Month: September 2016

Colts Star WR Misses Practice With Knee Injury

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

The Colts were without one key player in practice on Wednesday.

Coming off a huge performance in Week 3, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton missed practice due to a knee injury.

Hilton’s performance in the final minutes of Sunday’s game against the Chargers resulted in the Colts’ victory. He earned the top spot on the NFL’s clutch performers for Week 3.

He converted a fourth-and-7 pass from Andrew Luck and broke multiple ankles on his way to 63-yard game-winning touchdown. The Colts won 26-22 and Hilton finished with eight catches for 174 yards and the TD.

Don’t worry too much fantasy owners, Wednesday was most likely just a maintenance day for Hilton to get some rest before the team’s trip to London.

Last week, he missed Friday’s practice and was listed as questionable for Sunday, but then had his best performance of the season.

Let’s hope it is just a rest day. Colts fans and fantasy owners would love to see him on the field against the Jaguars’ Jalen Ramsey this Sunday.

http://www.12up.com/posts/3862311-colts-star-wr-misses-practice-with-knee-injury

Bears Star WR Misses Practice With Knee Injury

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

The Chicago Bears’ injury list continues to grow.

Several players are sidelined, including Jay Cutler with a thumb sprain and Lamarr Houston with a torn ACL.

Now the Bears are down a star wide receiver as well, at least for practice.

Alshon Jeffery was limited in practice on Wednesday due to the knee injury and then missed Thursday’s practice completely. He was not available to the media after Wednesday’s practice.

“It’s just something that we will monitor,” coach John Fox said to ESPN.

Jeffery totaled 96 yards on five catches in Monday night’s loss. He leads the Bears in receptions with nine and receiving yards (201) through the first two weeks.

He is a player the Bears don’t want to be without. He’s ninth in the league in receiving yards since 2013 with 3,562 and is seventh all-time in receiving yards in Bears history.

It’s Jeffery’s first time on the injury list this season after missing all four preseason games and seven regular-season starts last year with a various injuries.

There is no word on the extent of Jeffery’s injury, which hopefully means he will be okay to play in Sunday’s matchup against the Cowboys.

http://www.12up.com/posts/3828938-breaking-bears-star-receiver-misses-practice-with-knee-injury

Giants Need a Backup Plan at Right Tackle

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With the uncertainty of Marshall Newhouse’s availability, the Giants need to look at potential alternatives.

Newhouse left Sunday’s game with a right calf sprain and was seen after the game wearing a walking boot.

Head coach Ben McAdoo said that the team does not know the extent of the right tackle’s injury yet, or how long he will be out.

If Newhouse is not available for next week’s game, the Giants need to have a backup plan.

They will decide between Bobby Hart and Will Beatty to fill Newhouse’s role. Hart replaced Newhouse in Sunday’s game. Beatty hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2014 after he suffered a season-ending injury and was then released by the Giants.

Beatty was reportedly still getting into game shape before Week 2, but McAdoo said he will be in the mix to play.

“He’ll compete to be up this week,” McAdoo said. “I’ve seen a guy who’s getting his football legs underneath him, he’s working well with his pads.”

It would be great to see either Beatty or Hart get the starting spot if Newhouse cannot, but whoever gets the final call will have a tough matchup against the Redskins’ Ryan Kerrigan.

http://www.12up.com/posts/3817204-giants-need-a-backup-plan-at-right-tackle

Japanese Flamethrower Records Fastest Pitch in League History

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

A new record has been set in Japanese baseball.

2016 might be the year of pitchers who rake in the U.S. — from Bartolo Colon to Madison Bumgarner — but there’s a different flamethrower making headlines in Japan.

Two-way star Shohei Otani has put up a 2.06 ERA while crushing 22 home runs this season.

Now he can add throwing the fastest pitch in NPB history to his accomplishments.

In Tuesday’s game, Otani threw a 164 kph fastball, roughly 101.9 mph. He beat the previous record, set by himself, of 163 kph.

Watch it here.

He makes it look easy.

As previously mentioned, Otani is pretty good at the plate. The flamethrower extended his hit streak to 15 games in this affair.

Otani has 142 strikeouts over 118 innings as a starter. While setting the previous record back in June, he threw 31 pitches between 98-101 mph in a game.

Can you imagine if he was playing in the MLB? We’d get to see this action so much more.

Chiefs’ WR Has Potential For a Breakout Season

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The Chiefs have been in need of another weapon at wide receiver and they may have just found what they were looking for.

Chris Conley impressed the coaching staff during the preseason and he passed Albert Wilson on the depth chart, making a strong case to clinch the second receiver position.

Conley really showed what he had to offer during the Chiefs’ preseason game against the Rams, delivering plays on both of their touchdown drives along with three catches for a team-high 66 yards.

Something that has helped him grow so far was working out with Wilson and Jeremy Maclin in the offseason. Conley missed much of training camp last season, but didn’t miss a day of practice this time around.

The Chiefs have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL, specifically at the WR position. With the high expectations the Chiefs have this season, these players have the potential to deliver.

http://www.12up.com/posts/3740275-chiefs-wide-receiver-has-potential-for-a-breakout-season

Rams Top Pick Expected to Be Inactive For Week 1

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The Rams are preparing for their first season opener in L.A. since 1994.

The squad returned with high expectations, especially after earning the first overall pick in the 2016 draft and spending it on promising quarterback Jared Goff.

However, things didn’t quite develop as anticipated with the quarterback situation, and after an offseason of considerations, they’ve chosen to be down their star player for Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Goff was drafted first overall by the Rams this year, but he will likely be the team’s third QB behind Case Keenum and Sean Mannion, which is flat-out shocking.

Rams head coach Jeff Fisher told NFL.com that Mannion will be Keenum’s backup for Week 1, and punter Johnny Hekker will be the emergency backup. He said that Mannion and Goff could “flip” for Week 2, but the embarrassment might already be too much at that point.

For a first overall pick, Goff hasn’t impressed much in the preseason. He went 22-of-49 passing for 232 yards, sporting a 44 percent completion, as well as two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Fisher reiterated his confidence that Goff will one day be a starting QB. However, this doesn’t help much of anything.