SB Nation - Marcus Maxwell

P BIDWELL PLACED ON INJURED RESERVE; WR MAXWELL SIGNS

Niko Houllis — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:17:10 -0000

The Buccaneers announced today that they have placed P Josh Bidwell on

Injured Reserve and signed WR Marcus Maxwell.

A Pro Bowl selection following the 2005 season, Bidwell has not missed a game

since the 1999 season, appearing in 144 consecutive games. He has totaled 727 career punts for 31,085 yards (42.8 avg.) in his career. Since joining the Buccaneers in 2004, he has registered a 44.0-yard average, tops in team history.

Maxwell originally entered the NFL as a seventh round selection (223rd overall) of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL Draft. He has appeared in nine career games while also spending time with the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore

Ravens.

Ravens Passing Camp Update

Rexx — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:41:36 -0000

Above is a photo taken at the Baltimore Ravens passing camp that began yesterday at their Owings Mills Training Facility, which you can see in the background. Looking closely at the players, I see recently signed QB John Beck (#7), but not too sure who most of the others are, although I believe that #39 is undrafted free agent FB, Jason Cook.

The Ravens passing camp this week is without a bunch of veteran starters, so some of the reserves got their chances to step up and get noticed. Ray Rice is healthy again and with the injuries to Willis McGahee and LeRon McClain adjusting to a "new" position at fulback, Rice took all the reps with both the first and second teams yesterday and looked real good.

With wide receivers Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams taking it easy, second year pro Marcus Smith ran with the first team and Kelley Washington, who signed his official contract yesterday, caught a 40 yard bomb from Troy Smith for a TD while running with the second team.

In related news, wide receiver Marcus Maxwell was released by the team. Now I guess we won't be getting confused about which "Marcus" we're talking about.

Defensively, with Ed Reed taking a breather, Haruki Nakamura took first team reps at safety and Jameel McClain filled in for Ray Lewis next to Tavares Gooden at linebacker.

Second year QB Joe Flacco loked crisp and accurate, even on the tough over the middle medium range passes that were his hardest to complete last season. Most of all, he reported feeling a sense of a better comfort level that he obviously never had before in spring or even summer camps. He's loose, talking with his receivers after the plays to make sure they are on the same page as him, and is obviously in charge of the huddle now.

All in all, looking good at this point and it will only get better as the injuries heal and the veterans become more involved in the practices.

Kelley Washington: The Next Great Ravens Wide Receiver?

Rexx — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:18:16 -0000

While it is not official just yet, the Baltimore Ravens were impressed enough with free agent wide receiver Kelley Washington to contact his agent to begin contract discussions. Mind you, the neighboring Washington Redskins have already made overtures to Kelley and Daniel Snyder usually gets whatever he wants, other than of course, a Super Bowl title.

However, Washington was by far the most impressive receiver of the free agent group that was brought in for the recently completed Ravens Mini Camp. That group included Jerry Porter, who reportedly looked old and lazy, as well as Tab Perry (unremarkable). DJ Hackett was also invited but choose instead to try out for the Houston Texans. Washington has the size, speed and hands to be a very serviceable receiver for the Raverns. At 6'3" and 215 pounds, he has the ability to be a big target over the middle, yet the speed to stretch the field. Most of his seven year career was spent as the third option in Cincinnati behind Chad Ochocinco and TJ Houshmandzadeh. However, he did sign with the New England Patriots in 2007, although in the two years with them he only caught one pass and was used almost exclusively on Special Teams (click to read more on Washington and see this video from NFL.com). For his career, Washington totaled 73 receptions for 896 yards, a 12.3 yards/catch average and nine TD's. Nothing to make you think that the Anquan Boldin discussions are absolutely over (although I think they are), but his size, ability and experience say this might be the final piece to our receiving corp's puzzle.

To me it looks like we have the skill sets that we need from our receivers. We have the sure handed posession guy (Mason), the sneaky fast solid guy (Clayton), the stretch the field fast guy (D. Williams) and now the man over the middle guy (Washington). Of course we also have the fresh young faces that have ability and potential, yet no experience (Marcus' Smith/Maxwell, Harper, Wheelwright, Riley, etc.), but the group is the antithesis (yes, I actually used that word!) of the saying, "the sum is worth more than the parts."

As veteran Derrick Mason ages and whatever tight end becomes more of an option in our passing game, I could easily see Clayton and Washington as the main two receivers, with either Demetrius Williams or Marcus Smith in the slot. Then we will have other options in reserve who combined with the first team, is certainly enough to grab the balls thrown to them by the ever learning Joe Flacco. Most of this group helped us on the way to earning a shot at the Super Bowl, coming one game and just a few minutes away from achieving that. Did they over achieve, as some are saying and was it a one year hyped up lucky season? Something in me says that this year's team is even better and if we stay healthy, there is no reason we can't be right in it until the end. This receiving corp just got a little bit better and if you listen to Flacco and the rest of the Ravens, that's all that we needed.

Ravens Mini Camp Update

Rexx — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:28:42 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

7 months ago: Baltimore Ravens' Ray Lewis, left, and Tavares Gooden share a laugh during NFL football minicamp, Friday, May 8, 2009 in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Browse more photos »

From a variety of sources, here is a little bit about who stood out during the Ravens first full squad mini-camp, which started Friday (yesterday):

Of course, Terrell Suggs hs yet to sign his Franchise Tag, so he was a no-show, whithout any issues. It was nice to see Ray Lewis in camp, and new right tackle, Michael Oher, who ran with the first team, said how surreal it was to look up and see Ray-Ray on the other side of the line of scrimmage. With Willie Anderson and Adam Terry nursing injuries, Oher read up on some plays the night before and played fine, despite betting beat on a swim move from veteran Trevor Pryce.

The wideouts were depleted by the injury bug. Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton sat out and Demetrius Williams wore a red jersey, signalling everyone not to touch him. However, despite his limp when he walked, he seemed to run fine. Marcus' Smith & Maxwell each made nice catches. Of the free agents recently brought in, Kelley Washington seemed to distance himself a bit, making a nice catch. While Jerry Porter made some grabs, they say he looked lazy in running his routes. Tab Perry did nothing to talk about, although he appears to be in great shape.

Quarterback-wise, it was reported that John Beck threw tight and accurate spirals and looked real good.

Tavares Gooden ran with the first team defense at inside LB next to Ray and they said he ran real quick, especially side to side, not showing any effects from his list of injuries he suffered last season.

Not much else to report, as most of this was based on what I read over at the Carroll County Times and the Baltimore Sun. Feel free to click over and check out their full articles if you wish. Just giving credit where it is due. SB Nation is working on getting us all credentialed, which would be huge, but I don't think anything will happen anytime soon. If so, who wants to be my photographer?

Absolutely Ridiculous: Then there were 22.

Kirkendall — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 16:52:51 -0000

Absolutely ridiculous. There's several many aspects in which those two words are spoken freely; government interaction with our economy, my terrible Time Warner internet connection, my body's reaction to eating White Castle or Papa John's Pizza, some people's inability to ascertain the difference between a journalist and a columnist, alarm clocks, Cincinnati drivers during inclement weather, a badly tuned guitar, some people's inability to understand what a blog is, Bob Bratkowski, Busch Light, college football post-season, the broken "F" key on my laptop, the cost for XBOX 360 games, etc.

Poor Kirk Barton, signed off the team's practice squad on November 29, became the 22nd player placed on Injured Reserve on Friday. Exactly why there's 22 guys on the Bengals IR list, is another "absolutely ridiculous". It's been happening since training camp, and exponentially growing since. Yes, but injuries are apart of football. But find me a list where 22 guys are on a team's respective IR. While you're at it, find me the list that includes, almost, 10 starters on offense and defense, or high-level contributors on special teams. We're the only team in the National Football League with a starting linebacker forced to eat soup on Thanksgiving.

Is it strength and conditioning? Is it training? Is it the practices? Is there a critical point of a respective scouting report that we're missing (aka, history of durability)? On the other hand, Barton helps our projected IR starting lineup. It can move Kooistra to right tackle, putting Barton at left guard filling out our starting lineup. If Carson Palmer goes to IR (more on that later), then our starting lineup is complete.

QB: Carson Palmer (eventually, I'm sure)
RB: DeDe Dorsey
FB: Jeremi Johnson, Reagan Maui'a
WR: Antonio Chatman, Marcus Maxwell
TE: Matt Sherry
LT: Andrew Whitworth
LG: Scott Kooistra, Kirk Barton
C: Dan Santucci, Kyle Cook
RG: Justin Britt
RT:

DE: Frostee Rucker, Robert Geathers
DT:
LB: Keith Rivers, Abdul Hodge
CB: Johnathan Joseph, Ethan Kilmer
S: Dexter Jackson, Corey Lynch, Herana-Daze Jones, Marvin White

Justin Britt (G)
Antonio Chatman (WR)
Kyle Cook (C)
DeDe Dorsey (RB)
Robert Geathers (DE)
Abdul Hodge (LB)
Dexter Jackson (S)
Jeremi Johnson (FB)
Johnathan Joseph (CB)
Corey Lynch (S)
Reagan Maui'a (FB)
Keith Rivers (LB)
Frostee Rucker (DE)
Dan Santucci (C)
Matt Sherry (TE)
Ethan Kilmer (S/CB)
Marcus Maxwell (WR)
Herana-Daze Jones (S)
Scott Kooistra (T/G)
Andrew Whitworth (G)
Marvin White (S)
Kirk Barton (G/T)

With Whitworth and Kooistra going on IR, Bengals nearly have starting lineup of injured players

Kirkendall — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:27:41 -0000

As per the oddball Bengals mindset, the team finally put Andrew Whitworth and Scott Kooistra on Injured Reserve for the season, while allowing franchise quarterback, god of the golden arms, Carson Palmer unrealistically set a date to play this season because, well, he's bored. Good reason. Keep it going. Whitworth moved to left tackle during the Eagles game, and Scott Kooistra played left guard; because Levi Jones was "struggling" on a leg that eventually forced him out against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whitworth left the game later, after giving up two sacks, because of an injury and now he's done for the season.

It became known, reported, that Kooistra was hurt after the game. Even though Jones "struggled" on his leg, he returned to fill in Whitworth's vacancy at left tackle. These series of events introduced Anthony Collins and Nate Livings to the starting lineup for the first time in their careers several days later, playing admirably and surprisingly well against a league-dominate Steelers front seven.

The Bengals signed Geoffrey Pope off the practice squad (oh god), possibly starting with Johnathan Joseph down for the season and David Jones nursing a knee injury (he didn't practice Friday). Remember tackle Kirk Barton? The Bengals signed him off the Dolphins' practice squad.

We're very close to having a starting lineup of players on IR

DE: Frostee Rucker, Robert Geathers
DT:
LB: Keith Rivers, Abdul Hodge
CB: Johnathan Joseph, Ethan Kilmer
S: Dexter Jackson, Corey Lynch, Herana-Daze Jones

Justin Britt (G)
Antonio Chatman (WR)
Kyle Cook (C)
DeDe Dorsey (RB)
Robert Geathers (DE)
Abdul Hodge (LB)
Dexter Jackson (S)
Jeremi Johnson (FB)
Johnathan Joseph (CB)
Corey Lynch (S)
Reagan Maui'a (FB)
Keith Rivers (LB)
Frostee Rucker (DE)
Dan Santucci (C)
Matt Sherry (TE)
Ethan Kilmer (S/CB)
Marcus Maxwell (WR)
Herana-Daze Jones (S)
Scott Kooistra (T/G)
Andrew Whitworth (G)

Terrible Heinz Field takes two Bengals defensive ends for the season

Kirkendall — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:45:31 -0000

Bengals signed this crazy looking Josh Mallard at DE.

Even though the beat writers point out that the Bengals have 14 players (it's actually 15, as per the roster) on Injured Reserve, it's somewhat diluted, in that it's not just 14 players they've sent to IR; those are the players still under contract. If you include Ethan Kilmer, Herana-Daze Jones and Marcus Maxwell, the Bengals have sent 18 players to IR since training camp due to injury, whether new or ongoing.

Robert Geathers and Frostee Rucker were the newest additions after slipping on the terrible turf at Heinz field. Listing the players on IR, including those the team waived.

Justin Britt
Antonio Chatman
Kyle Cook
DeDe Dorsey
Robert Geathers
Abdul Hodge
Dexter Jackson
Jeremi Johnson
Johnathan Joseph
Corey Lynch
Reagan Maui'a
Keith Rivers
Frostee Rucker
Dan Santucci
Matt Sherry
Ethan Kilmer
Marcus Maxwell
Herana-Daze Jones

If you want, you could include the release of Kenny Irons after failing his physical, though he wasn't placed on IR.

Eric Henderson and Antwan Odom have been limited recently with their own injuries, unable to go against the Steelers. Jonathan Fanene and John Thornton had a majority of the team's reps at defensive end late against the Steelers. The Bengals signed Josh Mallard, who has 8.5 career sacks in four seasons dating back to 2002 and guard Evan Mathis. They signed a second defensive end, Victor Degrate to the practice squad -- they still have one spot open.

Other fines announced; FB released; NFL rankings; Willie Anderson speaks

Kirkendall — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:28:54 -0000

Along with Andrew Whitworth, Levi Jones and Chad Johnson will appeal their fines for "unnecessarily entering the fight zone" when all they were trying to do was break up the fight. Jones said that he's "going to discuss it with my coaches and agents and see what to do with it."

"I was trying to protect my teammate who wasn't wearing a helmet," Jones said Wednesday. "I took Henderson's hands off Whit's face. I understand there are rules and we do have to follow them, but you have to go by situations."

Ryan Fitzpatrick took off during the fight.

"Fitz said the only way he was going to get fined is if they fined the guy running away," said Whitworth, who is appealing his $10,000 penalty in the incident stemming from Henderson's attack on his eyes. "But Fitz did the right thing. He stayed out of it. It's a difficult thing. It's one of those deals where terminology reads one way and common sense is another."

The Bengals on Tuesday waived fullback J.D. Runnels from the practice squad, likely opening a spot for Geoffrey Pope; who's likely to be signed to the squad for the third time since September. Runnels was the Bears sixth round draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft spending most of his time on either the bench, injured reserve or the practice squad.

The Bengals are ranked 27th in Dr. Z rankings. ESPN's Power Rankings has them ranked 30th -- behind the Rams and Chiefs. We may have just won our first game of the season, but you expect me to believe that the Bengals couldn't beat either team?

How hard was it for Willie Anderson to leave Cincinnati?

The only thing hard about it was how I left with - for some odd reason - them speculating about my endurance and whether I could play. Until '07 [when he sat out nine games with a bone bruise and medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee], that never was a question. ... You have one rough year where I took a blow - nothing that had to with age - and how I left with the training staff there saying: "Well, he can't play anymore. He's done." That's been said about me since 2005 when I had knee surgery. By the grace of God, I've always bounced back and had steady years. But the way I left and what was being said about me when I left was the hardest part. But now I'm done with that. I'm over it.

Who wore #11 and #12.

The Ravens signed former Bengals wide receiver Marcus Maxwell -- who was let go after an injury settlement was reached.

Brian Westbrook might still be injured, wonders JasonB at Bleeding Green Nation. "I'm not going to say he's 100 percent. But at the same time, he's good enough to where he can be effective as long as we take care of business up front."

Are the Eagles ready to blow up the Bengals?