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NFL

QB Watson erupts for 5 TDs in Texans' win

HOUSTON — Less than a week after Deshaun Watson had to take a 12-hour bus ride to Jacksonville to ensure he could play in the game due to lung and rib injuries, the Houston Texans quarterback threw for five touchdowns in the team’s 42-23 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

It took until the eighth game of the 2018 season, but the Texans’ offense looked like the version the team was hoping for entering the year, and Houston finally got a glimpse of the quarterback who lit up the NFL last season before he tore his ACL in early November.

On Thursday, Watson completed 16 of his 20 passes for 239 yards and a season-high five touchdown passes. Those five touchdown passes tied his career high, which he set last season against the Kansas City Chiefs. The second-year quarterback did not throw an interception for the second straight week.

“We were executing, sticking to the details, playing free,” Watson said. “We got our swagger back today. We just wanted to have fun and try and light up the scoreboard in prime time, and that’s what we did.”

Watson has been playing hurt after injuring his lung and ribs in the Texans’ Week 5 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. He was listed with a chest injury on the injury report all week but was a full participant in practice.

The quarterback said he “felt great” on Thursday night and that he had plenty of time to rest between games.

“The biggest thing was more mental,” Watson said. “And then getting a lot of rest and treatment and rehab. And then having three days off — it’s going to be fun. A lot of fun.”

Watson is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era with multiple games with five touchdown passes within his first two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The Texans had 427 net yards and scored on all four of their red zone opportunities.

Texans QB Deshaun Watson is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era with multiple games with five touchdown passes within his first two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information. AP Photo/Michael Wyke

For the first time this season, the Texans were able to lean on big offensive plays from their offensive stars. Watson’s third touchdown pass was a 73-yard completion to wide receiver Will Fuller, who beat his defender across the middle and down the right sideline before trotting in the final five yards into the end zone. The pass was the longest touchdown of both Watson’s and Fuller’s careers. The pair have now connected for 11 touchdowns in 11 games played together.

“I said earlier in the offseason, I think we’ve got the best offense in the NFL,” wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “What we put up tonight against a pretty good defense, what we’ve shown in these past five games that we’ve won, we’re up there with the best of the best.”

Watson also threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins, who caught six passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Hopkins had 8.6 yards of separation on his 49-yard score, and 0.5 yards of separation on his next touchdown. Those were the most wide-open, and tightest-window touchdown passes, respectively of Watson’s career.

“I don’t even know how explosive we can be. I know it’s top-notch, and we just have to keep working,” Watson said.

Thursday’s victory puts the Texans at 5-3 at the midway point of the season and ensures an outright lead in the AFC South entering Week 9. Houston now has won five games in a row after its 0-3 start to the season. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Texans were one of 233 teams to start 0-3 in the Super Bowl era. They are just the fifth team to go to 5-3 immediately after going winless in their first three games.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien praised his young quarterback for helping turn Houston’s season around.

“I think the type of guy he is, if you’re around him every day, I think he’s the type of guy that gives everybody hope,” O’Brien said. “He’s a great guy in the locker room, works very hard, young player, young player that’s getting better and better. Very level-headed guy, not an overly emotional guy.

“I think he’s exactly what you’re looking for in a starting quarterback.”

NFL

Seahawks get help: Wright, Dickson likely back
7:27 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright and tight end Ed Dickson are expected to make their season debuts Sunday against the Lions in Detroit.

Coach Pete Carroll was noncommittal on Wright’s availability earlier in the week, but on Wednesday he said he’s anticipating that both Wright and Dickson will play Sunday as long as they don’t suffer any setbacks in the meantime.

K.J. Wright has been out since late August after a setback following arthroscopic knee surgery. Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

The Seahawks could have a pair of defensive ends back this week as well. Rasheem Green is practicing after missing the last three games with an ankle injury. Carroll said Dion Jordan, who has dealt with knee and hip injuries and was inactive for two of the past three games, is “the best he’s been in a while.”

That’s why Carroll answered in the affirmative when asked if the Seahawks, who are coming off their bye, are as healthy as they’ve been all season.

“We’re in pretty good shape,” Carroll said.

Wright has been sidelined because of what Carroll called a setback in his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery in late August, which was initially expected to keep him out only a few weeks.

The Seahawks have cycled through replacements at Wright’s weakside spot, first starting rookie Shaquem Griffin in the opener. They then signed Mychal Kendricks, who played there for the next three games until he was suspended indefinitely in connection with his pleading guilty to insider trading charges. Austin Calitro has also seen time there, and more recently, Seattle has moved Barkevious Mingo over from the strong side.

Wright is now back in the spot he manned for most of his first seven seasons in Seattle.

“He brings a lot to the team,” middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “Another guy who’s kind of been through so much, been through the ups and downs of this team, this organization, has so much experience, extremely, extremely smart football player, very instinctive. We’ve been playing together for seven years, so we have communication that can’t be replicated, and he makes plays. He’s going to make adjustments and things of that nature, so I’m extremely excited to have him back. I think the last time we saw him he was making big hits and all that stuff, so that’s what I’m expecting from him.”

The Seahawks signed Dickson to be their starting tight end after letting Jimmy Graham leave in free agency, but he has been on the non-football injury list since the start of training camp because of a quad injury. Seattle has since lost rookie Will Dissly to a season-ending knee injury, and Nick Vannett has been dealing with a balky back, so Dickson’s return provides a needed reinforcement at tight end.

Carroll said that while he hasn’t seen much of Dickson in practice because he’s been out for so long, the four seasons the tight end spent with the Carolina Panthers gives the Seahawks an idea of how he can help them.

“He was involved with all kinds of stuff, and he’s been placed all over the field, he’s been in the backfield, he’s been out of the backfield,” Carroll said. “All of that really gives us confidence that there’s stuff that we can do with him that we’re looking forward to. But really he has not practiced with us very much, so we’re kind of opening up the Christmas present here. It’s kind of fun to get him going.”

NFL

Source: NFL aware it missed flag on Mayfield hit

The NFL recognizes that Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Jordan Whitehead should have been penalized for a hit on Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield on Sunday, a source familiar with the league’s thinking said Tuesday.

Whitehead could have been flagged for one of two infractions: unnecessary roughness for a hit to the head of a sliding player or unsportsmanlike conduct for using his helmet to hit a player, the source said.

The NFL is not commenting on the hit. Fines are typically announced on Fridays. If the league fines Whitehead, it will be public affirmation that the play should have been penalized.

The hit occurred in the Bucs’ 26-23 overtime win on Sunday. Mayfield slid at the end of a 35-yard run on second-and-26 in the fourth quarter. Shortly after Mayfield’s knee hit the ground, Whitehead’s helmet hit the side of Mayfield’s head.

Whitehead lowered his head to make the hit and used the crown of his helmet. Both are textbook examples of what the league does not want and are included in the descriptions of hits that could lead to a player being ejected.

Officials initially flagged the play, but after a conference, referee Shawn Hochuli announced that the flag would be picked up.

“The quarterback was still a runner and therefore is allowed to be hit in the head,” Hochuli said to the crowd. “He had not yet begun to slide.”

Mayfield was ruled down at the Tampa Bay 41-yard line with 7:47 left and the Browns trailing 23-16. A 15-yard penalty would have moved the Browns to the 26. The Browns moved to the Bucs’ 1 on the drive but failed to score on a fourth-down quarterback sneak.

When Mayfield started to slide is a judgment call; hits to the head are not. Sliding players are protected by league rule from hits to the head. The league knows the penalty should have been called, according to a source.

“There’s a lot of stuff being put out on protecting the quarterback,” Mayfield said after the game. “Doesn’t seem like the Browns are getting a lot of calls, but they can review it, and they can say I was a runner, but I started my slide. That’s helmet-to-helmet contact.”

Browns coach Hue Jackson said after the game that he did not understand why the flag was picked up. Other players complained. On Monday, Jackson said the team would ask the league for clarification.

“That was disappointing,” Jackson said. “That is all that I can say.”

NFL

Seattle DE Clark in no hurry for deal, agent says
11:15 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

With a growing résumé and an insurance policy in his back pocket, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark is willing to wait as he tries to secure a deal that makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid pass-rushers — even if it means playing on the franchise tag first.

Clark’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, made that clear in an interview with ESPN on Monday. While Burkhardt declined to get into specifics of what Clark is looking for, he shed plenty of light on how their side is approaching what has become the Seahawks’ most pressing contract question, saying Clark isn’t interested in settling for a deal right now.

“I have had several very productive and positive talks with the Seahawks,” Burkhardt said. “Frank loves it there and believes they’ll continue to produce as one of the NFL’s dominant defenses even with the departure of many great players. … Seattle has been very good to him. They’ve believed in him from the beginning and they’ve continued to help develop him.

“But the financial goal for players in every major sport now is to get to free agency. It often baffles me how some of these agents do early deals just for the sake of doing a deal. I know that it’s football and injury risks are very real, but there’s insurance policies to protect players’ downsides and risks, along with other measures that we put in place to protect our guys. Just to do an early deal for the sake of doing an early deal doesn’t excite us, especially for a guy like Frank who’s already a dominant pass-rusher in this league and is just scratching the surface of what he will be.”

Clark, 25, is in the final year of the rookie contract he signed as a second-round pick in 2015. He had the most productive game of his career in Seattle’s victory over the Raiders in Week 6, with a pair of strip sacks – both fumbles were recovered by the Seahawks — and another half-sack while playing only 29 of the team’s 60 defensive snaps because of what the team called an illness.

Clark’s team-high total of 5.5 sacks through six games doesn’t include a strip of Jared Goff in Week 5. That didn’t count as an official sack because the Rams quarterback picked up the loose ball and threw it incomplete.

Since the start of the 2016 season, Clark’s 24.5 sacks are tied with Terrell Suggs for 10th in the NFL, according to ESPN charting. Ahead of them are Chandler Jones (34.5), Von Miller (31), Ryan Kerrigan (27), Aaron Donald (27), Danielle Hunter (27), Calais Campbell (26.5), Khalil Mack (26.5), Cameron Jordan (25.5) and Mario Addison (25).

Among that group, Clark’s 1,601 defensive snaps during that span are the second-fewest. He played behind Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril during his first two-plus seasons before becoming a starter last season after Avril injured his neck.

“I do think Frank Clark is every bit as good of a pass-rusher as Mack, Jadeveon Clowney, DeMarcus Lawrence, Ezekiel Ansah or anybody else at the top, and that’s not taking anything away from those guys,” Burkhardt said. “The metrics and analytics bear that out on a per-snap basis. I’ve spoken to many offensive lineman around the league who will tell you the same thing.”

Mack sits atop the pass-rusher pay-scale after signing a deal with the Bears that averages $23.5 million. Lawrence and Ansah are playing on the $17.14 million franchise tag. Clowney, the first overall pick in 2014, is in line for a big payday this offseason while playing on a fifth-year option.

Burkhardt said there would be no point in taking a deal now given that Clark has an insurance policy and that the market for pass-rushers is continuing to rise.

“I don’t care if those guys were high first-round picks,” he said. “I don’t mind being quoted saying I absolutely put Frank in that echelon with those guys, so I’m not going to sit here and do a deal early and then watch in March when those guys get $X million a year and Frank not be in that range. Why would we do that? I feel like I have just as good of a player, and I want to be very clear, that is not a knock on anybody. Frank is on that level and I believe everybody around the league will tell you that as well.”

Burkhardt said he thinks it would be “fair” of the Seahawks to want to see how Clark handles his increased workload and the absences of Bennett and Avril before being willing to make him one of the league’s highest-paid pass-rushers.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier this month that the Seahawks aren’t expected to use the franchise tag this offseason on free safety Earl Thomas, who will also be an unrestricted free agent. That would allow Seattle to use the tag on Clark if the two sides don’t reach a deal before then. Assuming another increase in the NFL’s salary cap for 2019, the cost to use the tag on Clark would be slightly above the 2018 figure for defensive ends of $17.14 million.

“Obviously players want a long-term deal because this game is dangerous and violent and everything else, but I’m going to continue to bet on my guy.” Burkhardt said. “You look at a guy like Kirk Cousins who played out the franchise tag, that’s not all bad either. He did that because he believed in himself and also knows teams can’t usually find top quarterbacks in free agency. The pass-rush market is much the same in that aspect. It’s supply and demand.

“Frank and I are not scared of the franchise tag. That’s going to come in at about $18 million next year for a D-end on a one-year, fully guaranteed deal. It’s what Ansah and Lawrence have done. They get that top-of-the-market value for one year, and 12 months later will get their long-term deal as well. That’s winning.”

In the meantime, Burkhardt said Clark has taken out a loss-of-value insurance policy to protect himself from any injury or illness that would affect his earning power. Burkhardt wouldn’t divulge specifics of the policy other than to say it’s tax-free and based on what Clark’s estimated value would be on the open market.

“So we don’t have to take a [bad] deal just to take the risk off the table,” he said.

After the Raiders game, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll praised the way Clark has been playing as well as the leader he has become now that he’s the longest-tenured of any Seattle defensive lineman. According to Burkhardt, teammates have voted Clark this year’s recipient of the annual Ed Block Courage Award.

Burkhardt said he and Clark have an “incredibly good” working relationship with Carroll and general manager John Schneider, adding that the Seahawks have made it clear to them that they want to keep Clark long term.

“I’m not saying a deal won’t get done. I’m just saying Frank and I don’t feel any panic or urgency to do an early deal just for the sake of doing an early deal,” he said. “Athletes today prepare their whole lives to potentially get one big contract, and Frank has put himself in position to do that. He’s got a young daughter now. It’s not just about Frank. It’s about doing what you have to do to protect yourself and really just get what you’re worth and what you’ve earned.”

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