Daily Briefing

AROUND THE NFL NFC NORTH   CHICAGO LB ROQUAN SMITH’s mysterious “personal issues” seem to be clearing.   Roquan Smith has returned to practice and the star linebacker said he will play Sunday against the Raiders. Mitchell Trubisky, as expected, most likely will not be available.   Bears coach Matt Nagy announced Wednesday that Smith,…

AROUND THE NFL A week ago, the field was set for the various championship games with Kansas City taking on New England in the AFC and Dallas and the Rams the clear choices in the NFC.  The rest of the season was all about teams positioning to get playoff berths where they would be destroyed…

AROUND THE NFL Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com notes that after three weeks of play, the folks in Vegas believe the Patriots will play the Chiefs in the AFC Championship, probably win, and then claim another Super Bowl title.   Three weeks of dominance, even against easily-dominated teams, gets the attention of the folks in Las…

AROUND THE NFL NFC NORTH   CHICAGO WR TAYLOR GABRIEL couldn’t finish his greatest game.  Jelani Scott of NFL.com:   In the midst of his superb showing on “Monday Night Football,” Taylor Gabriel’s momentum was suddenly halted by injury.   The Chicago Bears receiver exited Monday night’s 31-15 win over the Washington Redskins and headed…

AROUND THE NFL The AFC looks like the Patriots and Chiefs heading for the byes and the rest of the conference swimming about for the other four spots.  Kansas City won, the other three AFC West teams lost and the Chiefs have a 2-game lead after three weeks.   The Patriots have a surprising 3-0…

AROUND THE NFL NFC EAST   DALLAS With no market emerging, the Cowboys have cut ties with former first-round pick DE TACO CHARLTON.  Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com:   The Taco Charlton truck is being towed out of Dallas.   The Cowboys released the former first-round defensive end on Wednesday after two-plus seasons with the club.…

AROUND THE NFL Someone, either Colin Kaepernick or his agent, wants an NFL check.  John Breech of CBSSports.com:   The 2019 NFL season has gotten off to a brutal start for the league’s quarterbacks, who are dropping like flies.   Through just two weeks, we’ve already seen Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Nick Foles go…

AROUND THE NFL David Perdum of ESPN.com on the two big spreads in Week 3.   According to the betting market, there hasn’t been this large of a gap between the best and worst teams in the NFL since 1987, a strike season featuring games with starters against replacement players.   The New England Patriots…

AROUND THE NFL The big stories of Week 2 were the injuries to aging QBs BEN ROETHLISBERGER (season-ending elbow) and DREW BREES (6 weeks, thumb).   And, as happens several weeks each year – the perfect storm of bad officiating featuring two referees (one veteran in Walt Anderson, one rookie in Adrian Hill) and the…

AROUND THE NFL Mike Florio on the standard the NFL seems to be settling on for pass interference reversals:   Last year, the NFL adjusted rules regarding lowering-the-helmet rule and the roughing-the-passer after an outcry emerged from the early-season application of the provisions. This year, the new procedure for replay review of pass interference hasn’t…

AROUND THE NFL As we go to press comes this word that there ain’t going to be no BAKER MAYFIELD-SAM DARNOLD re-match on Monday night.  Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com:   Sam Darnold was out of practice yesterday with what was designated “illness.”   Now that they know which one it is, he may be out…

AROUND THE NFL The first game on Monday night had an awfully good finish.   Houston took over, down seven, with 50 seconds left.  And scored with too much time on the clock.  Danny Heifetz of The Ringer:   Saints fans showed up to the Superdome dressed as referees. Blind referees, to be specific. The…