Did you miss Monday's edition of "NFL Total Access" on NFL Network? Catch up with this recap:
Talking RGIII, Shanahan
Jeff Darlington said everyone seems to be on the same page in terms of Griffin starting Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Darlington said despite the weird situation regarding communication between coach and player, RGIII is ready to go Week 1.
Brian Billick said he sees a little bit of a diva in the way RGIII uses press conferences and Twitter to relay information to the public. LaDainian Tomlinson said there is a disconnect between an old-school guy (Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan) and a new-school guy (RGIII). Willie McGinest said RGIII needs to ignore all the noise around him in order to show everyone that he is ready to be the starter in Week 1. Shawne Merriman said he's been in situations where he's known he's 100 percent, then read articles contradicting the information he had, so it can be tough for a player and team to deal with.
Talking Tim Tebow
McGinest said it's tough to find a role for Tebow when you already have a great QB like Tom Brady at the helm. LT said if Tebow was willing to change positions, he might have a future in the NFL. Merriman said it's not that easy to just switch positions in the NFL, but he doesn't think Tebow can be a starter again. McGinest points out that when Tebow was winning in Denver, it was a team effort more than anything else.
Talking with John Harbaugh
The Baltimore Ravens coach said his defense now has a lot of new guys who have to step up to help the team win this year. Harbaugh said they'll play hard and tackle well. Harbaugh said his team feels like it has a lot to prove this year. He added that in order to prepare for a quarterback like Peyton Manning all you can do is work hard, study, and prepare as best you can. Harbaugh complimented former Ravens coach Billick's office, admiring all the trophies he saw there. Billick said Harbaugh is "too young" to have an office like his, and that it takes years to accumulate that many trophies.
Harbaugh told NFL Network's Dan Hellie that he did in fact buy replica Lombardi Trophies for the entire Ravens coaching staff (they weren't full-size, though). Harbaugh also said he brought in comedian Tracy Morgan during training camp to entertain his guys.
The roundtable
Dan and the guys talked about the Patriots dancing on the Chargers' logo after beating them in the 2006 AFC Divisional Playoffs. Tomlinson said he reacted angrily because he felt that as the leader of the team, it was his responsibility to do something about what was taking place. Merriman said he was on the sidelines when it happened, and wondered why the Patriots were not only doing his dance (which they were doing wrong), but why they were doing it after they'd just won the game. McGinest pointed out that the Chargers had beat the Patriots pretty bad in Foxborough the year before, so there was already bad blood between the two teams. He said the Pats felt disrespected heading into the playoff showdown because they felt the Chargers at 14-2 were overlooking the Patriots at 12-4. LT denied this and said the Chargers just felt like they were the better team.
Be sure to tune into "NFL Total Access" on Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on NFL Network.
