NFL Notes: Greg Schiano, Cardinals, Redskins

Greg Schiano

On Monday, Patriots HC Bill Belichick offered support for Greg Schiano and his character after Tennessee backed out of a deal to make him their next head coach after protests over the move broke out.

“One hundred percent. Yes. One hundred percent.” Belichick said when asked if he would vouch for Schiano’s character, via NESN.com. “I have great respect (for Schiano) and think he’s a great football coach. I’m not really involved in any other situations, but just speaking about him as a coach and a person, I have the utmost respect and zero reservations. Zero.”

• Ohio State HC Urban Meyer also offered support for Schiano, saying: “I’m not angry, but I’ll make this comment: He’s an elite father, an elite football coach and an elite friend and I stand by my coach.” (Ari Wasserman)

Cardinals

Cardinals GM Steve Keim explained during an appearance on the “Doug and Wolf” show Monday that signing QB Blaine Gabbert to a contract during the offseason was really a low-risk, high-reward move for them.

“It’s no different than the reason we signed him in the springtime,” Keim said, via AzCardinals.com. “It was very little risk to possibly a high reward. A lot of people scoffed at the fact that we signed him and I don’t think they were very high on that decision, but at the end of the day, I liked him coming out (of college), coach (Bruce Arians) liked him a lot coming out. He’s always had the physical gifts. What was the real risk involved to sign a guy to be the third quarterback?

“The fact that he has stepped up, he’s looked poised and he got a lot of patience in this offense, he’s been a great fit so far and he’s worked his tail off off the field. This gives you the confidence as a general manager and as a coach to make these decisions and hopefully it pays off moving forward.”

• Field Yates reports that Cardinals QB Blaine Gabbert earned a $40,000 bonus yesterday by playing over 50 percent of the team’s snaps in a win.

Redskins

• Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that one name worth keeping an eye on for the Redskins in the event they move on from Kirk Cousins next year is current Vikings QB Case Keenum.
• Florio points out that the Vikings and Redskins have similar offenses and Keenum would come at a far lower price than Cousins will get on the open market.