Big Mike Williams suffered a fractured ankle and fibula in the second half of Seattle's Week 15 win over Chicago.
He won't play in the last two games. A legit candidate for NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2011, Williams has fallen completely off the map during his second season under Pete Carroll. Williams is painfully slow, can't separate from defensive backs, and has been injury prone. It's fair to wonder whether Seattle will pick up Williams' $3 million salary in 2012.
Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox will undergo surgery to stabilize a vertebra in his lower back this morning.
Knox was injured in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field. He fumbled on the play and in a scramble to recover the ball, he suffered a devastating hit from diving Seahawks defensive end Anthony Hargrove. The hit violently bent back Knox’s upper torso.
“Johnny has total movement thoughhout his body,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “Has total use of all of his extremities, which is good. He is not paralyzed or anything like that.”
Knox remained motionless on the field for more than five minutes as medical personnel tended to him on the field. He was taken off on a stretcher board and transported to an ambulance and then the hospital.
The Bears announced the prognosis for Knox’s recovery is good. He’s expected to return to his career.
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 19, 2011, 11:06 AM EST
AP
Panthers tight end Jeremy Shockey says that when “The Star-Spangled Banner” played before Sunday’s game against the Texans, he looked across the field at the opposing sideline and didn’t like what he saw.
According to Shockey, several players on the Texans didn’t display proper reverence for America while the national anthem was played.
“I was pretty upset when they weren’t showing respect to America during the national anthem,” Shockey said, via theHouston Chronicle. “There were about 10 players who didn’t put their arms across their chest. This is America. They should at least give respect to America. I haven’t seen it anywhere else in the NFL, but I don’t know how you forget to do something like that.”
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 19, 2011, 7:59 AM EST
Getty Images
Ndamukong Suh blocked Sebastian Janikowski’s 65-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the Lions’ 28-27 win over the Raiders on Sunday, and afterward he talked about the two-game suspension that had kept him away from the team since his infamous Thanksgiving stomp.
“I wanted to address this,” Suh said, via the Detroit Free Press. “It’s something that I’ve dealt with and am trying to move forward with. I have apologized about it, obviously on my Facebook page, but also after the game. I made a mistake. The biggest thing for me is that I’ve dealt with and am moving past it, and happy to be back on the field with my team. The biggest thing for me is just wanting to sincerely move forward from it.”
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 18, 2011, 8:56 PM EST
Getty Images
Patriots defensive end Andre Carter was carted off the field Sunday. The early word on his injury is not promising.
Josina Anderson of ESPN.com talked to Carter’s agent Carl Poston, who clearly hasn’t been briefed on the Patriots’ injury policy.
“It looks like Andre has a quad-related injury that will require surgery,” Poston said.
Losing Carter would be a very difficult injury for the Patriots defense to deal with. He has been their best pass rusher this year, and there really isn’t another player that is close.
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 19, 2011, 7:04 AM EST
Reuters
Before Sunday night’s thrashing in San Diego, Baltimore looked like as good a bet as anyone to emerge as the AFC’s Super Bowl team. But the Ravens sure didn’t look like a championship team on Sunday night.
The Ravens are now half a game behind the Steelers, who play the 49ers tonight, in the AFC North. That means Baltimore has gone from having a good chance at winning home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs to now having a good chance at a wild card. That’s the difference between needing to win twice at home to get to the Super Bowl and needing to win three times on the road to get to the Super Bowl.
