Texans QB Watson hurt, out for season
Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a seasonending knee injury in practice Thursday, two people familiar with the situation told the Associated Press.
The rookie tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will go on injured reserve.
His injury is the latest blow to a team that lost three- time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J. J. Watt and linebacker Whitney Mercilus to seasonending injuries Oct. 8.
The Texans will sign exRaiders backup quarterback Matt McGloin to back up Tom Savage, who becomes the starter. McGloin, who played for Texans head coach Bill O’Brien at Penn State, was released by the Eagles on Sept. 1.
Watson, a former Clemson standout, had been a bright spot for the Texans ( 3- 4). The 12th overall pick in this year’s draft was the AFC offensive player of the month after throwing for 1,171 yards with 16 touchdowns and running for 145 yards and another score. Jets 34, Bills 21: Matt Forte ran for two touchdowns four days after complaining that the Jets didn’t run the ball enough, and an overwhelming defense sacked Tyrod Taylor seven times in host New York’s demolition of Buffalo.
The Bills ( 5- 3) came in having scored 64 points in their past two wins, but self- destructed with turnovers and miscues. The Jets ( 4- 5), who ended a three- game skid in which they led in each game, looked more like the challenger to New England in the AFC East.
Forte scored on runs of 10 and 5 yards and had 14 carries for 77 yards. Augmenting that was Bilal Powell with a 51- yard burst and 74 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Josh McCown got in on the fun with a 10- yard scramble to open the scoring and New York rushed for 194 yards overall.
Jordan Jenkins had two of the Jets’ sacks. Luck done for the season: Andrew Luck will spend a second offseason recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Indianapolis Colts put Luck on injured reserve, marking the end of his season and the beginning of a different rehab program that team officials believe will get the former Stanford quarterback on the field next fall.
After having surgery in January for a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, Luck missed all of Indy’s offseason workouts, all of training camp, the entire preseason and now the entire 16- game regular season. TV ratings down: Midway through a season remembered for its player protests during the national anthem as much as big plays, viewership for NFL games is down 5 percent from last year.
The decline was more pronounced in 2016, and the erosion is less than it is for other forms of programming.
NFL spokesman Alex Riethmiller said the league believes the ratings drop is part of a broader trend in TV consumption instead of being due to a single issue or controversy. Briefly: Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston ( shoulder) threw for the second straight day in preparation to face the Saints. ... Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali ( knees) returned to practice for the first time since the end of last season. ... Joan Tisch, a noted philanthropist and the widow of former Giants co- owner Bob Tisch, has died at 90.