Marcell Dareus out after failing Buffalo Bills' conditioning test

[PhillyGirl]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/07/marcell_dareus_out_after_faili.html

On Saturday, the Buffalo Bills announced Pro Bowl defensive tackle Marcell Dareus was being placed on the active/non-football injury list, which would keep him off the field when the team held its first training camp practice of the 2014 preseason on Sunday night. On Sunday, the Bills announced why: The former Huffman High School and Alabama Crimson Tide standout failed his conditioning test on Saturday morning.

The Bills made the announcement via Tweeter.

Buffalo Bills ✔ @buffalobills
Doug Marrone: DT Marcell Dareus failed his conditioning test upon reporting for camp. "He needs to focus on getting himself ready"
5:44 PM - 20 Jul 2014

While Dareus remains on the Bills' active roster, he can't practice until he's taken off the non-football injury list. For that to happen, Dareus will need to pass the conditioning test.

Buffalo administered its conditioning test to players at St. John Fisher College, the Pittsford, N.Y., school where the Bills are holding training camp.

"He hasn't been able to pass all the tests to get him on the field," Marrone said before Buffalo's first training camp practice on Sunday night.

But he will, Marrone added.

"He'll be in shape, ready to go," Marrone said. "He'll be ready to play."

The conditioning test continues a troubled offseason for Dareus, who was arrested twice in May.

Dareus is facing charges in Alabama from a May 5 traffic stop. He was pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding on Interstate 20 in Cleburne County and subsequently charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Alabama Department of Public Safety said the substance was "spice," or synthetic cannabis.

Hamburg (N.Y.) Police reported Dareus crashed a 2012 Jaguar into a tree outside the Mongolian Buffet Restaurant after crossing two lanes of oncoming traffic while racing down Milestrip Road in mid-afternoon on May 30. Dareus was charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree, reckless driving, participating in an illegal speed contest and other traffic violations, including leaving the scene of a property-damage accident, failure to keep right, speeding and making an unsafe lane change.

The Bills kept Dareus out of their OTAs after his second arrest, but he did participate in Buffalo's minicamp June 17-19.

The Bills are the first NFL team to open training camp as they prepare to play in the first game of the preseason. Buffalo plays the New York Giants on Aug. 3 in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.

"We're here for a long period of time, and we'll make up for it," Marrone said.

 

[psychojoe]

Dang, Marcel. You were a great story coming out of high school. A poor family, a tough neighborhood, but somehow you worked your butt off and earned first a scholly at Bama, then high accolades as a college player. We cheered you in college, and many of us were still big fans of yours when you became a pro. please don't let us down by showing yourself to be someone who can't deal with success.

 

[rick4bama]

I was thinking the same PJ.

 

[PhillyGirl]

He is being compared to Haynesworth in terms of attitude. Not a great person to be compared to.

 

[alabama mike]

He needs to get his crap together. There is no reason for a professional athlete to arrive at camp out of shape. I wish him well.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Marcell Dareus enters pretrial intervention program, returns to Bills' training camp

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/07/marcell_dareus_enters_pretrial.html

Even if Buffalo Bills defensive tackleMarcell Dareus had passed the team's pre-training camp conditioning test, he wouldn't have been at practice on Monday. Instead, Dareus was in Calhoun County Circuit Court in Anniston, where he was accepted into a pretrial intervention program that could result in all charges against him from a May 5 traffic stop being dropped.

Dareus, who played at Huffman High School and Alabama, was pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding on Interstate 20 in Cleburne County. He subsequently was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Alabama Department of Public Safety said the substance was "spice," or synthetic cannabis.

In addition to the pretrial intervention program, which typically involves a combination of counseling, therapy and testing, Dareus also will be monitored by the NFL under its substance-abuse program.

Dareus was represented by attorney Rod Giddens of Sylacauga. In an email to The Associated Press, Giddens described Dareus as "a humble, gentle giant of a young man, who needs some mentors."WKBW-TV in Buffalo reported that in another email, Giddens wrote: "The judge commended him for accepting responsibility and for the recent camp he hosted for at-risk kids."

Before Dareus was accepted into the pretrial intervention program, Giddens said Dareus' circumstances fit its purpose.

"This program is for first-time offenders,"Giddens said. "They don't have a criminal history. It gives them a chance to start over and earn their way back to where they started, so to speak. Ordinarily, you see people going into it for possession of controlled substances. In his case, it's an imitation controlled substance that can be purchased legally in some states. Alabama, as you know, outlawed it four or five years ago. You can't buy it here anymore or sell it here anymore or possess it here anymore without violating the law. Because of his background and because of the nature of the offense, he fits perfectly within the program. Hopefully, we'll come out on the other side a better person for it."

Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone told reporters on Monday he had excused Dareus from training camp because the defensive tackle was "taking care of some personal stuff." Marrone expected Dareus back at the Bills' training camp at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y., on Monday night, so he could return to work on Tuesday morning.

"He'll be like everybody else on the side training getting ready to pass the physical," Marrone told ESPN.com. "He's one of the players that didn't pass the running test."

Dareus can't practice with the team because he has been placed on the active/non-football injury list after failing the conditioning test on Saturday. Once he passes the test, he'll come off the list and join his teammates at practice.Sal Paolantonio of ESPN reportedDareus' next chance to pass the test would come on Thursday.

Marrone said on Monday that Dareus would return "when our weight coaches feel he's ready. ... We're not just going to put him out there every day. We'll wait until our weight coaches say, 'Hey, you know what? We're ready to go and let's go.'"

Marrone said he had talked to Dareus about why he wasn't prepared to pass the conditioning test.

"Sure, we have conversations about that,"Marrone said, "but those conversations are between Marcell and I. If he wants to share those reasons with you, he's more than welcome to."

Kyle Williams, who lines up beside Dareus as Buffalo's other defensive tackle, didn't want to talk about his teammate's situation on Monday.

"I really don't want to talk about that," he told the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y. "I'm sure he'll be back (Monday night), and he'll be ready to go. I don't think it's because he's fat and out of shape."

On Sunday night, Buffalo general manager Doug Whaley told reporter John Kryk that Dareus would be back on the field soon.

"He was a little overweight (at offseason practices)," Whaley said, "but it wasn't to the extent that we were concerned. He's one of those guys that even when he's big, he's still athletic and moves around well. ... Yes, he's close. It's not like he's going to be out for an extended period of time."

Whaley said getting back to football would be the best thing for Dareus.

"Obviously, you know the issues,"Whaley said, "so I'm sure that deals with him mentally, and he wasn't focused. And we feel getting him here and around his teammates, where the setting is just football, is going to be great for him."

Dareus also has a Sept. 9 appearancescheduled before a judge in the town court of the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg, N.Y., where he'll be on trial for charges stemming from a May 30 traffic incident.

Hamburg (N.Y.) Police reportedDareus crashed a 2012 Jaguar into a tree outside the Mongolian Buffet Restaurant after crossing two lanes of oncoming traffic while racing down Milestrip Road in mid-afternoon on May 30. Dareus was charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree, reckless driving, participating in an illegal speed contest and other traffic violations, including leaving the scene of a property-damage accident, failure to keep right, speeding and making an unsafe lane change.

The Bills kept Dareus out of their OTAs after his second arrest, but he did participate in Buffalo's minicamp June 17-19. Dareus was the third player picked in the 2011 NFL Draft. He earned Pro Bowl recognition last season.

The Bills were the first NFL team to open training camp as they prepare to play in the first game of the preseason. Buffalo plays the New York Giants on Aug. 3 in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.

 

[psychojoe]

PhillyGirl, since you are moving to upstate New York, will you become a Bills fan?

 

[bamaraider]

Guy is having a rough off-season. Marcel needs to get his act together, because the Bills have already lost Alonso.

 

[PhillyGirl]

PhillyGirl, since you are moving to upstate New York, will you become a Bills fan?

Hell naw, I bleed green! E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!

I like the Bills though. They have some crazy passionate fans. Definitely the most under-appreciated NFL fan base.