Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky day to day with shoulder injury

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is day to day with a right shoulder injury as the team prepares for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Bears coach Matt Nagy said the injury would prevent Trubisky from practicing Tuesday, and the team does not have a practice on Wednesday. The injury is not considered serious, but it could keep him out of the Lions game.

The Bears did not announce the injury Monday until an injury report came out after a news conference.

Trubisky was listed on the Monday injury report as “did not practice.” No actual practice was held Monday, but the NFL requires teams to release an injury report on Mondays if they play on Thursday.

Trubisky was injured on a fourth-quarter play on Sunday night against Minnesota while sliding. Trubisky was hit on the left shoulder by Vikings safety Harrison Smith, and came to a stop with his weight on his right shoulder.

Chase Daniel is Trubisky’s backup, and hasn’t thrown a regular-season pass since 2016. He hasn’t had more than two throws in a season since he was with Kansas City in 2014.

Daniel, 32, is 1-1 as an NFL starter and has completed 51 of 78 for 480 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception. He also played for the New Orleans Saints, Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

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Vrabel says Mariota suffered 'stinger,' not injury to elbow

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Titans coach Mike Vrabel says Marcus Mariota suffered a “stinger” and that is what knocked the quarterback out of their loss against the Colts, not an injury to his elbow.

The Titans announced during the 38-10 loss that Mariota had hurt his elbow, the same injury that knocked him out of the opener. Mariota didn’t return after being sacked for the fourth time in the final seconds of the first half.

Vrabel said Monday that the injury was a stinger with Mariota evaluated by an independent neurologist. The coach says now they need to see how Mariota is with a second opinion possible but are hopeful Mariota feels good enough to play Monday night in Houston.

Tennessee defensive coordinator Dean Pees also is returning to Nashville on Monday after spending a night in an Indianapolis hospital. Vrabel says all tests on Pees, 69, came back positively without saying what issue caused the coordinator to be taken to a hospital early in the game.

Vrabel says Pees will rejoin the team after taking Monday off and will work “bankers’ hours.”

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Steelers have capable fill-ins for injured linemen

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without key starters on their offensive and defensive lines when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Right tackle Marcus Gilbert will miss his fourth straight game with a knee injury, while defensive end Stephon Tuitt has been ruled out with an elbow injury. Second-year player Matt Feiler will fill in for Gilbert as he has the past three weeks, while nine-year veteran Tyson Alualu is set to replace Tuitt.

“I think you just always have to be ready and be prepared when you do get opportunities to play more,” Alualu said. “You just have to make sure there’s no drop-off when someone goes out, especially with it being Tuitt because we all know what he’s capable of and what he’s done.”

Gilbert has only played 13 of the team’s last 25 games after missing just three games the previous two seasons.

It will be Feiler’s fifth start of the season and sixth of his career. He has already started four games this season. The first came in Week 3 against Tampa Bay, the Steelers’ first win of the season, when Gilbert sat with a hamstring injury.

“I’m just trying to stay ready because you never know when they’re going to need me,” Feiler said. “I’ve just been preparing like I have been every week like I’m going to be playing.”

The Steelers have won all four times Feiler has started at right tackle, including the last three games. Those wins were part of a five-game winning streak that has helped the Steelers climb atop the AFC North after a 1-2-1 start.

The Steelers have averaged 424 yards of total offense the previous three weeks, including 140 on the ground. James Conner, third in the league with 771 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, has rushed for more than 100 yards in two of the last three weeks. Conner will play Sunday after leaving last week’s win against Carolina with a concussion.

“Every lineman wants to run-block and kind of push other guys around,” Feiler said. “We’ve been clicking. We’ve been staying on the field longer and keeping our momentum. It’s a lot of fun.”

Alualu will get the start against Jacksonville, a city where he spent his first seven seasons before signing with the Steelers.

The Jaguars shocked the Steelers on the road, 30-9, last season and did it again in the playoffs, winning 45-42 in Pittsburgh before falling to New England in the AFC Championship game.

Leonard Fournette rushed for 290 yards and five touchdowns in those two games against the Steelers. He missed six games because of injury this season before returning last week during a loss at Indianapolis. The Jaguars have lost five of those six and are 3-6, last in the AFC South.

“Their record doesn’t show how hard they’re playing,” said Alualu, who has exchanged texts with former teammates. “The guys in the locker room are still fighting. We have to understand that we’re going to get their best.”

During the win streak, the Steelers’ defense has allowed an average of 269 yards of total offense, including 70 on the ground. In their first four games, they gave up an average of 418 yards, including 115 rushing.

Tuitt, who has appeared in all nine games, is key part of Pittsburgh’s pass rush, which is tied for second in the league with 31 sacks. Tuitt has 32 tackles, three sacks, four tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits.

Alualu hasn’t reached the quarterback yet this season, but he finished with a career-high four sacks mainly in a reserve role in 2017.

“It’s a good problem to have when you have good depth,” Alualu said. “That’s always helpful.”

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Broncos lose guard Max Garcia to knee injury

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Left guard Max Garcia showed up at the Denver Broncos’ headquarters Friday with a sore left knee, something that initially seemed like a minor annoyance for a team preparing for two big offensive line changes already.

With right guard Connor McGovern preparing for his first NFL start at center and Elijah Wilkinson set to make his first pro start at right guard, Garcia went for an MRI.

The result was devastating: a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Garcia is the third starting offensive lineman the Broncos have lost this season, joining guard Ronald Leary (Achilles) and center Matt Paradis, who had surgery on his broken right leg earlier this week.

“It’s been a tough year for us O-linemen,” left tackle Garett Bolles said. “It’s a shame to see three guys that are really close to me go down, but at the same time I know that we have guys behind them that have stepped up to the plate and are going to smack a home run.”

Garcia’s injury further staggered a team that’s trying to salvage a season featuring four one-score losses, including to the league’s two 9-1 teams the Rams and Chiefs, by a combined seven points.

“It was really weird, I watched (Thursday’s) practice from the last play back to the first play and he didn’t miss a down,” coach Vance Joseph said. “So, the play he was injured on, I saw it, it was kind of a slip. It was no big deal. He finished up practice.”

Joseph said Billy Turner, who started four games at right tackle when Jared Veldheer was out with a knee injury, will start at left guard Sunday when the Broncos (3-6) visit the Los Angeles Chargers (7-2).

This will mark the Broncos’ sixth different lineup on the O-line this season, but Joseph said it won’t affect the game plan.

“I thought leaving camp that we had the best line that we’ve had around here in a while as far as depth and as far as guys who can play” multiple positions, Joseph said. “It happens. It’s football. We’ve got Billy Turner playing the left guard with Eli playing the right guard along with Mac playing the center, so I’m comfortable. Let’s go play.”

He said recently signed seven-year veteran center Gino Gradkowski will be active Sunday along with rookie swing guard Sam Jones.

“Ain’t too many guys left ,” he said.

Through every combination the Broncos have run the ball with success as rookies Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman have rushed for 900 yards and seven touchdowns with veteran Devontae Booker adding 144 yards, a touchdown and a team-high 5.8-yard average.

What they’ve had trouble doing is protecting quarterback Case Keenum, who has 11 touchdowns and 11 turnovers and has been sacked two dozen times.

Still, offensive coordinator Billy Musgrave has been reluctant to reduce his use of three-receiver sets that put more pressure on the thinning O-line.

The turnstile hasn’t helped Bolles, a 2017 first-rounder, refine his raw game after playing just one season of major college football.

“It’s been hard having different lineups. I’ve had five different lineups, so it’s been frustrating,” Bolles said. “But it doesn’t matter who’s next to me, they’re going to make me better, I’m going to make them better and you’ve just got to roll with the punches and work out the kinks.”

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Lions put TJ Lang on injured reserve with neck injury

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Lions have put guard T.J. Lang on injured reserve with a neck injury.

The Lions announced the move Wednesday. They also signed cornerback Mike Ford to the active roster from the practice squad and signed safety David Jones to the practice squad.

Lang has missed three games this season, including last weekend’s loss at Chicago. The 31-year-old lineman is in his second season with the Lions after playing eight with Green Bay.

Lang signed a three-year deal with Detroit before the 2017 season, returning to his home area. He was born in Royal Oak, went to high school in Bloomfield Hills and went to college at Eastern Michigan.

Detroit (3-6) has lost three straight, and the Lions have yielded 16 sacks in the past two games.

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Chargers officially place Perryman on IR, promote Johnson

COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers placed linebacker Denzel Perryman on injured reserve Tuesday with a knee injury and promoted linebacker Tre’von Johnson from the practice squad.

Perryman injured the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee during the first quarter of Sunday’s 20-6 win over Oakland. The fourth-year linebacker started every game this season and was second on the Chargers with 51 tackles going into the Raiders game.

Johnson had been signed to the Chargers practice squad on Oct. 9 after he began the season on Seattle’s practice squad. He spent most of last season on Dallas’ practice squad before being promoted to the roster for the Cowboys’ final game.

Los Angeles (7-2) has won six straight going into Sunday’s game against Denver (3-6).

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Chargers LB Denzel Perryman out for season with knee injury

COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury.

Coach Anthony Lynn said Monday that Perryman injured the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee during the first quarter of Sunday’s 20-6 win against Oakland.

Perryman, who has started every game at inside linebacker this season, was second on the Chargers with 51 tackles going into the Oakland game. He was drafted in the second round in 2015 and is in the final year of his contract.

Hayes Pullard and Kyle Emanuel, who both saw 16 snaps against Oakland, are in the mix to move into Perryman’s starting spot. Los Angeles (7-2), which has won six straight, hosts Denver this week.

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Jaguars center Brandon Linder injures knee, out for season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars center Brandon Linder will have season-ending surgery on his right knee.

Linder injured his knee in Sunday’s 29-26 loss at Indianapolis, and coach Doug Marrone said Monday the team captain will be placed on injured reserve.

A third-round draft pick from Miami in 2014, Linder will have missed 27 games in five years. He signed a five-year contract worth $51.7 million in July 2017. It included $24 million guaranteed.

Linder also is the team’s third offensive lineman — second starter — to land on injured reserve. Left tackle Cam Robinson tore a knee ligament earlier in the season and was placed on IR. Robinson’s backup, Josh Wells, landed on IR with a groin injury.

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LA Rams WR Cooper Kupp has torn knee ligament, McVay says

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp is out for the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee.

Coach Sean McVay on Monday confirmed the injury for Kupp, who led the Rams in yards receiving last season.

Kupp was hurt on a noncontact play during the Rams’ 36-31 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. An MRI exam confirmed a torn ligament for Kupp, who already missed two games last month with a different injury to the same knee.

Kupp has been a key contributor to Los Angeles’ high-octane passing game in both of his NFL seasons. He has 40 catches for 566 yards and six touchdowns this season, providing Jared Goff with a reliable target in the slot.

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Eagles' Darby out for season with torn ACL

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season.

Darby was injured in the second half of Philadelphia’s 27-20 loss to Dallas on Sunday night.

The Eagles already lost safety Rodney McLeod to a season-ending knee injury. Starting cornerback Jalen Mills and starting nickel cornerback Sidney Jones didn’t play against the Cowboys because of injuries.

Mills isn’t expected to return this week, but Jones is a possibility.

The Eagles (4-5) visit New Orleans (8-1) next.

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