Washington QB Allen to undergo ankle surgery, Smith to start
Washington quarterback Kyle Allen will undergo surgery to repair a dislocated left ankle, multiple outlets reported Monday.
Veteran Alex Smith replaced Allen on Sunday, and coach Ron Rivera said Smith will start this Sunday when Washington travels to Detroit to face the Lions (3-5).
For the 36 - year- old Smith, the game will mark his first start since Nov. 18, 2018, against the Houston Texans. Smith sustained a compound fracture of his right leg in that game, and complications required him to have 17 surgeries. He missed the entire 2019 season.
Allen suffered the injury in the first quarter of his team’s 23-20 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. He also sustained a small fracture. The date for the surgery has not been set.
NFL Network said Allen will miss the remainder of the season for Washington (2- 6), but Rivera on Monday said that conclusion was “premature.”
Second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins started the season for Washington but was pulled after a 1-3 start and demoted to third string.
PANTHERS RB MCCAFFREY (SHOULDER) IS ‘DAY-TO-DAY’ >> Panthers coach Matt Rhule says running back Christian McCaffrey is “day to day” with a shoulder injury he suffered in the closing seconds of Carolina’s 33- 31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rhule would not say if McCaffrey has already had an MRI or an X-ray, adding that he should know more about the extent of the injury on Wednesday. The Panthers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
McCaffrey missed six games with a high ankle sprain before returning on Sunday against the Chiefs and racking up 151 total yards and two touchdowns. FALCONS WAIVE FORMER FIRST-ROUND PICK MCKINLEY >> The Atlanta Falcons waived defensive end Takk McKinley, a 2017 first-round pick, less than one week after he made public his displeasure he had not been traded.
McKinley battled groin injuries this season and missed five of the Falcons’ first nine games, including Sunday’s 34-27 win over Denver.
The Falcons’ release of McKinley was not a surprise. Interim coach Raheem Morris said Wednesday McKinley’s status with the team was uncertain after McKinley posted on his Twitter account that he requested trades in 2019 and again this year.
McKinley said the Falcons
turned down an offer for a second-round pick in 2019. He also said “The same @ AtlantaFalcons turned down a 5th and 6th round draft pick from multiple teams when I requested to get traded this year. I only have 17.5 career sacks.”
STEELELRS DEALING WITH FIRST POSITIVE TEST >> Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald has tested positive for COVID-19, the first player from the NFL’s last unbeaten team to be diagnosed with the novel coronavirus since the start of the regular season.
Team spokesman Burt Lauten says the club was notified of the positive test on Monday morning, hours after the Steelers improved to 8- 0 with a 24-19 win over the Dallas Cowboys. McDonald immediately self-quarantined and the Steelers remain in the NFL’s intensive protocol.
McDonald missed Friday’s practice with an “illness” according to the team’s injury report, but traveled to Dallas with the team and played 24 snaps total against the Cowboys, 20 on offense and four on special teams.
RAVEN S DE CAMPBELL( CALF) TO MISS SEVERAL WEEKS >> Baltimore Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell will be sidelined 2-to-5 weeks with a calf strain, NFL Network reported. There’s no structural
damage, per the report, and Campbell will undergo more tests.
Campbell left Sunday’s 24-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the first quarter. He walked to the sideline under his own power after going down following a running play.
The Ravens (6-2) next play at New England against the Patriots (2- 5) on Sunday.
BROWNS DE SIGNATE RB CHUBB TO RETURN FROM IR >> The Cleveland Browns designated running back Nick Chubb for return from injured reserve, moving the team a step closer to adding a key offensive weapon. Chubb, 24, suffered an MCL sprain in his right knee on Oct. 4 in the Browns’ 49-38 win over the Dallas Cowboys and went on IR the following day.
In the first four games of the season, Chubb rushed 57 times for 335 yards and four touchdowns. Kareem Hunt has filled in with 529 rushing yards through eight games.
BRONCOS ROOKIE TIGHT END OKWUEGBUNAM OUT WITH TORN ACL >> Rookie tight end A lbert Okwuegbunam is out for the year after tearing his right ACL in the Denver Broncos’ loss at Atlanta on Sunday.
Ok w ue g bu n am a nd quarterback Drew Lock had a built-in chemistry from their time together at
the University of Missouri. Okwuegbunam, who caught 17 TD passes from Lock in their two years together in college, cracked the Broncos game day lineup a month ago and had 11 receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown.
BREES THROWS FOR 4 TDS AS SAINTS POUND BUCCANEERS >> Drew Brees threw for 222 yards and four touchdowns, regaining the NFL career TD pass lead and lifting the New Orleans Saints into first place in the NFC South with a 38-3 rout of Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers late Sunday night.
The three-time defending division champions won their fifth straight game, intercepting Brady three times and completing a season sweep of the Bucs (6-3).
The Saints (6-2) were extremely efficient on offense with receivers Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders back in the lineup, and the defense played its best game of the season.
Brees was 26- of-32 passing, including first- half TD throws of 14 yards to Tre’Quan Smith, 8 yards to Adam Trautman and 12 yards to Sanders, who missed the previous two games while on the COVID-19 list. The 41-year- old added a 3-yarder to Josh Hill to make it 38- 0 with just over nine minutes remaining.
Brees regained the league career TD pass lead with 564, three more than the 43-year-old Brady, who had thrown for 17 touchdowns and just one interception over his previous six games. BEARS RB MONTGOMERY IN CONCUSSION PROTOCOL >> Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery is in the concussion protocol, coach Matt Nagy said.
Montgomery departed Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans in the fourth quarter. He had 14 carries for 30 yards before leaving.
The Bears (5- 4) have an extra day ahead to prepare for their Week 10 game, a Monday night meeting against the visiting Minnesota Vikings (3-5).
The second-year running back has 472 yards rushing in nine games.