Greg Hardy reinstatement hearing transcripts leaked:

In case you weren’t disgusted enough by the photos of Nicole Holder’s injuries suffered at the hands of sub-human Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy, Deadspin has released the transcripts of his reinstatement hearing where Hardy tries to play the victim and insists Holder’s injuries were caused by a simple trip and fall.

During the hearing, Hardy’s attorney outlines how he believes Holder merely tripped and fell in the bathroom, pointing out a scale that he believed she tripped over, likely propelling herself into the shower, causing the injuries we’ve all become far too familiar with.

Even more ridiculous than the claims that Holder injured herself, or that Hardy was only in the bathroom out of concern that she would kill herself, was the fact that Hardy’s attorney, Frank Maister claimed that Holder tried to flee the apartment, which he goes on to explain the law views as consciousness of guilt.

Maister’s personal attacks didn’t stop at Holder. He even went as far as to say that Judge Mecklenburg District Judge Rebecca Thorne Tin couldn’t possibly have given Hardy a fair trial because she was the co-chair of the Harvard Battered Women’s Advocacy Project while she was in law school.

Of course, that suggests it would be impossible for just about anyone to give Hardy a fair trial, because most people are human beings, and it’s pretty difficult for any human being to understand the actions of an animal like Hardy.

After attempting to push the narrative that Holder attacked Hardy because he wouldn’t reconcile or have sex with her, describing Holder as a slut who was just after Hardy’s money, and suggesting she stalked Hardy on the night of the attack, despite proof that it was Hardy who sent a text inviting Holder out for the night, Maister painted the picture of a drunken Holder while not once mentioning Hardy’s drinking that evening.

Later, when Maister was asked to produce records of Holder’s injuries that night, it was realized that he didn’t include all of them. Despite the fact that Holder had complained of injuries to her left shoulder, Maister only provided details of the right shoulder.

When NFL Senior Vice President Adolpho Birch asked about the left elbow, Maister replied that he left it out. When Birch insisted that most of what was discussed revolved around the left elbow, Maister replied that he would get back to him on that, and said, “I assure you that there were no fractures.”

You can read the entire disturbing transcript of this absurd circus on Deadspin, but it’s easy enough to see what went down in during that meeting. Hardy and his attorney’s sat down and told the NFL that Holder injured herself by falling down in a bathtub after brutally attacking Hardy because she’s a slut and wanted his money, and the NFL didn’t respond, “You’ve got to be bleeping me, right?”

Is there really any other response to the claims that Hardy and his disgusting lawyers made that day?

Packers to start James Starks over Eddie Lacy:

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy isn’t having the kind of season he or the Pack want him to have, and it looks like the Packers have decided to let Lacy take a back seat to the speedier James Starks.

While Mike McCarthy says Starks has earned the larger role, don’t expect Lacy to just disappear. Almost every team in the NFL relies heavily on at least two running backs, and McCarthy says he doesn’t necessarily buy into the idea of riding one back all season long.

“I would say that James is our No.1 back right now going into Detroit,” McCarthy explained Wednesday. “He’s played very well. He’s earned that opportunity. I’ve never been, and we talked about this a number of times in the past, I’m not a big believer in just riding one running back the whole season. We’ll stay with the one-two punch.”

Perhaps this will be a motivator for Lacy, whose weight has been a concern, and doesn’t seem to have the same kind of burst that he’s had in previous years.

The Packers move isn’t shocking, as the team is looking for a way to rebound from back to back losses to the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers, and Lacy’s production is way down.

The former second-round pick ran for over 1,000 yards each of the last two seasons, but has just 308 half way through the Packers schedule. Lacy ran for 4.1 yards per carry as a rookie, and then 4.6 yards per attempt a season ago, but has managed to pick up just 3.7 yards per carry this year.

The Packers likely won’t have much trouble against Detroit this weekend, but if the Packers want to once again be considered favorites in the NFC, they’ll have to hope that James can provide a spark in the running game. Awful pun intended.

Rex Ryan returning to New York:

When the NFL schedule was released, there probably weren’t many people who thought that the Buffalo Bills against the New York Jets would be one of the better games on the schedule. However, there are probably even fewer people who wouldn’t want to see what it’s like when Rex Ryan takes the field as the opposing head coach at the Meadowlands when Ryan brings his Bills in to face the Jets Thursday night.

Ryan didn’t wait until game time to start the fun, as he named IK Enemkpali to get things started. While many of Ryan’s ex-players have positive memories of their time with Ryan, it will be interesting to see how the fans react when Ryan hits the field.

Ryan is brash and sometimes his players likely roll their eyes at some of his bold statements, but they knew he believe in them, and that belief made guys want to play for him. Long-time NFL vet Calvin Pace explained that you could tell Ryan was genuine, and that’s very important when you’re asking guys to sacrifice their bodies for you.

“Rex will always hold a special place in my heart because of the success we had, the teams we had,” Pace said. “A lot of people see the bravado, the things that he said. That was just him. That wasn’t an act. I always respected him because he believed in his players, no matter who we put out there.”

It seems Ryan is still trying to build that kind of atmosphere in Buffalo. Earlier this year some players complained that they didn’t believe the defensive schemes were putting them in the best position to succeed. You didn’t hear that kind of thing coming out of the Jets during his time with the team. Ryan is still trying to get that kind of buy-in happening in Buffalo, and a victory over the Jets would go a long way in bringing his Bills back into the playoff race. If nothing else, it would give Ryan the victory you know he wants as badly as any on the Bills schedule this season.