Former Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo remained loyal to his boss in the face of his firing, while team owner Jeffrey Lurie said he questioned Castillo’s hiring in the first place, according to reports in the CSNPhilly.com and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Castillo teared up during an interview with CSNPhilly.com, as he described his relationship with head coach Andy Reid personally.
“I love Coach,” Castillo said. “I said it before, I’d take a bullet for Coach. Coach gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, man. And I didn’t get it done. And that’s hard. But as my players know, keep working hard and if you outwork people, maybe somebody will give me a second chance. And then I can get it done.”
Meanwhile, Lurie told the Philadelphia Daily News that he had reservations last year about Castillo’s 2011 promotion.
“Yes I did,” Lurie said. “But I let Andy make that call. I respected his decision. He felt it was the best thing to do at the time, and I don’t interfere in that area.”
Lurie added that it was Reid’s decision to fire Castillo.
Some reports speculated that Castillo became Reid’s fall guy, since Reid’s job is also on the line. While the reports suggest that offensive turnovers and poor kick coverage have made it especially difficult for the defense, Castillo blamed only himself.
“Last year, Coach hired me to do a job,” he told CSNPhilly.com. “The job was to help him win a championship. And I didn’t get that accomplished. I know the guys are looking out there, we always talk about being a warrior. A warrior means that you get the job done no matter what. And the bottom line is we should be 5-1. The hard part for me was that I let down Coach Reid, I let down the organization and I let down the city.”
—Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs was activated from the physically unable to perform list and returned to practice Wednesday.
That move couldn’t come at a better time for Baltimore. Pro Bowl cornerback Lardarius Webb suffered a season-ending injury last week, and inside linebacker Ray Lewis is likely also done for the year after having surgery to repair a torn triceps.
Wednesday was Suggs’ first practice since a partially torn Achilles’ tendon in April led to surgery and several months of rehab. The Pro Bowl outside linebacker has progressed through his rehabilitation work with no setbacks but hasn’t talked to the media. He said he’d talk as soon as he was ready to play in a game, which might not come Sunday at Houston.
The Ravens indicated that Suggs likely won’t play in a game until November, saying they don’t want to risk aggravating the injury.
“It’s going to take time,” a source told the Baltimore Sun. “There’s no reason to do anything risky with a guy this important. You have to think about the big picture with him.”
Suggs led the Ravens in sacks with 14 last season.
Although Suggs has made steady progress in his rehabilitation, the Ravens have no intentions of doing anything to risk a potential setback and aggravate the injury.
Suggs has trained steadily at the Ravens’ training complex, but still needs to work through scar tissue, get accustomed to contact again and return to optimal game shape.
In addition to his pass-rushing skills, Suggs had a team-high seven forced fumbles last season. Without Suggs in the lineup, the Ravens’ pass rush has languished with just 10 sacks in six games.
—The Baltimore Ravens left open the possibility for Ray Lewis to play this season.
The inside linebacker was placed on injured reserve Wednesday, but given the designation that he could return for the postseason, should the Ravens get there.
“We’re going to keep the door open,” coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Wednesday.
Lewis underwent surgery to repair his torn triceps Wednesday, according to an ESPN report. By rule, Lewis must miss eight weeks before he can return. If healthy, he’ll be eligible to practice after six weeks.
—The National Football League responded Wednesday to a request made by the players suspended in the bounty scandal to either have their suspensions dismissed or have commission Roger Goodell removed as the in-house arbitrator for the appeal process.
The league argued that the courts can’t dismiss an arbitration ruling until an initial ruling is made, nor did the NFL accept the contention that Goodell shouldn’t arbitrate the case because of an alleged bias.
Also, the league claims that challenges to the in-house procedures aren’t enough to vacate the eventual arbitration ruling.
—Disregard the Dallas Cowboys’ struggles. Owner Jerry Jones insists that his team can win the Super Bowl.
“We’ve got to have some wins to make sure we’re in the hunt. But we are fresh off, I keep pointing it out, a world champion that won nine of 16 ballgames last year,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We know that you want your team as healthy and as in sync as it can be as we get on in to the end of the season. We know that we’ve played one division game and won it. We’ve got those guys, the Giants, coming back in here. We know that’s going to be a big game for us.
“All of those things give us a chance to take a team that is evolving into — if you look at the pluses against the Ravens — evolving into a team that can be a team that can compete for the championship. Not next year, this year.”
With the teams bunched up in the NFC East, Jones appears to be running out of patience if the Cowboys don’t emerge from the pack.
“I’m not into everybody getting better, learning for years to come,” Jones said. “It’s this year.”
—The Indianapolis Colts signed defensive end Lawrence Guy to their active roster from the Green Bay Packers practice squad.
Guy entered the draft early out of Arizona State to the surprise of most scouts. He was a seventh-round (233rd overall) pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, but spent the entire season on injured reserve. Guy sustained a concussion in his second training camp practice with the Packers in 2011. He was cleared to return five days later and played in one preseason game. His concussion symptoms came back Aug. 17 and and the Packers changed their plan to negotiate an injury settlement in order to keep him on injured reserve and prevent Guy from joining another team.
Guy was waived on Aug. 31, 2012 and signed to the Packers’ practice squad on September 3.
—New York Jets fullback John Conner, aka “The Terminator,” was waived Wednesday after he reached an injury settlement with the team.
Conner has dealt with a medial collateral ligament sprain and a hamstring injury. The New York Daily News reported that the Jets would like to bring Conner back, but collective bargaining rules prevent that from happening until later in the season.
Linebacker Marcus Dowtin was signed off the practice squad to fill the roster spot.