Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. briefly left Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals with an apparent right shoulder injury.
He visited the medical tent and then headed to the locker room in the second quarter but returned to the field in the third quarter.
Beckham was screaming in pain on the sideline after being driven into the turf by two Cardinal defenders following a 17-yard reception.
He finished the first half with two catches for 42 yards.
–Field Level Media
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield dismissed the notion that his injured left shoulder played a role in his subpar performance in his last game.
Mayfield acknowledged Wednesday that he wore a harness on his non-throwing shoulder during the Browns’ 14-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. He completed just 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards, two-plus weeks removed from having his left shoulder pop out while attempting to make a tackle following an interception against the Houston Texans.
When asked if the harness could affect his accuracy, Mayfield replied, “It shouldn’t.”
Mayfield, 26, labeled his footwork as clean and simply owned the bad performance versus the Vikings.
“You’ve just got to make the damn play,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
Mayfield has thrown for 935 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions this season for the Browns (3-1), who visit the Los Angeles Chargers (3-1) on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
The Green Bay Packers kept quarterback Jordan Love out of Wednesday’s practice, a joint session with the New York Jets, but did not rule Love out when the two teams meet in a preseason game Saturday.
Love, a 2020 first-round draft pick and backup to Aaron Rodgers, reportedly had an MRI exam on his injured throwing shoulder come back clean Sunday.
He missed Monday’s practice and partook in a light throwing session Tuesday, according to Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
LaFleur said the Packers will give Love “every opportunity” to play in Saturday’s exhibition.
“We just don’t ever want to put him in a situation where it could make it worse,” LaFleur said.
If Love is ultimately held out of that game, Green Bay would turn to third-stringer Kurt Benkert to start. The team also re-signed free agent quarterback Jake Dolegala on Tuesday for depth. Dolegala spent part of the summer on the Packers’ roster.
–Field Level Media
Injured quarterback Dak Prescott took the practice field with the Cowboys on Thursday in Oxnard, Calif., one day after leaving a training camp session with a Grade 1 shoulder strain.
Prescott walked off the field with medical staff on Wednesday and was taken for an MRI, which revealed the mild strain in his right (throwing) shoulder.
The Dallas Morning News reported Prescott could miss multiple weeks to guarantee the strain is fully healed.
But Prescott, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Thursday, said he doesn’t think the injury is serious and plans to practice with the Cowboys during camp.
Head coach Mike McCarthy will make the final call on the practice decision, but allowed Prescott to work with the team Thursday while forbidding throwing. McCarthy said the Cowboys are planning to reassess Prescott, but he’d likely be banned from throwing for a few days.
Prescott missed the final 11 games of the 2020 season with an ankle injury that required surgery.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection signed a four-year, $160 million contract in the offseason.
–Field Level Media
New York Jets backup quarterback Joe Flacco will get the start again this week in place of the injured Sam Darnold, coach Adam Gase said Monday.
The winless Jets visit the Los Angeles Chargers (2-7) on Sunday and play not far from where Darnold was a star at Southern California.
Darnold continues to deal with a shoulder injury, even after the Jets’ bye in Week 10.
“I’m very confident that I’ll play again this year,” Darnold said. “For me it’s just about making sure that when I do come back, I’m 100 percent so that when I do land on it or get hit it’s not getting reinjured.”
Darnold originally suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder when he was slammed to the ground by Denver linebacker Alexander Johnson in the Jets’ Week 4 loss to the Broncos.
Flacco, 35, replaced Darnold briefly in that game and started the losses against Arizona and Miami in Weeks 5 and 6.
Darnold, 23, returned to the lineup in Week 7 and aggravated the shoulder injury a week later in a 35-9 loss at Kansas City.
Flacco now will get his fourth start in the game against the Chargers. Last week, he passed Joe Montana for 20th place in league history for career passing yards. Flacco threw for 262 yards against the New England Patriots in Week 9, but a late interception helped the Patriots score 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally for the victory.
Flacco is completing 56.7 percent of his passes for 659 yards and four TDs against two interceptions on the season.
The Jets rank last in the league in yards per game (266), passing yards (167.1) and scoring (13.4 points).
–Field Level Media
Running back Christian McCaffrey is not expected to play for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday due to the shoulder injury that kept him on the sideline for Week 10.
McCaffrey sat out Carolina’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and on Monday, ESPN reported he would likely need at least another week to recover. The team is preparing for him to miss multiple weeks, per the report.
The Panthers could also be without quarterback Teddy Bridgewater this week.
Bridgewater injured his right knee on Sunday, and reports indicate he strained his MCL. His status for this week’s game against the Detroit Lions is uncertain.
McCaffrey has played in three games this season. He suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2 and returned for the Panthers’ loss at Kansas City in Week 9, only to leave that game in the second half with a shoulder issue.
McCaffrey had 28 touches (tied for sixth-most in his career) out of the team’s 76 offensive snaps at Kansas City. McCaffrey carried 18 times for 69 yards and a touchdown while also catching 10 passes for 82 yards and another score.
McCaffrey, 24, has rushed for 225 yards and five touchdowns and caught 17 passes for 149 yards and one score in three games this season.
In 2019, he gained an NFL-high 2,392 yards from scrimmage and scored 19 touchdowns from scrimmage, which tied for the league lead.
–Field Level Media
Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey could return to the lineup in Week 11, NFL Network reported.
McCaffrey is out Sunday with a shoulder injury described by Panthers head coach Matt Rhule as an “AC joint issue.” He was injured in the second half of the Panthers’ loss at Kansas City last week.
Rhule said Wednesday that McCaffrey is “pretty much out this week and we’ll see how it looks next week.”
McCaffrey went for a second opinion on his shoulder Wednesday.
NFL Network reported Thursday that visit sparked optimism the All-Pro running back could miss only one game with the shoulder problem.
McCaffrey, 24, has rushed for 225 yards and five touchdowns and caught 17 passes for 149 yards and one score in three games this season.
In 2019, he gained 2,392 yards from scrimmage and scored 19 touchdowns.
The Panthers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday and the Detroit Lions in Week 11.
–Field Level Media
Denver Broncos cornerback A.J. Bouye sustained a dislocated shoulder during the season opener against the Tennessee Titans, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday.
Bouye sustained the injury late in the first half of Denver’s 16-14 setback to Tennessee on Monday night. Per KUSA’s Mike Klis, Bouye popped his shoulder out of the socket while diving to break up a pass.
Bouye broke up one pass while playing 28 defensive snaps in his first game with the Broncos.
The 29-year-old Bouye was acquired from Jacksonville in March in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Bouye had 65 tackles and one interception last season. He was a Pro Bowl pick for the Jaguars in 2017 when he recorded a career-best six interceptions.
Bouye has 14 interceptions and 315 tackles in 94 career games (63 starts). He spent the first four seasons with the Houston Texans before joining the Jaguars as a free agent prior to the 2017 campaign.
–Field Level Media