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JACKSONVILLE Steve Bartkowski Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Dante Fowler considers the preseason finale at Tampa Bay a homecoming — and an audition.
Even though Fowler is an integral part of Jacksonville’s vaunted defense, he will be on the field Thursday night against the Buccaneers. The reason: Fowler is suspended for the regular-season opener at the New York Giants, so the fourth-year defensive end will get a little more work before leaving the team for a week.
Fowler welcomes the opportunity since he knows this is likely his final season in Jacksonville. He’s essentially starting his 2019 free agency pitch six months early.
“Honestly my goal this year is really just to show people that I’m a franchise player,†said Fowler, who grew up near Tampa in St. Petersburg. “I’m an elite player. I’m one of the top defensive ends, linebackers, whatever you want to call me, in this league.â€
Fowler notched a career-high eight sacks last season, plus two more in the AFC championship game at New England. He averaged one sack for every 46.6 snaps played, better than Jaguars All-Pro defensive end Calais Campbell (55.2) and Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue (59.4).
But Fowler’s off-field issues combined with the franchise’s belief Ngakoue is a budding star have made the fourth-year player expendable, especially since he’s a backup in the final year of his rookie contract and sure to land a starting role elsewhere.
Just not yet.
The Jaguars want one more productive year from the third overall pick in the 2015 draft.
“It’s not like I have to get double-digit sacks,†Fowler said. “When you watch me on film, even though I might be coming off the bench, they’ll be like, ‘That guy, he has a future.’ That’s all I want to do. I want to go out there and put great tape out there Harrison Butker Jersey , being fundamentally sound, playing fast and physical, getting to the quarterback, being stout in the run game.
“I don’t want to just be known as a pass-rusher. I want to be known as a guy that’s going to get sacks and get 6-10 tackles a game. That’s just the type of player I am. So, I just want people to know that I’m known as a complete player on the field and I’m a professional and I’m a guy that cleaned up his act and left that past in the past. I’m ready to move on from that.â€
Fowler’s troubles have been well documented.
He was suspended for a week during training camp following an after-practice altercation with Ngakoue. He also was arrested twice in as many years, including in 2017 for hitting a 55-year-old man. Fowler eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges. The case was closed in March, with Fowler sentenced to a year of probation and 75 hours of community service.
The NFL suspended him without pay for the opener, a one-game penalty that will cost him $214,000.
Fowler also was arrested in 2016, although those charges were eventually dropped.
Coach Doug Marrone said Fowler has been a model player since returning from the one-week suspension.
“I have had no issues with him,†Marrone said. “He has been doing a good job.â€
Fowler insists he’s matured through it all, ready to focus on football and his future. He wants to be “a teddy bear off the field but a monster on the field.â€
“Just want to show people that the past, them three years, my rookie year coming in and all that, that learning experience is, that chapter is over with and it’s just about being a professional Patrick Kerney Jersey , being a grown man and just being the player that I want to be,†he said. “How I want my legacy to be? That’s honestly what it is. That’s honestly what I want my goals to be this year.â€
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Saquon Barkley is everything the New York Giants expected, and then some.
The running back from Penn State who was the second overall pick in the draft is humble, immensely skilled, inquisitive and quite possibly the most popular guy on the team in terms of fan interest.
Forget that the Giants have Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. on the field. When Barkley touches the ball, there is a marked increase in the level of excitement, with â€oohs†and â€aahs†coming from the stands. And that was just at the opening of training camp practice.
If there is any doubt about the amount of hope the rookie has generated after a 3-13 season, look at the number of fans wearing his No. 26 jersey. It is already among the highest-selling NFL jerseys, and Barkley has not played a down as a pro.
Barkley smiled Friday when asked if he was starting to feel like a veteran heading into his second day of practice.
â€Far from a veteran. Just excited, living the dream,†he said. â€I’m a New York Giant, playing football. I’ve been wanting to do this since I was a little kid, to play in the NFL. Just attacking every single day, trying to get better.â€
Barkley admitted playing in front of packed stands at the Giants’ headquarters was an awesome, new experience.
â€Like you said Marquel Lee Jersey , saw a lot of 26 jerseys in the stands, saw my family,†he said. â€I got to see my family after, I was able to sign for kids after also, and that becomes part of the game. You don’t do it for the fans, but you play for the fans also, too, and you want to come out there and practice your heart out, and just for them being out there showing love and support, it means a lot to me.â€
On the field, Barkley is all business. Whenever he sees something he doesn’t understand, he talks to Manning or fellow running back Jonathan Stewart.
â€I’ve been like that since I was a little kid,†Barkley said. â€My mom and dad used to say I used to ask them questions like, `Why this, why that, why this Ty Sambrailo Jersey , why that?’ That’s just the approach that I take, and I’m always going to have, even when – God willing – I play 10 years in this league. Asking questions is how you figure it out.â€
Barkley said his ambition is simple. He wants to be the best player he can possibly be to help the team win.
If there is a concern about what he can do this season, it revolves around the offensive line. It was dreadful last season and has been rebuilt with the free-agent additions of tackle Nate Solder and guard Patrick Omameh, the drafting of rookie guard Will Hernandez in the second round and the shift of Ereck Flowers from left to right tackle. Jon Halapio has replaced Brett Jones at center.
â€As a running back it’s your job to set up the blocks, your job to hit the hole square, put your head down and make that guy miss,†Barkley said, noting that much of his film study is centered on how the NFL’s top backs help their linemen.
Barkley also adds the second option of being able to catch passes and use his breakaway speed to go long distances.
Giants co-owner John Mara said Thursday that Barkley has generated possibility even more interest than future Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor did when he joined the team in 1981.
â€In speaking to him and watching how he conducts himself, I think he is able to handle that, so I feel good about that,†Mara said. â€But still, you know I’ve used this line a million times before – let’s not get him ready for Canton just yet, let’s let him play some games first.â€
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