As previously discussed, Kentwan Balmer was excused recently from the team to deal with some personal issues. The team was under the impression it was related to family stuff and NOT the NCAA issues we've heard about.
However, as of today, Kentwan Balmer is officially AWOL - absent without leave (thus I moved smileyman's concussion post back an hour for this post). The team has let Balmer know his absence is unexcused and are reportedly starting to fine him as an absent player. At this point I don't think any of use can say one way or the other whether this is a boneheaded play on the part of Balmer. We don't know what the family issues are so in regards to that, let's try not to judge the man too much at this point in time. Once the reasons come out (and they generally always come out eventually), we can respond accordingly.
In the meantime, this just means more practice time for a guy like Khalif Mitchell and Ray McDonald. I've always been a big McDonald fan, so hopefully if he can stay healthy, this will provide him an opportunity to really compete for more playing time.