NFL: Rams fire Fisher after giving him extension.
He was just 31-45-1 with team
Jeff Fisher’s tenure in Los Angeles didn’t last one full season.
The Rams fired their coach on Monday. Special teams coordinator John Fassel will serve as interim coach. The Rams are at Seattle on Thursday night.
Fisher was the team’s coach since 2012 and compiled a 31-45-1 record with the Rams. He oversaw the move from St. Louis to Los Angeles this past off-season.
The lack of success on the field, capped by a 4214 home rout at the hands of Atlanta on Sunday, spelled the end for Fisher, who tied Dan Reeves with 165 career regular-season defeats. That’s the most in league history, and Fisher has the lowest winning percentage (.512) among coaches with 130-plus losses.
Los Angeles is 4-9 this season and has scored a league-low 194 points.
Oddly, owner Stan Kroenke gave the 58year-old Fisher a contract extension before the season, though it was not made public until recently.
Fassel, 42, joined the Rams after spending the past three years as special teams coordinator in Oakland. He’s also worked for the Ravens. He is the son of Jim Fassel, who coached the Giants to the 2000 NFC title.
Gordon gets good news: The reeling San Diego Chargers might have caught a break with running back Melvin Gordon.
The former University of Wisconsin star exited Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers on a cart with a hip injury after getting hurt wrestling for a loose ball in the second quarter.
Chargers coach Mike McCoy said Gordon, who is three yards shy of reaching the 1,000-yard mark, has a hip strain and a left knee sprain. Originally, it appeared the injury was more severe but tests showed otherwise.
The Chargers did lose nose tackle Tenny Palepoi, who was suspended without pay for the team’s next four games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Picking up the pieces: By the time rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys take the field for another Sunday night game, they’ll be facing a serious challenge either for the NFC East lead or the conference’s No. 1 seed.
Lose at home to Tampa Bay, and that franchiserecord 11-game winning streak will be little more than a distant memory. That’s how quickly the script changed on a rough night for Prescott in a 10-7 loss to the New York Giants, and another loss to the only team that has beaten Dallas this season.
Prescott hasn’t hit the 200-yard mark in three games after getting there in each of the first 10.
The biggest concern is that Prescott doubled his season total in interceptions with two, including a forced throw into double coverage on a deep ball to Dez Bryant. Coach Jason Garrett’s answer didn’t change overnight when the topic turned to 10-year starter Tony Romo, now the backup because of Prescott’s scintillating start.
“It’s pretty simple for us,” Garrett said. “Dak’s going to play quarterback as we go forward.”