Monday Stampede

Hey folks - great first week of football. Some pretty big injuries we'll have to watch and wait on to know for sure how bad they are.

We touched on Tom Brady's injury yesterday and while Belichick was tight lipped (shocker!), reports are surfacing that he told the team to be prepared to play the season with backup Matt Cassel as their starter. That, coupled with reports of Chris Simms and Tim Rattay showing up to workout for the Pats point to the reports of Brady being done for the season as accurate.

You'll downgrade Moss & co. of course, but how much remains to be seen. Cassel and Moss seemed to get on fine and Moss will be his top option. Wes Welker caught 6 for 51 yards, so that's not great but not bad. But adjustments to the rest of the offense could change that and we'll have to see whether the Pats run the ball more or if Cassel looks to different guys more often. Certainly Cassel is no Tom Brady - he's not a guy you can just replace. There will likely be a drop off somehwhere - it's just hard to say where.

In other news -

Vince Young
We all know by now that VY tore his MCL. What is interesting is that the Nashville Tennessean is reporting that right before the play when he tore it, he tried to take himself out with what was apparently tightness in his hamstring. He didn't look for treatment, but wasn't in the huddle when the team was on the field. Furthermore, the cloumnists seems to think that HC Jeff Fisher forced him back out there when he wasn't 100%. Fisher waffled on it during his presser. In some ways, it's almost irrelevent given that Young is gone for at least 2-4 weeks, but it's an intriguing back story to the injury. It's certainly a rift worth noting if true.

Marion Barber
Barber had a great performance Sunday with 101 all purpose yards and 2 TDs but was out the 4th quarter with an apparent rib injury. In all likelyhood, Barber could have finished out the game, but with the game a blow out, why risk it? Regardless, X-rays came back negative but ESPN has reported he had some damage to the cartiledge in his rib cage. He says it's nothing and expects to be ready to go next Monday against the Eagles.

Chris Johnson
Johnson limped off the field yesterday late in the game against the Jaguars but came back later. His performance at that point had been everything we'd hoped for and more (15 carries for 93 yards, 3 receptions for 34 yards and a TD). It appears the rookie cramped up which only highlights what we all know about rookies - they will have moments where they get a bit overwhelmed. Still, Johnson will impact LenDale White's carries as long as he isn't cramping up and while it's early to crown him, could be a good play the rest of the way as a #2RB.

That's all for now - join me on the Daily News Blurb at noon EST/9am PST and I'll catch you up to date with all the info from Sunday's games and the injury aftermath.