Week 2 has not been a kind week for the NFL. It seemed like day after day was a new piece of a bad story or a new bad story altogether would emerge. However, once the games started on Sunday a whole new set of storylines would present themselves and here they are:
Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy Deactivated
The NFL has possibly just been through its worst week in the league’s history. After the whole Ray Rice debacle, much more attention got put onto the Carolina Panthers and how they were going to handle the Greg Hardy situation. On top of that, reports surfaced that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was being indicted on child abuse charges. Rice was released by the Baltimore Ravens earlier in the week and suspended indefinitely by the NFL so there was no question about his status this week. But people didn’t know what was going to happen with Peterson and Hardy. It turns out that both were deactivated by their respective teams for Week 2.
Robert Griffin III Injured
Robert Griffin III is injured, again. On Sunday Griffin dislocated his ankle and will most likely miss the rest of the season. The good news, and the news that might keep him from not missing the entire season, is that there was no fracture so he doesn’t need surgery. Backup quarterback Kirk Cousins will now have an opportunity to showcase his skills and if he does well, Griffin could be done in Washington. With his knee injury last season and this ankle injury, it’s going to be hard for Griffin to ever be effective on the ground again. Without his ground game, he’s an extremely limited passer.
Charles Tillman Out for Season, Possibly Career
The Chicago Bears lost one of their defensive backs and one of the truly great guys in the NFL for the season on Sunday night. Charles Tillman ruptured his triceps muscle and at his age, this could be it for him. He’ll be 34 years old at the start of the 2015 season and at that age it will be extremely hard to come back from such a significant injury.
John Abraham Found Desire to Play Again
Last week the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive end John Abraham said he was tepping away from the game and had lost his desire to play. However, this week head coach Bruce Arians said that Abraham will be joining the team again. Abraham still needs to pass the league’s concussion protocol after suffering a concussion in Week 1 against the San Diego Chargers. Abraham also claims that he’s been suffering from memory loss for the past year.
Marcedes Lewis Out for 6-8 Weeks
Adding insult to injury to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ beat down at the hands of the Washington Redskins is another pass catcher down with an injury. Starting tight end Marcedes Lewis is going to be out for six to eight weeks with a high ankle sprain. This is not good news for a struggling Jaguars team.
Walter Thurmond Out for Season
The New York Giants went out this offseason and really improved their secondary in free agency. Well, one of the pieces they added, Walter Thurmond, is out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Thurmond was the starting slot cornerback for the Giants and was doing a good job at it. The struggling Giants will certainly need to find a suitable replacement because they can ill afford their defense to start struggling similar to how their offense is.
Chad Henne Remains the Starter in Jacksonville
Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Chad Henne is not having a good start to the season at all. He’s one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league up to this point (of course it doesn’t help that all his receivers are going down with injuries) but head coach Gus Bradley has said Henne will be their starter. With rookie Blake Bortles waiting in the wings, it’s only a matter of time before Henne is replaced by Bortles as starting quarterback.
Eli Manning Not Getting Much Help
New York Giants starting quarterback Eli Manning needs some more help on offense. The Giants are learning a new offensive because they brought in a new offensive coordinator but Manning looks like he’s the only person out there who knows what they’re supposed to do. Wide receiver Victor Cruz complained after Week 1 that he should be getting the ball more but he’s certainly not doing himself any favors with his drops. Cruz leads the league in dropped passes with four already. If you’re going to complain about getting balls thrown your way, you can’t drop them when they’re actually thrown your way. The way this offense is going, there is just too much reliance on Eli to do way more than he should have to. That doesn’t usually lead to a productive offense.
San Francisco 49ers Have Meltdown in Levi’s Stadium Opener
The San Francisco 49ers opened up their new Santa Clara stadium on Sunday night. Everything seemed to be going well for the 49ers, until all of a sudden Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler started to catch fire while 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick did the opposite. Kaepernick threw three interceptions and lost one fumble. When you’re -4 in the turnover differential, it’s extremely difficult to come away with a victory.
Richard Sherman Claims He Wasn’t Exposed
The San Diego Chargers took the exact opposite approach the Green Bay Packers took in attacking the Seattle Seahawks’ vaunted secondary. The Chargers decided to go right at Sherman. How did it work? It actually turned out well. Wide receiver Keenan Allen had moderate success on Sherman and showed the league that Sherman isn’t invincible. On one play, Allen turned Sherman completely around. However, some people are saying Sherman was exposed. He was certainly not exposed, it was just made clear that he’s not perfect. After the game though, Sherman showed the world that he is extremely childish. Instead of addressing the media and fulfilling his obligation as a player, he decided to skip the media session and instead took to Twitter to defend his play.