Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told San Francisco cornerback Jimmie Ward he tore “something” in the second quarter of yesterday’s game (Twitter link via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com). Fitzgerald will have an MRI today to determine the severity of his injury.
Through nine games this season, Fitzgerald has hauled in 68 catches – second in the NFL to only Antonio Brown – with 687 yards and five touchdowns. Losing Fitzgerald for an extended period would sting for Arizona and they’ll be hoping for the best when those scans come back. In a worst case scenario, Fitzgerald’s 2017 season is still guaranteed thanks to the terms of his recent extension.
Here’s more out of the NFC:
- Bears rookie running back Jordan Howard suffered a possible Achilles tendon injury in Sunday’s loss to the Bucs, coach John Fox said (via Mark E. Ortega of NFL.com). Howard, a rookie out of Indiana, was thrust into a starting role earlier this year when Jeremy Langford was lost to injury. Langford is back in action now, but the Bears were still relying on him as their top ballcarrier. For the year, he has averaged 5.3 yards per attempt. We should know more about Howard’s status soon.
- The Vikings should have traded for a tackle before the deadline, Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune opines. The Vikings were relying on fragile veteran Jake Long to hold down a starting tackle spot but that plan blew up in their face last week when he suffered an Achilles injury. Before that went down, Reusse believes that cap guru Rob Brzezinski should have figured out a way to carve out cap room to allow Minnesota to add a much-needed lineman. Now, Minnesota is forced to start T.J. Clemmings on the left side.
- Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory was hit with yet another suspension for drug use, but owner Jerry Jones says that the team is not giving up on him.
I like how Reusse says that Brzezinski should’ve found a way by reworking contracts. Does Reusse know that the Vikings can’t just tell X amount of players that they’re reworking their contracts and instantly clear up cap space? That it does require the player agreeing to it too? Or that reworking contracts usually means more dead money in future years, further restricting cap space?