NFL - NEWS & NOTES

CLEVELAND (AP) — Odell Beckham Jr.'s comeback is closer to completion.

Beckham, who has slowly increased his activities since the Browns opened training camp last month, took his first snaps in team drills during Thursday's practice — a major step in his return from season-ending knee surgery.

 

Tonight there is some NFL action...

 

Seems weird going into the final preseason game when a lot of starters haven't taken a single exhibition game snap.

Crazy to think that within the lifetime of us older geezers, teams played six preseason games.

 

Im wondering if the first couple weeks of the regular season are going to be sloppy. I get you dont want injuries, but it would be nice if these players on our fav teams were ready and in game shape physically and mentally.

 

The Saints said on Thursday that they were monitoring Tropical Storm Ida’s path through the Gulf of Mexico and would adjust plans for Saturday night’s preseason game against the Cardinals if conditions warranted it.

On Friday, the team announced that they are moving the start of the game up seven hours because of the storm, which is projected to be a hurricane by the time it makes landfall. The game was set to get underway at 7 p.m. CT, but will now get going at noon instead.

 

Giants running back Saquon Barkley will not play at all in the preseason. Whether he plays in the regular season opener remains to be seen.

Coach Joe Judge confirmed today that while most of the Giants’ starters will play the first half in Sunday’s preseason finale, Barkley will not, and neither will tight end Kyle Rudolph or wide receiver Kenny Golladay.

Barkley, who tore his ACL in Week Two last year, took another step toward returning yesterday when he was on the field for 11-on-11 work. But the Giants have not made any determination about whether he can play Week One against the Broncos.

Barkley said he felt good after yesterday’s practice and sounded optimistic about his chances of returning soon. But he acknowledged that he hasn’t gone 100 percent in a live game-like situation yet, and it’s unclear when he will.

PFT

 

Yeah and a lot of your stars and regulars played a significant amount of time. And they played OT if necessary. Not to mention the reigning NFL champion playing games against the college allstars to kick the season off.

A lot has changed.

 

I didn't think that anyone remembered those games except me. That could never happen today.

 

I'm beginning to believe that most of the 32 teams learned last year that pre-season games aren't necessarily a requirement to sort out their rosters. Instead, they figured out a way to assess their team within the controlled confines of training camp practices while, at the same time, minimized the risk of injuries.

 

Its now been cancelled.

 

Exactly.

 

Glad to see this. When they initially moved it up, Ida was projected to become a hurricane. Now it's projected to become a Category 4, and the projections keep getting worse.

Playing an exhibition game along what will be the main evacuation route would be just plain stupid. If the two teams are concerned about losing the reps, maybe they can squeeze in a joint practice / scrimmage somewhere safe on Monday. But for now, let the players, stadium personnel etc focus on getting their families out of there.

 

Could be. The funny thing about it for the Falcons is that I thought they were woefully unprepared going into the regular season in 2019 as well as last season. I can't imagine they could be any more sloppy than they were the first four or five games of each of the last two seasons.

 

They were amusing, but I can't really say I miss them.

If anyone wanted to bring back a college vs pro exhibition game, I think I'd rather see a pre-draft game where a team of as yet unsigned futures contract type free agents (the guys who weren't signed to practice squads after the previous season's roster cuts, were released from practice squads or not signed from the practice squad after the season). Or maybe have a mix of college and unsigned pro guys on both teams.

So then it would be a showcase of guys that NFL teams could sign right away along with guys they could draft or sign as UDFAs.

 

Hail Morgan! Jets rally to tie Eagles 31-31 as time expires

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The ball left James Morgan’s right hand, zipped through the thick MetLife Stadium air and somehow landed in Kenny Yeboah’s hands for a touchdown as time expired.

The New York Jets went wild, celebrating the 49-yard Hail Mary toss. And then Josh Adams ran in the 2-point conversion to secure the 31-31 tie with the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason finale that was played without most of the teams’ starters Friday night.

But that didn’t diminish what was a stirring — and entertaining — comeback by the jubilant Jets.

“Oh, it was crazy,” running back Ty Johnson said. “Yeboah? Come on, now. That was just crazy.”

The start was delayed 30 minutes because of strong storms that moved through the New York and New Jersey area. Air bubbles formed in spots on the rain-drenched turf a few hours before kickoff, but there appeared to be no issues during the game.

Most of the projected starters for both teams sat out — including quarterbacks Jalen Hurts for Philadelphia and Zach Wilson for New York — after the squads held joint practices at the Jets’ facility on Tuesday and Wednesday.

New York was trailing 24-10 when Johnson had a 3-yard run up the middle for a score as time expired in the third quarter.

Morgan, who replaced starter Josh Johnson after halftime, connected with Yeboah for a 21-yard touchdown with 6:59 left to bring New York within a point.

With no overtime in the preseason, coach Robert Saleh opted to go for a go-ahead 2-point conversion. But Zech McPhearson intercepted Morgan’s toss in the end zone to keep it a one-point game.

The Jets got the ball back with 1:38 to go and a chance to win. On third-and-7, Morgan completed a pass to Daniel Brown for a first down. But the tight end had the ball ripped out of his hands by Michael Jacquet, who ran it in for what appeared to be a win-sealing 32-yard touchdown.

“It’s a turnover and you are supposed to stay down,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of Jacquet scoring instead of taking a knee. “We didn’t do a good job communicating that to him.”

New York got the ball back with 59 seconds remaining and Morgan, Yeboah and Adams sent the Jets and their fans home happy — with a tie.

“I’m very happy for James and Kenny,” Josh Johnson said. “Those two young guys just to have them have that moment, a lot of guys don’t get to experience that.”

 

Panthers rout Steelers backups 34-9 to conclude preseason

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Sam Darnold completed 19 of 25 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns, and the Carolina Panthers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-9 on Friday night in the preseason finale for both teams.

Darnold, who saw his most extensive action of the preseason, spent most of the first quarter under duress despite playing against a defense that was resting all of its starters.

But the 2018 No. 3 overall draft pick acquired this offseason from the New York Jets stayed calm and rebounded, finding rookie Terrace Marshall Jr. for a 13-yard touchdown pass and Robby Anderson for an 8-yard score before exiting at halftime. D.J. Moore caught six passes from Darnold for 48 yards.

Christian McCaffrey sat out, but the rest of Carolina’s offensive and defensive starters played the entire first half.

With this being the Steelers’ fourth preseason game — most teams played three — coach Mike Tomlin rested all but four starters, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson, and running back Najee Harris. Even backup QB Mason Rudolph got the night off.

Dwayne Haskins started and struggled, completing just 9 of 16 passes for 108 yards with one interception and one late touchdown on Pittsburgh’s final drive.

 

COLTS 27, LIONS 17

DETROIT (AP) — Rookie Sam Ehlinger was knocked out of the preseason finale with a knee injury, delivering another hit on the Indianapolis Colts’ depth chart at quarterback.

With Carson Wentz recovering from foot surgery, Ehlinger is competing with second-year quarterback Jacob Eason to possibly take the team’s first snap in two weeks when the season opens.

Ehlinger was hurt in the first half after he was 3 for 3 for 63 yards, including a 60-yard pass after escaping a sack, and had a 14-yard run. Eason was 10 of 14 for 74 yards.

To keep Eason healthy for Week 1, the Colts let 28-year-old Brett Hundley finish the game under center and he took full advantage.

Hundley threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Deon Jackson and the rookie running back rushed for a tying, 2-point conversion. A few snaps later, linebacker Curtis Bolton intercepted David Blough’s pass to set up Rodrigo Blankenship’s 42-yard field goal — his fourth of the game — that put Indy ahead 20-17.

Jackson converted a third down with a 42-yard touchdown run up the middle with 1:50 left, sealing a 3-0 preseason for the Colts.

Detroit fell to 0-3 under first-year coach Dan Campbell.

 

CHIEFS 28, VIKINGS 24

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes was nearly perfect night, throwing for 117 yards and two scores in his only two chances with the ball. Mahomes was sharper than he’d been his first two exhibitions, finishing 8 of 9 with the only miss a throwaway with nobody open. Mahomes capped his first series against Minnesota with a 35-yard throw to Tyreek Hill, who’d run right by former Chiefs cornerback Bashaud Breeland, then capped the second with a short TD pass to tight end Blake Bell.

Mahomes’ counterpart, Kirk Cousins, wasn’t nearly as effective for Minnesota. He led the Vikings to a field goal on his first offensive series but went three-and-out on each of the next two, finishing 5 of 7 for 57 yards. Cousins looked out of sync with his receivers and took a big loss on a sack by Anthony Hitchens.

Chiefs backup Chad Henne didn’t play Friday night, so Shane Buechele got plenty of work. The rookie was sharp driving KC for a TD and a 21-3 halftime lead, but Buechele also threw a pick-six to Parry Nickerson in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings’ defense scored two touchdowns during their three preseason losses. Their offense scored only one, a 32-yard scamper by backup running back A.J. Rose Jr. midway through the third quarter Friday night.

Derrick Gore answered with a 56-yard catch-and-run to help Kansas City finish 3-0 in the preseason.