Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Jaguars have top overall selection in draft
The Jacksonville Jaguars’ 3-14 record this season earned them the top spot in April’s NFL draft, the second consecutive year they will pick first.
The tentative order of the first round, not including teams in the playoffs, was announced Monday by the NFL.
Playoff results will determine where the 14 postseason teams will select. For example, the winner of the Super Bowl picks last and the loser selects next to last in all rounds, regardless of the record of the clubs in the regular season.
The current order for non-playoff clubs:
1. Jacksonville (3-14)
2. Detroit (3-13-1)
3. Houston (4-13)
4. New York Jets (4-13)
5. New York Giants (4-13)
6. Carolina (5-12)
7. New York Giants (via CHI, 6-11)
8. Atlanta (7-10)
9. Denver (7-10)
10. New York Jets (via SEA, 7-10)
11. Washington (7-10)
12. Minnesota (8-9)
13. Cleveland (8-9)
14. Baltimore (8-9)
15. Philadelphia (via MIA, 9-8)
16. Philadelphia (via IND, 9-8)
17. Los Angeles Chargers (9-8)
18. New Orleans (9-8)
Watt ties sack record: Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt tied Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan’s single-season NFL sacks record.
Watt finished with has 22½ sacks after bringing down Baltimore’s Tyler Huntley late in the first half Sunday.
“It’s definitely a cool thing,” said Watt, the Pewaukee native who starred at Wisconsin.
Strahan had 22½ sacks in 2001 for the New York Giants in a 16-game season. The NFL is finishing its first 17game season, although Watt missed two of them.
Brady joins Brees: Tom Brady surpassed 5,000 yards passing for the season, joining Drew Brees as the only players in NFL history with multiple 5,000-yard seasons.
The Tampa Bay star began the day with a league-leading 4,990 yards. Brady reached 5,000 on his second completion, a 5-yarder to Cameron Brate early in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers.
Seahawks’ Diggs carted off field: Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs was carted off the field with a broken right leg and dislocated ankle in an emotional scene in Arizona on Sunday, and New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill left a game against Atlanta with a left foot injury and didn’t return.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Diggs broke his right fibula.
“Just a heartbreaker because everybody loves who he is,” Carroll said after the Seahawks beat the Cardinals, 38-30, to spoil Arizona’s shot at the NFC West title. Tyler Lockett — who described Diggs as his best friend — said he was staying in Phoenix on Sunday night to make sure Diggs had support.
Diggs appeared to slip on the grass just before being blocked early in the fourth quarter and immediately grabbed his leg. Players on both teams were visibly upset as Seattle’s trainers worked on Diggs, and teammate D.J. Reed threw his helmet.
Diggs was in tears as he was carted off. He made his first Pro Bowl this season and is set to be a free agent this offseason. He led the Seahawks with five interceptions and was third with 63 tackles before Sunday’s game.
The Saints beat the Falcons 30-20, but missed the playoffs. The Saints were up 7-6 with about six minutes left in the first half when Hill departed after hurting his foot on a 1-yard run.
Bucs make it official and terminate Brown’s contract: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially severed ties with Antonio Brown, terminating the contract of the mercurial receiver while also contradicting the player’s claim that he was fired in the middle of a game for not playing through an ankle injury.
Coach Bruce Arians said last Thursday that Brown was upset that he was not being targeted enough in the opening half against the New York Jets and that the situation evolved to a boiling point in the third quarter.
“At no point and time during that game did he ever ask for the trainer or doctor about his ankle. That’s the normal protocol . ... I was never notified of it,” Arians said, discussing the circumstances of Brown’s bizarre exit in detail for the first time publicly.
“He was very upset at halftime about who was getting targeted. We got that calmed down. Players took care of that,” the coach added. “It started again on the sideline. We called the personnel group that he had played in the entire game.
He refused to go in the game.”
Arians said when he became aware of the situation, he went to Brown to ask “what’s going on?”
The coach said Brown responded “I ain’t playing ... I ain’t getting the ball.”
“That’s when I said you’re done. Get out of here. That’s the end of it. We are working on Carolina,” Arians said, referring to their opponent Sunday. “That’s the end of the story. Hopefully it ends today.”
The Bucs announced Brown’s contract was terminated one day after the receiver broke his silence on the matter, alleging in a statement released by the player’s attorney that Arians cut him on the spot because Brown declined to re-enter the game because he was too injured to continue playing.
“You can’t force a player to play. They have that choice. It’s their body,” Arians said. “He decided to play.”
Brown alleged a coverup. “I didn’t quit. I was cut. I didn’t walk away from my brothers. I was thrown out,” the receiver’s statement said.
“Being fired on the sideline for having a painful injury was bad enough. Then came their ‘spin.’ Coach denied on national television that he knew about my ankle. That’s 100% inaccurate,” Brown added. “Not only did he know I missed several games with the injury, he and I exchanged texts days before the game where he clearly acknowledged my injury.”
Brown, who has a long history of troubled behavior on and off the field, including being accused by two women of sexual assault — one said he raped her — removed his jersey, shoulder pads, undershirt and gloves before leaving the sideline.
The receiver, who began his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, tossed some of his gear into the stands, did some jumping jacks and waved to fans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., as he headed to the locker room.
WFT’s new name coming: Washington’s NFL team announced it will unveil its new name Feb. 2 and that it will not be the Wolves or RedWolves.
Commanders, Admirals, Armada, Brigade, Sentinels, Defenders, Red Hogs, Presidents and the status quo “Washington Football Team” were among the other finalists.
Jets great Maynard dies: Don Maynard, a Hall of Fame receiver who made his biggest impact catching passes from Joe Namath in the wide-open AFL, has died. He was 86.
Maynard was the main target for Namath with the New York Jets, though a leg injury made him less effective in the team’s upset of the NFL champion Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl.
When he retired in 1973 after one season with the St. Louis Cardinals, he was pro football’s career receiving leader with 633 catches for 11,834 yards and 88 touchdowns. In 1987, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.
Robinson won two Super Bowl rings: Greg Robinson, who won two Super Bowl rings with the Denver Broncos while spending nearly four decades coaching in the NFL and college, has died. He was 70. Robinson’s wife, Laura, said he died last Wednesday from a form of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Robinson also served as defensive coordinator for the New York Jets (1994) and Kansas City Chiefs (2001-03), but he attained his greatest success in six years with the Broncos (1995-2000) under Mike Shanahan. His defenses excelled as Denver won consecutive Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998.
Chenal opts for NFL draft: The inevitable became official last week Monday. Wisconsin junior Leo Chenal, the Big Ten linebacker of the year in 2021, announced he will enter the 2022 NFL draft.
Chenal missed the first two games of the season but still led UW in tackles for loss (171⁄2) and total tackles (114) and finished second in sacks (eight).