Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Riley Bullough

HBO’s “Hard Knocks” returned for its second show of the season and former Michigan State linebacker Riley Bullough was again one of the featured players.

Bullough, now an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was singled out in the season’s debut – first for his looks, then for his loud leadership and finally for his singing. This time, Bullough’s parents were part of the fun.

With the Buccaneers playing at Cincinnati for their first preseason game, Bullough met up with his parents LeeAnn and Shane, who also played football for MSU. The topic of Riley’s looks again popped up, and Mrs. Bullough was none too pleased with the comparison to Joe Dirt. She gave the helpful tip that Riley’s teammates should call him Fabio instead – which they will definitely not make fun of him for.

Bullough was again the focus of the show’s attention late in the preseason game. The backup linebacker helped pin back the Bengals deep in their own territory, while delivering a very NSFW pep talk to his teammates.

Kirk Cousins wants to retire in Washington

Kirk Cousins is in the middle of a very public contract dispute with Washington, but the former MSU quarterback is still saying all the right things. Despite turning down a $53 million guaranteed contract, Cousins said to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio that he wants to eventually retire as Washington’s quarterback.

“When you look at the best of the best, those quarterbacks played with one team. And if you point to a couple guys who didn’t, who changed teams, it really was against their will: I think if Joe Montana or Peyton Manning had their way they would have stayed where they had won Super Bowls and played so well. They wouldn’t have played so well. So my desire is to stay with one team my entire career, and that would be Washington.” -Pro Football Talk

Washington has franchise tagged Cousins for the second year in a row. Cousins will make just under $24 million this year, up roughly $5 million from last year. The team has the opportunity to tag him again next year, but his price will jump to at least $28.7 million.

Aaron Burbridge served as 49ers team captain

Heading into his second year in the NFL, Aaron Burbridge should be safe in making the San Francisco 49ers roster, even with a new head coach. But being named a captain would seem a stretch.

However, for the team’s first preseason game of the year, the former Spartans wide receiver was named the 49ers special teams captain. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said he asked a trusted special teams veteran who should have the honor.

From Niners Nation:

“We are going to switch it up each preseason game before we get to the regular season. I wanted to pick some players that had been here. So I picked the obvious one I think on offense and the obvious one on defense. Our kickers knew and I asked (Tim) Hightower who has been the guy that has been here the most and done the best for us the last few years and he told me Burbridge. I saw that a lot on tape last year. He has done a good job on special teams and he has been known around the league so that is why we went with him.”

Tony Lippett done for the year after achilles injury

In his second year in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, Tony Lipett had found himself as a key player. Unfortunately, the cornerback, who made a name for himself as a wide receiver with Michigan State, won’t have a chance to take the next step in 2017.

Lippett suffered a torn achilles in a non-contact incident and will be out the entire season. Head coach and MSU grad Adam Gase said the injury happened after Lippett had jumped in the air. Gase said he was untouched.