Soccer Sports News & Betting

Patriots running back LaMont Jordan was sidelined with a left leg injury. In the second quarter of New England’s game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Jordan, who had five carries for 16 yards, was injured on a tackle by San Francisco’s Aubrayo Franklin. He hobbled to the sideline, returning for the second half in street clothes.

The former Raiders starter has been just one part of New England’s multiplayer running game this season. Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk and Laurence Maroney all ran the ball at least four times in the first half against the 49ers, who trailed 17-14 at halftime.

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Bills McGee among inactives for Bills-Cards game.

Buffalo cornerback Terrence McGee was among the players inactive for Sunday’s game between the Bills and the Arizona Cardinals.

McGee didn’t practice all week because of a sprained left knee and was listed as doubtful on Friday. Ashton Youboty took McGee’s place in the starting lineup. Other Buffalo inactives included wide receiver Roscoe Parrish, who is still recovering from thumb surgery.

Among Arizona players inactive was defensive end Bertrand Berry, who has a groin injury. Standout wide receiver Anquan Boldin already had been ruled out for the game after undergoing surgery to repair a sinus fracture, the result of a vicious hit by Eric Smith late in last week’s 56-35 loss to the New York Jets.

The NFL suspended Smith for one game and fined him $50,000.

Saddled with a 12-game losing streak. The rebuilding Kansas City Chiefs may decide they need a win more than a long look at a young quarterback.

Without coming right out and saying so, coach Herm Edwards strongly hinted Tuesday that veteran Damon Huard would probably get the nod on Sunday against Denver and that second-year man Tyler Thigpen would return to the bench after one start.

“I’ll decide on that tomorrow. Sleep on it a little bit more,” Edwards said. “I’m leaning that way. I’ve got to address the team, exactly what we’re going to do.”

Most of the players probably feel that Huard gives them the best chance of upsetting the unbeaten Broncos and snapping the longest losing skid in franchise history. After Brodie Croyle was injured in the season opener at New England, Huard came in and nearly pulled off an improbable victory before losing 17-10.

In eight starts for an injured Trent Green in 2006, Huard was 5-3.

But making the switch also means the Chiefs (0-3) will not have had the same man start at quarterback two games in a row all year, a confusing lack of continuity for what is already the youngest team in the NFL.

“When you lose your starting quarterback, it’s tough,” Edwards said. “Then you have to move on, and that’s what we’ve done. What’s hurt us more than anything else, I think, when you look at us, we haven’t made a lot of explosion plays in the passing game. I think we have exactly three plays over 20 yards in passing. We have eight runs over 10 yards.”

In his first NFL start last week at Atlanta, Thigpen was 14-for-36 for 128 yards and a touchdown in a 38-14 loss. He played much better after a rough beginning. But he also threw three interceptions, including one that was returned 10 yards for the Falcons’ final touchdown.

“You anticipated that the first time the guy starts, that he’s going to be a little high-strung. And he was,” Edwards said. “He threw a lot of high balls. He threw some balls that you wish you could take back. We’ve given up 30 points on turnovers so far this year, and that’s hurting us. We gave up 17 in that game.”

Huard hit 10 of 16 passes for 135 yards against Oakland on Sept. 14 before hurting his neck and leaving the game. Although much more experienced, he’s also less mobile than Thigpen or Croyle, who is expected to be out until Oct. 19 against Tennessee.

In giving Thigpen the start last week, Edwards pointed to the top-to-bottom rebuilding process the Chiefs began this year and said he wanted to get a look at the former seventh-round pick from Coastal Carolina.

Presumably, the same argument could be made this week.

“I thought what he did before the half, he did a great job moving the team,” Edwards said. “Then he came out in the third quarter and moved the team. So he did some things. We got down there two more times. So I thought we found out a lot about him. He found out a lot about himself, too, and what it’s going to take to play in this league.”

In the meantime, fans are restless and showing little patience with what the Chiefs are trying to do. Edwards insisted he will stay the course and continue playing young players, although perhaps not at quarterback.

“I’m patient with this whole process, and it is a process,” he said. “This whole situation that we’re in right now is a process. Sometimes, if you don’t realize that, you won’t be patient. You’ll panic. And I’m not a panic kind of guy. When you panic, you make wrong decisions.”

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Shawntae Spencer will miss the rest of the season. With a torn ligament in his left knee.
Spencer, a fifth-year pro, will be placed on injured reserve soon after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair the ligament. He injured his knee late in the 49ers’ road victory at Seattle on Sept. 14, and missed last week’s victory over Detroit.

Spencer started 39 games in his first three seasons, but has been the 49ers’ No. 3 cornerback since last year behind starters Walt Harris and Nate Clements. He has six interceptions in his NFL career.

Tarell Brown and Donald Strickland will compete to replace Spencer with the 49ers, who kept 12 defensive backs on their 53-man roster to start the season. Brown, a second-year pro, got his first career interception last weekend while filling in for Strickland, who also sat out with a knee injury.

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Broncos sign S Fox, waive Abdullah.

The Denver Broncos on Tuesday signed free-agent safety Vernon Fox and waived safety Hamza Abdullah.

Fox, who was released by the Washington Redskins on August 25, is in his seventh NFL season. He appeared in 14 games with the Redskins last season, tying for third on the club with 16 special-teams tackles.

In 2006, Fox appeared in all 16 games with Washington, starting a career-high six and making 42 tackles.

An undrafted free agent in 2002, Fox, 28, has 90 tackles and two interceptions in 86 career games with the San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions and Redskins.

Also Tuesday, Denver released wide receiver Travis Wilson from its practice squad.

Normally, Miles Austin could slip out of the Cowboys locker room unnoticed.
But after two catches for 115 yards and a game-clinching touchdown Sundayat Green Bay, Austin found himself standing in front of the cameras andnotebooks normally reserved for Tony Romo and Terrell Owens.

The fact that he was in the interview room speaks to the variety theCowboys have had in their offense through the season’s first three games.

In a game in which Owens caught just two balls for 17 yards and did notscore a touchdown, the Cowboys still managed to succeed.

They scored 27 points, put up 453 yards and used the big play — a60-yard touchdown run by Felix Jones and a 52-yard TD catch by Austin — toput Green Bay away.

Through the first three games, the Cowboys’ 96 points are second-most inthe NFL and would be more if not for two interceptions in the opponents’ endzone. The Cowboys’ big-play ability — runs of 10 or more yards and passes of25 or more yards — ranks first in the league. They have had five scoringdrives of five plays or less, too.

“Whenever you have those so-called role players come in and present athreat to the defense, that helps the Terrell Owens’, Jason Wittens and Marion Barbers,” offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said after Sunday’s win. “Youjust become multi-dimensional. When those guys come in and fill a role, andthat role besides just being a niche play here or there is also an explosiveplay, it helps you a lot.”

The Cowboys have 17 runs of 10 or more yards (Atlanta is No. 1 with 19)and nine pass plays of 25 yards or more (tied with Denver for most). Throughthe first three games last year, when they were on their way to scoring thesecond-most points (455) in team history, the Cowboys had 10 runs of 10 ormore yards and nine passes of 25 or more yards. They had nine scoring drivesof five plays or less.

The Cowboys spent the off-season and part of training camp looking toadd, in owner and general manager Jerry Jones’ words, a “wow” factor.

“That was only if we found just the right guy,” executive vice presidentStephen Jones said. “That’s why we just weren’t going to settle on anyreceiver.”

The “wow” factor has come from the Pro Bowlers, like Owens, who hastouchdowns of 35 and 72 yards, Witten, who has catches of 32 and 42 yards, andBarber, who has runs of 25, 23 and 19 yards and a 25-yard catch.

But the “wow” has come from two rookies as well. Jones has runs of 22 and60 yards and a kickoff return for 98 yards, and tight end Martellus Bennett’stwo catches have been for 20 and 37 yards. It has also come from Austin, whohad only five catches in his first two seasons.

“Maybe it’s more of a challenge to the teams we’re playing because theydon’t realize what these guys can do,” coach Wade Phillips said. “The unsungguys, so to speak, are pretty good football players. If you try to justconcentrate on certain guys, you can get in trouble.”

BIG PLAY APPEAL: Runs of 10 yards or more

Atlanta — 19

Cowboys — 17

NY Giants — 16

Oakland — 15

Seattle — 14

Tennessee — 14

Jacksonville — 11

Tampa Bay — 11

Denver — 10

Minnesota — 10

Passes of 25 yards or more

Cowboys — 9

Denver — 9

Buffalo — 8

Green Bay — 8

San Francisco — 8

New Orleans — 7

Arizona — 6

NY Giants — 6

Philadelphia — 6

San Diego — 6

Washington — 6.

The Pittsburgh Steelers running game struggled last season. When Willie Parker was injured. They’re convinced that won’t happen now that they have Rashard Mendenhall.

The Steelers’ main injury worry following their 15-6 loss Sunday in Philadelphia was the punishment quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took while being sacked eight times. He played with a slight shoulder separation, and a right hand injury sidelined him late in the fourth quarter.

When Tomlin revealed his updated injury list Tuesday, Roethlisberger wasn’t on it, but Parker unexpectedly was - the Pro Bowl runner has a sprained left knee that will keep him out of Monday night’s home game against Baltimore (2-0).

Both the offense and defense will be missing key players. Four-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Casey Hampton (groin sprain) also won’t play and defensive end Brett Keisel (calf) will miss a second successive game. Chris Hoke, who made 10 starts in 2004, replaces Hampton.

Tomlin wouldn’t discuss the specifics of Parker’s injury or whether he might also miss the Oct. 5 game at Jacksonville, although that seems likely.

With Parker out, first-round draft pick Mendenhall will make his first NFL start. Mendenhall has 28 yards in 10 carries during limited playing time, partly because he fumbled three times in the final two exhibition games.

Is he ready after failing to get any carries in the past two games?

“Ready or not,” Tomlin said. “No, Rashard is ready. He’s a talented guy. He’s been practicing well and he gets his opportunity. You see a lot of his peers around the league and they’ve been getting opportunities, partly because they don’t have Willie Parker playing in front of them.”

Matt Forte of Chicago leads NFL rookie rushers with 304 yards and a 101.3 yard average, while Tennessee’s Chris Johnson (92.0), Oakland’s Darren McFadden (84.0) and Houston’s Steve Slaton (79.5) are averaging at least 75 yards per game.

“He gets his opportunity,” Tomlin said of Mendenhall. “I’m sure he’s excited about it. I know our team is excited to see what he’s capable of doing.”

Running the ball consistently against the Ravens has been a problem for the Steelers (2-1), even when Parker was healthy.

Parker has averaged 2.6 yards per carry and 43 yards per game in five career starts against the Ravens. With Parker injured, the Steelers managed 46 yards rushing in a regular season-ending 27-21 loss at Baltimore in December

This season, the Ravens have allowed a combined 153 yards rushing while beating Cincinnati and Cleveland.

Parker had 243 yards in his first two games before being held to 20 in Philadelphia, where the running game never got going and Roethlisberger was under persistent pressure. Despite those problems, Tomlin doesn’t plan any changes along the offensive line.

Tomlin said everyone shares the blame for the protection breakdowns, including the coaches. The Eagles had nine sacks and held the Steelers to 160 yards, with 33 yards rushing on 19 carries.

“As coaches, we could have done a better job of adjusting and putting those guys in a position to be successful,” Tomlin said. “We could have done a better job of identifying on all levels - wide receivers, running backs, offensive line and quarterback. We could have done a better job of physically blocking them.”

No doubt the Ravens saw how effective the Eagles’ pressure was, but Tomlin doesn’t expect an identical game plan Monday.

“We expect the Baltimore Ravens to be the Baltimore Ravens,” he said. “They don’t have to be the Philadelphia Eagles. They’re good enough in their own right.”

This is the second injury in as many seasons for Parker, who was leading the NFL in rushing with 1,316 yards when he broke his right leg early in a Dec. 20 game at St. Louis.

Without Parker, the Steelers were held to 92 yards rushing in their final two games, one reason why they used their first-round pick on Mendenhall.

The San Diego Chargers strengthened their defensive line Tuesday. Signing veteran defensive tackle Ian Scott to a contract.
Terms were not disclosed.

A fourth-round pick of Chicago in 2003, Scott set career highs of two sacks and 77 tackles with the Bears in 2004. The 6-3, 302-pounder signed with Philadelphia prior to the 2007 season but suffered a knee injury in training camp and spent the campaign on injured reserve.

Scott signed with Carolina in April but was released before the start of the regular season. He has appeared in 49 games over six campaigns in the NFL and has started four career postseason contests, including Super Bowl XLI for Chicago.

To make room on the roster, San Diego released rookie cornerback DeJuan Tribble. In another move, the Chargers also released linebacker Eric Bakhtiari from the practice squad.

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Saints G Nesbit suspended four games.

New Orleans Saints guard Jamar Nesbit has been suspended four games without pay for for violating the leagues policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

The suspension begins immediately for Nesbit, who will be eligible to return to the Saints active roster following the teams October 19 game against the Carolina Panthers.

We are disappointed in the suspension of Jamar, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. We will support Jamar through this process and look forward to having him rejoin the team soon.

Nesbit will be unable to participate in team activities until the week of October 20. New Orleans heads to London that week to face the San Diego Chargers in Wembley Stadium on October 26.

The Saints re-signed Nesbit to a three-year contract in February. The 10-year veteran had appeared in all 16 games the past two seasons.

The versatile Nesbit has started 87 games in his career with the Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Saints.

Marc Bulger is out as the St Louis Rams starting quarterback. After throwing only two touchdown passes in three games and will be replaced by 38-year-old Trent Green for Sunday’s game against Buffalo.

The benching of the Rams’ highest-paid player, announced by coach Scott Linehan in a terse, two-paragraph release on Tuesday, signals just how desperate times have become for the sagging franchise. Linehan is 11-24 in his third season, including 0-3 this year with none of the games competitive.

Last week, Linehan was told by new owner Chip Rosenbloom that improvements need to be made or that changes would be forthcoming. This is Linehan’s first head coaching job at any level, earned off success as an offensive coordinator with the Dolphins and Vikings. He was a quarterback in college at Idaho.

The team said in the release that Linehan would not comment on his decision until after practice Wednesday. The Rams were off Tuesday.

“Scott made an announcement, and he’ll amplify it tomorrow,” team spokesman Rick Smith said.

The Rams have lost 16 of their past 19 games while getting outscored 116-29. The point total would not have been enough to win any of the first three games, and their mediocre 240-yard total in Sunday’s 37-13 loss at Seattle was still a season best for the league’s lowest-ranked offense.

Bulger finished 18-for-31 for 184 yards with one touchdown and an interception on Sunday, his third consecutive game with less than 200 passing yards.

Linehan had hinted at possible changes during a news conference on Monday.

“I foresee evaluating everything,” Linehan said. “What they are right now does depend on the health of our team in spots, but I would think that anything’s possible at this point as far as our lineup.”

Linehan added that he was tempted to make moves just to shake things up.

“Yeah, I think we’d be crazy if we didn’t try something different because what we’ve done for the first three weeks is not working,” the coach said.

Green has experience under new offensive coordinator Al Saunders and quarterbacks coach Terry Shea, possible reasons for the switch. Green earned his second Pro Bowl berth in 2005 with the Chiefs while working under those two coaches, throwing for more than 4,000 yards.

Green started for the Chiefs from 2001 until being sidelined by injuries midway through 2006. It is his first start since the fifth week last season for the Miami Dolphins.

Green is from St. Louis and was supposed to be the starting quarterback on the 1999 Rams that won the Super Bowl, signing as a free agent after a successful year as the Redskins starter the previous season.

Kurt Warner was thrust into the starting role and had a storybook season after Green’s season-ending knee injury during the preseason.

The 31-year-old Bulger has been the Rams starter since 2002, stepping in when Warner was sidelined by injuries. He became the highest-paid player in franchise history after signing a six-year, $65 million contract extension on the first day of training camp in 2007.

Last season, Bulger had only 11 touchdown passes with 15 interceptions while working behind an injury-raged offensive line and missing four games because of injuries. He’s been sacked 11 times this season.

In his past 31 starts dating to 2006, Bulger has been sacked 97 times.

Duane Brown home still doesn’t have electricity more than 10 days. After Hurricane Ike plowed into southeast Texas.
That didn’t stop the Houston Texans’ first-round draft pick from spending his day off Tuesday at the Houston Food Bank, filling boxes with food to be distributed to families who need help in the wake of the storm.

“I was very fortunate in the sense that I didn’t have any property damage or anything like that,” he said. “I’m around a lot of people who are able to help me out and I know a lot of people don’t have that. I just wanted to come out here and show my support and show the city of Houston that I do care a lot about what they’re going through.”

Brown was one of dozens of Texans players, staff and cheerleaders who braved nearly 90 degree temperatures with stifling humidity to pack boxes in a lot in front of the food bank.

Sweat streamed off players’ faces as they loaded rice, water, cereal and other essentials into the boxes for more than two hours. Some used the bottoms of their shirts to wipe sweat out of their eyes in between tasks.

“The heat is not a factor,” the 329-pound Brown said, his shirt soaked with sweat. “To know that all this is going to a good cause is enough to block out the heat for me.”

Coach Gary Kubiak’s wife Rhonda was one of the volunteers Tuesday. She helped load canned beans into the boxes and encouraged other volunteers with kind words and a huge smile.

Like more than 600,000 others in the area, the Kubiak house also remains without power.

“I feel very blessed because I have a roof over my head,” she said during a break. “It’s just a way to give back to Houston and the whole gulf area. There is so much suffering, you have to do something.”

Backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels said he was glad to volunteer.

“We’re doing something that needs to be done and that’s helping people in need,” he said. “We all saw firsthand the damage and destruction that happened to people. There’s a lot of people without homes and for us living the type of lifestyle we live, it’s a pretty easy choice to come and help out.”

While his players and staff busily worked behind him Tuesday, Texans owner Bob McNair announced that grocery store chain H.E.B. had donated $100,000 to get him closer to the goal of raising $2 million for hurricane relief. McNair announced Sunday that he is giving $500,000, with the NFL and NFL Players Association matching that amount. Chevron Corporation added $250,000, which brings the total raised to $1.35 million.

He’s hoping other corporations in the area will contribute to the fund that will be split evenly between the Houston Ike Relief Fund and the United Way.

McNair said he was proud to see players including Kasey Studdard, Chris Myers and Anthony Weaver out helping the community.

“It’s just wonderful to see them take their time off to help,” said the billionaire, who also helped pack boxes. “They’ve had a tough couple of weeks and this is their day off and instead of going out and relaxing and trying to get away from other things, they’re here helping people who have suffered from the hurricane.”

LaDainian Tomlinson returned to practice in a limited role Friday. And is listed as questionable for the San Diego Chargers’ game against the New York Jets on Monday night.

Tomlinson, who jammed his right big toe in the season-opening loss to Carolina, missed practice the previous two days.

“It went OK,” Tomlinson said. “I did what I wanted to do. I didn’t expect to do full participation but I wanted to get out and do some stuff running the football. It definitely is a lot better than last week. That’s the exciting part about it.

“But at that same time, I’m going to be realistic about it. I’m pretty sure on Monday, I’ll probably still have a little problem with it but it will be a week better.”

Tomlinson aggravated the toe during the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to Denver. Reserve Darren Sproles started the second half, though Tomlinson did see limited action during the final two quarters.

Coach Norv Turner said Tomlinson was “limited” during Friday’s practice. Turner said he isn’t sure how much Tomlinson will be able to contribute.

“I don’t think you know until you get into the game, and that’s why you have to have flexibility in your plan.”

One thing working in Tomlinson’s favor is an extra day of recovery time.

“It will give me some more time. That’s why I definitely think I’ll feel a lot better,” Tomlinson said. “What’s the percentage? I’m not sure. We’ll have to wait and see.”

The Chargers also listed left tackle Marcus McNeill as questionable. McNeill missed each of the first two games because of a neck injury.

Center Nick Hardwick (foot) will miss his third straight game.

The Green Bay Packers should be in good shape for their Sunday night game against Dallas. Listing running back Ryan Grant and cornerback Charles Woodson as probable on the injury report.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after practice Friday that Grant and Woodson would play Sunday. Grant went through the full practice after being off the field most of the week to allow extra recovery for a sore hamstring that has bothered him since early in the preseason.

“He looked good,” McCarthy said. “I thought he had more bounce in his step. I thought he looked better this week than last week.”

Woodson didn’t practice the entire week to rest a broken right toe, but he was on a similar schedule last week and responded with one of the best performances of his 11-year pro career. Woodson intercepted two passes late in the game, returning the second for a touchdown to seal the Packers’ 48-25 win at Detroit.

“I’d be surprised if he doesn’t (play Sunday),” McCarthy said.

McCarthy added he’s never coached a player who had the resilience of Woodson to miss significant time in practice because of injury and manage to play so well.

“To do it off of the film study and the meetings and the walkthroughs and things like that, I haven’t seen anybody perform at that level,” McCarthy said. “He’s also experienced, too. He has a ton of experience and is a very smart football player. But, the ability to pull it all together and deal with the pain threshold and things like that, I think it’s very unique what he’s been able to do.”

Woodson didn’t play in the Packers’ late-season loss at Dallas last year after injuring a different toe in the previous game.

The Cowboys exploited the Woodson-less secondary. Terrell Owens had seven catches for 156 yards and a touchdown. Patrick Crayton caught two touchdown passes. Tight end Jason Witten had six receptions.

The Packers will again be a starter down in the secondary Sunday. Safety Atari Bigby is their only player listed as out for the game (strained hamstring).

Aaron Rouse will start in Bigby’s spot. McCarthy gave Rouse a vote of confidence after the second-year player had a couple of breakdowns in pass coverage after replacing Bigby in the second half last Sunday.

“The big thing for young players is to get those quality reps, whether it’s during the week and ultimately in the game,” McCarthy said. “With (Rouse’s) ability to get the first-unit reps this week, that in itself will really help him.

“The one thing about Aaron is he’s been very productive with the opportunities he’s had, so we have full confidence in him.”

McCarthy indicated center Scott Wells would be available in some capacity for the first time this season. Wells practiced the last three days after being out for two weeks because of a chronic back injury.

“I thought Scott had a very good week,” McCarthy said. “He looked like his old self out there today. He came out of Wednesday and Thursday’s practices pain-free. We’ll see how Scott is in the morning, and we’ll move forward accordingly.”

McCarthy, who first wanted to meet with his assistants and the medical staff, hasn’t decided whether to give Wells his starting job back right away.

“It’s either start him, or he’ll be the backup. Those are the two options,” McCarthy said.

If Wells is in the starting lineup Sunday, Jason Spitz would move from center to right guard, where Tony Moll played the first two games.

Spitz said Friday he had a 50-50 split of reps at center and right guard in practice this week.