Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Broncos pay tribute to former star Thomas
Before their game Sunday against the Detroit Lions, the Denver Broncos honored the late former receiver Demaryius Thomas, who died last Thursday night at his home in suburban Atlanta. Thomas was 33.
The Broncos held a moment of silence and played a video tribute that lasted 1:17 and showed Thomas’ highlights from his time with the team. Once the Denver offense took the field to start the game, the team lined up with 10 players and took a delay of game, which Detroit declined.
Broncos players wore a decal with the No. 88 on them in honor of Thomas’ jersey number. The same image used for the decal was also painted on a patch of the field on the sideline.
Additionally, the Broncos set up a memorial outside of Empower Field at Mile High that featured Thomas’ No. 88 jersey with the team, a ceremonial wreath and a video board with a picture of Thomas. The team asked fans who were interested to stop by the memorial to pay their respects. Prior to the game, an artist also painted a portrait right by the memorial.
Former Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who alongside Thomas put up record-breaking numbers from 2012-15, stopped by the memorial before the game with his children to honor Thomas.
Thomas played eight and a half seasons for the Broncos and became a fan favorite for his athleticism and physicality at the position.
Thomas was found in his home in Roswell, Georgia, on Thursday evening, the city’s police department confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Cowboys arrange own seating: The visiting sideline at Washington had a familiar look for the Dallas Cowboys.
After getting word from other teams that the sideline benches at FedEx Field were in major need of an upgrade, the Cowboys brought their own for this showdown game.
The Cowboys rented four benches from a private vendor. When they arrived at the stadium Sunday, they were already decked out in Cowboys logos and wordmarks.
The Cowboys heard from the Seahawks,
who recently played against Washington on a Monday night and had complaints that the heated benches were malfunctioning.
Rams’ Ramsey, Higbee placed on COVID-19 list: The Los Angeles Rams were without defensive back Jalen Ramsey and tight end Tyler Higbee on the field for their Monday night game against the Arizona Cardinals after both players were put on the reserve/COVID-19 list. The Rams won, 30-23, and improved to 9-4. The Cardinals fell to 10-3.
Ramsey leads Los Angeles with three interceptions and also has 59 tackles.
Higbee has 44 receptions for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Both players will be missing their first game of the season.
Meyer’s tenure with Jaguars nears new low: Urban Meyer’s tenure in Jacksonville is nearing a new low, and no one could have thought that was possible 21⁄2 months ago.
The Jaguars (2-11) were shut out for the first time in more than a dozen years Sunday, a 20-0 drubbing at Tennessee that showed just how far the team’s offense has regressed in the past seven weeks.
Although it’s unlikely billionaire owner
Shad Khan would fire Meyer after one season — Khan despises the notion of paying people to not work and has been adamant he finally “got it right” by hiring Meyer — he has to, at the very least, have growing concerns about his latest debacle in Jacksonville.
The Jaguars have failed to top 200 total yards in three games, including in backto-back weeks, and now have two fivegame skids. Neither had happened in the team’s previous 26 years.
They have the league’s longest current losing streak to go along with a 15-game road skid and eight consecutive losses in AFC South play.
The only thing that’s improved since Meyer took over in January is the team’s defense, and Meyer has mostly left that side of the ball to longtime NFL assistant and first-time coordinator Joe Cullen.
Meyer’s first year with the Jaguars will be remembered for public embarrassments and weekly confusion about what’s happening in games and seemingly inside the locker room.
Khan and Meyer had a one-on-one meeting in Nashville for roughly 15 minutes following the latest loss, the team’s 32nd in its past 37 games.
Khan and Meyer talk regularly, but this one probably had a different tone. After all, it was the first time in Khan’s decade of ownership that Jacksonville failed to score and came after a week filled with reports, all citing unnamed sources, that detailed internal strife between Meyer and his staff.
Anyone who questions the validity of
those reports needs only to look at the postgame handshake between Meyer and Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel jogged past Meyer and barely said anything as they briefly shook hands. It was a cold exchange considering they spent two years together (2012-13) at Ohio State.
“I’m not hard. I’m honest,” Meyer said. “I’ve done this a long time, and I’m very demanding and honest with coaches. If we’re struggling, let’s get this thing fixed.”
Vrabel also shut down a question about Meyer after Tennessee’s win in Jacksonville in October.
That came a week after Khan publicly admonished Meyer for viral videos that showed Meyer touching a woman’s backside at an Ohio bar. The incident happened one night after the coach chose to stay behind following a road game at Cincinnati.
Many thought Khan might fire Meyer then. Instead, the owner reprimanded the three-time national championship-winning college coach and said he “must regain our trust and respect.”
Meyer appears to be losing both by the week.
Young captures Heisman: Bryce Young didn’t just meet the standard set by the star quarterbacks who preceded him at Alabama,
he exceeded it.
Young became the first Crimson Tide quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, making Alabama the fifth school with consecutive winners of college football’s most prestigious award.
Young received 684 first-place votes and 2,311 points to easily outdistance Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (78, 954).
Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett (28, 631) finished third and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud (12, 399) was fourth. Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (31, 325) was fifth, putting two defensive players in the top five for the first time since 1962.
Young has passed for 4,322 yards and 43 touchdowns, leading No 1 Alabama to a Southeastern Conference title and a spot in the College Football Playoff. The defending champion Crimson Tide will play No. 4 Cincinnati on Dec. 31 in the Cotton Bowl.
Wide receiver DeVonta Smith won last year. Young is Alabama’s fourth Heisman winner, all in the last 13 years under coach Nick Saban. Only four schools have won more in the 86-year history of the trophy: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Southern California each have won seven.
The other schools to have Heisman winners in consecutive years are Yale (1936-37), Army (1945-46), Southern California (2004-05) and Oklahoma (2017-18).
Seahawks lose Adams: The Seattle Seahawks will be without starting strong safety Jamal Adams for the rest of the season after he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Adams was expected to undergo surgery for the damage he suffered during the first half of the Seahawks’ win over San Francisco on Dec. 5. He had surgery to repair damage to the same shoulder last offseason.