News: PFT: Cliff Avril doesn’t want “credit” for injuring Tony Romo

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In some corners of NFL fandom, there’s been talk that Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril was the Cowboys’ real MVP in 2016: By injuring Tony Romo in the preseason, Avril made way for the rise of Dak Prescott as the franchise quarterback in Dallas.

But Avril doesn’t like hearing that talk.

“I don’t ever want to injure somebody and put somebody else in there,” Avril said, via the Star-Telegram. “But Dak took full advantage of the opportunity. He has been killing it ever since.”

Avril has been getting to know Prescott this week at the Pro Bowl and says Prescott’s maturity as a young leader reminds him of Russell Wilson.

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robjay04

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stilltheguru88 said:
He seemed pretty happy when it happened. Didn't know the gawd would surface and now he's backtracking. Get outta here
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It's probably just instinct for a pass rusher to celebrate when they get a sack. I know it's preseason but you're out there for 50 plays and if you get 1 sack that whole game, you earned your paycheck in a lot of ways.

I know I remember reading that he called Romo a few days after the injury.
 
TonyS

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...as good as Dak was, and he was great, I still will always wonder what Romo could've done with this offense. Probably would've been more chances taken downfield, and using historical data, some more INTs, but also may have allowed us to open up the offense even more for Zeke and the running game. Our defense, however, likely would've been more stressed due to the faster pace and turnovers. Dak was able to minimize those so much and keep long drives alive that it probably helped the defense more than having a more aggressive, risk taking QB in Romo, but oh it might've been fun to watch!

Mr. Avril changed all of that and can't complain about the results so far.
 
rockj7

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NewsBot said:
In some corners of NFL fandom, there’s been talk that Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril was the Cowboys’ real MVP in 2016: By injuring Tony Romo in the preseason, Avril made way for the rise of Dak Prescott as the franchise quarterback in Dallas.

But Avril doesn’t like hearing that talk.

“I don’t ever want to injure somebody and put somebody else in there,” Avril said, via the Star-Telegram. “But Dak took full advantage of the opportunity. He has been killing it ever since.”

Avril has been getting to know Prescott this week at the Pro Bowl and says Prescott’s maturity as a young leader reminds him of Russell Wilson.

Continue reading...
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Ok.Cliff cup half full you helped launch Daks career
 
erod

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That was the biggest preseason sack celebration I've ever seen from a proven veteran.
 
DallasEast

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Avril's tackle is one of the oddest I've ever witnessed but it's understandable. Seahawk defenders are well-taught in creating turnovers. Even though Romo had begun his slide, Avril positioned his body at a good angle to tomahawk Romo's throwing arm on the way down.

The downside for Romo was that Avril maneuvered his body in a way that maximized the force of the tackle almost directly down Romo's spine through his pelvis and into the ground. The likelihood is high that a previously uninjured spinal column would have suffered a similar fracture. Simple physics.

He did celebrate but I believe Avril when he says didn't have any intention of injuring Romo. Both he and Romo simply ended up in awkward positions and Avril was primarily going for the ball. I can't and haven't said the same for Michael Boley and Jordan Hicks' tackles in 2010 and 2015. Both tacklers practically drove the force of their tackles directly through Romo's shoulders into the ground. Perhaps their "intent" wasn't to fracture bone but it's a good bet their intent was causing significant pain, which is a very common motivation in the sport.
 
Kaiser

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DallasEast said:
He did celebrate but I believe Avril when he says didn't have any intention of injuring Romo. Both he and Romo simply ended up in awkward positions and Avril was primarily going for the ball.
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Agree, and that was my reaction to the headline. Avril isn't celebrating for a lot of reasons and one of them is that it was just a fluke play. This wasn't Lawrence Taylor destroying a QB in the pocket, it was more of a fluke than anything else.

Also if this play had happened prior to 2015 Romo would have come back in the following game. He played through much worse injuries in the past and in this case he wanted to come back in the game but they gave him an MRI out of an abundance of caution. If they don't do that Romo comes back in the preseason and plays the season one more part of his body feeling pain, in a season where he plays through different minor injuries like he always has.
 
Nova

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NorthTexan95 said:
Dak having that kind of reputation could make a difference when Free Agents are looking for a new home.
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Beat me to it. It won't be the same effect you'd see in the NBA where all friends want to be on the same team.

But players like Dak. And they like Zeke, too.

I'm surely reading into it too much, but in every pro-bowl clip I see, it looks like Beckham wants to be in that Dak, Zeke, & Dez group .

Seems like we have a grass is greener in Dallas thing going on here.
 
Kaiser

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Ntegrase96 said:
I'm surely reading into it too much, but in every pro-bowl clip I see, it looks like Beckham wants to be in that Dak, Zeke, & Dez group .
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I think the big FA signing this year is a WR to pair with Dez (unless its a Melvin Ingram type at DE) and I would bet a lot of money you are right, and the press conference at the signing is a guy like Alshon Jeffrey saying Dak, Zeke and Dez was a big reason for his decision.
 
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