Don’t take Asomugha too seriously
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 2:17 pm in Oakland Raiders.
I saw very little of the Pro Bowl and basically took the weekend off.
Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha played enough to make three tackles before taking the second half off with a knee injury. No word on how serious it was, but Asomugha was seen smiling on the bench, sharing a laugh with Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.
Then he made some news by telling ESPN he’d like to play alongside Revis with the Jets and said he has even talked to Rex Ryan about it.
Asomugha is so well-spoken and is so serious about giving back to the community and involving himself with issues outside of football it hides another quality _ a wicked sense of humor.
My personal favorite was a year or two ago when he gave safety Michael Huff a piggy bank during the Christmas gift exchange with defensive backs because “he was stealing all of Al Davis’ money.”
As for talking to Ryan, there’s a big difference between approaching Ryan with the serious notion of being traded, and sharing a laugh with Revis and saying, `C’mon, Rex, you know you want to do this.”
The Raiders would be wise to laugh this one off after talking to Asomugha rather than dive in with one of their heavy-handed responses.
Left a call with the Raiders today in case there was an update on Asomugha’s injury and haven’t heard back. That’s the usual offseason M.O. Normally, information doesn’t bubble to the surface until the first minicamp or OTA availability. It’s at that time someone like Zach Miller will express surprise that no one knew he’d had sports hernia surgery.
Just in the quick glance I saw of Asomugha on the sideline, he didn’t look overly concerned. So we’ll probably wait until minicamp to hear anything, at which time Asomugha probably be full speed, having forgotten about the minor nick in the Pro Bowl.
Either that or he’ll be fitted for a prosthetic.
At which point, maybe a trade to the Jets wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
