, Folk’s kickoffs would land 7 yards deep in the end zone, the other team would decide to bring it out, and the Jets would tackle the returner behind the 15-yard line. But a touchback would be just fine, too.

Only one team in the N.F.L., Tampa Bay, allows fewer yards per kickoff return than the Jets. But what unfolds when the Jets return kickoffs, especially when Joe McKnight has returned them the last two weeks, has been stunning.

One week after returning a kickoff 107 yards for a touchdown against Baltimore, McKnight returned a third-quarter kickoff 88 yards Sunday against the New England Patriots, setting up a touchdown in a game the Jets lost, 30-21.

The Jets are the No. 1 team in the league in kickoff returns, averaging 33.4 yards, with the audacious McKnight, who was not even the Jets’ first choice for the job, averaging an astounding 45.6 yards per return, or 11 yards more than anyone else in the league.

“My thing is, ‘Guys, we’ve got to start expecting onside kicks and everything else,’ ” Coach Rex Ryan said Friday. “If we have a 45-yard average, we have to be alert for that.”

As the Jets continued preparing for their Monday night home game against the winless Miami Dolphins, Westhoff said his kickoff return unit would try to be ready for anything — line drives, bouncing kicks, perhaps even kicks angled to a corner of the end zone.

McKnight still has a green light to return pretty much any kick, as long as he is moving forward. On the 88-yard return, McKnight caught Stephen Gostkowski’s kick 8 yards deep. Westhoff said the kickoff had a 4.45-second hang time, a half-second longer than normal.

“That’s not a bad punt,” Westhoff said. “That’s a good punt, actually. Not a great punt, but a good punt.”

Even though kickoffs were moved up 5 yards to the 35-yard line before this season, McKnight has been encouraged to return virtually every kick. Antonio Cromartie, who preceded McKnight in the role before injuring his ribs, sometimes “ran it out of the bleachers,” Westhoff said.

Asked Friday if he would return a kickoff that rolled out of the end zone, McKnight smiled and said: “If it’s legal, I’d return it. I don’t know if I’d get the chance again.”

A possible solution for avoiding McKnight would be trying to kick the ball toward a corner of the end zone, but Folk said directional kickoffs are not that easy. A kickoff that lands out of bounds between the goal lines results in the receiving team taking the ball 30 yards from the spot of the kickoff — or its 35-yard line, under normal circumstances.

“You don’t want to flirt with the boundary too much,” Folk said. “I just try to get a lot of hang time every kick I get.”

As in the case of the 88-yard kickoff return, that does not deter someone like McKnight. Later in the game, Gostkowski kicked a line-drive bouncer that squirted through the end zone for a touchback, but Westhoff said he did not think Gostkowski did that on purpose.

Returning kicks, Westhoff said, is not something the Jets boil down to a science, either. In the week before the New England game, he said the kickoff-return unit practiced together for a grand total of eight minutes — only one minute last Friday.

“Westy does a great job of scheming up the kickoff return,” Ryan said. “He’s got guys who totally buy in, doing a great job of blocking and things. He’s had returners who are fearless and trust their blocking. I think that’s where it starts.”

The reserve tight end Matthew Mulligan, who replaced the injured lineman Robert Turner as part of the wedge that clears openings for the kick returner, said he has not been surprised by recent results, because, as he said, “We put enough work in.”

As for kicking away from McKnight, Mulligan said: “I think we try to be ready for everything, but I think every team has some sense of pride. By doing that, you’re kind of saying that your guys can’t cover.”

The Jets have made it clear that an opponent that is willing to cover a kickoff is willing to try to tackle someone like McKnight. As Westhoff said when talking about the perception that every kickoff would result in a touchback, “We’ve kind of broken that rule a little bit.”

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Big East Looks at 12 Teams for Football

The schools' presidents and chancellors gave approval for the league to talk with outside schools. The Big East said in a statement that it's "considering moving to a model that includes 12 football playing schools."

The Big East has been ravaged in the ongoing conference shuffles, losing longtime members. The move on Monday is the Big East's first formal attempt to make up for its losses.

Syracuse and Pittsburgh started the recent exodus by deciding to leave for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The governor of Connecticut has said UConn also is interested in the ACC, and there has been speculation that Rutgers, too, could leave the Big East.

The league thought it had strengthened its football status by adding Texas Christian. But TCU reversed course and accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 on Monday. TCU will have to pay the Big East a $5 million fee to leave without ever playing a league game.

"Although never having competed as a member of the Big East Conference, we are disappointed with the news that TCU is joining the Big 12," Big East Commissioner John Marinatto said.

Marinatto noted that the school presidents approved expanding the conference earlier Monday in a teleconference.

"We anticipate taking action in the near future," he said.

Without TCU, the Big East would be down to six football schools: West Virginia, Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, Rutgers and Connecticut. The league also includes DePaul, Marquette, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova, Georgetown, Providence and Notre Dame for sports other than football.

East Carolina has applied for membership to the Big East. Conference USA members Central Florida and Memphis also have been looking to join a conference with an automatic bid in the Bowl Championship Series.

Former Notre Dame head coach Ara Parseghian said over the weekend that Notre Dame could be forced to join a conference for football if the move toward a few super conferences continues.

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Cowboys’ James says teams track officiating crews

Published: September 29th, 2011 | Tags: Bradie James, Dallas Cowboys, Derrick Mason, New York Jets, NFL Total Access

Cowboys LB Bradie James let everyone in on a secret Thursday. It might not be the biggest secret for some.

While we know NFL teams research and chart just about anything that could factor into a win, that process doesn’t stop at the officiating crew. Like baseball teams chart opposing pitchers, James said part of the Cowboys’ weekly preparation is knowing which crew will be on the field and what calls they’re more prone to make. The team then adjusts their aggressiveness accordingly.

“On Wednesday, when we come in for the first day of preparation, one of the first things we see is (who the officials are), and we see what they like to throw as far as their flags and what their common calls are,” James told “NFL Total Access” on Thursday. “If you have a roughing-the-passer-type of guy, you don’t even come close to the quarterback unless he has the ball in his hand.”

During a week when protecting quarterbacks is the hottest of topics, it’s an interesting perspective from James in how teams leave no stone unturned while looking for any advantage to win a game.

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