Tag: Jacksonville Jaguars

Injured Garrard Out as Jaguars Face Texans

Garrard will have surgery on the middle finger of his right hand Thursday. Trent Edwards is likely to start in Garrard’s place, essentially giving him an audition with Jacksonville.

Garrard injured his finger when he hit it on an opposing player’s helmet at Indianapolis on Dec. 19. He threw a crucial interception late in that game, and threw two more interceptions in a 20-17 overtime loss to Washington on Sunday. He also fumbled twice.

Garrard would probably miss a first-round game if the Jaguars (8-7) made the postseason. Jacksonville needs to beat Houston and have Tennessee upset Indianapolis to win the A.F.C. South.

Making that even more improbable, the Jaguars will most likely be without their star running back, Maurice Jones-Drew. He missed his fourth consecutive practice Wednesday because of an injured right knee that will probably require off-season surgery.

The Jaguars claimed Edwards off waivers in late September, after he was benched and later released by the . Edwards has played in one game with Jacksonville, completing 14 of 24 passes for 140 yards, with two interceptions.

BEARS A ‘FULL GO’ Quarterback Jay Cutler expects to play the entire game and does not expect key players to sit out when the visit on Sunday. He says the Bears (11-4) will be a “full go” against the Packers, even though they have a first-round playoff bye. The Bears have a remote shot at the No. 1 seed in the N.F.C., although they would need a win and plenty of help to get it.

QUARTERBACK? Seattle Coach Pete Carroll says the Seahawks are moving ahead with plans to start quarterback Charlie Whitehurst in the N.F.C. West title matchup against St. Louis. Carroll said that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was trying to return from a strained hip, but that it would be “against the odds.” It would be Whitehurst’s second career start.

VICK MAY SIT OUT Coach Andy Reid says he has not decided if ’s leg bruise will keep him out of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the .

Vick sustained a quad contusion on the first play of the Eagles’ 24-14 loss to the on Tuesday night. The Eagles do not need Vick to play Sunday. They are locked into the N.F.C.’s No. 3 seed and will host the No. 6 seed on Jan. 8 or 9.

WILLIS TO MISS START The 49ers Pro Bowl inside linebacker Patrick Willis had a second surgical procedure this week on his broken right hand. He will miss a start for the first time in his four-year career in Sunday’s season finale against Arizona.

FINE CENTER Detroit center Dominic Raiola says the team has fined him $15,000 for his actions after the Lions beat the . Raiola was filmed responding to a fan in Miami with obscene words and a hand gesture as he walked off the field after the Lions’ 34-27 victory Sunday.

N.F.L. Reduces Three Big Fines for Hits to the Head

, the former defensive coordinator, who oversees player appeals of fines, reduced Robinson’s fine from $50,000 to $25,000, and reduced Meriweather’s fine from $50,000 to $40,000. Then Cottrell decided to revisit the $75,000 fine on Harrison for on Cleveland receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, a punishment that upset Harrison so much that he . With the support of Commissioner , Cottrell reduced that fine to $50,000.

The reductions are sure to ignite questions about whether the league — which had also threatened suspensions for repeat offenders — is going soft on players who make the dangerous hits and who have been angered by the fines, some of which have been levied even if the plays did not draw penalties during the game.

But the person with knowledge of the league’s disciplinary system offered a different explanation: Cottrell, the person said, was convinced by the players that they now understood the rules and had made sincere efforts to alter their style to avoid those types of hits.

JETS FINED FOR TRIPPING The N.F.L. fined the Jets $100,000 for violating league rules when the assistant coach Sal Alosi tripped Miami’s Nolan Carroll on the sideline during a punt return earlier this month.

The Jets were fined because Alosi “placed players in a prohibited area on the sideline to impede an opposing team’s special teams players and gain a competitive advantage.” The N.F.L. called it a competitive violation as well as a dangerous tactic.

The discipline was in response to the actions of Alosi, the Jets’ strength and conditioning coach, and comments made by the special-teams coach Mike Westhoff, who accused other teams of employing similar tactics.

“We will comply with the league’s decision,” the Jets said in a statement. Five inactive players were ordered by Alosi, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, to stand together nearly shoulder-to-shoulder on the sideline in the Jets’ 10-6 loss to Miami on Dec. 12.

Alosi was first suspended without pay for the season and fined $25,000 for tripping Carroll, before being suspended indefinitely by the team after acknowledging that he ordered the players to form the wall. (AP)

SANCHEZ TO START is ready to go for the Jets.

Coach announced that Sanchez would start in the team’s regular-season finale against Buffalo, but Ryan is uncertain how long he will stay in the game. It is possible Sanchez could play a few series or a few quarters before giving way to and Kellen Clemens. “We’ll go ahead and start Mark this game,” Ryan said. “How long he plays, we’ll determine that as the game goes.”

Ryan said Sanchez, dealing with a sore right shoulder, showed some zip on his passes in practice and looked good enough to make Ryan feel comfortable about starting him for the playoff-bound Jets (10-5). (AP) FAVRE STATUS UNCERTAIN At the end of a long, difficult season, ’s status for the finale is again in doubt. The want him to give it one more try and start Sunday at Detroit, but by N.F.L. concussion rules he first must be cleared by the team’s medical staff — and time is running out. The interim coach Leslie Frazier said Thursday that Favre hadn’t passed the first stage of the standard post-concussion testing. (AP)

AROUND THE LEAGUE missed practice because of a leg injury and is unlikely to play Sunday when the Eagles host Dallas. Kevin Kolb, the starter in Week 1, would make his fifth start this season in Vick’s place. … Coach said receiver Marques Colston had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and may not be able to play in Sunday’s finale against Tampa Bay. Also, the Saints placed kick returner Courtney Roby on injured reserve, officially ending his season three weeks after he sustained a concussion against St. Louis … Jaguars quarterback David Garrard had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right middle finger. (AP)

Colts’ Manning Casts Long Shadow Over Jaguars and Texans

The Jaguars’ owner, Wayne Weaver, chose to retain Coach Jack Del Rio, although Del Rio will have to relinquish his defensive play-calling responsibilities. For the fourth time in five seasons, Del Rio failed to lead Jacksonville to a winning record.

The are also sticking with their coach, Gary Kubiak, even though Houston hasn’t had a winning record in four of the last five years.

Since the A.F.L- merger in 1970, only four coaches have a.) finished with a .500 or worse record in four out of five seasons with the same team, b.) finished with a .500 or worse record in the fifth season, and c.) been retained to coach for a sixth season: Marvin Lewis of the , of the Atlanta Falcons, Bart Starr of the and John McKay of the expansion .

John Fox just finished his fourth nonwinning season in five years in Carolina and was let go. But Kubiak and Del Rio will be back, despite not having the cachet of Starr, or the pedigrees of McKay and Reeves, and despite the fact that they didn’t inherit the hopeless situations that Lewis and McKay did. What they have, instead, may be the most hopeless situation of all: competing against Peyton Manning.

Manning and the Colts have won the A.F.C. South in seven of the last eight seasons. In Houston and Jacksonville, merely competing with Indianapolis is a sign of progress. The Texans were 1-15 against the Colts entering this season but split the 2010 series. Jacksonville entered the final week of the season with a chance to dethrone the Colts.

Kubiak and Del Rio seem to be uninspiring choices to lead teams in 2011. They will become only the fifth and sixth coaches in the last 40 years to be given such a long leash. But Kubiak and Del Rio have been building teams that are at least capable of challenging the Colts.

As long as Manning is an elite quarterback, however, it’s hard for fans to envision either team passing the Colts. It might be just as hard for the teams’ owners to envision such a future.

Regression Ahead

The , the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the made improvements of at least six wins from 2009 to 2010. The Bucs led the way with a seven-win improvement, while the Missouri teams improved by six wins each.

If history is an indicator, these teams may have more work to do. Between 2002 and 2009, 30 teams experienced increases of at least five wins from one season to the next. But 24 teams won fewer games in the season after their improvement — with 13 of them experiencing a drop-off of at least four victories.

Only two of those teams — the 2003 and the 2006 — managed to improve their win total in the year after the improvement (and reached the ). Four teams — the 2004 Bengals, the 2004 , the 2009 and the 2008 Buccaneers — were able to maintain their win total in the year following the improvement. LUIS DELOUREIRO

Will Let Young Go

Bud Adams, the Tennessee Titans’ owner, said that quarterback Vince Young would not be on the roster next season but that he was still evaluating the coaching staff of Jeff Fisher. The Titans were 6-10, and Young sustained a season-ending injury to his right thumb Nov. 21. General Manager Mike Reinfeldt told Young’s agent, Tom Condon, that Young was not in the team’s plans. League rules keep Young from being released until Feb. 7, and he cannot be traded until the first day of the league year, which has not been set. (AP)

Elway Takes Over

The summoned the Hall of Fame quarterback for one more comeback, as chief football executive. Elway, who led the Broncos to back-to-back championships before retiring in 1999, will begin by interviewing candidates for the vacant coaching job: Mike Mularkey, the Falcons’ offensive coordinator; Perry Fewell, the Giants’ defensive coordinator; and Eric Studesville, who was 1-3 as Denver’s interim coach to cap a 4-12 season, the worst in its 51-year history. (AP)

Around the League

Wade Phillips, who was fired in midseason as coach of the , was hired as Houston’s defensive coordinator, assigned to revamp a unit that dropped to the bottom of the league this season. … Todd Bowles, the ’ assistant head coach, interviewed for the Cowboys’ head coaching position. Jason Garrett, the Cowboys’ interim head coach, and receivers coach Ray Sherman are also candidates. … running back Pierre Thomas will miss the playoffs because of an injured left ankle. … defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will have shoulder surgery and miss the Pro Bowl. (AP)