NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Josh Allen is going to get some snaps today. That game vs the Packers is on now.

 

10-11, 90 YDS, TD Allen made it look easy... no rust there.

 

Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins carted off with knee injury



As the Ravens go for a record winning streak in meaningless games, they’ve sustained a potentially very meaningful injury.

Running back J.K. Dobbins left via cart after suffering a knee injury in the first quarter of Saturday night’s game against Washington.

Dobbins got sandwiched between cornerback Jimmy Moreland and linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk after catching a screen pass. Moreland’s shoulder collided with Dobbins’s knee.

He initially left the field on his feet, but without putting any weight on his left leg. After a visit to the medical tent, Dobbins was carted to the locker room.

Dobbins rushed for 805 yards in 15 games as a rookie; his development made veteran Mark Ingram II expendable. This year, Dobbins is expected to form the nucleus of a rushing attack with quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Gus Edwards.

For now, the situation seems ominous. We’ll find out soon enough whether Dobbins will miss extended time.

PFT

 

that was an unnecessary injury

 

They needed him to set the record.

 

Seahawks thump Chargers 27-0 with most starters sitting

SEATTLE (AP) — With most of Seattle’s stars serving as spectators for the preseason, Pete Carroll finally saw the Seahawks’ depth perform in dominating fashion.

On the other side, the Los Angeles Chargers didn’t get the final look new coach Brandon Staley was hoping before making decisions on their roster questions.

Marquise Blair returned a fumble 17 yards for a touchdown, Alex Collins made a strong bid to be included in Seattle’s running back rotation, and the Seahawks closed out the preseason Saturday night with a 27-0 win over the Chargers.

Both teams played primarily their backups, but it was Seattle’s groups of reserves that made the stronger statement after getting blown out in its first two preseason games.

“After the first couple games, kind of forgot about how we can play around here. And the guys really did a nice job tonight,” Carroll said. “We didn’t change the approach and who played and all that, with a few exceptions. It was just a really nice effort.”

 

Miller, Sutton shine in Broncos’ 17-12 win over Rams

DENVER (AP) — A trio of Broncos returning from injuries celebrated their 2021 debuts in Denver’s 17-12 win over the Los Angeles Rams’ reserves in the preseason finale Saturday night.

Courtland Sutton caught an 8-yard touchdown pass, Von Miller made three tackles and Albert Okwuegbunam had a team-best three receptions.

All three were hurt last year, with Miller missing the entire season with an ankle injury and Sutton and Okwuegbunam tearing their right ACLs, limiting them to one and four games, respectively.

All three were game captains and headed out for the coin flip before kickoff.

“It was great to see all these guys, come back from injuries, good to see Albert O, and Courtland, all these guys and myself, as well,” Miller said. “Whenever you’re in rehab all you think about is, ‘I can’t wait to play football. I can’t wait to play.’ When you get out there, you really don’t think about it. It’s always the next play, always getting a sack, doing it for the win.

“You don’t really like reflect on rehab and stuff, but I need to kind of look up and really take in the type of environment that we have here in Broncos country. We had 53,000 fans here. Last year, we didn’t have any. It felt really, really good to be back in the stadium, to be back with all the guys. It was a great day.”

The Broncos won all three of their preseason games while playing starters for much of the first halves, and the Rams went 0-3 playing their backups.

Teddy Bridgewater, who edged incumbent Drew Lock in the Broncos’ summer quarterback clash, started out with four incompletions, all of them off his receivers’ hands, before hitting six of his next seven, including an 8-yard touchdown strike to a sliding Sutton.

“That moment, it was special,” Bridgewater said, “because we know how much Court means to us.”

Bridgewater blamed his slow start on wanting to get Sutton and Okwuegbunam going early.

After Denver’s first drive ended in a field goal, the Broncos went three-and-out, marking the first time in six preseason possessions under Bridgewater the Broncos failed to score.

 

Dobbins hurt as Ravens’ preseason win streak hits 20 games


LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — J.K. Dobbins left with a knee injury, Lamar Jackson made his 2021 preseason debut and the Tyler Huntley-led Baltimore Ravens routed Washington 37-3 Saturday to win their NFL-best 20th consecutive exhibition game.

 

Brady throws touchdown pass as Buccaneers beat Texans 23-16

HOUSTON (AP) — After seven Super Bowl wins and more than two decades in the NFL, Tom Brady remains a student of the game.

On Saturday after he wrapped up his 22nd preseason by leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a victory over the Houston Texans, he reflected on how important it is each time he steps on the field.

“Every time you play, you learn something,” he said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, but you (can’t) ... take anything for granted.”

Brady threw for 154 yards and a touchdown in just more than a quarter in the 23-16 win.

 

Justin Fields makes his 1st start, Bears beat Titans 27-24

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Justin Fields is right where the Chicago Bears hoped he would be at the end of the preseason.

All coach Matt Nagy will say is that they feel good with where the Bears are with their quarterbacks, a group that includes Andy Dalton set to start the opener and veteran Nick Foles along with the 11th overall pick in Fields.

Foles threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Jesper Horsted with 6:51 left, and the Bears held off the Tennessee Titans 27-24 to wrap the preseason Saturday night.

Horsted, a tight end who played at Princeton, finished with three TDs and 104 yards receiving, catching all five passes thrown to him. His first TD came from Fields in his first start with the other two from Foles in the second half.

“Big picture, we love where he’s at,” Nagy said of Fields. “He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”

 

Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins to have injured left knee examined

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — J.K. Dobbins will undergo tests on his injured left knee Sunday after the running back left the Baltimore Ravens’ preseason finale midway through the first quarter.

Coach John Harbaugh after a 37-3 rout of Washington on Saturday night said only that Dobbins would be evaluated. He declined to say how concerned he was about the injury.

Dobbins went down in pain after being tackled by Jimmy Moreland and Jordan Kunaszyk on a screen pass from Lamar Jackson, who was making his exhibition debut. Dobbins was attended to on the field, went to the blue injury tent and was carted off the sideline and ruled out for the remainder of the game.

“That one hurt, bro, just because all the work he put in,” receiver James Proche II said. “He loves the game, man, so any time the game’s taken away from you like, you really feel for him.”

The field at FedEx Field was redone in the offseason. Notable leg or knee injuries on the previous surface include Washington QBs Robert Griffin III, Alex Smith and Kyle Allen and most recently Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow last season.

Dobbins rushed for 15 yards on two carries before the injury. The Ohio State product ran for 805 yards and nine touchdowns and had 18 catches for 120 yards during his rookie season last year and was again expected to split carries in Baltimore’s backfield with Gus Edwards.

The Ravens now may count on Justice Hill and Ty-Son Williams in the running game.

“Hopefully we don’t miss him,” Jackson said of Dobbins. “That’s a tremendous back. We have Gus, we got Ty, but hopefully he’s good.”

 

Report: Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton to miss “multiple” weeks with neck injury



The Colts recently have gotten good news regarding some key injured players. They now have some bad news.

Via TheAthletic.com, receiver T.Y. Hilton is expected to miss “multiple” weeks due to a neck injury. Per the report, the injury is not believed to be season ending.

Hilton suffered the injury in practice on Wednesday. He left and later returned.

A specific timeline regarding Hilton’s absence has not yet been established. He’ll be a candidate for IR, especially since players can return after missing only three weeks. However, they’ll have to give him a spot on the 53-man roster before moving him to injured reserve.

The Colts open the season with five difficult games: Seahawks, Rams, Titans, Dolphins, and Ravens.

Hilton, drafted by the Colts in 2012, became a free agent in March and later re-signed. He has 608 regular-season receptions for 9,360 yards and 50 touchdowns.

PFT

 

Texans trade Shaq Lawson to Jets for sixth-round choice



A report last week mentioned Shaq Lawson as a trade candidate for the rebuilding Texans. Houston indeed has traded the pass rusher.

The Jets acquired Lawson in exchange for a sixth-round choice in 2022, Brian Costello of the New York Post reports. It is the choice the Jets obtained from the 49ers in the Jordan Willis deal.

The Jets needed a pass rusher after Carl Lawson ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon two weeks ago.

Shaq Lawson, 27, joined the Texans in a March trade with the Dolphins that sent linebacker Benardrick McKinney to Miami. He is in his sixth season out of Clemson, having entered the league as the 19th overall choice of the Bills in 2016.

He has 117 tackles, 20.5 sacks, 11 pass breakups and six forced fumbles in five seasons.

PFT

 

Vikings’ Irv Smith Jr. likely to miss start of season after meniscus surgery



The Vikings are preparing to start the season without tight end Irv Smith Jr.

Smith is expected to have surgery for a meniscus injury and miss the start of the regular season, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

The 23-year-old Smith is heading into his third season with the Vikings and was expecting to play a bigger role in their offense this year. Smith himself predicted he’ll score a lot of touchdowns this season.

With Smith out, backup tight end Tyler Conklin will likely see increased playing time early in the season, although Conklin has also been dealing with an injury. The Vikings will be thin at tight end when they visit Cincinnati in Week One.

PFT

 

Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins will miss the entire 2021 season.

Dobbins has suffered a torn ACL, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

 

damn because of that stupid record that really was unimportant, well in land SKOL when it rains it pours time to buckle up cause the skies are looking dark

 

Thoughts from first half of Browns vs Falcons (now 7-3 early in second quarter)...

This is like a flashback to Atlanta's game last week vs the Dolphins. Baker Mayfield threw a nice TD pass for Cleveland. Give him all the credit in the world. But is it a sign the Falcons defense has big problems? Well, the CB who got beat (Chris Williamson) is a returning practice squad hopeful trying to crack the roster (potentially beating out former 4th rounder Kendall Sheffield).

Atlanta is giving a few starters a few snaps, but it looks like most of the starters are once again taking the night off - and even the ones who did see action seem to have called it a night after one series.

But hey, undrafted rookie Feleipe Franks got the start at QB and my training camp favorite Willie Beavers (last year in the XFL) started at left tackle. And the key plays on the field goal drive? The potential #3 and #4 RBs (Qadree Ollison and undrafted rookie Caleb Huntley) and returning practice squad WR Chris Rowland - who is trying to crack the roster as the punt returner.

I'm loving this. Among other players, I'm rooting for Franks to make the roster as the #2 rather than the practice squad as the #3. I've been predicting for a month now that the XFL lineman Beavers will win the swing tackle role, and I mentioned Huntley to RT earlier in the offseason as a dark horse prospect to watch. So I'm thrilled with what I'm seeing.