GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers won’t practice on Friday, the first day he’s eligible to take the field since he was placed on injured reserve.
No, Rodgers didn’t have a setback in the recovery from his broken collarbone. The Packers just don’t practice on Fridays.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera warned his players coming off their bye weekend about not overlooking the New York Jets on Sunday in anticipation of an NFC South showdown against New Orleans.
Rivera said he believed in “trap games.”
The Panthers had one foot in the trap early in the fourth quarter.
In stepped middle linebacker Luke Kuechly and special teams to save quarterback Cam Newton and the offense from a disastrous day.
Kuechly returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown and then Kaelin Clay returned a punt 60 yards for another score to turn an early fourth-quarter deficit into a 35-27 victory at MetLife Stadium.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a much-needed win as the Panthers make their playoff push.
“It is big to win ugly, and when you can rely on a big play happening for your defense or on your special teams, that helps,” Rivera said.
Most of the ugliness on this day came on offense.
Panthers wide receiver Kaelin Clay returned a punt 60 yards for a key fourth-quarter touchdown. Abbie Parr/Getty Images
Newton had one of his worst days of the season, overthrowing wide-open receivers and completing only 11 of 28 pass attempts for 168 yards two weeks after throwing four touchdowns in a 45-21 victory against Miami. He was particularly ineffective on third down, at one point going 1-for-7 on third-down passes.
LOS ANGELES — Jerry Reese stood alone in the back of the USC end zone, leaning against the goalpost as he watched the Trojans’ quarterbacks warm up. The New York Giants’ embattled general manager was dressed casually, looking as if he wanted to blend into the SoCal crowd. He wore jeans, a dark baseball cap and earphones that presumably weren’t streaming New York talk radio.
While his ears were occupied, Reese’s eyes focused on the future: Sam Darnold, a 20-year-old prodigy who will be some team’s future.
Reese’s intense stare was interrupted by a gentle tap on the shoulder from his New York Jets counterpart, Mike Maccagnan, who stopped to say hello. They exchanged pleasantries for about two minutes, creating this oddly appropriate scene:
Here were the top football men in New York, both in search of a young franchise quarterback, standing about 10 yards away from the potential top pick in the 2018 draft. On the other side of the field was UCLA’s Josh Rosen, another elite quarterback prospect.
NFL executives aren’t allowed to comment about underclassmen — a mind reader from the Venice Beach boardwalk might have helped for our purposes — but you can assume Reese and Maccagnan wouldn’t have made the cross-country trip if they weren’t intrigued.
For the Jets, Giants and 18 other teams, it was one-stop scouting Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was Darnold versus Rosen, and each delivered in his own unique style. For the quarterback-needy franchises in attendance, the soundtrack to the evening was probably similar to a lyric from the movie “La La Land.”
City of stars
Are you shining just for me?
New York should be a city of stars, especially when it comes to quarterbacks. But two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning, 36, is in the twilight of his Giants career, and the Jets haven’t had a transcendent player at the game’s most important position since Joe Namath. Broadway Joe is 74, old enough to be Darnold’s or Rosen’s grandfather.
Now we have a rare storm developing on the horizon. The Giants (2-9) could have a top-three draft pick and the Jets (4-6) could be in the top 10, setting up some New York-style quarterback drama come April. The last time the Jets and Giants used top-10 picks on quarterbacks in the same year was … never.
Wouldn’t it be cool if Darnold and Rosen took their rivalry to New York?
“They’re both can’t-miss guys,” said former Super Bowl champion Trent Dilfer, a California-raised quarterback who has known both players since they were in high school in Southern California. “Without speaking in hyperbole, they’re two of the best prospects we’ve had in a while.
“Sam is intuitive. He’s cool. His best stuff comes out in the clutch. Josh is just pure. He’s like a golfer who hits everything in the middle of the face. And I don’t think New York would be too big for either one of them.”
Sam Darnold could opt to wield his sword at USC for another season. Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Keyshawn Johnson, a former No. 1 overall pick who made the jump from USC to the New York stage as a member of the Jets, believes both players have the talent and mental toughness to survive the glare of Gotham.
“I think Sam would be perfect in New York,” said Johnson, who knows Darnold through his alma mater and coached Rosen in a 7-on-7 summer league that traveled the country in high school. “Sam doesn’t say anything, and he’s a football guy. Josh has a little more Broadway Joe in him, a little Keyshawn Johnson in him. He’s gonna bite back. He’s a little more colorful.”
No fewer than 30 NFL representatives turned out to watch the first (and probably last) college showdown between Darnold and Rosen. The game was a microcosm of their careers. Rosen made the “wow” throws and posted the gaudy numbers (421 yards and three touchdowns), but Darnold delivered timely plays and won the game 28-23.
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens center Ryan Jensen said there are no issues between him and Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark after the two exchanged texts.
In Sunday’s 23-0 win over the Packers, Clark injured his ankle while he was engaged with Jensen. Green Bay safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix said Jensen was intentionally trying to injure the 2016 first-round pick and was upset that Jensen was “dragging [Clark] into the ground while his legs were tucked under him.”
Jensen texted Clark earlier in the week to say that wasn’t the case.
“[Clark] texted me back and goes, ‘I respect you reaching out to me, and I’ll be good. I know you weren’t trying to hurt me,'” Jensen said Friday.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Jensen was trying to hold up Clark when he felt that the Packers lineman was bending backward. Harbaugh said he saw exactly that when reviewing the tape. Jensen also wasn’t fined by the league.
Still, Clinton-Dix called Jensen “trash.” Jensen said he isn’t offended.
“It is what it is,” Jensen said. “Guys are having each others’ backs. It doesn’t bother me all that much.”
Packers defensive line coach Mike Trgovac was asked Friday if there was anything Clark could have done to avoid the injury.
“No, I don’t think so. I think he was just sitting there engaged with the guy, and [it’s] just football.”
Clark is listed as doubtful for the Packers’ game at Pittsburgh Sunday. He did not practice all week.