STARS HIT HARD BY INJURIES
A star-studded cast of NFL players departed their games with injuries on Sunday.
Many of them could miss the rest of the season.
Start with running back, where Giants star Saquon Barkley is believed to have torn the ACL in his right knee early in their loss at Chicago. All-pro standout Christian Mccaffery departed Carolina’s loss to the Buccaneers with a right ankle injury, 49ers running back Raheem Mostert left with a knee injury, and the Rams’ Cam Akers hurt his ribs.
Plenty of wide receivers went down, too: The Packers’ Davante Adams hurt his hamstring in a win over the Lions; the Colts’ Parris Campbell was carted off with a leg injury against Minnesota; the Giants’ Sterling Shepard sustained a toe injury; and the Broncos’ Courtland Sutton left their loss in Pittsburgh with a knee injury.
Then there were the quarterbacks: the Broncos’ Drew Lock hurt his shoulder. The 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo tried to play through a right ankle injury before Nick Mullens took over for the second half.
The injury landslide came after an opening week in which most NFL teams escaped relatively unscathed, despite a virtual offseason and the elimination of the entire preseason schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The most noteworthy single injury may have been to Barkley — “Going to see some doctors tomorrow. We will wait and see what that is,” Giants coach Joe Judge said — while the hardest-hit team may have been the 49ers.
Garoppolo’s high-ankle sprain could keep him out next week, too, while Mostert’s will be re-examined today for what is thought to be a mild ligament sprain. Tevin Coleman also left San Francisco’s win over the Jets with a late knee injury.
The news was more dire on defense. Nick Bosa, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, and fellow lineman Solomon Thomas, the third overall pick in the 2017 draft, were both carted off the field with what the 49ers feared could be torn knee ligaments.
Bosa and Solomon will be examined again early this week.
“You have a little mixed emotions when you lose some guys like that,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “When you do lose some good guys like we like we did, that’ll probably be for a while, we need guys to get better.”
The Jets also had a considerable injury list by the time San Francisco polished off its 31-13 rout.
Wide receivers Breshad Perriman (ankle) and Chris Hogan (ribs) departed early, cornerbacks Quincy Wilson (concussion) and Arthur Maulet (groin) failed to make it the finish, and center Connor Mcgovern hurt his hamstring and did not return.
Pats’ White inactive
New England running back James White was inactive for Sunday’s game against Seattle following the death of his father, Tyrone, in South Florida.
NBC reported just before kickoff that White’s father had been killed in a car accident in Broward County, Fla., and that his mother was in serious condition.
Miami-dade Police also tweeted about Tyrone White’s death.
Seattle’s Diggs ejected
Seattle safety Quandre Diggs was ejected late in the first quarter for a helmet-tohelmet hit on New England’s N’keal Harry.
On fourth-and-3 from the Seattle 30, New England quarterback Cam Newton connected with Harry on a slant route. The rookie was immediately hit by Diggs in a violent collision that snapped Harry’s head backward.
Multiple flags were thrown and after a few minutes of deliberation, referee Craig Wrolstad announced Diggs had been ejected.