NFL - NEWS & NOTES

NFLPA approves updated concussion protocol, next step is for NFL to sign off on changes

The NFL Players Association's health and safety committee formally approved an update to the joint NFL-NFLPA concussion protocols that is designed to protect players by closing the "loophole" on gross motor instability, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Friday. The next step is for the NFL to sign off on the final language of the updated protocol.

"Our union has agreed to change the concussion protocols to protect players from returning to play in the case of any similar incident to what we saw on September 25," the NFLPA said in a statement. "We would like these changes to go into effect before this weekend's game to immediately protect the players and hope the NFL accepts the change before then as well."

The NFL and NFLPA had agreed last weekend to parameters of updated concussion protocols that will rule out players who exhibit gross motor instability regardless of any possible contributing factors, such as with Tua Tagovailoa in the Dolphins' Week 3 game against the Bills.

The NFL responded to the NFLPA's statement later Friday afternoon.

"As we have discussed with the NFLPA, we agree that changes to the join NFL-NFLPA protocols are necessary to further enhance player safety," the NFL said in its statement. "We have already spoken to members of the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee and the leadership of the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultants and Independent Certified Athletic Trainers who serve as spotters to discuss these likely changes."

Tagovailoa briefly exited the Sept. 25 game against Buffalo in the first half with what the team initially announced as a head injury he sustained following a hit from linebacker Matt Milano, who was flagged for roughing the passer on the play. Once getting up on his feet, Tagovailoa shook his head and stumbled as he began to trot forward before getting taken out of the game. Tagovailoa later returned to play following halftime.

After the Dolphins' 21-19 win, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters that Tagovailoa suffered a lower-back injury in the first half, which was exacerbated by the hit from Milano, and was the cause of Tagovailoa's stumble.


The NFLPA initiated an investigation into the handling of Tagovailoa's concussion evaluation following the Dolphins' Week 3 win. On Saturday, the NFLPA terminated the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant (UNC) involved in Tagovailoa's concussion check during the Week 3 game against Buffalo, citing a failure to understand his role as the UNC and hostility during the investigation process among the factors contributing to his dismissal.

Tagovailoa then endured a scary collision during last Thursday's game, in which he was slung to the ground by Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou. Tagovailoa hit his head on the ground and his arms and hands locked in a fencing response. Tagovailoa remained on the turf for several minutes as trainers attended to him before being taken off the field on a stretcher and then by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center to be treated for head and neck injuries.

McDaniel ruled out Tagovailoa on Monday for the team's Week 5 game against the New York Jets due to the concussion that Tagovailoa sustained against the Bengals.

The joint NFL-NFLPA investigation into the application of concussion protocols for the Tagovailoa injury remains ongoing with no resolution imminent, Pelissero reported, per a source.

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2022 NFL season: Three things to watch for in London's Giants-Packers game on NFL Network

American football returns to the U.K. for a second consecutive week. The previous Sunday’s game treated Londoners to a Vikings victory, courtesy of a heartbreaking 61-yard double-doink by Saints kicker Wil Lutz as time expired.


This time around, the Green Bay Packers are set to become the final team in the league to play an international game when they square off against the New York Giants.


The two teams’ combined .750 win percentage is the highest of any international game in Week 4 or later, per NFL Research, and it will somewhat shockingly be the first time in 32 tries that a London game features two teams with winning records.


The Giants have emerged as one of the NFL's September surprises under new head coach Brian Daboll. They are 3-1 for the first time since 2011 and have a chance to move to 4-1, which would be the club’s most wins through five games since its 5-0 start in 2009.


The Packers aren’t quite the same old, same old under Matt LaFleur. Their offensive efficiency has taken an understandable dip as a cast of young receivers gains its footing, and Aaron Rodgers is already two interceptions away from trying his career high in LaFleur’s system, but Green Bay still has a shot to hit the 4-1 mark for the fourth straight year.


Not only that -- look away, Bears fans -- but with a win here and a Chicago loss later in the day, the Packers (785 wins) would knock the Bears (785) out of sole possession of the league’s all-time wins mark for the first time since Dec. 3, 1921.


Here are three things to watch for when the Giants and Packers meet Sunday in London on NFL Network:

1. Saquon Barkley must keep shouldering the load. It’s no secret at this point that Barkley is back. The 2018 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year had a career-high 31 carries in the Giants’ 20-12 win over the Bears on Sunday, and he turned the influx of opportunities into 146 rushing yards. He currently leads the league in rushing and has amassed 100-plus yards from scrimmage in three of four contests. If New York is to continue its newfound winning ways, Barkley may need his best performance yet. Daniel Jones could barely move last week after turning his ankle and only returned when his backup Tyrod Taylor sustained a concussion. The Giants starter is off the injury report and ready to play against Green Bay, but there's still the question of how how healthy Jones looks while giving it a go. Any lingering effects could rob the Giants quarterback of his mobility a week removed from putting up 68 yards and two TDs on the ground. Given the need to safeguard Jones and the fact that Green Bay is allowing 5.0 yards per carry, all signs are pointing to a Big Blue Barkley show here -- perhaps with another dash of Wildcat.
2. Pressure is on for the reigning MVP. Adrian Peterson was previously the only reigning Most Valuable Player to suit up in London. He did so in 2013. On Sunday those in attendance will be treated to a QB who has taken home back-to-back hardware. Aside from the obvious of getting Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon rolling in the run game, there's a major factor in play regarding what kind of show Rodgers puts on for Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The grizzled vet has yet to throw a touchdown against the blitz and currently has a league-worst 79.8 gap in passer rating when throwing with no pressure (108.4) versus under pressure (28.6). New York has meanwhile blitzed on 41.9% of dropbacks (second-most in the NFL) and generated pressure on 29% of QB dropbacks, good for 12th in the league. Assuming the Giants continue to apply the heat with the same success, Rodgers must up his play under duress if he’s going to flash the gaudy numbers expected from an MVP.
3. Is either team for real? There’s still an unknown quality to the 2022 iterations of the Giants and Packers after the first month of the season. The Giants’ upset victory over Tennessee was the headline of Week 1, and they replicated the grind-it-out style to defeat a woeful Panthers team and a Bears squad still searching for its identity. The tedium of New York’s victories has generated debate over whether Daboll’s Giants deserve contender or pretender status. For instance, the defense is currently ranked ninth in points allowed but has also proven itself a sieve in the run game, allowing 141.0 rushing yards per game (28th in the NFL). But if the Giants eke out a victory in their signature style against the NFC's No. 1 seed two years running, we will all have to respect their postseason potential. Although a team with 39 regular-season victories since 2019 deserves the benefit of the doubt, even Rodgers admitted Sunday that Green Bay’s way of winning isn’t sustainable. At long last, the Packers have a top-10 defensive unit in points and yards allowed. The only problem is the offense is averaging 18.8 points per game, the team’s worst mark since 2006. After the Packers required overtime to vanquish third-stringer Bailey Zappe and the Patriots in Week 4, another struggle against a limited Jones could rouse enough commotion in Green Bay to be heard from Trafalgar Square.

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I'll give you 1 guess as to who I am rooting for.

PACKERS SUCK!

 

All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle) will be playing in the Ravens' Sunday Night Football game versus the Bengals, NFL Network Insiders Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reported Saturday.

This would mark Stanley's first game action since the 2021 season opener, and just his second time taking the field since fracturing his ankle almost two years ago.

The fracture occurred in Week 8 of the 2020 season, just days after the tackle had signed a five-year, $98.75 million contract extension with Baltimore, and he did not return for the remainder of the season. Then in Stanley's first game back to open last season, he again injured his ankle, and had season-ending surgery a month later.

Stanley came into this year's training camp still recovering from that surgery, and was therefore placed on the physically unable to perform list in July. However, he passed his physical examination only a month later and there were hopes that he'd be ready to go as early as Week 1. But those predictions did not pan out, as Stanley has not yet played in a regular-season game in 2022, only now being considered ready enough to get back on the field for Week 5.

The former 2016 first-round pick was outstanding before his injury woes, being named First-Team All-Pro and making his first Pro Bowl in 2019, his last full season. A homegrown Ravens talent, he developed into a shutdown left tackle in both pass protection and run-blocking, protecting Lamar Jackson during his MVP-winning season that year.

After two seasons spent largely on the sidelines, Stanley is set to make his return to M&T Stadium, and could prove an important piece for a Baltimore squad that is looking to rebound from its Week 4 late-game loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Ravens and Bengals kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday.

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Stanley may never be the same again. Sometimes injuries leave you much less of a player than you used to be.

 

Saints Are Expected To Have Alvin Kamara Sunday
Report: Amon-Ra St. Brown To Play Sunday
Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle Are Expected To Play Against Jets

 

Aaron Rogers pisses me off. He hasn’t played good all season, so I bench him for Pickett and he looks like he is going to have his best game. I need to trade him and be done with him.

 

The fact that the Packers are up by only one score in the second half says a whole lot more about them than it does the Giants.

Also, OF COURSE they're the last team the NFL makes suffer a trip to and from London. Can't inconvenience the favorite child.

 

Daniel Jones is playing well. Packers with their backs against the wall at the moment.

 

20-20 with ten minutes left

 

This is awesome... Giants up , late!

 

Holy Shit... 2 batted balls by Rodgers with the game on the line. I loves it!

 

I'm not crazy about taking a knee like that with the other team still having the time outs. Run the ball, gain a few yards, and kill a few extra seconds on the play.

 

The safety had me scratching my head also.

 

The Giants and Packers gave the fans in London a tremendous game on Sunday, with the Giants shaking off a slow start and storming back for a dramatic 27-22 victory.

The win, which improves the Giants’ record to 4-1 on the season, is a great testament to first-year coach Brian Daboll, who has his team playing hard week in and week out. This is not a great Giants roster, but Daboll has them playing very good football.


Despite having to go to the locker room at one point with a shoulder injury, Giants running back Saquon Barkley was productive, gaining 70 yards on the ground and another 36 yards receiving.

Daniel Jones completed 21 of 27 passes for 217 yards, and most importantly he didn’t fumble or throw an interception.

Aaron Rodgers‘ numbers were fine, completing 25 of 39 passes for 222 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, but he misfired on several important passes in the second half. The Packers’ last possession ended with Rodgers having back-to-back passes batted down at the line of scrimmage on third down and fourth down.

The loss drops the Packers’ record to 3-2, and although they’re still very much in NFC contention, they have to be disappointed with the start of this season — this Packers team hasn’t played well enough, and today they were beaten by a team that can’t match their talent, but competed harder for four quarters.

PFT

 

Simple. It's impossible to block a free kick and run it in for a TD.

 

Thanks Giants!!!

 

Vikings blow big lead, escape with win over Bears



The Vikings nearly sleepwalked their way into an embarrassing loss to the Bears today, but a methodical fourth-quarter drive set up the game-winning score Minnesota needed to escape with a win.

The Vikings couldn’t have started any better: Kirk Cousins completed his first 17 passes, Justin Fields could do absolutely nothing, and the fans had barely settled into their seats when the score was 21-3 Vikings.



But then Cousins began to struggle, Fields began to make plays, and the next thing anyone knew, the Bears had a 22-21 lead in the fourth quarter.

Cousins, however, engineered a methodical drive late in the fourth quarter, culminating in Cousins taking it into the end zone himself on a quarterback sneak, then throwing to Justin Jefferson for the two-point conversion, giving the Vikings the 29-22 winning score.

Although Cousins couldn’t sustain that 17-for-17 start, he did have a solid game, completing 32 of 41 passes for 296 yards, with one touchdown, one interception and one sack.

Fields played his best game of the season, completing 15 of 21 passes for 208 yards with one touchdown, no interceptions, two sacks and 47 rushing yards. But on the Bears’ last drive, Fields completed a pass to Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who had the ball stripped by Cameron Dantzler for the game-ending turnover.

PFT

 

Bailey Zappe and the Patriots steamroll the hapless Lions




29-0

 

Jets Move To 3-2 With Big Fourth Quarter Against Dolphins
Josh Allen Throws For Career-High 424 Yards, Bills Roll Steelers 38-3
Buccaneers Hold On For 21-15 Win After Controversial Roughing The Passer Call

 

Chargers Hang On To Defeat Browns 30-28