NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Patriots’ Jabrill Peppers arrested for assault, cocaine possession

Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers was arrested on Saturday on charges reportedly including assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation and possession of cocaine.

Peppers was arrested in Braintree, Massachusetts, where police said they responded to a disturbance at a residence early Saturday morning and arrested Peppers after investigating, according to NBCBoston.com.

The victim was treated on the scene. There is no word on the nature of the victim’s injuries.

Peppers, one of the Patriots’ captains, was originally listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins with a shoulder injury but then was downgraded to out on Saturday. The Patriots issued a statement on Monday morning about Peppers’ arrest; it is not clear whether they were aware of it when they ruled him out of Sunday’s game.

“We are aware of an incident involving Jabrill Peppers over the weekend in which the police are currently investigating. We will have no further comment at this time,” the team’s statement said.

Peppers is slated to be arraigned in court today.

 

HOUSTON -- Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott took responsibility for the game management that led to the Houston Texans getting the ball back in time for a winning 59-yard field goal Sunday.

"That's on me, the end-of-game situation on offense," McDermott said after the 23-20 loss. "We're in a tough situation ... they were holding three timeouts; they got a good field goal kicker. We needed to run the clock and move the chains, and that's on me. We didn't do that there, and that's my fault."
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One of the most confusing and, for lack of a better word, dumb things I ever seen.

 

I'm sure he is thinking he has one of the most accurate long ball QBs in the league and having (3) opportunities would end the game in regulation instead of chancing OT. If they had connected on one of the throws it would be highlighted on every sports show.. it didn't so, here we are. You win some, you lose some. Josh Allen usually wins more than he loses.

 

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice needs LCL repaired, expected to miss rest of season

More than a week after he was hurt, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice's injury details have emerged.

Rice is expected to miss the remainder of the 2024 season as he needs his LCL repaired, but there is optimism that's the only ligament he'll need surgery on, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday.

Rice is scheduled for surgery Tuesday and, if the procedure confirms the LCL is the only damaged ligament and his ACL doesn't need reconstructing, the second-year WR should be out for roughly three months and able to return health in 2025, Rapoport added.

The diagnosis came after Rice met with Dr. Dan Cooper for an arthroscopic procedure.

Rice was injured in a Week 4 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 29 when quarterback Patrick Mahomes dived, inadvertently, into his receiver's leg while going for a tackle after throwing an interception.

NFL.com

 

Texans wide receiver Nico Collins week to week after injuring hamstring vs. Bills

Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins' torrid start to the 2024 season has hit a snag.

Head coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters on Monday that Collins is considered week to week after suffering a hamstring injury in the Texans' win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

"He's in good spirits," Ryans said. "It takes a couple of weeks for a hamstring. So, we'll evaluate him on a week-to-week basis."

Collins, who currently leads the league with 567 receiving yards, hurt his hamstring in the second quarter on Sunday. Prior to the injury, it appeared as though Collins was on his way to another dominant effort with two early catches for 78 yards, highlighted by a 67-yard TD connection with C.J. Stroud.

The Texans offense struggled without Collins, mustering just nine points on three field goals, though one of which was a game-winning 59-yarder as time expired.

If Collins is forced to miss multiple weeks, look for Stroud to further target veteran Stefon Diggs (31 catches, 315 yards, two TDs). Second-year pro Tank Dell (13) and tight end Dalton Schultz (14) are the other two Texans pass catchers to log double-digit receptions through five games along with pass-catching back Dare Ogunbowale (15).

NFL.com

 

That was one hell of an aggressive drive by the Chiefs... mixed it up well 7-0 KC

 

I enjoyed this read from CBS Sports; Maybe you will too (some not so much) Authors name is, John Breech

Vikings might be a lock for the Super Bowl according to this one NFL stat, plus 14 more wild stats from Week 5
If you want to have your mind blown, just check out these 15 crazy stats from Week 5

Through the first five weeks of the season, the Minnesota Vikings have looked like the best team in the NFL.

The undefeated Vikings have been so dominant that they've only trailed for a total of 3:26 over the first five weeks of the season, and if NFL history is any indication, the Vikings could soon be Super Bowl bound.

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, only five other teams have made it through the first five weeks of the season while trailing for 4:30 or less and ALL FIVE of those teams ended up making it to the Super Bowl with three of them winning it.

Here's a look at the list (via ESPN stats and info):

1. 2009 Saints (Trailed for zero seconds in first five weeks): Won Super Bowl
2. 1984 Dolphins (Trailed for 1:07): Lost Super Bowl
3. 2023 49ers (Trailed for 1:45): Lost Super Bowl
4. 1999 Rams (Trailed for 2:30): Won Super Bowl
5. 2024 Vikings (Trailed for 3:26): TBA
6. 1998 Broncos (Trailed for 4:23): Won Super Bowl

The Vikings haven't trailed in a game since Week 1 when the Giants took a brief 3-0 lead in the first quarter. The Vikings scored a touchdown before the quarter was over and they haven't trailed in ANY game since, despite playing some tough competition like the 49ers, Texans, Packers and Jets.

There's obviously a lot of football left to play, but the Vikings have put themselves in the conversation with some impressive company.

So that else happened in Week 5?

Let's check out 14 more of the wildest stats from Week 5 (via CBS Sports research):

1. Lamar Jackson makes NFL History. The Ravens QB threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 55 yards, which is notable, because it makes him the first QB in NFL history with multiple career games with at least 300 passing yards, 50 rushing yards and four TD passes. Jackson must really like playing in Week 5 because he also accomplished the feat in Week 5 of the 2021 season.
2. Derrick Henry hits major milestone. With 92 yards against the Bengals, the Ravens running back now has 10,074 for his career. Henry became the 32nd player to hit the 10,000-yard milestone, but first since Marshawn Lynch did it in 2017. Henry also scored his 100th career touchdown against the Bengals.
3. Defenses dialed up long distance touchdowns in Week 5. There were two defensive touchdowns of at least 100 yards on Sunday, marking the first time in NFL history that there have been multiple defensive scores of 100 yards or more in the same week. The touchdowns came from Denver's Patrick Surtain (100-yard pick-six) and Seattle's Rayshawn Jenkins (102-yard fumble return).
4. Jayden Daniels makes his own history. Jayden Daniels became the first player in NFL history to have at least 1,000 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in his first five career games. Daniels has 1,135 passing yards and 300 rushing yards through five weeks. With the Commanders at 4-1, Daniels is just the third rookie QB since 1970 to start and lead his team to a win in four of the first five games of the season. Daniels joins Buffalo's Joe Ferguson (1973) and Dak Prescott (2016).
5. Josh Allen struggles with accuracy. The Bills QB completed just 9 of 30 passes (30%), which means he finished with the lowest completion percentage by any QB with at least 30 attempts since 1992. Allen went 0-for-13 on passes that traveled 15 yards or more in the air, which was the worst showing by any QB since air yards were first tracked in 2006.
6. Money McKinney comes up big for Packers. The Packers safety recorded an interception against the Rams and now has an interception in all five games that Green Bay has played. That makes McKinney the first player since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 with an interception in his first five games with a new team.
7. Blocked field goal party. There were two touchdowns scored off of blocked field goals in Week 5, marking the first time that's happened since 2012 and just the seventh time in NFL history. New York's Bryce Ford-Wheaton returned a blocked field goal 60 yards for a touchdown against Seattle, while San Francisco's Deommodore Lenoir got a 61-yard TD off a blocked field goal against the Cardinals.
8. Quarterbacks finally have a big week. Through the first four weeks of the season, there was only been one instance where a QB threw for at least 330 yards with at least three touchdowns passes (Jordan Love in Week 4). In Week 5, that happened a total of FOUR times with Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins and Joe Flacco all accomplishing the feat.
9. Bears get Moore production. With 34-yard TD catch and a 30-yard TD catch in the first half against Carolina, D.J. Moore became the first Bears player with two receiving touchdowns of at least 30 yard in a first half since 1970 (James Scott).
   
10. Underdogs continue to shine. The Giants and Cardinals were both an underdog of at least seven points on Sunday and both teams won. With those wins, teams that are an underdog of a touchdown or more are now 7-2 straight-up on the season, which is the best five-week showing ever for big underdogs. Since 1970, there's only been one other five-week span where seven-point underdogs even had a winning record (They went 7-6 from Weeks 4 thru 8 in 1990).
11. Home sweet home for Caleb Williams. The Bears rookie quarterback is now 3-0 at home after Chicago's win over the Panthers. He's now just the fourth rookie QB since 1950 to win his first three home starts while also throwing zero interceptions in those games. He joines Matt Ryan (2008), Russell Wilson (2012) and Tua Tagovailoa (2020).
12. Aaron Rodgers hits a major milestone. With 244 yards against the Vikings, Rodgers now has 60,148 for his career, making him just the ninth player in NFL history to cross the 60,000-yard mark.
13. Deshaun Watson is having a down year. The Browns QB now has five straight games where he's thrown the ball 25 times or more with less than 200 passing yards in each game, which is tied with Donovan McNabb (2003) for the longest streak to start a season in the past 75 years. The silver lining here for Watson is that McNabb did end up making the NFC title game in 2003 despite his rough start.
14. Rookie quarterbacks off to a hot start. The Broncos (3-2), Bears (3-2) and Commander (4-1), have won a combined 10 games with their rookie quarterbacks, which is the second-most by a group of rookies since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

The only season that had more rookie wins was 1987, but that was a strike year, so there were a lot of new quarterbacks on the field because the NFL used replacement players for part of the season.

 

Robert Saleh had no idea he was going to be fired this morning.

Saleh told Jay Glazer of Fox Sports he was blindsided by Jets owner Woody Johnson walking into his office and firing him today.

Heading into this season, Saleh thought he had a very good roster, and he thought he would be given a longer opportunity to win with that roster than he was. Instead, Saleh is fired after a 2-3 start to the season.

Johnson would likely counter by saying Saleh got plenty of time to build his team in New York, and his 20-36 record as the Jets’ head coach is obviously not good enough.

Saleh was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator for four years before Johnson hired him to be head coach of the Jets, and will likely be looking for another defensive coordinator job soon. For now, he’s out in a place where he thought he had job security.

PFT

 

The Jets formally announced they have fired head coach Robert Saleh and hired Jeff Ulbrich to be their interim head coach shortly after the news broke on Tuesday morning.

“This morning, l informed Robert Saleh that he will no longer serve as the Head Coach of the Jets,” team owner Woody Johnson said. “I thanked him for his hard work these past three-and-a-half years and wished him and his family well moving forward. This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations, and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction.

“Jeff Ulbrich will serve as our Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season. He is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team. I believe he along with the coaches on this staff can get the most out of our talented team and attain the goals we established this offseason.”

 

If the 49ers keep playing how they are, they might hire him back....

 

This was just a matter of time before he got fired....and there's to much football left to be played to talk about Vikings a lock for the SB lol

 

The NFL has moved Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers to the Commissioner Exempt list.

The league announced the decision on Wednesday morning. Peppers was arrested last weekend after police responded to an incident involving a woman at his home and arraigned on Monday on charges of assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation and possession of cocaine.

Peppers did not play for the Patriots last Sunday because of a shoulder injury and he will not be eligible to play or practice as long as he remains on the exempt list. He will continue to be paid.

Peppers pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and posted $2,500 bail. He was ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victim.

PFT/Alper

 

The Houston Texans have placed wide receiver Nico Collins on injured reserve, sidelining him for at least the next four games.

Collins, who leads the NFL with 567 receiving yards this season, suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter of Houston's 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 5.

ESPN

 

I gotta wonder if Belichick is considering the Jets gig or if the Jets are even considering Belichick? There is a bunch of talent on that football team and on both sides of the ball. A good coaching staff might turn things around, but then they would still have to deal with Rodgers.

 

Wow isn't strangulation attempted murder?

 

I would be shocked if Woody Johnson would consider Belichick after they way he left there last time.

And Bill and Rodgers don’t seem like a great fit stylistically at this point.

 

NFL reviewing George Pickens' explicit eye black message



PITTSBURGH -- The NFL is reviewing the explicit message worn on the eye black of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens during Sunday night's loss to the Dallas Cowboys for a potential fine over violation of the league's uniform policy, according to a league source.

Pickens' message read, "Open F---ing Always," and was written in silver over the eye black.

According to league rules, Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8 states that players are prohibited from "wearing, displaying or otherwise conveying personal messages either in writing or illustration, unless such message has been approved in advance by the League office."

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he was unaware of Pickens' eye black.

"I don't know what messaging you're talking about regarding his eye black," Tomlin said Tuesday. "I didn't have any outlying issue with his effort."

Pickens, who played a career-low 34 snaps Sunday, declined a postgame interview request and didn't make himself available during Monday's open locker room.

ESPN
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Is Pickens a baby? diva? poor sport? non-team player? all of the above?

 

Or, what's quickly becoming a typical NFL Wide Receiver. The ones without issues are becoming the outliers.