The Nfl

The Jets Lag

Even with Sunday's 27-10 win over the Jaguars, the Jets (1-2) are destined to be a four- or five-win team at best. It's unreasonable to expect more from a club that has a mediocre offensive line and minor league skill players. There was only one ray of light on Sunday: The players New York chose in the first round of April's draft looked like big-timers. Tight end Kyle Brady caught his first NFL touchdown pass among his five receptions. Versatile pass rusher Hugh Douglas, shuttling between defensive tackle and end, had his first three NFL sacks—as well as five pressures of Jaguar quarterback Mark Brunell.

Granted, Douglas was blowing by a porous Jaguar offensive line, and he had been shut out by Dolphin Richmond Webb and Colt Will Wolford, both Pro Bowl veterans, in his first two games. But his quickness and strength could make him the pass-rushing force the Jets have lacked since Mark Gastineau—something that wasn't lost on a Meadowlands crowd starved for any good news. "Hewwwwwwwww!" the fans roared after his third sack on Sunday. "I have to grow up real fast," says Douglas, who played at little Central State in Wilberforce, Ohio. "I've got to learn tackle and end, and I've got to learn to keep those big tackles' hands off me. What impressed me the most so far is how quick those big guys are. I've got to be quicker."

Mr. Endangered

When Lion owner William Clay Ford gave coach Wayne Fontes a two-year contract extension after last season, eyebrows shot up around the league. Detroit had lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Packers two straight years. Over Fontes's seven seasons as coach, the Lions have not had a winning record against any NFC Central team—including the Bucs. When Fontes begged Ford to let him sign unproven free-agent quarterback Scott Mitchell before the 1994 season, even though it would cost Detroit a $5 million bonus, Ford gave the go-ahead; Mitchell's first year was horrendous.

This season, with the addition of star defensive tackle Henry Thomas and the loss of only one outstanding player from the 1994 team—kick returner Mel Gray—Detroit seemed primed to win the division. But at 0-3 after Sunday's 20-17 defeat at the hands of the heretofore winless Cardinals, the Lions are a mess, and Fontes is on the firing line again. Detroit blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead at home to Arizona, collapsing under the weight of 15 penalties and three turnovers. "This is the lowest I've been in my whole life coaching football," Fontes said after the debacle.

What's worse for Fontes is this: Ford, 70, has given significant power in the organization to his son, Lion vice chairman Bill Ford Jr. And the younger Ford has far less love for Fontes than does his dad. With the next two games against Super Bowl contenders—the 49ers and the Browns—it could be only a matter of time before Fontes gets fired.

"I've heard that tune for seven years," a downcast Fontes said late Sunday. "Maybe someday people will run out of quarters to play it." Maybe not.

The Life of Brian
It looks as if Seahawk wide receiver Brian Blades, charged with manslaughter in the July 5 shooting death of his cousin Charles Blades, will be able to play out the season before returning to Plantation, Fla., for a January or February trial. Brian said he shot Charles accidentally during a family argument involving Brian's brother, Bennie, a Lion safety, but he was charged after he refused to be questioned by police. He pleaded innocent to manslaughter with a firearm, which could bring a 30-year sentence. In three games Blades has caught 17 passes for 209 yards, and he is on pace for a third straight 80-catch season. "Although we feel there's no way Brian will be convicted," his agent. Drew Rosenhaus, said last week, "he's got to appreciate every play out on the field, because he really doesn't know if this will be his last season."

Dispatches