St. Louis Rams wide receiver Drew Bennett fractured his left foot in the first series of Sunday’s opener at Philadelphia and will be sidelined at least a month.
Coach Scott Linehan said Monday the team would probably sign a replacement this week, but didn’t think Bennett, who could miss as many as six weeks, would be placed on injured reserve. He said surgery is not required at this time.
Bennett was injured on a 4-yard reception, crumpling to the turf on the tackle.
The Rams also could be without defensive end Leonard Little and guard Jacob Bell for Sunday’s home opener against the Giants; both players have hamstring strains. Linehan said the team would know more after returning to practice Wednesday.
Rookie defensive end Chris Long fractured his right pinky but is expected to play wearing a splint. Punter Donnie Jones bruised his left, non-kicking, knee making a tackle on a return, but Linehan said the swelling was down on Monday.
Bills
ay this weekend.
“Yeah, I’m 100 percent ready to go and glad to be back,” the Pro Bowl left tackle said after the team held a walkthrough a day after a season-opening 34-10 win over Seattle. Though Peters hasn’t played a game since Dec. 23, and missed all offseason practices including training camp, he said he plans to be ready for Buffalo’s game at Jacksonville on Sunday.
That remains to be seen.
Coach Dick Jauron said that while Peters passed the team’s physical and arrived in very good shape, it’s too early to determine when the player will be added to the active roster.
“Jason is planning to play, but we won’t know that until we see him practice,” said Jauron. “Playing a game is not the same as conditioning to come to camp. So we have to make sure that when we do activate him that he is ready to go footballwise, and we don’t do that too soon.”
The Bills have until Sept. 20, the day before they host Oakland, to activate Peters after the NFL granted the team a two-week roster exemption. There’s nothing preventing Buffalo from activating him earlier.
Peters expressed little regret over holding out to force the Bills to renegotiate the final three years of his contract. Peters wants a raise because he is the team’s third-highest paid offensive linemen and set to make a base salary of $3.25 million, considered low for a player at such a prominent position.
Cowboys
as signed Brooks Bollinger, giving the Cowboys a third-string quarterback they lacked all last season.
Bollinger was released by Minnesota during the final cuts of the preseason. Bollinger has played 19 games over the last four seasons, two with the New York Jets and the last two with the Vikings. The first one of those he was the backup to Brad Johnson, now Dallas’ second-stringer.
Bollinger was only 6-of-18 for 62 yards against Dallas in the preseason finale, but the Cowboys saw enough things they liked. They also like having the safety net of a veteran who can be turned to in case anything happens to starter Tony Romo and Johnson. Teams are allowed to suit up a third quarterback without counting him toward the 45-man game roster.
Bollinger is 201-of-343 for 2,155 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions over his career. His passer rating is 75.2. At only 28, coach Wade Phillips called him “a fairly young guy that’s got some experience.”
To make room for him, Dallas waived receiver Mike Jefferson, who’d only been promoted from the practice squad on Saturday.
Giants
The Super Bowl champions hired five-time Pro Bowl linebacker Jessie Armstead as a special assistant and consultant.
Armstead, who has served as a voluntary coach in recent seasons, will handle a variety of roles, general manager Jerry Reese said.
Giants from 1993-2001. He played with Washington in 2002 and ’03. He never missed a game in his nine seasons with New York and was selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls (1997-2001).
Lions
Detroit was roughed up in the season opener by the Falcons, falling behind by three touchdowns in the first quarter and losing 34-21.
The defense, reshaped by men coach Rod Marinelli wanted, was so porous it made Michael Turner look like Jim Brown as he ran over and through the Lions for a Falcons- record 220 yards rushing. Rookie Matt Ryan resembled a seasoned quarterback when his first pass went for a touchdown.
Detroit’s new-look offense, which is more committed to the run, seemed mostly out of sync.
The early 21-0 deficit and issues Jon Kitna didn’t want to address led to the quarterback and assistant coach Shawn Jefferson demonstratively arguing on the sideline.
A day later, Kitna chose not to clear up whether he and Jefferson were yelling at each other or if the coach was merely near him during the rant. But Kitna took the blame.
“That’s not in my character to lose my cool like that,” he said. “It happened and you can’t get it back. The unfortunate part about this game is it’s so emotional, you have momentary losses of sanity.
“I’ve apologized for it.”
Add A Comment