Bengals decide to fire Zampese
The Bengals took the first step toward digging out from their historically bad start, firing offensive coordinator Ken Zampese on Friday, one day after they failed to get into the end zone for the second straight game.
Quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor was promoted to coordinator, a spot he had held with the Dolphins. He didn’t expect the shake-up.
“When you’ve been in this league long enough, you see a whole bunch of different things happen,” Lazor said. “Not many of them are shocking anymore. You come in the day after a tough loss and try to figure out how to make it better. Obviously, it took some different turns.”
The move was announced an hour after coach Marvin Lewis declined to talk about changes in response to a 13-9 loss to the Texans on Thursday.
Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford is expected to play against the Steelers in Pittsburgh despite a knee injury that limited him all week in practice.
Bradford, the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, was listed as questionable on the injury report.
ESPN reported that Bradford felt pain and swelling in his left knee that has twice been surgically repaired. The network said he had an MRI test Tuesday that revealed no specific damage, but Vikings coach Mike Zimmer declined to confirm the MRI.
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The emergency motion in federal appeals court, hoping to get a swift ruling on its request to overrule a judge who blocked a six-game ban for Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott in a domestic-violence case in Ohio.
The league filed its request with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, even though a federal judge in Texas hadn’t ruled on a request to put the injunction on hold while an appeal is pursued. The emergency motion asks the court to rule on the request to suspend U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant’s injunction as early as Tuesday, the start of the Cowboys’ practice week before their third game.
The NFL contends Mazzant’s ruling was an unnecessary interference in the league’s labor deal.
Pro Bowl OT Donald Penn agreed to a two-year, $21 million extension with the Raiders. ... Cowboys CB Orlando Scandrick will miss Sunday’s game against the Broncos because of a broken left hand . ... LB Rey Maualuga (hamstring) will not play in the Dolphins’ opener against the Chargers . ... CB Richard Sherman (hamstring) is questionable for the Seahawks’ game against the 49ers . ... LB Dont’a Hightower (knee) and WR Danny Amendola (concussion, knee) will miss the Patriots’ game against the Saints . ... Steelers LB Ryan Shazier, CB William Gay and S J.J. Wilcox were fined $24,309 by the league for unnecessary roughness, while Saints S Kenny Vaccaro and LB Alex Anzalone and Chargers LB Melvin Ingram were fined that same amount for hits to the head. ... The players union honored QB Colin Kaepernick for charitable contributions totaling $100,000 by naming him its Community MVP for Week 1.