What difference does it make if he was in a 34 or 43? Cushing's the one with the green dot on his helmet, meaning he's getting the play call and lining the defense up on the field. Defenses feature players just like offenses do, and Cushing was the featured player in the LB group. We aren't doomed but the growing pains could not have come at a harder time in our schedule.
Gonna miss our motherf**cker this season. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vjDeRBwO_7U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Agreed. I'm really, really down about this injury. We're going to need a serious team effort to make up for his loss against the run. Don't see how we replace him adequately in nickel situations. James is atrocious in coverage, and I expect Wade to play him on passing downs.
TE's will have a field day against us the rest of the season. Gronk/Hernandez vs NE will be nightmare-ish on the road. Finley/Green this week will be the first challenge. I don't think our run D will suffer as much as our pass D with Cushing's injury. Dobbins can stop the run but combo of him and James trying to cover TE's... scary thought. Off-topic but any chance Braman gets some run at ILB? He was pretty impressive last preseason and is great on special teams. He seems to have the relentlessness of Cushing even though he's not that caliber a player. I don't have faith in putting Mister Alexander out there.
It is what it is. To expect every core player (Schaub, Foster, AJ, Duane Brown, Watt, Cushing, JJ) to remain healthy seems like a tall order. We can't afford any more injuries to this core when the playoffs start.
Definitely gonna miss his firey presence on the field. I think having Watt up his game this season (massive understatement) helps, though.
"Trust me when I say that I'll be back better than ever next year; but in the meantime, I want to thank my teammates, coaches, and you fans for all the amazing love and support. Oh, and WE are STILL winning THIS year's Super Bowl." - Brian Cushing's Facebook page
I know trades rarely happen in the NFL especially in midseason because teams value draft picks more, but it might be worth sending a midround choice out for a veteran ILB who can move/cover from a non-contender given what's at stake for the Tejanos this season.
Trade activity should rise during the season with the extended trade deadline but it might take GM's a few years to get comfortable with the change.
Word from Cush: "Trust me when I say that I'll be back better than ever next year; but in the meantime, I want to thank my teammates, coaches, and you fans for all the amazing love and support. Oh, and WE are STILL winning THIS year's Super Bowl."
The big deal is the ILB responsibilities in Wade's 3-4 (5-2). In a 4-3, all 3 LBs share run and pass coverage, and the Mike's responsibilities are taking care of plays up the middle. In Wade's 3-4/5-2, he orchestrates chaos at/behind the line by sending one or both OLBs forward nearly every down, relying on the secondary to hold their own against quick throws and the 2 ILBs to clean up anything that gets through. It's a high risk/high reward scheme, and Cushing was PERFECT as the janitor cleaning up behind the front 5. His uncanny range allowed him to stuff anyone that got out of the backfield. There really isn't that many guys that are true sideline to sideline players, and he was one of them. None of the guys we have left at the position have anything close to that, which leaves us much more vulnerable to a back breaking past the second level and getting a 20+ yarder on us. Cushing was also our single ILB in nickel formations on passing downs, because he could rush, shadow, or cover well. James is terrible in coverage (both instincts and quickness), but has taken over that responsibility. The other guys, Sharpton included, aren't impressive in that category either. This could be problematic going forward, especially when we face teams with double TE passing attacks. We did fine against Dirty Sanchez, but Green Bay is going to be a serious test.
Pancakes is that you? To be serious though, it would all depend on his contract structure. It works differently via trade. Only base salary gets applied to the acquiring team's cap. Trading team eats the signing bonus.
