Phil Taylor tore his pectoral muscle last week lifting weights and he’ll have surgery to repair it this week on May 16^th. The recovery time is expected to be 4-6 months for the 2011 1^st round pick out of Baylor. He’ll almost definitely start the season on the PUP and might not play until November or December or not at all if the Browns are predictably out of the mix by that point. The Browns have to be feeling fortunate that they used 2 draft picks on depth defensive tackles in John Hughes and Billy Winn in the 2012 NFL Draft. Both should now see immediately action as rookie next to veteran Ahtyba Rubin at defensive tackle.

If there was any doubt that the Jaguars would be sticking with Blaine Gabbert at quarterback, new Head Coach Mike Mularkey erased all of it today by saying that there would be no competition for the starting job. Gabbert struggled mightily as a rookie, but they got him two new receivers this offseason and they invested the 10^th overall pick on him in 2011. They did sign backup Chad Henne, but he’s hardly a proven starter in this league either. They’ll give Gabbert one more chance and if he struggles, some, including GM Gene Smith could be fired. In that case, Gabbert would have a lot less job security.

It’s been known for almost the entire offseason that the Titans will have an open competition at quarterback, but Head Coach Mike Munchak confirmed this today by saying that neither of their two quarterbacks would be handed the starting quarterback job. Matt Hasselbeck was the starter for most of last season and he was decent, but he’s 37 in September and Locker played even better in limited action last year. In my mind, the #8 overall pick in 2011, Locker, is the favorite for the job, but clearly nothing is decided yet.

Since being drafted 14^th overall in 2008, Chris Williams has played every offensive line spot for the Bears, except for center, with minimal success anywhere. Now it appears that Williams, their starting left guard last season, will be going back to where it all started for him, left tackle. Williams would provide competition for J’Marcus Webb, an athletic kid that offensive coordinator Mike Tice likes, who has really struggled in the first 2 years of his career after being taken in the 7^th round in 2010. Edwin Williams, who played well in Chris Williams’ absence down the stretch last year, seems to be the favorite at left guard. Williams might not start anywhere in 2012 if he doesn’t have a good camp.

On a day where Wes Welker himself said he would not hold out into the season, Matt Forte reportedly will not do so as well, though unlike with Welker, Forte himself didn’t say it. Brad Briggs of the Chicago Tribune reports that there is “no chance” that Forte holds out into the season. I wouldn’t call it as sure thing as Welker and while I don’t expect either to hold out into the season, I do expect Forte’s holdout to last longer, maybe even into training camp.

Forte and the Bears are not close in contract negotiations and Forte was offended when the Bears signed Michael Bush to be his backup, before giving him the extension he wanted. If Forte holds out long into Training Camp, he could get out of shape like Chris Johnson was early last season after a long holdout.

It was music to Patriots’ fans ears when franchise player Wes Welker announced today that he would not hold out into the regular season, saying he has “9.5 million reasons” why he won’t miss any regular season games. The 9.5 million refers to the franchise tender value that he is guaranteed this season. Welker has expressed the desire to get a long term deal and remain a Patriot for life, but the Patriots habitually play hardball with these types of negotiations. Welker has not ruled out skipping OTAs and minicamps, but he will not miss any games.

The biggest concern with him is a long off-season holdout where he gets out of shape. Darrelle Revis and Chris Johnson have had down seasons in the last 2 years respectively after skipping most of the offseason workouts. However, if Welker is willing to rule out skipping games as early as now, I doubt this holdout lasts very long. There’s also a very good chance that Welker is extended by the July 16^th deadline for franchise players to be extended.

Along with linebacker, safety was a large and publicly shamed part of the Eagles’ defensive struggles last year as they went 8-8 and missed the playoffs in a season where most projected them to win 12, 13, or even 14 games. They addressed the linebacker position both through the draft and through trade this offseason, but have not added a safety to the mix, instead opting to hope their young talent improves.

Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett have been 2^nd round picks in 2010 and 2011 respectively, but neither have played well. According to Head Coach Andy Reid, Allen is in the starting lineup and they expect him to have a bounce back or potentially breakout season this year. Jarrett, on the other hand, is not in the starting lineup as the Eagles are opting for the more veteran Kurt Coleman, who started most of last season. That could change in training camp, but it appears Jarrett has an uphill battle to be the starter week 1.

Maurice Jones Drew is set to make 4.45 million dollars in 2012 in the 4^th year of a 5 year deal, but he knows how short running backs’ careers can be so he wants the Jaguars to give him a new extension now, with 2 years left on his old one. The situation is not dissimilar to Chris Johnson’s last offseason, though there are no guarantees MJD will hold out as long as CJ2K. For now, however, he’s skipping voluntary team workout and OTAs and has entertained the possibility of skipping mandatory minicamp in June. MJD is the entirety of the Jaguars’ offense so they obviously hope they can get him into camp without having to pay him.

After having shoulder and hernia surgery, there were some questions about Brent Celek’s health this offseason and the habitually mum Andy Reid was not providing any light on the situation. However, today Reid did comment that Celek would get only “limited reps” in next month’s mandatory minicamp. The first week of the season is still a long way off and I wouldn’t expect Celek to miss any time, but it’s a situation worth monitoring.