The NFL will hold him to his word.The league suspended the Cleveland Browns running back for eight games on Friday for two “physical altercations Darren Fells Jersey ,” one in which Hunt shoved and kicked a woman in a hotel hallway while he played for Kansas City.Hunt will not be eligible to play until November as part of his penalty for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. The 23-year-old, who quickly became a star player with the Chiefs before his conduct prompted the team to cut him during a Super Bowl push last season, will not be paid during the half-season suspension, which will be lifted on Aug. 31. He can practice and will be eligible to play in Cleveland’s preseason games.Hunt will not appeal the league’s findings, which came following an investigation into the hotel incident and a fight in June at Put-In-Bay island, a resort area in Ohio.“I want to again apologize for my actions last year,” Hunt said in a statement released by the Browns. “I know that my behavior hurt a lot of people, and I again apologize to them. I respect the league’s decision on discipline, and I appreciate the time I spent with Commissioner Goodell last week. I’m grateful for my time with the Browns over the last month and thankful to all the people in the organization that have welcomed me.“I also appreciate all of the support I received from my union through this process. My commitment to earning the trust of the league, my teammates T. J. Carrie Color Rush Jersey , the organization and this community through my actions will continue, and I understand there is a lot of hard work ahead of me before I’m able to fully return to playing the game I love.”The league recently completed its investigation that included a review of law enforcement records, video and electronic communications and interviews with witnesses as well as Hunt.In November, surveillance video taken in February in a Cleveland hotel where Hunt stayed during the offseason. The disturbance involved several people, and Hunt was seen shoving the woman before kicking her as she scrambled to get off the floor. Police investigated but the woman did not file charges against Hunt.The disturbing images drew a public outcry and resulted in the Chiefs cutting ties with one of their top players in the final month of the regular season. Hunt later admitted lying to the Chiefs about the situation.Hunt was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list and missed Kansas City’s final five games. His career appeared at a crossroads before the Browns, at the prompting of general manager John Dorsey, signed Hunt in February. Dorsey drafted Hunt while he was in Kansas City and felt the Ohio native was contrite and deserved a second chance.NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told The Associated Press the league inquired about a third matter involving Hunt. In January 2017, a man alleged that Hunt and a teammate assaulted him in a Kansas City nightclub. McCarthy said Hunt will not be disciplined for that.In recent months, Hunt has been receiving counseling and assured Goodell he “accepts responsibility for his conduct and the discipline that has been imposed,” the league said. “He has committed to take advantage of available resources to help him grow personally and as a member of the Cleveland community https://www.brownsfanshop.com , and to live up to his obligations as an NFL player.”Dorsey has been unwavering in his support of Hunt.“I know that he has really done a nice job of being committed and of doing that work so that he can be the best version of himself,” Dorsey said Thursday. “I know he has been diligently working on that.”Hunt has been working out at the Browns’ facility in Berea, Ohio, and is scheduled to take part in the team’s offseason program starting April 1.Hunt’s suspension caps a busy week for the Browns, who acquired superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Tuesday in a trade with the New York Giants. Cleveland has also made several other moves in free agency.As a rookie, Hunt led the league in rushing with 1,327 yards, scoring eight touchdowns. He also showed his versatility by catching 53 passes for 455 yards and three TDs. In 11 games last season, he ran for 824 yards and seven touchdowns.Hunt’s arrival has made Browns third-down running back Duke Johnson expendable and the team has considered trading him.Johnson has been a valuable and versatile player since Cleveland drafted him in 2015. He led the team in receptions and yards receiving in 2017, but got fewer chances last season because of rookie Nick Chubb Browns Customized Color Rush Jerseys , who rushed for 996 yards and scored eight TDs. CLEVELAND (AP) — Matt Eberflus has a past with the Browns. Maybe he'll have a future as well.One day after his Indianapolis defense held quarterback Deshaun Watson and Houston's offense to just seven points in an AFC wild-card win, Eberflus became the sixth candidate to interview for Cleveland's open coaching job.The Colts' dominant performance helped Eberflus boost a resume that already included a two-year stint (2009-10) coaching the Browns linebackers on Eric Mangini's staff. The 48-year-old Eberflus met Sunday with Cleveland general manager John Dorsey and other members of the Browns executive staff, which began its search by meeting with interim coach Gregg Williams on New Year's Day.Dorsey and his group have also interviewed New England linebackers coach Brian Flores, New Orleans assistant head coach/tight ends coach Dan Campbell, Minnesota offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski and former Detroit and Colts coach Jim Caldwell. Dorsey said last week that he intended to meet with Browns offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, who was credited with helping rookie Baker Mayfield's development.The Browns have reportedly asked permission to interview Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni, and Dorsey is expected to meet with former Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy.Cleveland has hired coaches who have worked with the team before. Mangini, Romeo Crennel and Rob Chudzinski were all assistants with the Browns before becoming head coaches.Affectionately known as "Floos" by his players, Eberflus was one of the three assistants hired last year by Josh McDaniels, who agreed to become the Colts coach before changing his mind and staying in New England. General manager Chris Ballard promised to keep the new coaches before hiring Frank Reich Cleveland Browns T-Shirts , who didn't know Eberflus. But Reich was convinced to keep him and that decision couldn't have gone better.Eberflus has worked wonders for a defense that underperformed for years. The Colts steadily improved and finished the regular season ranked No. 11 overall in yards and No. 10 in points. Last season, they ranked 30th in both categories.Eberflus also managed to generate a pass rush despite that being a major concern. Also, Indianapolis has forced turnovers in 16 of 17 games.In Saturday's win, the Colts sacked Watson three times, harassed him all game and got one interception.Per league rules, the Browns had to wait until after the Colts played before they could interview Eberflus. If they want to hire him, they can't finalize a contract with him until the Colts' season ends. Indianapolis plays at Kansas City on Jan. 12.

manager Chris Ballard reverted to his old free-agent playbook.He re-signed his own players first.Instead of making a big first-day splash Ryan Kelly Color Rush Jersey , he barely made a ripple on the second day. And he’s probably not finished yet.As the first big wave of free-agency signings were announced Wednesday, Ballard made two under-the-radar moves — re-signing backup cornerback Chris Milton a one-year deal and bringing back starting cornerback Pierre Desir with a three-year deal — before signing former Carolina receiver Devin Funchess to a one-year deal Thursday.It’s all part of the grand plan.“We have a very strict criterion of what we want to bring in,” Ballard said recently. “We want players that want to get better, want to be great, want to be a part of the team, that are willing to sacrifice sometimes their individual stats for the betterment of winning and being a good teammate. If they fit into that criterion, absolutely they’ll fit in.”After taking some risks last season, Ballard is betting on Funchess, Carolina’s second-round pick in 2015. At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, he gives Andrew Luck a bigger receiver than he’s worked with in the past.And if Funchess replicates what he did in 2017, when he caught 63 passes for 840 yards and eight touchdowns, he could emerge as the perfect complement to three Pro Bowl pass-catchers already on the roster: receiver T.Y. Hilton and tight ends Eric Ebron and Jack Doyle.Last year, though, Funchess regressed. He had 44 receptions for 549 yards and four TDs and reinforced his reputation for drops. So Ballard reportedly gave Funchess a $10 million deal that could go up to as much as $13 million.“I think the Colts are a great fit and I think they’re ready to take that next step,” Funchess said Thursday during a conference call. “I think if we win the Super Bowl, everything will take care of itself.”Ballard has made this journey before.A year ago, he gambled on Ebron, the Detroit Lions’ underachieving first-round pick from 2014. Ebron wound up catching more touchdown passes in 2018 than any tight end in the league and made his first Pro Bowl appearance.Every move doesn’t pay off, though. Ballard also signed Ryan Grant, the Washington Redskins’ 2014 fifth-round pick, last year. Indy expected Grant would emerge as the No. 2 receiver. Instead https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Margus-Hunt-Jersey , Grant’s playing time steadily dwindled.Now, Ballard is at it again, this time with Funchess, Carolina’s second-round pick in 2015 — though it’s not a terribly risky move.The Colts went into free agency with the most cap space in the league and if Funchess doesn’t work out, the Colts could let him walk away next year and recoup all of their cap room — just like they did with Grant.But the Colts’ more important moves might have come before free agency opened Wednesday.Kicker Adam Vinatieri, the league’s career scoring leader, signed a one-year deal worth $3.875 million in January. Right guard Mark Glowinski agreed to a three-year, $16.2 million deal in February — a move that keeps Indy’s offensive line intact after allowing a league-low 18 sacks in 2018.Last week, versatile defensive tackle Margus Hunt decided to stay in Indy after the best season of his career. His two-year deal is worth $9 million. On Wednesday, Ballard brought back Desir back for three years at $25 million and Milton, a key backup and special teams player. Desir recorded 79 tackles in 12 starts last season.And Ballard has said he would like to keep oft-injured Clayton Geathers — if he can.“We are going to make some tweaks to our program internally, but our mission will never change,” Ballard said. “Everything we do matters. Our building understands that.” INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Adam Vinatieri sits at one end of the Indianapolis Colts‘ locker room, his expanding white beard nearly a perfect match to his helmet and jersey.He doesn't listen to the hip-hop music in the background, doesn't pretend to understand the shiny, new electronic gadgets everyone else plays with and certainly doesn't pay much attention to the trends outside these walls. Yet in Vinatieri's mind, this is still the perfect spot.Here, in a league known for being traditionally unkind to "old" men, the 46-year-old kicker feels comfortable retelling playoff yarns, discussing union business, even offering informal personal advice to teammates who, in some cases literally come from a different generation. "He seems like he's the same age he was when I first came in here and I guess that's been eight years Peyton Manning Jersey ," left tackle Anthony Castonzo said Thursday. "That's pretty impressive, eight years, going through your early 40s that you don't really seem any older. I'm always impressed with how he's able to hang out with the young guys and be one of the guys despite being old enough to be one of our dads."Sure there are increasing signs of Vinatieri's advancing age.In addition to the graying hairs, his oldest son, A.J., served as a ball boy at training camp last summer. Vinatieri's nephew, Chase, recently completed his junior season at South Dakota State, where the elder Vinatieri also played. The league's oldest active player now co-owns an IndyCar developmental series race team with Dr. Jack Miller, a neighbor and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter.Make no mistake: Vinatieri is not gearing up for life after football just yet.If given the chance, he says he'd like to play 10 more years and if he continues outperforming guys half his age, he just might continue a record-breaking career that doesn't seem to be slowing down.In September, he passed Morten Andersen for the most career field goals in NFL history. A month later, he supplanted Andersen as the league's career scoring leader. Last week he joined Andersen, the late George Blanda and John Carney as the only players to appear in an NFL game after turning 46.And if things go as planned in Saturday's wild-card game at Houston (11-5), the NFL's career postseason scoring leader would take the first step toward joining former teammate Tom Brady and Hall of Fame pass rusher Charles Haley as the only players to win five Super Bowl rings."There's nothing like having the opportunity and being one of those teams still fighting to get into the Super Bowl," Vinatieri said earlier this week. "Every team starts the season with that goal and the ultimate goal is still out there in front of us."It's been a long slog back to the postseason for the greatest clutch kicker in league history.After making the playoffs in 11 of his first 15 pro seasons, Vinatieri's Colts failed to qualify four times in the next seven years, including three straight following a loss to the dreaded New England Patriots, Vinatieri's former team, in the 2014 AFC championship game.Twice during that span, the Colts changed general managers and coaches Al Woods Color Rush Jersey , and there were two major roster overhauls. Vinatieri survived both and is one of four active players left from Indy's last playoff appearance.Things didn't look any better when the Colts were 1-5. But Vinatieri helped spur a historic midseason turnaround as the Colts won nine of their last 10 to claim the AFC's final playoff spot by beating Tennessee and coach Mike Vrabel, one of Vinatieri's ex-teammates.Vinatieri celebrated by jogging off the field, pumping his fist like he had just made the postseason for the first time.Not surprisingly, first-year coach Frank Reich, who once played against Vinatieri, asked his most experienced player to give some insight to the playoff newbies."He just said, I've been in a lot of playoff situations myself and you've had a few more than me," Vinatieri said, describing the exchange. "Is there anything that you think needs to be shared? I think that's pretty awesome."He could have used his rings as props or punched in a highlight reel showing the two field goals he made in the snow to jump-start the Patriots' dynasty; the two Super Bowl-winning kicks; or the five kicks he made in Baltimore to keep the Colts' 2006 title hopes alive.Instead, Vinatieri delivered a simple message he learned long ago from Hall of Fame coaches Bill Parcells and Tony Dungy as well as Bill Belichick: If you try to do too much, your next loss could be your last.Especially at Vinatieri's age."There are no guarantees for any of us that there's a next day, a next year, anything. I've kind of always prepared myself thinking that way," he said. "There are no guarantees, and when you get to my age, you're absolutely right, your days are numbered."NOTES: Reich said receiver Ryan Grant (toe) and defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis (knee) would not play Saturday. He does expect T.Y. Hilton (ankle), a four-time Pro Bowl receiver, and center Ryan Kelly (stinger) to start. … Indy re-signed cornerback Jalen Collins to the practice squad and released defensive end Anthony Winbush on Thursday.

targets for his offensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers are now off-limits. So what now?We’re closing in on a week since LaFleur was brought aboard as the Packers’ next head coach Ray Nitschke Jersey White , and in that time he has yet to hire an assistant coach from outside Green Bay. Retaining Mike Pettine as defensive coordinator was one of the first decisions, but with Monken unavailable and no word yet on Nathaniel Hackett, he’ll have his work cut out for him in the coming days and weeks.In the meantime, more Packers assistants could be on their way out. James Campen is gone, headed for Cleveland with Monken. Joe Whitt got the axe on Friday. Now, another key defensive assistant is rumored to be a target of another team, though his hiring timeline will likely depend on the result of the AFC Championship on Sunday afternoon.As a result, expect plenty more rumors and news to bounce around this week as LaFleur continues to work on assembling his staff. With draft prep season getting underway — the Shrine Game takes place on Saturday with the Senior Bowl the following week — there’s no time to waste.Matt LaFleur always pushing to ‘stay one step ahead’ | Packers.comFor a team whose players cited complacency and a lack of accountability as issues that needed to be fixed by the next head coach, LaFleur certainly seems to be a good fix. He does multiple things out of the same formations to avoid being predictable, and he's always looking to adapt his approach to the players who are on his roster and who are available on Sundays.Packers could lose defensive assistant Patrick Graham to Dolphins | Packers WireGraham came to Green Bay from New England a year ago and served as the team's defensive run game coordinator. With Brian Flores likely to get the head coaching job in Miami, signs point to Graham rejoining his old colleague, potentially as defensive coordinator.Jets WR coach Karl Dorrell emerges as possible addition to LaFleur staff | Packers NewsDorrell is viewed as a likely candidate for the same WR job as he occupied in New York, rather than offensive coordinator. Still, he has a Shanahan connection, working for Mike in Denver, hiring Kyle at UCLA, and working for Gary Kubiak in Houston.Packers interested in Dolphins special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi | Packers WireMeanwhile, the Packers are trying to interview a Dolphins coach as a potential replacement for Ron Zook. Rizzi interviewed for Miami's head coaching job but apparently won't get it.NFL's top 4 scoring teams reach conference title games - NFL.comYes, the Packers' defense struggled in 2018; however, this trend can help explain why the team still went with an offensive-minded coach to get Rodgers and company back to elite status.Taysom Hill’s fake punt vs. Eagles helped send Saints to NFC Championship - SBNation.comWe won't even discuss the Hill factor here. Let's just be impressed by the fact that the Saints ran a fake up the gut against an Eagles unit that was ready for the fake and had several defensive starters on the field -- and New Orleans still got it.Bizarre Ear Condition Makes Woman Unable to Hear Men's Voices | NewsweekI suspect that plenty of women would be perfectly happy if they woke up with this condition Aaron Rodgers Jersey White , which made this person unable to hear low frequencies. The disdain and dysfunctional between Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy was no state secret. We won’t know if these issues uncovered intractable problems until we see Rodgers with a new coach."Aaron Rodgers thought he knew better than a coach that players, coaches, and personnel people inside and outside of the Green Bay Packers organization believed had lost his touch. Where’s the controversy? Why is anyone sure this will be a problem for Matt LaFleur? In Tyler Dunne’s opus for Bleacher Report on the divide between Mike McCarthy and his star quarterback, nearly every source provided damning criticisms of McCarthy. Whether it was not showing up to a meeting to get a massage in his office, failing to push the offense forward, or not calling plays effectively, it’s hard to find defenders of the former head coach, even amidst criticism of the quarterback who reportedly grew to resent and despise him. Reports of playcalling questions from the players go back to the early 2010’s, but the issues of complacency reared their heads more recently. McCarthy, in an interview with ESPN, went out of his way to defend himself from those allegations, but the front office put it on the record they contributed to his firing. Players in the organization, including leaders like David Bakhtiari, openly criticized the lack of accountability within the franchise. So if Rodgers, a Hall of Fame quarterback emboldened to change plays at the line of scrimmage, is doing what he was given the freedom to do, who really cares? He changed plays because he thought McCarthy called bad plays. In a vacuum, that’s not a huge deal. Simply being ‘Not Mike McCarthy’ could be enough to reinvigorate Rodgers. He took hard coaching from Jeff Tedford at Cal, desperately asked to be coached a few years ago, and seemed genuinely delighted to have Joe Philbin at the helm at the end of the season. This all might be as simple as Rodgers didn’t respect McCarthy. In retrospect Womens Ray Nitschke Jersey , wanting to “be coached” may have been code for “I want to be coached by someone I respect.” It was an indictment of McCarthy above all else. Sports Illustrated previously reported a tension within the team that festered due to a push-pull between the two figureheads over who was running the show. Rodgers didn’t trust McCarthy to do it, while McCarthy felt he should be in charge. He’s the coach, after all. It turns out, the Packers decided McCarthy shouldn’t be in charge. Rodgers was right. The question once again becomes: where is the issue with Rodgers? A quarterback is under no obligation to fix a fissure with his head coach, one he doesn’t respect and on whom the team actively quit multiple times in the last two years. You can’t blame Rodgers for what happened in 2017. The players quickly realized Brett Hundley was a zero and they didn’t believe the head coach could put him a position to succeed, nor had he properly coached the backup to be ready for this opportunity. None of this is to say Rodgers is blameless. It’s possible he never gave McCarthy a chance, that the slight from not picking him No. 1 overall when he was with the 49ers was a wound that couldn’t be healed. But early in his career, it didn’t manifest on the field. Rodgers made quick decisions, flinging the ball around the yard with alacrity in a way we’ve never seen. Rodgers and the offense soared with tremendous supporting talent. Beyond the criticisms from known Rodgers cynics Jermichael Finley and Greg Jennings, what are the substantive criticisms of the quarterback? That he’s arrogant? Has anyone met Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger or Philip Rivers? Finley recently complained that Rodgers didn’t like him because he didn’t practice hard or run the right routes. How devastating. Jennings was upset Rodgers suggested another team should sign him in the offseason. How many other receivers have opposite visions of Rodgers? Maybe we should ask his best friend Jordy Nelson, or Randall Cobb, who made Rodgers a groomsman at his wedding. Or James Jones, who is still close enough with Rodgers he broke the quarterback’s massive new mega-deal story. Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison have the trust of their quarterback. So do Jimmy Graham and Aaron Jones. If the problem was McCarthy for Rodgers, LaFleur should be able to turn this around. Rodgers has critics inside and outside the locker room. Not everyone approves of his icy demeanor, his high standards, or his prickly way of handing certainly situations. He’s certainly not blameless in this mess. It’s interesting, however, the best leaders this team has had over the last decade, to a man, effusively praise Rodgers. Charles Woodson Womens Aaron Rodgers Jersey , A.J. Hawk, Julius Peppers, and others loved the way Rodgers held everyone accountable, insisting they had to get to his level.Icing out rookie receivers? Work harder. Davante Adams managed to avoid the ire of his quarterback despite struggles early in his career because he busted his ass. Rodgers called out the 2018 rookie class in training camp for not practicing up to NFL standards. It takes time to develop a rapport and chemistry with Rodgers because he has to know you give a shit like he does. Adams did. Guys like Woodson, Hawk, Nelson and Cobb, they did too. If your quarterback has high standards, that ought to trickle down to the rest of the team. Rodgers does have to understand how impactful his words are. He has a clean slate to empower this new coach so his team buys in as well. Rodgers’ teammates didn’t trust Mike McCarthy. He didn’t either. Those are certainly related. It’s hard to fault him for believing he was smarter than his coach. He almost certainly is. And most agree his coach failed to do the things necessary to sustain a winning culture. That’s what ultimately cost him his job. Getting him on the same page with these young receivers will be important, although less so if the Packers use a high pick on a tight end and/or a receiver. If Rodgers is so stubborn none of these receivers can ever work out of the doghouse, that’s certainly an issue. That’s what the new head coach is for. Mark Murphy and Brian Gutekunst have to believe they hired a guy who is going to intellectually stimulate Rodgers. Someone who was going to coach him. Was “don’t be a problem” — the comment that Murphy reportedly made to Rodgers when he told him that LaFleur would be the guy — meant as a way of saying “we need you to be on board for this to work”? Or was it an offer of legitimate concern that Rodgers would torpedo this coach’s chances as well? We’ll soon find out. If LaFleur was the right coach and Rodgers is a good soldier, we’ll have solid evidence the problem was truly rooted in a specific interpersonal dispute. If not, there will and should be more questions about Rodgers’ attitude and how deleterious his arrogance is to the on-field play of the Packers. We saw the offense improve under Joe Philbin for stretches, which may be a reason for optimism. Many observers noticed Rodgers appeared to be having significantly more fun playing in the second half of the season. Was it because he was healthier or simply happier with Philbin in charge instead of McCarthy? Either way, LaFleur will be tasked with extracting that same spirit from Rodgers, the one McCarthy had early in his tenure, at least on the field. We won’t know truly how big a problem this rift was until we see Rodgers healthy with a new head coach. The good news is we won’t have to wait much longer. The Packers officially open the 2019 season next week.

Morris Claiborne Jerseys 2019 , the journey in football for former Minnesota Gophers linebacker Blake Cashman is complete.The New York Jets selected Cashman with the 19th pick of the fifth round — 157th overall.More Gophers coverageFormer Gophers LB Cashman selected by Jets in fifth roundGophers to play Western Illinois in 2022SCSU’s Poehling gets hat trick, shootout winner in NHL debutRichard Pitino agrees to two-year extension with GophersCoffey declares for 2019 NBA draft, but door remains open for return to GophersA product of Eden Prairie High School, Cashman won four straight state titles with the Eagles from 2011-14. He then walked on at the University of Minnesota and immediately contributed, tallying four special-team tackles in 13 games as a freshman and then leading the team with 7.5 sacks the following season.Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck awarded him a scholarship entering his junior year.In all, Cashman logged 183 total tackles, 31 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and six passes defensed for the Gophers from 2015-18. Experts gave Cashman a decent chance of making an NFL roster in 2019 White Josh McCown Jerseys , but his stock soared after an impressive performance at the NFL combine.Cashman ranked in the top five among linebackers in four different categories. He tied for third in the broad jump (10 feet, four inches) and placed fourth in 40-yard dash (4.50 seconds), fourth in 20-yard short shuttle (4.12 seconds) and fifth in the vertical jump (37.5 inches).Cashman joins a core of linebackers in New York that includes four-time Pro Bowler C.J. Mosley, who signed a five-year deal in free agency this offseason. As a veteran of 16 NFL seasons who spent two of those years with the Baltimore Ravens, Ben Watson is well versed in the hard-nosed history of that team."It was an impression that was made upon me playing against those guys when I was here," the 38-year-old tight end, who is in his second stint in New England, said Wednesday."Playing against them several times here as a Patriot (from 2004-2009) Josh McCown Jerseys 2019 , even in Cleveland playing against them two times a year (from 2010-2012) and then obviously being there in the building, there's definitely a lot of pride that comes from how they play defense. And again, you look at this organization, a tough, smart team, they do a lot of those same things there."Watson's career has taken him from New England to Cleveland to New Orleans (2013-2015) to Baltimore (2016-2017) back to New Orleans (2018) and now back to New England again.After missing the 2016 season with a torn Achilles suffered in the preseason, Watson returned in 2017 to lead the Ravens in receptions with 61 for 522 yards and four touchdowns while appearing in all 16 games.On Sunday night at Baltimore, he will suit up against the Ravens (5-2) for the Patriots (8-0) in a matchup of AFC division leaders.When he looks at the 2019 Ravens White Terrence Brooks Jerseys , Watson sees the legacy of past Baltimore defenses that featured Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs."You see a lot of guys who learned under those players," Watson said. "That mentality is passed down. That mentality is something unique to the city of Baltimore but also to the organization. They pride themselves in playing really tough, hard-nosed defense. Those guys aren't there, but the head coach (John Harbaugh) is obviously still there and just the mentality is there that they want to be a team that can run the football and a team that can stop the run."Last Sunday, playing in just his second game of the season after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy and being released and re-signed by the Patriots, Watson caught one pass for 26 yards. He also took on a new role, occasionally lining up at fullback while participating in 48 of the team's 69 offensive snaps in a 27-13 win over the Cleveland Browns."It was one of those things where you're called to do a lot of different things on this team and you do your best at it Terrence Brooks Jerseys 2019 , and that's what I did," Watson said.Watson, who has 534 career receptions, wouldn't be averse to filling such a role in the backfield in the future, particularly in a goal-line situation."Now that would be great," said Watson. "We'll have to talk to Josh (offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels) about that. But if I'm in there on the goal line I will plead my case to get the ball inside the 1. I don't want to take too many hits."NEW KICKERThe Patriots announced the signing of 34-year-old kicker Nick Folk to take the place of Mike Nugent, who was released on Tuesday.Folk has appeared in 154 regular season games and converted 245 of 305 field-goal attempts and 342 of 346 extra-point attempts for 1,077 points over 11 seasons with Dallas White Josh Martin Jerseys , the New York Jets and Tampa Bay. He hasn't kicked in the NFL since 2017, when he was with the Buccaneers for four games.Veteran Stephen Gostkowski was placed on IR by the Patriots on Oct. 2. Nugent was 5 of 8 on field goals and 15 of 16 on PATs in four games with the team.

or losing their jobs just two weeks into the season Infant Ryan Connelly Jersey , it's no stretch to wonder who's next.The list already is way too long and includes some surprises. Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger hardly ever miss a game, yet Brees is out until sometime in November with thumb damage, and Big Ben is done for the year with an elbow injury. Both required surgery.Nick Foles' season was shortened in Week 1 for Jacksonville. The Jets' Darnold contracted mononucleosis and probably won't be back until mid-October, and his sub, Trevor Siemian, tore angle ligaments on a brutal tackle by Cleveland's Myles Garrett.Cam Newton's status is dicey because he has aggravated a mid-foot sprain. And don't forget that Andrew Luck retired from the Colts in the preseason after an accumulation of injuries.At least Eli Manning didn't have anything hurt except perhaps his feelings when he was benched Tuesday in favor of his heir apparent, first-round draft pick Daniel Jones.Is being sidelined an epidemic among quarterbacks? Well, in 2018, the Eagles, Redskins, Panthers, Buccaneers, 49ers, Cardinals, Titans, Jaguars, Dolphins, Ravens, Bengals, Browns and Jets used backups at various times.Several were because of poor performances by the starters. Others, like with the Giants and Jones Ryan Connelly Jersey Draft , were getting the future into the present on the field.But Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina, San Francisco, Tennessee, Cincinnati and New York made switches because of injuries. The Panthers probably wish they had shelved Newton and his ailing throwing shoulder much earlier than they did as they dropped seven straight after a 6-2 first-half record.With quarterback by far the key position on offense in the current NFL, here's a look at how each team that was forced into or decided to make a change might deal with the situation.SAINTSLosing a certain Hall of Famer such as Brees is a monstrous hit, yet the Saints might be in better shape than the other clubs whose No. 1 is on the sidelines. Teddy Bridgewater, while not the same QB he was before a massive knee injury cost him basically two seasons, is a quality backup. Sean Payton will adjust the offense as need be, he has Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas to aid Bridgewater, and the New Orleans defense is gritty.No, shootouts such as New Orleans fans are accustomed to won't fit the Saints without Brees. But the NFC South isn't looking too formidable, and Bridgewater should be able to keep the team in the playoff conversation until Brees returns.STEELERSLast year, Pittsburgh was quite high on Josh Dobbs as Roethlisberger's backup. Then second-year pro Mason Rudolph beat out Dobbs, who then was traded to Jacksonville after Foles went down.Rudolph is inexperienced, but looked comfortable enough after replacing Big Ben in last Sunday's loss to Seattle. He's athletic enough, will operate behind a usually solid line and has JuJu Smith-Schuster as his game breaker. But to expect a lot against the unbeaten 49ers on the road, the stingy Ravens at home and the Chargers in LA before their bye week is unfair.JAGUARSFoles was the best backup quarterback in the league while in Philadelphia, one of the rare No. 2s to guide his team to a Super Bowl title. He parlayed it into a massive contract to solve the Jags' quarterback quandary. That didn't last a full game, and Jacksonville has turned things over to rookie Gardner Minshew Ryan Connelly NFL Jersey , the 178th selection in the draft. Expect more pain — these of the growing kind.JETSLike the Jags, the J-E-T-S thought they had solved their quarterback woes when they drafted Darnold third overall in 2018. He struggled early in his rookie campaign, but came on after missing three starts with a foot problem. With new coach Adam Gase, a supposed QB guru, Darnold's 2019 looked bright.Now, he's looking at recovering from a strength-sapping disease that can take months to completely shake.Siemian was signed for similar scenarios, and he might have been a good choice. We won't know after Garrett's hit.So Luke Falk takes over. His "claim to fame" might be he preceded Minshew in Mike Leach's pass-first attack at Washington State.PANTHERSNewton suddenly has become brittle, leaving do-everything RB Christian McCaffrey as the only real weapon, and defenses are wise to that. Untested Kyle Allen steps in, and the Panthers (0-2) might be able to rekindle their deep passing game that basically has disappeared with Newton.Carolina's best chance to stay relevant is based on stud LB Luke Kuechly and the defense resembling the unit that helped carry the team to the 2015 NFC championship.GIANTSCoach Pat Shurmur felt the most accomplished quarterback in franchise history couldn't be a winner this year, so it makes sense to try the sixth overall draft pick, Jones. Shurmur almost certainly recognizes his job security faded with each loss behind Manning. At least if Shurmur can make progress with Jones, the coach could be around beyond this season.Meanwhile, Giants fans screaming for the kid to play have their wish. And Giants fans still screaming at taking Jones so high in the draft will likely make rash and rushed opinions about him. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — They were long-time teammates and champions on the New York Giants‘ Super Bowl team in February 2012.Eli Manning and Jason Pierre-Paul will add a new dimension to their eight-year friendship Sunday when the Giants (2-7) host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6) at MetLife Stadium.They’ll be opponents for the first time.As he has been the past 15 seasons, Manning will be quarterback for the Giants. Pierre-Paul will be playing defensive end for Tampa Bay in his first game at the Meadowlands since New York traded him to the Bucs in March to clear salary-cap space.Pierre-Paul has had this date checked since the schedule was announced.“Eli is Eli, man. I know one thing: If he’s hot, he’s going to continue being hot,” Pierre-Paul said of Manning, who took some heat off himself by throwing three touchdown passes and engineering a late TD drive in the Giants’ win over San Francisco last Monday night. “We’ve got to get after him early and he knows I’m coming. I’m coming Eli, I’m coming. Just letting you know.”Pierre-Paul didn’t get the best sendoff after the trade. Not many teammates called him Ryan Connelly NFL Draft , although Manning did.“He’s a leader. I actually learned this from him, he comes in every morning real early,” said Pierre-Paul, who has eight sacks this season, two less than the entire Giants team. “He started that as a rookie. He never changed. Eli’s a great guy. But I ain’t falling asleep on him. That’s for sure.”Manning laughed saying, he hopes JPP takes it easy on him.“He’s getting a lot of sacks and making plays,” Manning said. “I expect him to be fired up. Hopefully we’ve got a game plan for him, and make sure we try to control him.”Here are five things to watch Sunday:CONTROLLING PIERRE-PAULThe Giants’ offensive line, which added waiver-wire pickup Jamon Brown at right guard, had one of its better performances Monday. Manning, who has been sacked 32 times, was taken down once. Left tackle Nate Solder will probably go against Pierre-Paul most of the time.Since Pierre-Paul lines up at different spots, right tackle Chad Wheeler also will go against him. Expect a tight end or a running back to chip him.EXPLOSIVE OFFENSETampa Bay has the NFL’s top-ranked passing attack and is also No. 1 in total offense. With 3,251 yards passing, the Bucs have thrown for the second-most yards through the first nine games of a season in NFL history behind the 2000 St. Louis Rams (3,330).They’ve had over 500 yards total offense four times this season, but are 1-3 in those games, including last week’s loss to Washington. Turnovers are the biggest reason. They are a league-worst minus-19 and have gone six consecutive games without a takeaway.CLASSMATESTampa Bay’s Mike Evans and New York’s Odell Beckham Jr. were part of an outstanding class of rookie receivers who entered the NFL in 2014. The group included Brandin Cooks, Jarvis Landry, Devante Adams, Sammy Watkins Ryan Connelly Buffalo Bills Jersey , Allen Robinson, Jordan Matthews, John Brown and Kelvin Benjamin. Evans (5,416) and Beckham (5,282) rank 1-2 among the class in career yards receiving, while Beckham is first with 42 TD catches, followed by Evans with 36. Beckham has 24 100-yard receiving games, tops in the class. Evans is next at 17.LACK OF PRESSUREThe Giants have 10 sacks. Rookies Lorenzo Carter and B.J. Hill lead with two apiece. The Bucs had allowed 26 sacks, but they also throw the ball an average of 41 times.“We’ve got to find a way to get some more pressure,” Giants defensive coordinator James Bettcher said. “We’ve got to win some more 1-on-1s, we’ve got to beat the back when we get on the back in protection. If we get a free runner, we’ve got to time up our pressures a little bit better. We had a couple of those this past week when our timing just wasn’t good enough. We were a little late in the pressures and we’ve got to clean that up, and play better on third down.”A RETURNMANThe Giants seemingly have found someone to return kickoffs. Corey Coleman handled the job for the first time in his NFL career, averaging almost 31 yards on three returns.Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey was confident the 15th overall pick in the 2016 draft (Cleveland) could handle the job after being signed to the practice squad on Oct. 18. He had been waived by the Patriots.“He did it in college,” McGaughey said. “That’s part of our job as coaches, we’ve got to do our research. I worked with Art Briles, so I always followed Baylor kind of closely so I knew about him and I knew about his past. Kid can run.”

If I were to bet on it Adrian Amos Jersey , I’d say the Packers will move off at least one of their selections in the first round at 12 and 30."The Green Bay Packers are well-known for being active trade partners in the NFL Draft in recent years. Former general manager Ted Thompson earned the nickname “Trader Ted” for his frequent moves up and down the draft board. Whether moving out of the first round, as he did multiple times, or sneaking back into round one to grab Clay Matthews, Ted was always looking to find the best opportunities to improve the Packers’ roster on draft weekend.Last year, new GM Brian Gutekunst was active in his own right, particularly early on. After moving back from 14 to 28 in round one, adding an extra first-round pick for 2019, he climbed back up the board to nab cornerback Jaire Alexander with the 18th pick. He then moved up again back into round three to draft linebacker Oren Burks at 88 overall.This year, armed with ten picks — multiple selections in rounds one, four, and six — Gutekunst seems a sure bet to make some moves once again. While it looks unlikely that he will move up from 12, the Packers definitely could try to get back into the late teens or early twenties by packaging the 30th and 75th picks. Then, with a pair of fourths, they could make a play to get back into the latter part of day two.Or how about moving back from 12 a bit, adding some ammunition on day two, and using that to climb up again from 30? It’s all fluid, but in today’s curds, we’ll look at some trade possibilities for next Thursday’s first round, several of which involve the Packers.Who’s the next budding star to pair with Davante Adams? | Packers.comI'm still putting my money on Geronimo Allison to continue the progress he made early last season and have a big breakout year.Packers clearly in the business of upgrading their offensive line | Packersnews.comAs one probably can tell from our decision to pick a lineman for the Packers in the SB Nation Mock Draft yesterday, we agree that the offensive line needs help in this year's draft. The good news is that there should be some good ones available in the first two days of the draft, and if Brian Gutekunst doesn't use one of his first three picks on a lineman, we'll be very surprised.All-Trades 2019 NFL Mock Draft - Bill Barnwell proposes 32 wild deals | ESPNThis is a little crazy DeShone Kizer Jersey , but it posits some trade-down and trade-up options for the Packers. One spot area where they could move up is from 30 to 17, especially if the Giants do grab a quarterback with the 6th pick.NFL schedule 2019: 8 matchups that deserve their own bowl games - SBNation.comObviously, the Packers-Chiefs week 8 game is on this list. There are some other good ones here too, though.NFLPA to Tom Coughlin: Current workouts voluntary - NFL.comCoughlin expressed some displeasure with the fact that a few of the Jaguars did not show up for the start of workouts. Of course, the player's union reminded him that everything between now and minicamp is voluntary, and players are well within their rights to skip the current phase of the program.Botched NFL Draft pick announcements: A running list of the best ever - SBNation.comThese are fun. I had forgotten about the Vince Young screwup. But nothing is worse than the Buccaneers drafting the wrong player in 1982.Florida man arrested for impersonating officer after pulling over undercover detective | WOFLMan pretends to be cop, pulls over real cop, lands in police station. I hope they made him fill out all the paperwork for his own arrest. Green Bay could strike gold with the former Washington linebacker, who would bring a reliable presence on the edge at a significant — but not exorbitant — price tag."Kyler Fackrell. Reggie Gilbert. Kendall Donnerson.Those are the three outside linebackers who are likely to be on the Green Bay Packers’ 90-man roster when free agency begins on March 13th. Clay Matthews is scheduled to be a free agent, and Nick Perry would seem to be a legitimate candidate to be released, likely with a post-June 1st designation. That leaves the aforementioned trio holding down the fort.It goes without saying that the Packers will not and cannot enter training camp in 2019 with those three players making up the entire depth chart at the position. Some combination of draft picks and free agents — both veterans and undrafted rookies — will bolster the unit, providing additional depth and playmaking ability.Based on what will likely be available on the open market and when the Packers are on the clock in the 2019 NFL Draft, the team needs to make a serious run at signing former Washington linebacker Preston Smith.Smith’s gameSmith was a second-round draft pick in 2015 out of Mississippi State, and he’s a perfect size for a large edge rusher at 6-foot-5 and around 260-265 pounds. He has not missed a game in his career, and has started each contest over the last three campaigns. As a rookie, Smith played just under 50% of Washington’s defensive snaps, rotating in and out of the lineup with Trent Murphy. In that time, however, he recorded an impressive eight sacks, including three forced fumbles. His sack total dipped to 4.5 in his second year, despite an uptick in playing time to 70%, but his QB hit total and tackle totals both increased. His most productive season as a pass-rusher was in 2017 Tramon Williams Jersey , when he recorded eight sacks again and registered 21 hits before seeing those numbers drop a bit to four and 16 last season.Those numbers won’t leap off the page like the double-digit sack seasons posted by players like Dee Ford, but they certainly suggest that Smith can continue improving. His age — he will turn 27 in November — suggests the same.NFL.com even mentioned Smith as a good fit for the Packers on Thursday:As always, take PFF ratings with a grain of salt. Still, this indicates that he is an excellent all-around player, able to hold up against the run equally as well as he rushes the passer. This is of course critical for a Packers defense that finished 23rd in rushing DVOA and was particularly gashed on the edges, finishing 31st or 32nd on DVOA for runs outside the tackles.Finally, Smith has played primarily on the left side of the defense in Washington. This is notable since Kyler Fackrell lined up mostly on the right side. It is not uncommon for pass-rushers to switch sides, but it’s worth noting that neither player would have to move to a different spot in the starting lineup compared to what they’re used to.Smith’s asking priceAs always, price is a consideration. The Packers currently have an estimated $35 million in salary cap space, per Over the Cap’s estimates. Cutting Perry as a post-June 1st release won’t free up any more room for the spring, but it would add nearly $11 million to the team’s cap room in June; therefore, the Packers could feasibly use up a big chunk of that $35 million in free agency before using the extra cap space freed up by releasing Perry to help sign the rookie draft class and give the team more wiggle room heading into the summer. In addition, a possible release of Tramon Williams would give the team another $4.75 million to play with, bringing their total space on March 13th to about $40M.Therefore, the Packers could reasonably use $25 million of that $40 million for free agents, leaving $15 million left over with another $11 million coming free in June. Say they re-sign Bashaud Breeland and land the big fish in the safety pond, Earl Thomas, with cap hits around $5 million and $10 million for the first year of their deals, respectively. That still leaves another $10 million to play with — and that should be a good number for Smith.Spotrac estimates his reasonable market value this year at about $11 million per year. Interestingly, they used Nick Perry’s 2017 contract as one of the comparisons, and Smith compares favorably to Perry in most of the comparisons Spotrac uses. Perry’s deal was worth $11.8 million per season for five years; Smith could very well come in right around that mark.Furthermore, there is far less reason to worry about Smith’s availability than there is and was for Perry Jimmy Graham Jersey , who has dealt with numerous minor and major injuries. He has never played all 16 games in a single season, and has missed at least four games in four of his seven years in the league. Smith has never sat out a single game as a pro.In essence, the Packers could free up all the cap space they need to sign Smith by cutting Perry, and they would get a more reliable, available player for about the same price in 2019. What about draft picks?Sure, the Packers should have a set of talented edge rushers to choose from when the 12th pick rolls around. Between Clelin Ferrell, Jachai Polite, Brian Burns, and Montez Sweat, there should be options there. However, bringing in Smith should not preclude the Packers double-dipping by selecting one of these prospects early on; in fact, doing so would allow that player to take some time developing before being asked to take over as a starter.Furthermore, if the Packers were to draft a player like Polite or Burns, that rookie may need to work into the lineup gradually as a situational pass-rusher before being able to hold up as an every-down player. Smith’s ability to defend the run would be invaluable in that case, allowing the team to work a rookie in gradually before becoming an every-down player in 2020, when Fackrell is scheduled to become a free agent.All told, Smith looks to be an excellent combination of value, reliability, and fit for the Packers, and though he will surely demand substantial money, signing him should not require a truly massive contract. That should make him one of the most tantalizing options for the Packers among this year’s free agent pass-rushers.

FLORHAM PARK Quinnen Williams New York Jets Jersey , N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets will be without two key playmakers on offense against the Houston Texans.Starting running back Isaiah Crowell and wide receiver Quincy Enunwa will not play because of injuries that kept them out of practice all week.Crowell, who is dealing with a toe ailment, leads the Jets with 685 yards rushing and six touchdowns. The game Saturday will mark the first the durable running back has missed in his five-year NFL career.“He’s hurt,” coach Todd Bowles said Thursday. “There’s nothing we can do about it. So, we just move on.”Elijah McGuire, who is questionable with an ankle injury, and rookie Trenton Cannon are expected to replace Crowell in the backfield.“It’s a good opportunity,” Bowles said. “They’ve been playing some since they’ve been healthy. … You like what you see, so they get a chance to prove themselves.”Enunwa has been sidelined this week by an ankle injury. He leads the Jets with 38 receptions despite missing two games earlier this season.Rishard Matthews and Deontay Burnett could see increased snaps this week in place of Enunwa.The Jets also announced that backup linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu will also be out with a concussion.Cornerback Trumaine Johnson (sore foot) and linebackers Jordan Jenkins (shoulder/ankle) and Kevin Pierre-Louis (shoulder) are questionable, and Bowles said they are all game-time decisions. Le'Veon Bell will be spared from team discipline after his weekend bowling outing.The New York Jets running back missed the team's 22-21 win Sunday against Miami while continuing to recover from the flu, which kept him out of practice for two days last week. Coach Adam Gase said Tuesday that team doctors determined Bell was still ill Saturday, so the team ruled him out for the game.“He wanted to play," Gase said. “But they told him he was still contagious. They didn't want him around all the other guys because they thought it could spread through the team."Bell was sent home and told to stay away from the team while he recovers — but didn't violate any team rules.“What am I going to discipline him for?” Gase said. “I can't tell him you have to stay in your house."The New York Post reported Monday night that Bell went to a New Jersey-area bowling alley Saturday night and stayed there until it closed around 1 a.m.Bell said Tuesday he had several family members and friends in town to watch him play against the Dolphins, but when he was ruled out for the game Saturday doctors told him to get out of the house and get his body moving a little. So, he and his friends and family went bowling — and Bell is surprised his night out at the alley became a story.“Oh Red Quinnen Williams Jersey , yeah, I am, for real," Bell said. “The bigger surprise was I rolled a 251 off the flu. That's the bigger surprise — a career high."Bell said he lost 8 or 9 pounds from the illness, but is feeling a lot better and expects to play Thursday night at Baltimore.“Yeah, he better," Gase said. “We're out of guys."That's because running back Bilal Powell is also dealing with the flu and left the game against Miami during the winning drive with an ankle injury that was expected to keep him off the field Tuesday.“It's serious enough where if he didn't have the flu, he probably wouldn't play," Gase said.Powell ran for 74 yards, a team high this season, on 19 carries in Bell's absence. Ty Montgomery had 31 yards on nine attempts. Josh Adams is the only other running back on the roster.Gase said he would have preferred Bell stayed home Saturday night and continued recovering, and acknowledged that the running back being out in public and bowling just hours after being ruled out for the game the next morning because of an illness was bad optics.“Yeah,” Gase said with a slight laugh, “I would say so."Gase spoke to Bell later Tuesday about the situation, and Bell said he could see there being an issue if he had been cleared to play Sunday and still went out Saturday night. Gase pointed out to him that people could still see his actions and take them the wrong way.“That's the only thing where I wish I wasn't seen doing it 2019 Quinnen Williams Jersey ," Bell said. “But, I don't feel bad about what I did, and I didn't break any rules. I wasn't a distraction — until now — that you all saw me bowling, so that's it."Bell was medically cleared and rejoined his Jets teammates Monday night for the team's weightlifting and walk-through sessions.His first season with the Jets has been underwhelming statistically. He has rushed for just 589 yards and 3.2 yards per carry, which is a career low. He has 55 catches for 403 yards coming out of the backfield, but has not added the dynamic presence that was expected when he signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with New York in March that included $35 million guaranteed.Bell acknowledged that he doesn't believe he has had the opportunity to thrive in Gase's offense so far this season.“Honestly, no," Bell said. “I think that's just being in a new system, new guys up front, a new coaching staff. I'm with a new organization, so everything kind of takes time. I understand that. That's why I'm always trying to stay patient.“But, honestly, no. I feel like when I do, I'll be back to what people are used to seeing."NOTES: S Jamal Adams will be a game-time decision to play Men Quinnen Williams Jersey , Gase said. Adams missed the first game of his NFL career Sunday with a sprained ankle. “If he feels better on game day, tests it out, feels good, I'll let him play, if he's good," Gase said. ... Gase said Adams, Powell, TE Ryan Griffin (ankle), CB Brian Poole (concussion), WR Demaryius Thomas (hamstring/knee), CB Arthur Maulet (calf), OL Chuma Edoga (knee) and DL Quinnen Williams (neck) would all sit out if the team had a full practice Tuesday. With the short week, the Jets had a walk-through.—-

in order to feel like you still have a chance in the division.”That’s Michael Strahan Womens Deandre Baker Jersey , legendary, New York Giants Hall of Fame defensive end, on the importance of Thursday night’s NFC East at MetLife Stadium against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.This game is absolutely the season-defining one for the Giants. This game will determine whether or not the Giants can be competitive in the mediocre NFC East or if they will simply spend the rest of the season playing out the string and building toward a hopefully brighter future.They know it, with tight end Evan Engram saying Tuesday that players are “well aware” of the standings.Here is Saquon Barkley on tonight’s game:“I think everyone’s goal is to win a Super Bowl and that’s still in play and in my opinion, if you ask me, like you said I think we’re a game behind in the division and I know I haven’t been in the NFL for a long time, but I think if you win your division, you automatically go into the playoffs, so everything like I said before, that coach Shurmur said a couple weeks ago, everything that we want in our season is still there.”Here are your NFC East standings entering tonight’s game:1 - Washington Redskins (2-2)2 - Dallas Cowboys (2-3)3 - Philadelphia Eagles (2-3)4 - New York Giants (1-4)Shurmur told the team’s official website that looking at the standings “just reinforces that you just keep playing because you never know. You never know where this thing is going to go, so you just can’t get down on yourself, you can’t worry about what’s happened in the past. You just keep worrying about getting better and put a winning effort on the field.”Here are five things to watch tonight as the Giants try to make themselves relevant in 2018.Can Olivier Vernon make an impact?The Giants best EDGE player will make his season debut Thursday night Authentic Deandre Baker Jersey , and the Giants desperately need him to give them something. The pass rush has been non-existent for the Giants this season. They have a league-worst six sacks and their Adjusted Sack Rate of 3.6 percent is also last in the league. In the Pro Football Focus grading system, the Giants have the league’s 29th-ranked pass rush score. If the Giants are ever going to generate an impactful pass rush this is a game where it could happen. The Eagles have given up 17 sacks and have an Adjusted Sack Rate allowed of 8.4 percent, worse than the struggling Giants offensive line (16 sacks, 7.8 percent).The Giants have had virtually no pass rush the past two weeks. If that’s the case Thursday night, the Eagles’ struggling offense could get healthy.Dealing with those tight endsEarlier this week, Mark Schofield looked at the myriad ways the Eagles use tight ends in their passing attack. The Eagles have thrown more passes (82) to their tight ends, Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, than any other team in the league. Ertz leads all tight ends with 58 targets.Historically, tight ends have cause the Giants trouble in the passing game. This season, Football Outsiders DVOA ratings actually have the Giants ranked seventh in the league in covering tight ends.Can the Giants control Ertz and Goedert? If they can, that could go a long way toward slowing down the Philadelphia offense.Which offense will we see?Will we see the empty the playbook, get the ball down the field Giants who finally cracked the 30-point barrier Sunday against the Carolina Panthers? Or, will we see the Giants revert to the checkdown-oriented complete a lot of passes that go nowhere team that has been so frustrating to watch.The play of the offensive line vs. and Eagles front that includes Fletcher Cox Deandre Baker Jersey Boys , Michael Bennett, Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett and Chris Long will be critical. The Giants have been improving in pass protection in recent weeks, with coach Pat Shurmur telling the team’s official website they were “much better” in that area vs. the Panthers.The Giants could have advantages in the passing game against the Philadelphia secondary. Brandon Lee Gowton told us that the Giants targeted cornerback Jalen Mills 21 times in Week 3 of last season. They will probably go after Mills again, if Eli Manning is given time.Where the Giants have really struggled is in run blocking. The Giants have the league’s highest number of negative running plays, a stat that needs to change to both keep the Giants on schedule and maximize the talents of Saquon Barkley.Special teamsCan the Giants avoid the Curse of the Game-Ending 60+ yard field goal?” That bit them last year against Jake Elliott and the Eagles (61 yards) and last week when Graham Gano hit a game-ending 63-yarder. Seriously, though, the Giants do have some things on special teams to figure out. Will Odell Beckham Jr. return punts again? Will it be Jawill Davis? Placekicker Aldrick Rosas is apparently good to go after being on the injury report earlier in the week with a sore quad. Those throwback uniformsThis isn’t really a thing to watch as much as it is, in my view, a really cool thing to look at, The Giants will be in all-white throwback uniforms with “Giants” on their helmets rather than the lowercase “ny.” Gotta admit, I love it. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — An outstanding debut by heir apparent Daniel Jones doesn’t make for a quarterback competition for the New York Giants Infant Deandre Baker Jersey , at least for now.Coach Pat Shurmur said Friday that Jones’ perfect passing performance and touchdown throw on his only series in the 31-22 preseason victory over the rival Jets has not caused him to change his belief that 38-year-old Eli Manning is the Giants’ starting quarterback heading into the season.Jones, the sixth pick overall in the draft, clearly had the better game, hitting all five of his passes for 67 yards. He capped his weather-shortened evening with a 12-yard pass to Bennie Fowler III in the right corner of the end zone.Shurmur had planned to use the Duke rookie for another series or two but sat him after the game was suspended for 59 minutes late in the first quarter because of severe weather.Manning, who is entering his 16th season, had a three-and-out series to start the night for the offense. He hit his only pass, a 3-yarder to tight end Scott Simonson on the opening play from scrimmage, but he failed to see a wide-open Rhett Ellison 20 yards downfield on the play.Shurmur noted the performances were in just one game.“Listen, we’re not going to play the ‘what ifs,’ and I would say this: Nothing has changed,” he said. “This is the first game and I expect Daniel to play well, I expect him to go out and improve, and for the people that don’t know him Deandre Baker Jersey Draft , impress them. That’s what we expect from him. We expect that from Eli, we expect that from everybody. So our expectations for him have not changed, and in my mind our situation hasn’t changed.”Shurmur said the coaching staff is getting the team ready for the opener at Dallas on Sept. 8.He pointed out after the game that Jones failed to move the tight end into the right position on his very first play. That left running back Wayne Gallman to take on a defensive lineman. He got much-needed help from Ellison.“I think to the naked eye or the casual observer or even the educated observer, when you don’t have all the information there’s a lot of things that happen behind the scenes,” said Shurmur, who went 5-11 in his first season with the Giants. “Things that we certainly take into account all the time with all the players. So yeah, that’s important, because if you think about it, you could get away with something but then you know in a different situation that could be something that could get you.”NOTES: Shurmur said rookie RB Jon Hilliman is in the concussion protocol. LB Alec Ogletree tweaked a calf muscle. … RB Wayne Gallman is having a foot strain evaluated. … WR Darius Slayton (hamstring), CB Grant Haley (shoulder) and T Chad Wheeler (back) are moving closer to practicing after either being out or limited in recent weeks. … The players have off Saturday and practice on Sunday.

their franchise record with a ninth straight win on Sunday Chris Hubbard Color Rush Jersey , J.J. Watt was asked to reflect on how far the team has come in the past year.“I was on the couch a year ago so this is a lot better,” said Watt, who missed the last 11 games of Houston’s 4-12 2017 season with a broken leg. “I was in a lot of pain. So it’s good for us to be winning …this is what it’s supposed to feel like. Honestly this is how you dream it up.”Deshaun Watson threw a touchdown pass and the Texans intercepted rookie Baker Mayfield three times, returning one for a score, to get the 29-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday that extended the streak.Article continues below ...The Texans (9-3), who opened the season 0-3, haven’t lost since Sept. 23 to take a commanding lead atop the AFC South. While they appreciate what they’ve done to turn things around, they’re quick to note that they still have plenty of work left to do.“It means a lot especially from where we came from 0-3 … but it’s not the Super Bowl so we’re still fighting,” receiver DeAndre Hopkins said.Houston raced out to a 23-0 halftime lead and added two second-half field goals by Ka’imi Fairbairn to give him five on Sunday.Mayfield https://www.brownsfanshop.com/Seth-Devalve-Jersey , the top overall pick in this year’s draft, had his worst game of the season, throwing three interceptions for the first time since he was a freshman at Texas Tech in 2013. He entered the game having thrown nine touchdown passes with just one interception in the past three games as the Browns (4-7-1) won consecutive games for the first time since 2014.Mayfield lamented the mistakes he made in this one.“(If) I would’ve taken care of the ball, this game would’ve been very close,” he said.He finished with 397 yards passing and had a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter after throwing a career-best four in a win over the Bengals last week. Houston’s fearsome pass rush, led by Watt and Jadeveon Clowney didn’t sack Mayfield, but they hurried and harassed him for much of the day.His interceptions all came before halftime to help the Texans build the big early lead.“He probably wasn’t feeling too dangerous in the first half, but he was feeling a little more dangerous in the second half,” Watt said.Houston was up 3-0 after an early field goal when Watson Kevin Zeitler Jersey , who finished with 224 yards, connected with rookie Jordan Thomas on an 11-yard touchdown pass. Hopkins set up that score when he made a 24-yard reception after T.J. Carrie grabbed his dreadlocks in an attempt to slow him down two plays earlier.Zach Cunningham made it 17-0 when he grabbed his first career interception and ran 38 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Officials first ruled him down at the 1, but the play was reviewed and changed to a touchdown.Kareem Jackson was called for a 47-yard pass interference penalty on Cleveland’s next drive to put the Browns at their 20. But Mayfield threw another interception two plays later and it was returned 18 yards by Johnathan Joseph.Houston added another field goal to make it 20-0 with about three minutes left in the second quarter.Mayfield’s third interception came late in the second quarter when Andre Hal grabbed the ball in the end zone.Lamar Miller had 103 yards rushing for his second straight 100-yard game and fourth of the season and Hopkins had seven receptions for 91 yards.Cleveland continued to struggle in late-season games, and the Browns fell to 9-39 in December and January games since 2008.Nick Chubb got the Browns on the board in the third quarter when his 2-yard TD run cut the lead to 23-7 with about 9½ minutes left. Rashard Higgins had a 17-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, but the 2-point conversion failed to leave the Browns down 29-13.Houston added another field goal after that before a mistake-filled possession by the Browns. First Mayfield threw what looked to be a 76-yard touchdown pass to rookie Antonio Callaway, but it was brought back because of a holding penalty by left tackle Greg Robinson.Two plays later, Mayfield connected with Callaway again and he gained 71 yards before rookie Justin Reid chased him down from behind and knocked the ball out of his hands just before he would have scored. It bounced into the end zone where it was recovered by the Texans.“It was just trying to make something happen,” Reid said. “I didn’t want him to score so just make a play on the ball and see if it would come out. Good thing for us it did.”INJURIESCleveland cornerback Denzel Ward left in the first half with a concussion. … Browns defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi injured his biceps in the second quarter and didn’t return. … Joseph didn’t return after injuring his neck in the second quarter. … LB Brennan Scarlett injured his leg and didn’t return. … Houston offensive tackle Kendall Lamm left in the second half with a concussion.REMEMBERING PRESIDENT BUSHThe Texans observed a moment of silence before the game for former President George H.W. Bush, who died on Friday night in Houston at 94. Bush was a frequent visitor to Houston’s games and had participated in the coin toss at several contests. During the moment of silence pictures of Bush at various games were shown on the video screens flanked by huge 41’s made out of a collage of pictures as a further tribute to the nation’s 41st president.UP NEXTBrowns: Host the Panthers next Sunday.Texans: Host the Colts next Sunday. After fights break out at a training camp practice Joel Bitonio Color Rush Jersey , it’s not uncommon to hear coaches bemoan the scuffling as both an injury risk and a diversion that gets in the way of beneficial on-field work.Given the number of fights that broke out at Thursday’s joint practice between the Browns and Colts, you’d expect to hear responses like that and Colts head coach Frank Reich said, via the , that he wants to “continue to try to eliminate those things.”The reaction was a bit different on the Browns side. Head coach Freddie Kitchens’s message to his team after Wednesday’s practice was that “we’re not going to back down anybody” and said after the session that he felt it was received.“These guys are resilient from the standpoint of we can identify a problem and these guys work to fix it,” Kitchens said, via Cleveland.com. “We identified that problem last night, and they came out and fixed it. . . . We just have a way that we are going to treat our practices. That is how we’re going to practice. It doesn’t matter who we’re going against. We learned a lot about ourselves from the standpoint of that’s how you have to approach it. You keep your tempo. Let everybody else adjust to yours, not the other way around.”Kitchens was happy about the way his team practiced and he’ll get to see if it carries over to the field when the two teams face off in Indianapolis on Saturday.

spent their offseason cramming for Sunday’s test.They understood that to ascend in the AFC South https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Henry-Anderson-Jersey , they needed a bigger, stronger offensive line, better coaching and different study habits. So far, they’ve aced it.Now they face their biggest challenge: Jacksonville’s daunting defense.“We don’t need any incentive. It’s the NFL, we go out there, it’s our job to protect the quarterback,” longtime left tackle Anthony Castonzo said. “The past is the past, we’re going to try the best we can.”Just about anything would be an upgrade over what’s happened lately against the Jaguars.When these teams previously met, late last season, the Jaguars finished with four sacks — a significant improvement over the 10 sacks Indy allowed six weeks earlier last season.Those 14 sacks accounted for more than one-fourth of Indy’s season total, showing general manager Chris Ballard where the Colts needed to focus their attention to get back into the division race.Ballard found two starters in the draft, left guard Quenton Nelson in the first round and right tackle Braden Smith in the second. He added right guard Matt Slauson in free agency. Center Ryan Kelly returned to form following an injury-filled 2017 season, and even after Slauson went down with a back injury the Colts have managed to find solid replacements.As a result, Andrew Luck has been sacked just 10 times all season, none in his past 154 attempts— the longest stretch of his pro career.The improvement can’t be measured by pass protection alone. Marlon Mack rushed for career highs each of the past two weeks and has given Indy (3-5) its first back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since 2007.Still, the Colts know they are far from perfect and careful study of last year’s two game tapes reveal just how quickly Jacksonville’s defense can expose their lingering flaws.“I’m not going to tell you what our weaknesses are but this is going to be a big week coming off the bye,” Castonzo said. “It’s going to be tightening the screws on the things that we can.”But this Jacksonville team doesn’t resemble the one that reached last year’s AFC championship game, either.Despite being ranked No. 1 against the pass and No. 2 in total defense, only seven teams have fewer sacks than the Jags (19) and only three teams have produced fewer turnovers (seven).It explains why the Jags (3-5) have lost four straight and, like the Colts, are 2½ games behind division leader Houston.Coach Doug Marrone doesn’t expect this week’s challenge to get any easier, especially against an opponent hoping to ace its biggest test of the season.“It’s a really, really good group and honestly right now collectively, I would have to say when you look at them on film they’re probably the best offensive line that we have seen this year,” Marrone said.WELCOME BACKJaguars running back Leonard Fournette is expected to return after missing six of the past seven games because of a strained right hamstring.He practiced in full for the first time in more than a month Monday and did the same Wednesday. Marrone says the coaching staff won’t limit Fournette’s touches against the Colts.“We are full-boring everybody,” Marrone said. “Once a guy is ready to play, that has to be our expectation.”PAYING TRIBUTEAdam Vinatieri became the NFL’s career scoring leader at Oakland.On Sunday, the Colts will celebrate the record-breaking moment during a pregame ceremony at Lucas Oil Stadium. Details are being kept under wraps.Not surprisingly, the 45-year-old Vinatieri doesn’t want to make too big a deal out of it.“I want to keep it fairly low key,” Vinatieri said. “I don’t want to be a distraction. It’s a fun accomplishment, it’s a big accomplishment not only for me but for the guys I’ve played with. But at the end of the day the only thing I want to get out of this weekend is a win.”GOING BACKJaguars receiver Donte Moncrief, who spent the first four years of his career in Indianapolis, is looking forward to going back for the weekend.“There’s going to be a lot of emotions,” Moncrief said. “I’ve still got to go out there and play and make plays like I’ve been doing. Don’t try to make it too big. Just go out there and do what you usually do.”Moncrief has 29 receptions for 379 yards and two touchdowns this season. He signed a one-year, $9.6 million contract with the Jaguars in March Joe Haeg Jersey , betting on himself to stay healthy and prove he’s worthy of a more lucrative, long-term deal in the league.MR. 3,000With seven passing attempts Sunday, Luck will hit No. 3,000.He needs one TD pass to tie Eli Manning (156) for the 10th-highest total in league history over a player’s first seven seasons and three to match Cam Newton (158) for No. 9. The Colts are a team that will enter the divisional round of the playoffs white hot and on a roll, looking to shock the Kansas City Chiefs with a win at Arrowhead to carry them to the AFC Championship game. It seems like a tall task to accomplish, especially given the potency of this Chiefs offense. They have been incredible to watch this season, with Patrick Mahomes doing things that really shouldn’t even be possible. Seriously. Some of his throws defy physics, technique, and probably the Geneva Convention.It is fortunate too, because on the defensive side of the ball, they have been far less than stellar. They have allowed offenses to move the ball and score with relative ease, with Football Outsiders ranking their defense as 17th in the league in total weighted defense and 32nd against the run. In eight games this season their opponents scored 27 points or more against them. They have needed outstanding play from their offense, and they have had it. Watching them actually began to remind me of another team I remember watching several years ago. The 2005 Indianapolis Colts.Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty ImagesThey were a brilliant team. The offense was star studded, featuring Peyton Manning fully in his prime, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and possibly the best offensive line group of the Peyton Manning Era. Unsurprisingly, Football Outsiders ranked that offense 1st in the league in passing and 8th in rushing. The Chiefs in 2018, by comparison, rank 1st in the passing game and 4th in rushing. Quite an impressive feat, indeed. There is a major difference between these two squads though. Where the Chiefs’ defense has been fairly middle of the road, the Colts of 2005 were a much stouter group. They ranked 8th in total defense and 17th against the run.Like the Chiefs of 2018, the Colts of that year were a force to be reckoned with. They ripped off 14 wins to start their season and benched their starters for their last two games. It doesn’t hold up to compare every stat and number from now and then, because the league is so much different, however, they had the same kind of offensive dominance that we have seen the Chiefs execute this season. That team took their number 1 seed and bye week and looked primed to roll through the competition to a Super Bowl appearance. They showed up to the RCA Dome to a raucous crowd and hosting a 6th seeded Pittsburgh Steelers team that had clinched a playoff berth in week 17 and traveled to Cincinnati to take on the winner of their division, the Bengals. They had no business being there, but they were anyway.Sound familiar?Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsNo one would have believed when that game kicked off that the Steelers would be the team to walk out victorious. The Colts were the 8.5-point favorite. All season long, the Colts had been virtually unstoppable on offense. The thing about the playoffs is that you basically wipe the slate clean when it begins. Whatever was done before doesn’t really matter anymore. By the time they reach the playoffs, teams aren’t what they were early on in the season.For instance, the Chiefs started this season at a ridiculous pace. They had 41 touchdowns heading into their bye in week 12. Prior to their next game, they cut Kareem Hunt after his whole scandal broke John Simon Color Rush Jersey , and since then their offense hasn’t been quite the same. Sandwiched in between two games against the dreadful Oakland Raiders are an overtime win against the Baltimore Ravens, a last-minute loss to the Chargers, and a road loss to the Seahawks. In the game against the Ravens the Chiefs were able to score just 24 points in regulation before kicking a game winning field goal in overtime. Against the Chargers, they managed to put up 28 and scored 31 against the Seahawks. Those aren’t poor games, but they are a far cry from their first three games when they opened the season scoring 38, 42, and 38 points. The first 11 games of the season, they averaged 36.73 points per game. Over their last 5 they are down to 32.2. Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY SportsIn short, their offense is very good. If you take them lightly, they will make you pay dearly. However, since that infamous showdown with the Los Angeles Rams, they haven’t been putting up the kind of insane numbers they did early on. Sure, in week 13 they put up 40 on the Raiders, but the Colts hung 42 on them, so we can’t treat that as though it tells us much except that the Raiders are awful.They haven’t had Sammy Watkins since week 11, and the exit of Kareem Hunt in addition to Watkins’ injury has definitely had an impact on the Chiefs’ ability to be as deadly as they once were. That is not to say this isn’t still one of the best offenses in the league, simply that they are no longer playing at the level they did earlier in the season. If you remove the Raiders games from the calculation and just look at their average against the Ravens, Chargers, and Seahawks, it puts their average points per game at 28.67. That’s no small feat, but it isn’t insurmountable for a very potent Colts offense.A major factor in the Colts last two wins has also been their ability to start fast on both sides of the ball. They were able to force punts on their first two defensive drives of both of the last two games. Likewise, the offense has scored touchdowns on its first two drives in those past two games. Frank Reich will be prepared to go against this Chiefs team, and the offense can definitely put it on them. If they can come out with a long, grinding drive for 7 points on their first possession and then get a defensive stop and do it all again, it can really go a long way to setting the tone. The major difference between this game and those previous for the Colts has to be that this team can’t sit on a lead the way they have against some of their other opponents. Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesUnderstandably, the Colts are an underdog. No one expected them to be in this situation. Few will be expecting them to leave Arrowhead victorious. The same was true for that young Steelers team. To go on the road and face the top seed in the conference is a tall task. To do it against a prolific offense led by a star quarterback is even tougher. The Steelers did it by showing up in every phase of the game. They came out playing like they understood exactly how big that game was. To use a cheesy coaching clich茅, they wanted it more. From the coaching to the execution, they started the game playing like the better team and they didn’t let up. That is exactly what it will take to beat the Chiefs in their own stadium. Great execution, total commitment, and an obsession to finish strong. That’s what Reich has demanded of this team all season, and he has gotten them believing in it. Back in 2005 we had to watch as what was arguably the Colts’ best team in the Manning Era get knocked off by a more balanced, more hungry Steelers team that came on the road and punched them in the mouth on their way to a Super Bowl. The Colts have had to fight every step of the way since week 7. They are mentally tough and capable of dominating teams in the trenches. The Chiefs have been the bully on the block all season long. Saturday we’ll see if they can take a punch.