The Buzz (Wk2)

There is a lot of Buzz going around the league this week. Here is a few highlights.

We will be featuring the NFLPA, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, and Tennessee Titans

NFLPA: The NFL Player's Association is increasing its dues from $10,000 to $15,000 for the 09' and 10' seasons in order to create a "dues lock-out fund". This only affects the player's not the agents. In addition to the fee above, players who are eligible to receive the licensing royalty payments due them by NFL Players, Inc will have their dues increased by that amount as well. This is about a $15,000 increase to what they had been paying. The NFLPA's statement said this increase was to create a fund in which they can pay players out of in case there is a lockout for the 2011 season. This is concerning to many fans, as there has seem to be no movement whatsoever on labor talks. It looks as though the NFLPA believes there will be no football during the 2011 season.

Cleveland Browns: Eric Mangini is handing down some harsh fines lately. He fined a player $1,701 for taking a water bottle from the team's road hotel during the preseason. Mangini had this to say about the fine ''I make no apologies for demanding a high level of personal conduct.'' He has been under fire lately for his policy's and fines. He has handed down a few fines around $1,700. Mangini would not discuss the fines in detail but did have this to say..

''I don't like taking players' money, but the rules are in place because we're a very diverse group of people,'' Mangini said. ''The rules are set up to make sure we can operate as effectively as possible. They're clearly laid out, they're clearly explained, expectations are explained. I don't ask anybody to do anything that anybody else in society isn't asked to do, that normal, mature people aren't asked to do. When we go to hotels, we pay incidentals. We don't park in handicapped spots, we don't park in fire lanes, we don't park in somebody else's spot. I don't think the equipment guy or the secretary deserves any less respect than anybody else in the organization. I believe people should be mature and approach things in a responsible way. I'm going to keep believing that, I'm going to keep demanding that we have mature, responsible people as part of the Browns.''

There has been some concerns that his strict policies may lead players away and make it hard for the Browns to sign free agents. Mangini had this to say about that..

''I understand things can be presented in a lot of different ways, but I've clearly articulated to the players why we have rules and regulations,'' Mangini said. ''There's a grievance system. But I also believe that everybody deserves the same respect and everybody should be responsible. I wouldn't want my mother or my sister to come to a place where they were treated any differently.''

It seems as though he has set a precedence and plans on sticking to it. If the players are not on board there may be more problems than their poor performance Sunday to worry about.

Denver Broncos: There is more trouble brewing in Denver. During Sunday's win against the Cleveland Browns; Josh McDaniels decided to leave Brandon Marshall on the sideline for 27 plays (little over a quarter). Josh McDainels said Monday that there was no specific reason that Marshall did not play more other than that the team has "a lot of guys that deserve to play." and "That's how we're going to play, Period." Eddie Royal agreed with the coaches decision. He said he was surprised to hear that Brandon was not in that long but he figured the coaches were comfortable with the receivers they had in the game -- himself, Gaffney, and Stockley. Eddie had this to say...

"You want to stick with the group that's moving the ball, It's the way the rotation played out."

Brandon Marshall has not commented on the situation was not available to the press after the game in the locker room.

It seems as though the relationship between the Broncos and Marshall is completely gone. Do you think if they continue to win games that they will trade Marshall? It seems as though they feel confident in the other receivers they have.

Tennessee Titans: It looks that the 0-2 start for the Titans is to hard for them to handle. The always collected Titans run by Jeff Fisher is showing some signs of cracking. After the lose Sunday to Houston cornerback Nick Harper had this to say...

"There were some plays that happened on my side, and (the Texans) flip-flopped and ran the exact same play on the other side and we still didn't get any stops,'' Harper said. "That tells me we didn't make any corrections on the sideline but they made all the corrections, and that hurt us.''

On Sunday Jeff Fisher made the comment that adjustments were made on the sidelines but were not executed on the field. However, Monday it seems as though he is trying to back track on that statement. See what he had to say below...

"Let me set the record straight here: When you are a good football team and you start off the season (0-2) there is going to be frustration, OK? And the only way you get out of it is you avoid pointing fingers at anybody,'' Fisher said."Everybody accepts the blame and you move on. There were adjustments made on the sideline for each and every thing that we saw. There was an adjustment made for that last big pass that they made, I heard it. The players alluding to the fact that we're having trouble making adjustments need to pay better attention to what is going on on the sideline.''

It looks as though Titans are starting to fall apart. The once tightly oiled machine that Fisher coached is having problems handling being 0-2. Does this spell trouble for the rest of the year?

See you next Tuesday for another round of "The Buzz".