The Daily Briefing Monday, November 8, 2021

NFC NORTH

DETROIT

TE DARREN FELLS has escaped Detroit.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Veteran tight end Darren Fells no longer wishes to play in Detroit, and his wish has been granted.

The Lions are placing Fells on waivers today at his request, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The 35-year-old Fells signed a one-year contract with the Lions this season for the league-minimum salary, so he’ll be affordable for any team that wants to claim him.

Whether any team wants to claim him remains to be seen. Fells has just four catches for 43 yards this season. He has played in seven games for the Lions, and has been on the field for 32 percent of offensive plays and 10 percent of special teams plays.

GREEN BAY

Peter King, bites his tongue, pulls his punches, and still lets QB AARON RODGERS have it, citing the CDC:

I purposely did not want to write 6,000 words, as a proud member of the woke mob, to inundate the football world with the Rodgers story. But there are four points on the story I’d like to make:

1. He said there was a “witch hunt” in the media, trying to find out who was vaccinated and who wasn’t. There were questions asked of players about whether they were vaccinated, if that’s what a witch hunt is. There’s a reason for it. We saw it last week. America, and Packer nation, discovered out of the blue that Rodgers was out of an important game against Kansas City, and might be out against Seattle the following week. If a player tests positive, say, on a Friday and is unvaccinated, he will miss the next 10 days of team activities, meaning he will miss at least two games. That’s news. Reporters are going to ask about that, and rightfully so.

2. He said, “If the vaccine is so great, then how come people are still getting covid and spreading covid and, unfortunately dying of covid?” What an elementary question. We’ve known since the summer of the existence of breakthrough cases, which mean that people can get Covid after getting the vaccine—but those cases of Covid will almost certainly be mild. According to the CDC, unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die from Covid than vaccinated people who get breakthrough cases of the virus.

3. He said he hopes to be a father one day, and said the unknown of long-term vaccine effects on fertility was a factor in not getting the shot. There’s a greater risk, however, of infertility caused by getting Covid than by taking the vaccine, per the CDC.

4. He said he has consulted with his friend Joe Rogan, podcast host and comic, about what to take to stave off Covid. Rogan has never studied medicine, dropped out of UMass-Boston, and admitted that he’s neither a doctor not an expert in the field. Taking advice from a very opinionated man on Covid seems the same as Rodgers walking into the third row of the stands at Lambeau Field before a big third-down play and saying, “You’ve been a season-ticket holder for a long time, and you love football. What should we call on third down here?”

I continue to think a starting quarterback for a football team who makes $35 million a year—or whatever the salaries of Rodgers, Kirk Cousins and Carson Wentz are—should think about all the lives they’re affecting by not getting the vaccine. Is it life and death to miss one or two football games? Of course not. But is there some overwhelming evidence that you’re doing such harm to yourself by being vaccinated that you’ll risk missing two games in the middle of a season?

Finally: As Adam Schefter reported Sunday, I’ve heard from three club officials that the NFL is letting Rodgers get away with things lesser-known players couldn’t get away with—that is, not wearing a mask at things like indoor press conference, even though he is not vaxxed. NFL executives have been asked to sign a document, weekly, professing that they will follow all NFL Covid protocols in team facilities. They’re dubious that the Packers are doing so. It’s a fine line the Packers are facing, another GM said: They don’t want to alienate Rodgers, in hopes of him wanting to stay in Green Bay at least one more season. But they are risking major team fines and discipline if they look the other way on Rodgers and masks.

The league has begun an investigation into the Packers’ mask protocol, one source told me. League officials, by right, can watch 30 days of video from the team’s training facility.

Not to defend Rogan, but the host has spent a lot of time in the last 18 months talking to doctors and other experts of all kinds to form his opinions on COVID – just as King, who never played a down of football or has cashed a check from an NFL team, spends a lot of time talking to football players and coaches to form his opinions.

– – –

King turns his expert eye to analyzing the play of QB JORDAN LOVE:

• Love v Mahomes. So now the Packers know Jordan Love isn’t ready for prime time. In fact, he’s not ready for a noon regional game either. This was the tell to me of Love’s inaccuracy: He completed six of 14 targets to the best receiver on the team, Davante Adams. You’d have to go back to 2017 to find a game when Aaron Rodgers completed less than 50 percent of his passes to Adams. That’s a problem. For Mahomes, the inconsistency continues—10 possessions in the final three quarters Sunday, zero touchdowns. Still, the division’s there if Andy Reid can figure things out. AFC West standings this morning: L.A. Chargers 5-3, Las Vegas 5-3, Kansas City 5-4, Denver 5-4.

Coach Matt LaFleur falls on the sword for Love’s ineptitude:

With Aaron Rodgers at home because of his positive COVID-19 test on Wednesday, the Chiefs threw myriad blitzes at the Packers’ first-time starter — most of them on third and fourth downs — and they worked to a T.

“This one falls on me, squarely,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, for us to be 2-for-12 on third down, obviously didn’t have a good enough plan for some of the zero pressures that they brought on us.

“But I thought our guys battled. I thought Jordan, I was really proud of the way he played. He hung in there, he was taking hits and delivering the ball. I thought he did a really good job. But I think that, ultimately, I’ve got to be better and this one falls squarely on me.”

The Packers were in danger of being shut out for the first time in LaFleur’s tenure until Love finally put together a scoring drive, hitting Allen Lazard for a 20-yard touchdown with 4 minutes, 54 seconds remaining. He never got the ball back after that.

“Obviously, not good enough,” Love said when asked to assess his performance. “I think we started off a little slow; I started off a little slow, personally. I think we got into a bit of a rhythm later. Obviously, it was too late. Just not good enough.”

His final numbers: 19-of-34 passing for 190 yards and a touchdown with an interception. He was sacked only once, but the Chiefs had him running to avoid several more. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo sent five or more pass-rushers on 51% of Love’s dropbacks, the highest rate faced by a Packers quarterback since Week 15 of the 2017 season — the first game after Rodgers returned from his broken collarbone — according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

Love completed just 6 of 17 passes for 30 yards against the blitz, and 20 of those came on the touchdown pass. He was blitzed on 69% of his third- and fourth-down dropbacks. More than once, the Chiefs sent seven defenders — known as a “zero blitz” — after Love.

“I think we started having a better answer in the end, but yeah, they were bringing the all-out, they were eating us up and we just weren’t able to execute on those plays that we had against it,” Love said. “I think all it took was maybe one big play against it, and it wouldn’t have been coming as much. Obviously, we weren’t able to execute it, so that’s why they kept bringing it.”

– – –

To the dismay of Mike Florio and ProFootballTalk.com, State Farm has decided not to disavow QB Rodgers, for now:

After not saying much on Saturday about its relationship with Aaron Rodgers (possibly to the chagrin of Aaron Rodgers), State Farm has provided a less lukewarm comment about one of its most prominent pitchmen.

“Aaron Rodgers has been a great ambassador for our company for much of the past decade,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement to Christine Brennan of USA Today on Monday morning. “We don’t support some of the statements that he has made, but we respect his right to have his own personal point of view. We recognize our customers, employees, agents and brand ambassadors come from all walks of life, with differing viewpoints on many issues. Our mission at State Farm is to support safer, stronger communities. To that end, we encourage vaccinations, but respect everyone’s right to make a choice based on their personal circumstances.”

State Farm commercials that were televised over the weekend, as reported by Apex Marketing Group and relayed by Brennan, included Rodgers in only 1.5 percent of the spots. During the prior two weekends, Rodgers appeared in 25 percent of all State Farm ads.

The long-term impact of Rodgers’s remarks on his relationship with State Farm remains to be seen. For instance, new State Farm spokesman Terry Bradshaw called Rodgers a liar on national television on Sunday. Also, don’t overlook the possibility that, even if State Farm isn’t upset with Rodgers, Rodgers has become disillusioned with State Farm for its failure to rush to his defense with chest out and voice loud against the “woke mob” and “cancel culture.”

Few pro athletes identify insults and potential fodder for grievances as adeptly as Rodgers, and none can hold a grudge better than he does. Thus, even though it seems that State Farm won’t be severing ties with Rodgers, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Rodgers eventually severs ties with State Farm.

NFC EAST

NEW YORK GIANTS

The Giants have a good one in CB XAVIER McKINNEY.  Peter King:

“DBU.” That what Xavier McKinney calls Alabama, with its tradition of training defensive backs (Marlon Humphrey, Trevon Diggs, Kareem Jackson, Pat Surtain, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Landon Collins) for the NFL. McKinney had two interceptions of Derek Carr in the 23-16 Giants upset of the Raiders Sunday. His pick-six was notable for the lack of excitement McKinney showed. “Alabama prepared us for moments like this,” McKinney said post-game. “I try not to get too excited. I’ve been there before, and I don’t want to waste energy I’ll need later in the game.” McKinney’s instincts on both picks showed what a special talent his anticipation is.

NFC SOUTH

ATLANTA

The 4-4 Falcons are in the playoffs today after their big win over New Orleans.  Albert Breer on a growing culture of smarts and low egos:

Cordarrelle Patterson is the embodiment of where the Falcons hope to go. And I’m saying that after a conversation with their coach Arthur Smith led me to that conclusion—and not because Patterson’s some franchise-level player (though he’s been really good). More so, it’s about how they got him in the offseason. “We had a vision,” Smith said. “[OC] Dave Ragone and [QB coach] Charles London were with him last year in Chicago, and they really pitched [GM] Terry [Fontenot] and I on the idea of it. And so it was a good team effort. We got a real football staff here, Albert. We don’t have any of the professional politicians that most teams have. We work together—they brought it up and then Terry and his staff did a great job and got him here. And that’s a good team effort. But we had a vision for him, and we started working that when he got here, moving him around, and it’s paid off.”

It paid off in an enormous way Sunday. After letting a 24–6 lead slip away, Atlanta got the ball back at its own 24 with 1:01 left, down 25–24—and Smith dialed up the same play he called on the Falcons’ third offensive snap. In the first quarter, it went for 34 yards down the sideline from Matt Ryan to Patterson. In the fourth quarter, Patterson got loose again, caught it, but this time tight-roped the sideline to nearly double the yardage, going 64 yards on the play to set up Younghoe Koo’s 29-yard game-winner three plays later.

The Falcons beat their archrivals 27–24, to even up their record at 4–4 after a 1–3 start. But, again, as much as anything, this one was an example of how Smith, and the Atlanta staff, are trying to think outside the box with every player. And while Patterson’s only one example, he may be the best one. “We got a lot of chess pieces we can move around,” Smith said, “and C.P. is as good a football player as there is with his versatility.” Those two catches happened with Patterson playing the position he was drafted to play eight years ago—receiver. He also had nine carries, playing out of a traditional tailback position, and, of course, he returned kicks. And it’s worked, as Smith sees it, because the Falcons had a lot of people invested in it.” We’re not The Real Housewives of Flowery Branch here, so we’re not gonna have horses— drama coming out because a guy sneezed too hard in a meeting and we got anonymous-scout reports on him. That’s what I’m talking about. We have a vision, we don’t have a bunch of egos, we talk it through and we try to make the best of it for the Falcons. So everybody wants credit when things are good, but the truth is, the credit goes to a lot of people. Rags and Charles were with him. … And then Terry and his staff, they evaluate him and we talk about it, and we got him on probably the best contract in the NFL right now, in terms of return on investment.”

And the Falcons, to this point, are getting a pretty good return on the investment they made in their new GM and coach, finding themselves squarely in the mix in Year 1. There’s a long way to go, of course. But any win in the Superdome is a big one, and especially one like that one—won at the end with all the momentum going in the other direction, a spot that Atlanta’s failed in habitually over the last few years. “This football league’s not for soft souls, so you gotta play every down. You’re on the road, it’s not the same old Falcons and so we found a way to finish,” Smith said. “Soft souls, we got them out of here. Our guys believe. We won’t win it every time, but we feel confident, especially when you put the ball in Matt Ryan’s hands with a chance to go win. My money’s going to be on Matt.” And Patterson. And Fontenot. And Ragone and London. And the arrow is pointing up in Atlanta now.

CAROLINA

QB SAM DARNOLD and WR ROBBY ANDERSON had an exchange on Carolina’s emotional sideline.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold‘s three second half interceptions helped the Patriots to a win on Sunday afternoon and led to a heated exchange on the sideline.

After Darnold’s third interception, wide receiver Robby Anderson could be seen shouting in Darnold’s direction as he paced in the bench area and threw his helmet. Anderson said in his postgame press conference that “collectively we’re just not connecting” on offense and his frustration with that led to the outburst.

 “That’s what comes with it,” Anderson said. “I know that they are most likely going to catch that so it’s not anything I’m hiding from them or nothing like that. I’m very passionate. This game means the world to me and I put my all in it just like everybody in this locker room does. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I know this game isn’t going to last forever, so when things don’t go in the right direction it hurts because you only get to live this dream one time.”

Darnold said all is well between him and Anderson after the game while adding that he didn’t need anyone to tell him that his play was not up to snuff in Sunday’s loss.

“Robby is a competitor just like all of us,” Darnold said. “I am fully aware that I didn’t play my best football today. Obviously, you want your teammates to be able to say, “Hey, let’s go. We have a lot of game left, let’s tighten up, let’s put some points on the board.” I mean it’s nothing more than that, me and Robby are cool, so I’m not worried about that.”

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule also downplayed the incident, but made it clear that “we can’t keep doing this” when asked about the offensive struggles that have led to losses in five of the last six games.

NEW ORLEANS

Peter King:

I think this Michael Thomas timeline would give pause to any GM pondering a mega-contract for a great player:

Dec. 29, 2019. In a rout of the Panthers, Thomas finished one of the great receiving seasons of all time, setting the NFL single-season record with 149 receptions. Jerry Rice’s career high was 108. It was Thomas’ first season in a five-year, $96-million contract.

Sept. 13, 2020. Thomas suffered a high ankle sprain in the season-opener and missed the next six games.

Oct. 10, 2020. Thomas, recuperating from the ankle injury, punched a teammate in practice and was suspended for one game.

Dec. 13, 2020. His regular season ended after seven unimpactful games with the bad ankle. He returned for one playoff game, but the ankle was never right.

July 23, 2021. Ian Rapoport reported Thomas underwent ankle surgery in June, months after the team wanted him to. Relations between team and superstar: bad.

Nov. 3, 2021. Thomas tweeted that he’d had a setback with the ankle and will need another surgery. Out for the year. For the 32 regular-season games in 2020 and ’21, Thomas will total seven games played, 40 catches, no touchdowns.

I think, in case you’re wondering (and I am), this is Thomas’ contract situation for 2022: If the Saints keep him, his cap number will be $24.7-million, which is about 12 percent of the team’s cap. If the Saints release him next spring, they’ll take a $22.7-million cap hit.

NFC WEST

ARIZONA

Peter King makes QB COLT McCOY on of his Offensive Players of the Week:

Offensive Players of the Week

Colt McCoy, quarterback, Arizona. No Kyler Murray, no DeAndre Hopkins, no A.J. Green. But Colt McCoy, yes. Pressed into service because an injury scratched Kyler Murray on Sunday, McCoy didn’t look like a guy who started five games in the past 6.5 years. He looked well-groomed and ready to lead one of the best teams in football. Playing a desperate 49er team in Santa Clara, McCoy completed 18 of his first 21 throws (for a 143.4 rating), airing out a 50-yarder to Christian Kirk in the first half and connecting with running back James Conner for a 45-yard TD throw early in the third quarter. The Cardinals might have thought they had a good backup, a vet ready to play competitively in the NFL. Now, after this decisive McCoy-led win, they know they have one.

McCoy told Albert Breer he is not surprised at how good the Cardinals are:

“It’s a very good team,” McCoy said. “I think there are some very good veteran guys on this team who have played a lot of football, and I think they recognize how good our team could be. And so it means a lot to a lot of people, and I think when you have that combination of some good young players, some good veterans who played a lot of big games, I think there’s an urgency, and I thought today was a huge step for our football team.

SAN FRANCISCO

What is it with the Niners?  Another big injury.  Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com:

San Francisco 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn quadriceps, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday.

McGlinchey suffered the injury in the first half of the Niners’ 31-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. After the game, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said he was unsure of the severity of McGlinchey’s injury, but further testing revealed the tear, per a source.

Veteran Tom Compton replaced McGlinchey and struggled against an Arizona defense that finished with five sacks on Sunday. Shanahan said postgame that rookie Jaylon Moore did not step in for McGlinchey because he’s spent most of his time working at left tackle, but acknowledged that if McGlinchey is out for an extended period of time, Moore would be considered as the long-term replacement.

McGlinchey, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, has started all eight games at right tackle this season and has missed just four of a possible 56 regular-season games in his nearly three and a half seasons in the league. The 49ers picked up McGlinchey’s fifth-year option in April, guaranteeing his $10.88 million salary for the 2022 season.

SEATTLE

The Seahawks are 3-5 and sit one game behind the 4-4 playoff line, currently occupied by Atlanta.  And now, HE’S BACK.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Russell Wilson is back.

The Seahawks’ quarterback tweeted “It’s time” this morning, with a video showing the protective wrap being removed from his surgically repaired finger. Wilson’s video also included an image of Lambeau Field, making clear that Wilson plans to play on Sunday at Green Bay.

Aaron Rodgers is expected to be at quarterback for the Packers, as he’s eligible to be activated from the COVID-19 reserve list on Saturday, so football fans will get to see Wilson vs. Rodgers — a much more appealing matchup than Geno Smith vs. Jordan Love.

It’s been a disappointing season for the 3-5 Seahawks, but they’re only a game out of the final wild card spot in the NFC, and with Wilson back for the stretch run, they can still get to the postseason. A win over the Packers would be a great way to head into the second half of the season with confidence.

AFC WEST

DENVER

The Browns won after they cut their highly-paid receiver.

The Titans won after they lost their great running back to injury.

And the Broncos won after saying good-bye to EDGE VON MILLER.  Albert Breer:

The Broncos took the idea that they’re waving the white flag personally. And they took it out on a Cowboys team that was expected to handle them relatively easily. The Broncos raced to a 30–0 third-quarter lead at AT&T Stadium, and cruised from there to a 30–16 win to get to 5–4 and pull within a half game of the Raiders, and stay that far from the Chargers, in the AFC West. “We just came out here with a purpose,” veteran tailback Melvin Gordon said over [the] phone, as the team boarded for Denver. “People feel like we’re tanking, we’re just doing this or we’re doing that. We’re the Denver Broncos, and we’re going to fight till the end. And we got bigger goals than what people think of us and what people expect us to have.”

That much showed in a lot of different ways Sunday, to cap a week that started with the team’s sending perhaps the greatest defensive player in franchise history to the Rams for second- and third-round picks—a move that sets first-year GM George Paton up, as he continues to tweak and work through what John Elway left him on the roster but doesn’t do as much for the team right now. These sorts of moves, by GMs or coaches in new places, are almost always digested the same way. And more often than not the perception that shipping off a vet of Miller’s ilk in-season matches reality, with the signal being that a longer build is in store. But there’s an interesting twist to this one: The Bronco players were actually prepared for this, because they met amongst themselves to discuss the direction of the team after their 3–0 start began to unravel—a meeting that included Miller himself. “Nothing’s changed,” Gordon said. “Before Von left, we came together as a team, and we talked about what we needed. We talked about what we need to do differently around the locker room. And just because Von isn’t here, don’t mean we gonna tank it out. Von, him being around, he wouldn’t even want us to even be in that type of mindset. That’s how much he loved the Broncos; he’d still want what’s best for this team and what’s best for us.”

Gordon wouldn’t divulge the details of the meeting, but it sure does sound like they figured out what’s best for them. In the first half, Denver rode a super-efficient Teddy Bridgewater (125.5 first-half passer rating), an edgy run game (96 yards on 17 carries in the first half) and a suffocating, sans-Miller defense (first half shutout) to 16–0 lead at the break. And it only got worse from there for the Cowboys, who had Dak Prescott back. So yeah, this was a statement game for the Broncos. We’ll see if it means anything long-term, but at the very least, it’s a good feather in the cap of Vic Fangio and the player leadership that they could compartmentalize the events of the week, and play like they did—and having a few rookies as part of it (Miller’s replacement, Jonathon Cooper, had two sacks; and Javonte Williams ran for 111 yards on 17 carries) was a nice bonus, too. “It’s not about wanting to play harder cause Von’s not here—Von is one of the bigger reasons that we’re playing this hard. The conversations that he had with us, through texts, in the locker room, it pushed us. And it’s unfortunate that he’s not here, but he’s one of the reasons that guys are fighting hard. He was the leader of this team before he left, and guys are stepping up. We want to win. We don’t like losing, we’d lost three straight. … It doesn’t feel good, it doesn’t feel good.” Safe to say they feel better now.

LAS VEGAS

Peter King is concerned about the Raiders:

The Raiders are still in first place in the AFC West, where every team is either 5-3 (Vegas, Chargers) or 5-4 (KC, Denver). But there’s so much simmering on and below the surface with the Raiders, and you just wonder if it’s a matter of time before the whole thing implodes. Players don’t much care if the team president, Marc Badain, disappears without explanation in July. But when the head coach and voice of the organization, Jon Gruden, becomes a non-person in October, and then the best prospect the Raiders have drafted in a few years, wideout Henry Ruggs, causes the death of a woman and her dog (allegedly) in a fiery car wreck and wrecks his career in the process, and there are rumblings another first-round pick, Damon Arnette, could be in significant disciplinary trouble. I mean, how much more can one locker room take?

Four Raider players, after they lost to the Giants 23-16 Sunday, all said some form of what wideout Hunter Renfrow said: “Things happen in y’all’s lives, and y’all still professional and do a great job. Same thing with us. We can’t let that affect us, no matter what it is.”

“It’s all about the ball,” said an exasperated-sounding quarterback Derek Carr, who did not take care of it Sunday. “That’s why we lost. Please. Just talk about me turning the ball over.”

Carr’s probably right. In the first two games after the controversial removal of Gruden, Carr completed 80 percent of his throws and the Raiders beat Denver and Philly each by double-digits. Against the Giants, Carr badly overthrew Darren Waller twice in the end zone, threw an ugly pick-six in the third quarter, and threw an uglier interception way short of its target in the fourth quarter. So we’ll give Carr the L here, as he deserves.

And because the Raiders agreed to terms with speedy DeSean Jackson after the game—theoretically to replace one of the fastest men in football, Ruggs—there was a sense Sunday night of Everything’s gonna be fine.

Maybe.

But this thought occurred to me after one smart official from another NFL team asked me over the weekend: “Do you think it might be Vegas? I can tell you I’m glad I’m not working with a team in Vegas.”

At first glance, it seems like a conclusion-jump. But what if the city that rarely sleeps is really a detriment for team-building, and a detriment for young players flush with cash for the first time in their lives? Are young players in Cincinnati or Minneapolis or Green Bay or Seattle driving 156 mph in the streets at 3:30 on a Tuesday morning during the season? Or being tempted in other ways in a city that is awake at all hours?

No way of knowing, of course. And it’s not nearly as important as the death of a 23-year-old woman and her Golden Retriever in the car late at night.

But if I’m the Raiders, and I’m serious about being a long-term contender in Sin City, I’m turning over every rock to make sure the franchise stops screeching from one franchise-jarring piece of news to another. Raiders GM Mike Mayock, assuming he’s now at least the medium-term caretaker of the team, has to make that priority one as he goes forward. This franchise is crying out for stability, and Mayock’s job right now is to draft and construct and manage a team that makes it happen.

More about the Raiders in a minute, but first a look at how we got here.

– – –

Tuesday, 3:39 a.m. Pacific Time

Las Vegas: A heinous tragedy

Around midnight Monday, Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs texted QB Derek Carr, asking for some golf tips. Ruggs was hitting some golf shots at TopGolf in Las Vegas . . . and apparently drinking as well. He got in his Corvette about three hours later and did something that seems almost impossible to do, police said: Ruggs accelerated the car to 156 mph on a city street, then crashed into an SUV at about 127 mph moments later. The SUV burst into flames, and the driver, 23-year-old Tina Tintor, was killed in the fiery crash, as was her Golden Retriever, also in the vehicle. Prosecutors said Ruggs’ blood alcohol tested at twice the legal limit.

The arraigning judge, Las Vegas justice of the peace Joe Bonaventure, said in 16 years on the bench he hadn’t heard of a vehicle driving so fast on city streets. The Raiders cut Ruggs, the first receiver picked in what’s acknowledged as the best receiver draft in NFL history in 2020, later in the day. Ruggs’ worry now is not his football career. It’s how long a prison term he faces for charges of DUI resulting in death, DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm, and possessing a loaded weapon under the influence. In 38 seasons covering this game, I don’t remember an auto accident involving a player as heinous as this one.

– – –

After the Henry Ruggs catastrophe last week, the first thoughts are about the 23-year-old woman, Tina Tintor, whose SUV was rear-ended in the horrific crash, and to her dog Max, a Golden Retriever. After the death of Tintor and the dog, the family set up a GoFundMe page, with a goal of $7,000. As of 12:45 a.m. ET today, 2,039 people across the world had contributed a total of $89,536.

It’s astounding that, in a part of a city with stoplights and traffic at all hours, a human being would choose to drive 156 mph, as the police allege Ruggs did. He’s likely (if not virtually certain) to serve prison time if found guilty for driving at that speed and striking Tintor’s vehicle and being at twice the legal limit for alcohol. “It’s something he’ll have to live with for the rest of his life,” Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia said last week. It’s something that will ruin his football career, or at least rob him of his prime. That pales in comparison to the death of Tintor, of course. But it’s part of the sordid story.

“I don’t know the right way to handle it,” said Carr, “but I’m doing my best.”

As for the football part of it, the elimination of Ruggs from the Raiders is a ruinous piece of Mike Mayock’s three-year puzzle to remake the team with high-quality, high-character players, mostly from huge football schools like Alabama and Clemson and Ohio State. It’s a major hit for Mayock.

Ruggs’ impact in his 1.5 years as a Raider was a mixed bag. When Ruggs was drafted as the top receiver in the 2020 wideout class, owner Mark Davis saw his friend Cliff Branch in Ruggs. Was he Branch? No, not yet. Could he have been Branch? Possibly, not certainly. His 18.42 yards per catch so far was Branch-like, but his production—50 catches, 921 yards and four TDs in 20 career games—was only half of a player drafted 10 spots lower, Justin Jefferson of the Vikings. One defensive position coach on a team that played the Raiders this year told me his team’s game plan was to take Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow away while singling Ruggs. “Carr loves Waller and trusts Renfrow,” this coach said. “He doesn’t look for Ruggs all that much.”

With that in mind, I went back over the weekend and looked at 2021 NFL GamePass video of Ruggs. In his last game as a Raider, in Week 7 against Philadelphia, Ruggs was targeted four times, all intermediate or short routes. The score was 7-7 at the two-minutes warning of the first half. After that point, Carr threw 16 passes. He never targeted Ruggs, and the Raiders beat Philadelphia 33-22. Still, during the game, FOX analyst Jonathan Vilma said of Ruggs: “He’s really starting to become a phenom in this NFL.”

I didn’t see it. I saw his two big-time plays this year—TD bombs that left great safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Justin Simmons flailing (literally) in the wake of the speedy Ruggs beating the Steelers and Broncos for long scores. But he seemed more puzzle piece than franchise receiver. It’s hard for a receiver who averaged 2.5 catches per game to be a franchise receiver.

The temptation was to call Ruggs a Tyreek Hill type of receiver—blinding, game-changing speed. But early on, the comparison were faulty. Since opening day 2020, Hill was targeted 229 times by Kansas City QBs, and Ruggs 79 times by the Raiders. Really, Hill was a physical presence, an all-around receiver and Jet-sweep threat. Ruggs was a guy who could take the top off a defense but didn’t have the ball in his hands enough—yet, at least—to be a great player.

So on Sunday, I watched Ruggs’ replacement, journeyman Zay Jones. His 4.46-second speed is good, but not Ruggs’ 4.27-second time from the 2020 Scouting Combine. And that’s what I noticed—Jones doesn’t have great separation ability. “Zay’s a great deep threat,” Renfrow said. “He can take the top off a defense as well.” Maybe, but I never saw it. I never saw Jones behind the deep safety, threatening the D with speed. Carr had 46 pass attempts against the Giants, and only four to Jones. The most consequential: With 5:19 remaining in the game and the Giants up 20-16, Jones sped up the right sideline toward midfield. He was covered closely by Giants cornerback James Bradberry, with safety Xavier McKinney lurking.

Now, Jones did a double-move, and he did have a step on Bradberry, and maybe an earlier throw by Carr would have found him. But Carr didn’t account for McKinney, lurking. “Earlier in the game, the Raiders ran the same route [not with Jones], the same double-move,” McKinney told me later. “The first time, it was definitely a back-shoulder throw. I knew the play all along and I was just waiting for him to throw it.” This time, it appeared Carr just underthrew Jones, and McKinney was there to pick Carr for a second time.

So now, presumably, the Raiders will rely on a mélange of Jones and DeSean Jackson to play Ruggs’ role. Jackson turns 35 in three weeks, and it’s unrealistic to think he’ll be an every-down player. Since opening day 2018, Jackson has averaged playing 29 snaps a game. Any more than that, and the Raider risk a savior blowing a tire and being lost for the playoff run.

Lots of moving parts for the Raiders now. I trust that Carr won’t be so gobsmacked by the loss of Ruggs that he falls into a slump that wrecks the Vegas season. With two games left against mysterious Kansas City, and roadies with Dallas, Cleveland and Indianapolis, the Raiders can’t wallow. And Carr, the biggest piece of the Raiders’ playoff puzzle, has to put aside the franchise mayhem—again—and try to make a talented-enough football team succeed. With the Raiders, now tragically, it’s never easy.

This is what King was referring to with CB DAMON ARNETTE, dropped by Jon Hefling ofDeadspin.com:

The Las Vegas Raiders are in the midst of one of the most tumultuous seasons we’ve ever seen. First it was their head coach, Jon Gruden, whose leaked emails revealed racist and misogynistic tendencies from the Super Bowl-winning coach. Less than a month later, the team’s leading receiver and 2020 first-round draft pick, Henry Ruggs, was arrested for a DUI that resulted in a car accident and the death of a 23-year-old woman and her dog. Ruggs has since been released from jail after posting bond and is awaiting further legal action.

Those two issues would be bad enough as is. However, things just keep getting worse for the Silver & Black.

The Raiders could be forced to cut ties with another one of their 2020 first-round draft picks, cornerback Damon Arnette. A video surfaced on social media supposedly showing Arnette waving multiple guns around and threatening someone’s life:

You can see the Tik Tok video here (don’t watch if the N word is offensive)

However, that’s not the only shitstorm Arnette has himself wrapped up in. Arnette is also facing multiple lawsuits.

The first, filed on October 5, revolves around a hit-and-run that happened on October 14, 2020. In an effort to make a meeting he was running late for, at the Raiders’ team headquarters, Arnette allegedly crashed into a woman’s vehicle, while the woman was in the car, at over 65 mph. The suit says rather than staying to exchange insurance information, Arnette fled the scene and continued toward the meeting. The woman, Yaneth Coromoto Casique, suffered several bodily injuries and racked up medical bills totaling over $92,000. Her lawsuit aims to have Arnette and/or the Raiders, who are also listed as defendants, pay her medical bills as well as an additional $15,000 in general damages and legal fees.

The second lawsuit revolves around an interaction Arnette had with a valet worker at the Aria Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The worker claims that after Arnette was told his car could not be recovered by the valet because Arnette lacked a valet receipt, the Raiders’ cornerback berated the worker, spat on him, and poked him in the chest. Arnette did have a valet receipt, but it was still in his hotel room. It was eventually recovered by Arnette’s girlfriend. The valet worker is seeking $500,000 for the altercation.

The Raiders have not yet released Arnette, but that move is expected to be made very soon. Arnette has not seen the field since being put on IR following the team’s Week 4 matchup against the Chargers. Since being drafted, Arnette has started only seven games for the Raiders and has yet to record an interception in his professional career.

And on Monday afternoon, GM Mike Mayock cut ties with another of his and Jon Gruden’s first round picks. Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Raiders have waived cornerback Damon Arnette after video emerged of him carrying a gun and making death threats to an unspecified person.

The 2020 first-round pick had been on injured reserve since Oct. 9 and ends his time with Las Vegas having appeared in just 13 games with seven starts. The news comes after the Raiders also waived their other 2020 first-round pick, Henry Ruggs, after an alleged high-speed, DUI collision that killed a 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog.

On Monday, Raiders General Manager Mike Mayock told reporters the decision to waive Arnette was “very painful.”

“We cannot stand for the video of Damon with a gun threatening to take a life,” Mayock said, via Cassie Soto of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Bottom line, the Raiders will not tolerate this behavior.”

Mayock noted that there were character concerns about Arnette when he was entering the league, saying the club spent significant time trying to understand his behavior. But when drafting him, the Raiders felt like they would be a good fit for the young corner. Mayock said he’s sick to his stomach about Arnette.

“We did more research on Arnette than anybody else since I have been here and we missed,” Mayock said, via Vic Tafur of TheAthletic.com. “And that is 100 percent on me.”

By cutting Arnette, the Raiders have now let go of four of their top five picks from the 2020 draft — each of whom were selected in the first or third round. Lynn Bowden was traded to the Dolphins at the end of his rookie training camp. And linebacker Tanner Muse was waived at the end of this year’s training camp. Neither Bowden nor Muse ever played a snap for Las Vegas.

While the club still has receiver Bryan Edwards, guard John Simpson, and corner Amik Robertson from its 2020 draft, Mayock acknowledged the class as a whole was a miss.

“I think in ’19 and ’21 we’ve done a heck of a job … we’re going to be consistent with that,” Mayock said, via Soto. “It’s just as important to me that these guys are good in the community as well as good football players.”

But frankly, Mayock may not get that chance with another draft class. Though Rich Bisaccia is 2-1 as the Raiders’ interim coach, there’s a lot to be determined about how owner Mark Davis will shape the franchise following Jon Gruden’s resignation. Mayock currently has control of roster decisions, but that could easily change if Davis wants to hire a big-name coach who brings in his own G.M.

The best argument for Mayock will be if the Raiders continue to win. Now at 5-3, Las Vegas will host Kansas City for Sunday Night Football in Week 10.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

Albert Breer of SI.com on how the 2021 version of QB LAMAR JACKSON is better than the 2019 one that won the NFL MVP Award:

Lamar Jackson and I were finishing up our conversation, maybe a half hour after his Ravens’ latest rabbit-out-of-a-hat win, and we’d just gone back to a talk we had in August about his game, and where it was going. And I reminded the 24-year-old quarterback of the narrative that was being discussed then—that the NFL had figured its 2019 MVP out.

So, I asked, I guess that really didn’t happen after all?

Jackson laughed, in a sort of endearing way.

He knew the truth then, and he knows it now. At this point, everyone else should, too.

The Ravens are 6–2, and they’re 6–2, having survived a rash of injuries in a lot of key places, largely because of the strides that Jackson’s made, and because he’s not the same player he was when he lit the league on fire two years ago. He’s unequivocally a better passer than he was in 2019. He has better command of Baltimore’s offense. He’s more capable of performing in the two-minute offense.

And all that’s been most apparent on Sundays like this one. The Ravens were down 17–3 in the waning moments of the first half against the Vikings, and down 24–10 after Minnesota rookie Kene Nwangwu took the opening kickoff of the second half back 98 yards. They needed to make the most of every possession in the second half, after fumbling around in the first half. They needed to overcome an overtime turnover of Jackson’s own.

They needed to do all of it without Ronnie Stanley, J.K. Dobbins or Gus Edwards, all of whom are out for the year. Or Sammy Watkins or Latavius Murray, both out this week.

Jackson never blinked at any of that, and in the process has beaten another rap against him. Sunday’s 34–31 win over Minnesota was his third comeback from a double-digit deficit this year, with this one joining similarly dramatic wins over the Chiefs and Colts, to make him the only quarterback in the league to have that many to this point. Which, of course, knocks down the idea that a Jackson-led offense can’t come from behind—he had been 0–6 as a starter in games where he trailed by 10 or more points before this run.

When I brought that up, Jackson simply said, “Well, we’re trying to change the narrative.”

The result of that effort?

Baltimore might be the best team in the AFC. And Jackson might be the league MVP again, just in a different way than he was before. There are tangible reasons why Jackson and the Ravens are more capable of a comeback this year than they have been before. That he’s a better passer isn’t by accident—he focused on details this offseason, working on his feet being more consistent, and opening his hips to his targets better than he has in the past, which has manifested in Jackson’s throwing a tighter spiral and more accurately outside the numbers. That improvement has led to the Ravens’ doing more in the passing game, which naturally helps in playing from behind.

That said, there’s a less tangible piece to this, too, and Jackson believes it really started not in spite of, but because of the team’s having to deal with so much over the summer, with freak practice injuries costing the Ravens their top two tailbacks (Dobbins, Edwards) and a starting corner (Marcus Peters) over the stretch of just a few days.

“I got guys who’ve been with me since 2019, and we really kind of talked about it as soon as we had key guys go down at the beginning of the season,” Jackson said. “Coach [John Harbaugh] talked to us, We’re gonna see what our season is about, We’re gonna face adversity, stuff like that. We went down to Las Vegas, played a tough game with those guys, took that L and we tried to rebuild before the Chiefs. We talked about it, like, Man, you know, we gotta learn how to keep fighting.

“We were down. We had to make something happen. And that’s just been the season. Our guys, we have faith in each other, it’s just staying as one, keeping our heads down, focused on one play at a time. When mistakes happen, we just let it go and focus on the next play, and that’s just pretty much how our team sums it up each and every week.”

– – –

“Everyone’s got each other’s back, and everyone knows that,” Jackson said. “They have my back. I made a mistake, overtime came, first drive, driving the ball, 55 made a great play, slapped the ball, intercepted it. The defense coming on the field was like, We got you, we got you, everyone telling me they got me. And my job was to have their back. They gave me that ball back and that’s what it was. We want it for each other.”

Indeed, the defense forced a three-and-out, and the Vikings punted. But because of field position created by the turnover, the Ravens were backed up to their own 10 to start the ensuing drive. And that led the Ravens to take a methodical approach to get themselves out of the shadow of their own goal line.

“We gotta get ourselves out of this situation,” is what Jackson remembers saying, and being said, among the offensive guys. “The whole game, we’d been getting penalties, getting backed up, every time we have a positive play. So we just knew it was one of those days, we’re gonna have it come and hit us anyway at any time. We just had to be dogs to fight off and get out of it, and that’s what we did.”

A 20-yard strike from Jackson to Hollywood Brown sparked what would be the game-winning drive, but, as the quarterback said, it was how the Ravens would ride out the bumps that defined the whole day, right down to the final possession.

A holding call on Eric Tomlinson, followed by an illegal formation flag, turned first-and-5 into first-and-20 from the Vikings’ 49 with 2:05 left. Now, it’d be on Jackson to win the game—and Jackson would deliver. First it was with a throw to Brown for 13 yards, then a keeper for another five yards, then three straight handoffs to Le’Veon Bell (!), good for another 18 yards to set up the Ravens’ all-world kicker, Justin Tucker, for the winner.

Tucker nailed it, of course, and now the Ravens are rolling into Thursday night against the Dolphins with a chance to catch the Titans for the top seed.

I was looking for more reasons why the Ravens have so quickly turned into kings of the comeback, and one that came to mind Sunday night was the amount of experience they’ve brought in, in plugging holes. Alejandro Villanueva, a longtime Steelers fixture, was signed to replace Orlando Brown, and now is in Stanley’s spot instead. Bell, Murray and Devonta Freeman (who scored a touchdown of his own Sunday) aren’t new to the league, either.

But Jackson thinks there’s more to it than that. Rather than it being how long these guys have played, it’s simply how they play—because the quarterback sees it in the young players in-house, too.

“I wouldn’t say it’s experience, I would just say it’s all of us, because [Rashod] Bateman is a rookie—he got in, and he made terrific catches, he made tough catches right away,” Jackson said. “That’s just the dog in him, and EDC [GM Eric DeCosta] and Mr. Ozzie [Newsome], those guys know how to pick them. Those guys pick terrific players, and everyone’s hungry, and that’s why our team has so much success.”

– – –

And because of all that, Jackson finds himself in the MVP discussion again.

It’s different this time, to be sure. The run game isn’t the runaway freight train it was in 2019. Jackson’s having to win in different ways, because the truth is that there are elements of what the Ravens have done that the league has gotten better at defending.

So, as Jackson sees it, that puts it on him to keep improving, the same as it would be for any other quarterback. And as he assesses where he’s at now, that’s really where the focus is.

“I feel like I am playing my best ball, but it can still be better,” he said. “I need to be more consistent with things. Sometimes, I can be good, good, good then something happens. I feel like we need to be more consistent, man. And I can be more consistent, and we can be more consistent. I’ll be at where I need to be. I’ll be where I want to be.”

But where he is now?

It’s pretty good. And it’s better than a lot of people might’ve expected, even if it looks a little different than it has in the past.

CLEVELAND

With the Bengals vanquished without OBJ, QB BAKER MAYFIELD is magnanimous.  Jake Trotter of ESPN.com:

Baker Mayfield says he wishes Odell Beckham Jr. the best.

But after his and his team’s most impressive performance of the season — a 41-16 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals, only days after OBJ essentially forced his way out of Cleveland — the Browns quarterback said his focus will be about his current teammates going forward.

“I wish him well, I really do. My feelings haven’t changed,” Mayfield said, two days after the team announced it would release Beckham. “From a personal standpoint, he’s a good friend of mine. … But I’m worried about the guys in our locker room. I’m proud of these guys, how they were able to focus up despite all the bulls— that was going on this week and how they were able to do their job. We’re going to see if we can build on it and continue to get better.”

The breakup became inevitable this past week when, hours before Tuesday’s trade deadline, Beckham’s father shared a video on social media showing times when Mayfield didn’t throw him the ball. Beckham Sr. also trashed Mayfield in the comments. On Wednesday, the Browns excused Beckham from practice while the sides negotiated his exit, which was finalized Friday — Beckham’s 29th birthday.

A puzzling trend dating back to last year, after Beckham Jr. suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 7, Mayfield continued to play his best with Beckham not on the field.

Sunday, Mayfield completed 14 of 21 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.

In the third quarter, he still held a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3, shortly before the Browns jumped to a 31-10 lead on a Nick Chubb 70-yard touchdown run.

The Browns barraged the Bengals with a series of big plays throughout the game, including cornerback Denzel Ward’s 99-yard pick-six and Mayfield’s 60-yard touchdown bomb to Donovan Peoples-Jones, making Cleveland the first team since 1967 to produce a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and defensive touchdown of 60-plus yards all in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“We needed that win. Our whole locker room needed it. And they knew that. Played for each other,” Mayfield said. “I trust the guys in this locker room. When adversity hit, nobody flinched. It was a long week. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. But proud of these guys.”

Beckham will go on waivers Monday. If he’s not claimed, he can sign with a new team of his choice.

“We still haven’t talked,” Mayfield said of Beckham. “But that doesn’t change things. I wish him well. I wish him the best in his career.”

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

Peter King on Joe Cullen, his hero of Jacksonville’s surprise win:

Joe Cullen, defensive coordinator, Jacksonville. Cullen’s D held one of football’s most explosive offenses and quarterbacks to zero touchdowns and 301 yards, with four sacks and two interceptions. Jacksonville allowed only one drive of more than 50 yards. Talked to Cullen post-game, and he said a big help for the Jags D in this game was the experience he had in Baltimore as defensive line coach in the past two years. “We played the Bills twice, and we got to them and their tendencies from studying them a lot,” Cullen said after the upset of the year—Jags 9, Bills 6. In 2019, Baltimore held Josh Allen to a 44-percent passing day in a 24-17 Ravens win. Last year, in a divisional playoff game, Buffalo won 17-3, but only 10 of those points were scored by the Buffalo offense. “We brought edge pressure, rushing four, and we brought nickel pressure at times too,” Cullen said. “[Buffalo QB] Josh Allen is a younger Ben Roethlisberger, with speed. The key to beating them is to limit explosive plays.” Good lessons and a good game plan by Cullen.

We mean this as a tribute to Cullen getting his life together, but he is the guy who had an embarrassing incident at a Wendy’s in Detroit in 2006.

TENNESSEE

Peter King makes a point the DB made last week looking at the schedule of the 7-2 Titans:

• How’d the Titans scored 14 points in 11 seconds? With 12:21 left in the second quarterback, Ryan Tannehill threw a short TD pass to give Tennessee a 7-3 lead at the Rams—after Matthew Stafford threw a terrible interception trying to avoid a safety. The Rams got the ball back, and on first down, Stafford gift-wrapped another pick, this time a pick-six by Kevin Byard. Oh, and the Rams had 12 penalties for 115 yards. You can chalk this up as a bad day for the Rams, not a fatal one. But say this about Tennessee: that’s a pressure-packed defense with an all-pro interior player of the future—defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Here’s the big point for Tennessee coming out of this: It’s going to be almost impossible for the Colts to catch the Titans in the division now. The Titans have a three-game lead and have four games left against teams with two wins: Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, at Houston.

Note: Houston has one win.  The sentence should read : The Titans have a three-game lead and have four games against teams with two wins or fewer.

Tennessee will be in the playoffs with home field for at least the first round.  And if RB DERRICK HENRY’s foot heals while the rest of his body doesn’t take any pounding…

AFC EAST

NEW ENGLAND

Peter King tabs the Patriots as one of three teams that he is bullish on for the second half of the season:

New England. One coach told me over the weekend he thinks the Patriots are better than the Bills. “Excellent, deep defense,” he said, “and Mac Jones is every bit as good as Joe Burrow.” Interesting. The Pats are a half-game behind Buffalo, but there’s one important standings factor to remember: Buffalo hasn’t played the Jets yet, and New England has finished with the Jets. Jones has been terrific, quickly. Bills-Pats, twice in 21 days in December, should be fun.

Dallas and New Orleans are the other two, by the way.

– – –

It’s not often that a QB finds himself labeled a “dirty player” but the Panthers have leveled that charge at Patriots QB MAC JONES.  David Newton of ESPN.com:

Carolina Panthers edge rusher Haason Reddick called the first-quarter no-call in which New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones held Brian Burns’ right ankle as the outside linebacker twisted to get away after a strip sack “egregious” and “completely dirty.”

Burns returned after spending time in the sideline medical tent, but in the fourth quarter, he had to again be helped off the field with an injury to the same ankle. Whether the two were related was not immediately known.

“Definitely thought it was a dirty play,” Reddick said. “I actually saw and witnessed the play while it was happening. At first it felt like he was trying trip or kick Burns. And the next thing you know I saw him tugging on Burns’ ankle. I thought it was completely dirty. Hopefully, it’s something the league addresses.”

Referee Clete Blakeman said it was a “subjective call” and something the league would have to deal with in its evaluation of the game crew as to whether the officials should have called something.

But in general, Blakeman said: “Holding is holding, on any play and throughout the entire game.”

Jones was not asked about the incident after the game. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he believed Jones thought Burns had the ball.

The NFL will review the play as it does every play after games and Jones could be subject to fine under the league rules regarding player accountability.

Carolina coach Matt Rhule said “a foul should have been called,” whether it was a personal foul or holding.

“I don’t want to call out any of their players or anything like that,” said Rhule, who said earlier in the week he loved Jones, a player his staff coached in the Senior Bowl. “I’m always gonna protect our guys, and it looked like it was an injury that happened after the play.”

The replay showed Jones holding Burns’ right ankle after the fumble and continuing to hold it as Burns twisted to get away and chase the loose ball. Burns lay on the field while trainers evaluated the injury before helping him to the sideline the first time.

“It seems they always are protecting the offensive players,” Reddick said. “There’s the protection for the protection for the defensive players as well.

“That was a call that shouldn’t be missed. I’m going to speak out on it, whatever the consequences are. It looked completely intentional from where I was standing, and I was pretty close. I don’t think that was a call that should have been missed.”

Reddick said he talked to Burns after the 24-6 loss and said the former Florida State star “will be fine.”

But Reddick continued to criticize Jones, who was not asked about the play during his postgame news conference.

“I understand everybody is out there competing,” he said. “I understand everybody wants to win. I don’t think there is no room for that inside of the game. Everybody needs to be respectful, right? Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt.

“For no penalty, nothing to be thrown, it’s egregious, I think it’s unfair. I really do hope the league addresses it.”

THIS AND THAT

ODELL

Albert Breer:

I will be interested to see what version of Beckham his next team gets. First, we’ll take you through the logistics of Beckham’s waiver situation.

• He’s expected to officially be cut Monday, which means claims have to be in on him Tuesday, and he’ll be awarded to a team, or clear waivers, at 4 p.m. that afternoon.

• Any team claiming him would assume the $7.25 million he’s due for the rest of the year.

• There was a renegotiation—the contract is now set up so if Beckham clears waivers Tuesday, the Browns will owe him only $4.25 million. But they absolutely did him a solid by not pushing the button to convert his base salary into a signing bonus, which would’ve made it easier for a bad team (or any team) to claim him.

• Also, the last two years of his deal were whacked off the contract. That means he’s set to become a free agent in March, and if someone gets him this week (presumably it’ll be this week) that team will be in position to land a 2023 comp pick for him.

Would I sign/claim him? I’d do it only if I had a strong veteran quarterback and a locker room with stars like him—so he wouldn’t be the constant center of attention. My understanding is his behavior was actually O.K. in Cleveland, and his stunt with his dad and LeBron James on Tuesday caught pretty much everyone off-guard. I don’t think he’s a bad guy. But he is high-maintenance and a little aloof. So you need infrastructure to handle him.