With offense in rut, Lions shake up staff

Hours before leaving for their longest road trip of the season, the Detroit Lions shook up their offensive coaching staff.

Detroit fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and line coaches Jeremiah Washburn and Terry Heffernan on Monday, a day after the team dropped another game in a listless performance against the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions announced the moves shortly before they were supposed to depart for London, where they’ll play next weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs.

“It’s not a good day. It’s a tough day,” coach Jim Caldwell said. “I’ve been in this position myself three times, and it’s happened to me, and it’s certainly not fun.”

Caldwell said the staff changes were his decision, and he had not spoken with ownership.

“I’m sure they’re supportive,” he said.

Quarterbacks coach Jim Bob Cooter is taking over as offensive coordinator, and tight ends coach Ron Prince will now coach the offensive line. Assistant special teams coach Devin Fitzsimmons will now work with tight ends.

The Lions are also giving running backs coach Curtis Modkins the added title of run game coordinator.

Detroit (1-6) lost 28-19 to Minnesota on Sunday, and Matthew Stafford was sacked seven times. Blocking problems have plagued the Lions all sea- son, limiting Stafford’s effectiveness and the running game’s productivity.

Steelers: All signs point to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s return to the lineup for an AFC North home game Sunday against unbeaten Cincinnati.

Nothing has been made official, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said the twotime Super Bowl winner, who missed four games with a sprained knee and bruised leg, was “close” to starting the team’s 23-13 loss at Kansas City.

Cowboys: Coach Jason Garrett says defensive end Greg Hardy won’t be disciplined for a sideline tirade that included a physical confrontation with special teams coach Rich Bisaccia after New York’s decisive kickoff return for a touchdown.

Garrett said the heated exchange that also involved Dez Bryant and other players was “not a big deal from anybody inside our football team and inside this building.”

Jets: Center Nick Mangold has a sore neck, but avoided a potentially serious injury when X-rays and other test results came back negative.

Mangold left the 30-23 loss at New England on Sunday in the fourth quarter when his head was knocked into on a play.

Colts: Rookie receiver Phillip Dorsett will miss four to six weeks with a fractured lower left leg.

Texans: Running back Arian Foster is out for the season with an Achilles tendon injury.

Vikings: Center John Sullivan underwent a second surgery on his back, putting his return to the field this season in doubt.

Deflategate: NFL lawyers have told a federal appeals court in New York that a judge made “unfathomable” findings to justify lifting New England quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension in the “Deflategate” controversy.

The lawyers asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to conclude that a lower-court judge was mistaken when he reversed a penalty that was supposed to keep Brady out of the first four games.

Cardinals 26, Ravens 18: Quarterback Carson Palmer passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns to lead host Arizona past Baltimore.

The Ravens mounted a late rally, which fell short when Joe Flacco threw an interception in the end zone with six seconds left.