My Sports News Digest

According to the New York Daily News, the moves are expected to take place at some point this week. Woody, however, was not as patient, using the social network to announce the news on Monday night. “Just informed about my release….I want to thank the Jets and all the fans out there…it was a great ride!” Woody wrote on his Twitter page. The Daily News’ report indicated there is a possibly the Jets could re-sign the four players at a reduced salary. Woody, 33, has started in 166 of the 173 games he has appeared in during his 12-year career. He suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in New York’s AFC Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts in January. Jenkins, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, has been with the Jets the last three seasons. The 6-foot-4, 360-pound Maryland product has played just seven games the last two years as a result of knee injuries. Taylor, the 2006 Defensive Player of the Year and six-time Pro Bowl selection, signed with the Jets prior to the 2010 season and posted five sacks, upping the 36-year-old’s career total to 132 1/2. Gholston, the sixth overall pick in the 2008 draft, has recorded just 42 tackles with no sacks in his three years in New York. The four player combine for 39 years of NFL experience.

The Indianapolis Colts have announced the addition of two new members to head coach Jim Caldwell’s staff.

They are running backs coach David Walker and coaching assistant Devin Fitzsimmons.

Walker coached running backs at Pitt from 2005 to 2010.  He was at Maryland with Randy Edsall briefly before leaving for the Colts.

For both men, it’s their first jobs at the NFL level.

The second-year pro injured the shoulder late in the year but wound up starting all 16 regular season games, though he did not attempt a pass in a brief appearance in the last contest against Buffalo. Sanchez threw for 3,291 yards and 17 touchdowns and was intercepted 13 times during the 2010 campaign. He led the team to playoff victories over the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots before the Jets fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. The USC product accumulated 616 passing yards and five touchdowns, with one interception, in the three postseason games.

Rather than the cacophony of sound created in previous playoff rounds with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady — with head coach Rex Ryan calling the former matchup “personal” while cornerback Antonio Cromartie used unprintable expletives to label the latter foe — the New York Jets are going cordial this time. To a man, Jets players showered their signal-calling opponent this week, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, with uninhibited torrents of praise as they head toward Sunday’s AFC Championship Game at Heinz Field, where the winner will meet either Chicago or Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV. “[Roethlisberger] puts a bigger stress on our defense,” Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis said. Going into the playoffs, Ryan referred to the three-week gauntlet of Super Bowl winners and NFL most valuable players as “Mission: Impossible.” In two weeks since the tournament began, the Jets have beaten Manning and his Indianapolis Colts, 17-16, and Brady and his New England Patriots, 28-21. One more win yields the franchise its first Super Bowl berth since 1969. Roethlisberger, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 241 pounds, brings a meld of pocket strength and creativity on the run not presented by his celebrated contemporaries in Indiana and Massachusetts. And if you think the Jets are treating him with any less respect than the others, think again. “You can’t prepare for what he naturally does,” defensive lineman Trevor Pryce said. �How do you prepare to tackle a guy as big as a polar bear? How do you prepare for a guy who can flick a ball 50 yards at the drop of a dime? How do you prepare for a guy that can run like he does? How do you prepare for a guy that wants to win like he wants to win? “I don’t think anything really works with that guy, because he makes it up as he goes along. He’s as big as all of us and he’s impossible to tackle. He will not go down. If you go in there and do the same thing, he’ll kill you.” The Jets defeated the Steelers, 22-17, in the lone meeting between the teams this season, a Week 15 game in Pittsburgh. The two haven’t met in the playoffs since the 2004 campaign, when Jeff Reed’s field goal gave the Steelers a 20-17 overtime win in a Divisional Round game. Pittsburgh lost the AFC title game the next week against visiting New England. Roethlisberger was 23-of-44 for 264 yards and a touchdown in the Dec. 19 game, leaving Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine to admit some things will have to change for the Jets to win a second time. Last year New York defeated Indianapolis in Week 16 of the regular season, but were dealt a 30-17 loss to the Colts in the conference championship a few weeks later. Manning claimed some success in the latter game resulted from having seen many of the Jets’ schemes in the first go-around. In their late-year matchup with the Steelers, the Jets ran a zone scheme that switched to man coverage whenever Roethlisberger was flushed from the pocket. They answered his movement behind the line of scrimmage by having defenders locate receivers closest to them if he left the pocket. On plays when the Jets started off in man coverage, Roethlisberger’s scrambling usually resulted in big plays. The Jets referred to Roethlisberger’s improvisation as “street ball” in December. “If you’re in man [coverage], it’s very stressful,” defensive back Dwight Lowery said. “I’ve never seen a guy take the hits he can take and also make people miss the way he does and be as accurate on the run,” Ryan said of Roethlisberger. On the last play of last month’s game with Pittsburgh, the Jets rushed three and dropped eight into zone coverage. When Roethlisberger moved out of the pocket, defensive back Marquice Cole, who was covering the middle of the field, latched on to tight end Matt Spaeth before deflecting the pass to seal the win. “I don’t think we’d have anything left [if we beat another championship quarterback,” Pryce said. “After that, it’d be like, ‘Well, what else can they throw at us, Bart Starr?’” If the Jets get past Pittsburgh, they’re certain to face a team that beat them during the regular season in the Super Bowl. The Packers bested New York by a 9-0 count in Week 8, while the Bears won a 38-34 shootout in Week 16. A GIANT ENDORSEMENT Speaking of praise, the Jets’ coaching staff received some from an unlikely source on Monday — New York Giants defensive backs Antrel Rolle and Kenny Phillips. Appearing on WQAM Radio in Miami, Rolle, who just finished his first year with the Giants after five seasons in Arizona, said a key difference between Ryan and Giants counterpart Tom Coughlin is the belief the Jets coach instills in his players and the chemistry that results. Rolle is a native of nearby Homestead, Fla. and was a first-round pick (8th overall) of the Cardinals in 2005. Phillips is from Miami and was a first- rounder for the Giants (31st overall) in 2008. “People like to talk about Rex Ryan, but that team is going to war for him,” Rolle said. “They would die for him. “If you match us up against the Jets, do I think they’re a better team? No, I don’t think so at all. But when it comes to their chemistry, I think their chemistry might be better than ours. I think that they have a lot more fun than we have. Yeah, we’re professional athletes. Yeah we get paid a lot of money to do what we do. But at the end of the day, we’re all human. We’re all human beings. No one is a robot at this level. So we do have feelings. We like to have fun. That’s what it is.” Phillips, a third-year Giant, concurred, going so far to say that he’d love to play for the Jets. “I would love to play for a guy like Rex,” he said. “He allows you to be you. He’s not asking you to hide. If you’re a guy that likes to talk, go out and talk as long as you back it up. Like ‘Trel said, these guys are playing for him. I’d love to be a part of that.”

It was just last Friday when Harbaugh decided to leave Stanford to become head coach of the 49ers. And it only took Harbaugh one week to bring Greg Roman, Vic Fangio and Tim Drevno along with him to San Francisco. The 49ers named Roman offensive coordinator, Fangio defensive coordinator and Drevno offensive line coach. “I am very excited that these three men are now part of the 49ers coaching staff,” Harbaugh said. “They bring a wealth of knowledge and a level of professionalism that I am certain will transfer positively to our team.” The 38-year-old Roman most recently spent the past two seasons with the Cardinal. In 2009, he was the running game coordinator, with position responsibilities of tight ends and offensive tackles. This past season, he kept those responsibilities, but also added the duties of associate coach and assistant head coach of the offense. In 2010, Stanford’s offense ranked ninth nationally in points scored (40.3 points/game), 14th in total yards per game (472.5), 17th in rushing yards per game (213.8) and first in time of possession (34:34). Roman is entering his 14th season in the NFL, having been a member of the coaching staffs for the Carolina Panthers (1995-2001), Houston Texans (2002-03) and Baltimore Ravens (2006-07). Fangio, 52, was the defensive coordinator for Stanford last season, where he led one of the nation’s top defenses. The Cardinal finished the regular season ranked in the top-25 nationally in five defensive categories. He is going into his 25th season in the NFL, which includes 11 years of experience as a defensive coordinator for three NFL teams – Carolina (1995-98), Indianapolis Colts (1999-2001) and Houston Texans (2002-05). The 41-year-old Drevno, 41, joins the 49ers after 18 seasons in the collegiate ranks. He most recently was on Harbaugh’s coaching staff for the last four seasons. Prior to his arrival at Stanford, Drevno was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at the University of San Diego (2003-06), offensive line coach at Idaho (2000-02), offensive line coach at San Jose State (1999), running backs coach at UNLV (1998) and tight ends and running backs coach at Montana State (1993-97).

Head coach Rex Ryan said Woody will undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair the injury that took place during the game-winning drive of Saturday’s AFC Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts. Woody started the first 13 games of the regular season before sitting out the last three games following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. The original knee injury took place against the Texans on November 21 and Woody was able to play through the next two games with a sprained MCL. He then re-injured it in a Week 14 loss to Miami. Wayne Hunter will fill in for Woody.

Wright has not played since suffering the injury in a Week 11 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The sixth-year pro recorded 17 tackles and a career-high 5 1/2 sacks over 10 games — five as a starter — this season. No corresponding roster move has been announced.

The New Orleans Saints won their ever first Super Bowl last night at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami. The Saints stunned sports bettors, the viewers and the favored Indianapolis Colts when their 31 – 17 victory was sealed with a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown with just 3.12 minutes remaining in the game.

MVP Drew Brees may be the most revered Super Bowl MVP ever, battling through a crippling shoulder injury and winning the championship for the beleaguered city of New Orleans. Brees finished with 288 yards on 32 of 39 passing. He threw two touchdowns and no interceptions and was sacked just once by the Colts Dwight Freeney in the second quarter. Freeney’s performance was hampered by his ankle injury which he says got very stiff in the second half, much like the rest of the Colts team.

Late in the first half things looked good for the Colts, the Saints were down 10 -3, and the Colts had just held off a fourth and goal. But a late drive resulted narrowed the lead to 10-6.  Then Payton set the tone for the Saints in the second half with one of the ballsiest calls in NFL history, an onside kick to start the second half. It was Garrett Hartley who took this game-changing onside kick, he should also be praised nailing three field-goal attempts — from 46, 44 and 47 yards.

The bettors at LinesMaker who put their money on the Saints will be rejoicing along with the people of New Orleans who spirits have certainly been lifted with this amazing win.