Testaverde is Parcells’ kind of guy
They do not need words to communicate. Just a look will suffice. Or a nod.
Once again, Bill Parcells and Vinny Testaverde are working together as coach and starting quarterback. The coach from New Jersey and the quarterback from Long Island know what each other is thinking. Maybe before the other is even thinking it.
“Hey, if you grew up where I grew up and where he grew up, you speak the language pretty easily,” Parcells said. “So he gets it.”
Parcells trusts Testaverde completely. Testaverde trusts Parcells completely.
Testaverde would not have signed with the Cowboys, even if the starting quarterback job was up for debate, without Parcells stalking the sideline. Parcells would not have signed him without their previous working relationship.
“He’s not changed at all,” Testaverde said. “He’s still the same with the players. He still has the same fire he had when we were back in New York.”
Their relationship began on June 24, 1998, when Testaverde signed as a free agent with Parcells’ New York Jets.
He threw for 3,256 yards that season, with 29 TD passes and only seven interceptions, and led the Jets to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to Denver.
“On a lot of other teams I was with, you had to be able to handle the other players and make sure they were getting the job done,” Testaverde said. “But with Bill, he’s going to do that and you can focus on your job and your job alone.”
When Testaverde was cut by the Jets this June, Parcells knew Testaverde’s daily regimen and knew conditioning would not be a factor.
And when Parcells told him he was the Cowboys’ starter after Quincy Carter was waived, they did not need a formal conversation.
“You giving me my boxing gloves back?” Testaverde said.
“You want ‘em?” Parcells answered.
“That’s what I came here for,” Testaverde said.
Big day for McGahee
Four touchdowns, one big stiff-arm and a standing ovation: Not bad for Willis McGahee’s first time competing in an NFL setting.
“Today was a good day,” the Bills running back said after a scrimmage against the Cleveland Browns. “I was a little nervous on the first series, but after the second series, when I kind of got into a rhythm, everything went good for me.”
Selected 23rd overall in the 2003 draft, the former University of Miami star missed all of last season recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee, which he hurt in the national championship game against Ohio State earlier that year.
He experienced his first full-contact session in training camp earlier this week, and the scrimmage was McGahee’s first time lining up against an opponent since he was hurt.
After scoring up the middle on a 1-yard plunge to cap a six-play, 65-yard drive, McGahee scored on three consecutive plays from the 2 during a goal-line drill.
Shipp out 2-3 months
Arizona Cardinals running back Marcel Shipp, the team’s leading rusher last season, will miss 8-12 weeks with a broken left leg.
Cardinals coach Dennis Green said Shipp appeared to have dislocated his left ankle in the team’s intrasquad scrimmage on Friday, but more X-rays revealed a broken fibula.
Shipp had a plate and screws inserted into the leg Friday and further surgery is expected to add pins to the broken leg.
Around the league
Running low on quarterbacks, the San Diego Chargers have signed journeyman Joe Germaine. Germaine played in the Arena Football League last season and hasn’t played in an NFL game since 1999. Starter Drew Brees is healthy but backup Doug Flutie will be sidelined for two weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his knee. … Cleveland Browns linebacker Brant Boyer will miss 8 to 10 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot. Boyer was hurt Friday during practice.