Joe Thomas honored

Not a major award, but certainly Thomas deserves a post for his contributions to the Browns. (Photo from Browns 247.com)

You would think that a former offensive lineman would pay more attention to the Browns rookie offensive tackle. Shame on me. Truth is that Joe Thomas has had an outstanding rookie year, and it is starting to be noticed around the league. Joe Thomas earned the league’s AFC Rookie of the Month for November. Joshua Cribbs was also honored as the AFC’s special teams player of the month.

Joe Thomas is performing at a very high level, at a very difficult position. He certainly has benefited from outstanding play from Eric Steinbach, lined up right beside him. But make no mistake, Thomas is the real deal at left tackle. Does he have a chance to be the rookie of the year in the league? No. Simply because of the year that Adrian Peterson is having. Ironic that many fans complained about the Browns taking Thomas over Peterson. It seems that the future is lined with pro-bowls for both of these players, barring injury.

Thomas has kept top pass-rushers off Derek Anderson this season. He has lined up against the likes of Mario Williams, Terrell Suggs, James Harrison, Jason Taylor and Richard Seymour. In 7 games against the Browns, those players had 4 sacks against the Browns, and I can’t verify if all of those came against Thomas. My memory says Jason Taylor’s was not, neither was Suggs’. In any case, that is outstanding for a rookie LT. In addition to his pass blocking, he has shown tremendous rush blocking technique. He pulls well and blocks well down field.

Because of the signing of Steinbach, and the drafting of Thomas the Browns’ offense is ready to fire on all cylinders.

Kidd out with migraine (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Pat saw this report today and passed it along to me. Very interesting.

The original report comes from Yahoo Sports. The article insinuates that Jason Kidd, who didn’t play in New Jersey’s game yesterday against the Knicks, sat out not because of a headache as is being reported, but because he is angry with management for not building a championship caliber team. Apparently Jason would like to be traded, more specifically, to be traded in order to play with LeBron.

There was no migraine headache holding Jason Kidd out of the New Jersey Nets’ loss to the New York Knicks Wednesday night, but a superstar sending a message to a floundering franchise that he’s irate with management and teammates, several league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

As the Nets flew back to New Jersey late Tuesday from a victory over Cleveland, sources said Kidd already had decided he would be sitting out against the Knicks in the Meadowlands. Kidd didn’t tell Nets officials until Wednesday afternoon, but several people inside and outside the organization were made aware of the meaning behind his sick day.

Kidd’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, isn’t believed to have formally demanded a trade, but Wednesday’s bold act could be the precursor to starting that process. Two sources said Kidd has been a constant text messaging partner with LeBron James since playing with him this summer on Team USA and that the Cavaliers are his preferred destination.