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09/11 16:26 CDT High-profile injuries already adding up 2 games into the NFL
season
High-profile injuries already adding up 2 games into the NFL season
By ROB MAADDI
AP Pro Football Writer
Sam Darnold played just five snaps. A.J. Brown will be sidelined for a while.
De'Zhaun Stribling was carted off the field.
High-profile injuries are adding up just two games into the NFL season. It's
not even Sunday yet.
And Tua Tagovailoa got hurt in practice.
Darnold got good news about his hip injury. Not so much for Brown. Stribling's
status wasn't immediately known.
"It's been positive news," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Thursday about
Darnold. "Right now we're just working through the extent of the injury and put
a plan in place to get back rocking and rolling."
Macdonald called it a muscle injury for Darnold near his hip and that the team
would have a better idea of his status for the game against Arizona on Sept. 20
when practice resumes next week.
Drew Lock replaced Darnold and led Seattle to a 13-10 comeback win over New
England in a Super Bowl rematch Wednesday night. Lock proved he's a capable
backup so the defending Super Bowl champions won't have to rush Darnold back to
face the Cardinals.
"He's been tremendous," Macdonald said about Lock. "He operates like a starter
does in terms of preparation. The chemistry and the personality of our
quarterback room is one that is very supportive of each other and also trying
to bring out the best in one another. Drew provides a cool, confident, loose
and focusedness to the whole equation, which you need --- you need that. On top
of that, since he's got here, he's played great football in practice and in the
preseason. We saw what he could do last night. If he has to play again then we
expect the same moving forward."
The Patriots won't have Brown for at least four games because he's being placed
on injured reserve with a right ankle injury, a person with knowledge of the
move told The Associated Press on Friday. The star wide receiver went down in
the second half against Seattle. He has a high-ankle sprain and will miss
several games, another person with knowledge of his injury told the AP on
Thursday night. The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the
Patriots haven't announced the severity of Brown's injury, said an MRI
confirmed the diagnosis.
Without Brown, New England's offense fizzled. The Patriots went three-and-out
twice and then Drake Maye threw three straight interceptions.
"I wish life was like that, where you could wait for your guys to come back and
be healthy again but, it's NFL football," Patriots veteran receiver Mack
Hollins said.
New England traded a 2028 first-round pick to Philadelphia in the deal for
Brown to give Maye a top playmaker. Now, he'll be without him for a few weeks.
The Patriots have a tough schedule coming up with three games against 2025
playoff teams. They'll host Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, and visit Jacksonville and
Buffalo.
"You've got to stick together and that starts with me getting back to work and
having the right intention in practice," Maye said. "These guys are here for
me. I think they've done a great job in supporting me and have had my back.
I've got to earn their trust. I know I have their trust, but I got to keep on
putting better football out there. I think it's Week 1 but at the same time,
there's a full season ahead but you got to get this going early. We got to
start off on the right foot. I know what we had last year, but we got a new
season, a new team, and we need to build that."
Stribling, who was San Francisco's top draft pick in April at No. 33 overall,
limped off the field after running a route in the second quarter of a 27-7
victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.
He left the game on a cart and was quickly ruled out for the game. Niners coach
Kyle Shanahan said Stribling's Achilles' was intact but he will need more tests
to determine the extent of the injury to the ankle. The 49ers signed veteran
Mike Evans and brought back Deebo Samuel, but were counting on Stribling after
losing Ricky Pearsall for the season in the summer.
Tight end Jake Tonges also didn't return for San Francisco after injuring his
knee. He has an MCL injury and will miss some time. Rams linebacker Nate
Landman got hurt late in the game.
The Falcons lost Tagovailoa to an oblique injury early in practice on Thursday.
Cooper Rush will start for Atlanta on Sunday.
NFL teams have to deal with injuries every week. It's part of football. The
teams with the most depth and best backups find ways to overcome key losses.
The Seahawks and Patriots have to figure it out quickly.
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