|
 Roethlisberger has missed the past three games after spraining the
MCL in his right knee and it appears the plan is to avoid playing
him if possible. Third-year quarterback Landry Jones took all the
first-team practice repetitions on Friday.
The Steelers have been preparing Jones to start all week after he
replaced injured Michael Vick (hamstring) in last Sunday's game
against the Arizona Cardinals and passed for 168 yards and two
touchdowns.
Vick has been ruled out for Sunday's game, leaving Jones and
Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh's only available quarterbacks on the
active roster.
- - -
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota has been ruled out for
Sunday's home game against the Atlanta Falcons due to a sprained
left knee.
Head coach Ken Whisenhunt declared Mariota out after the rookie
missed his third day of practice this week for the 1-4 Titans, who
have lost four games in a row and eight consecutive at home.
Backup Zach Mettenberger will be starting in place of Mariota, who
sustained the injury in the first half of the Titans' 38-10 loss to
the Miami Dolphins last Sunday.
- - -
Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon has been fined $37,363 for two
separate hits on Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota last week.
The NFL confirmed to Pro Football Talk on Friday that Vernon was
fined for two roughing-the-passer infractions.
The NFL fined Vernon $17,363 for striking Mariota in the knee area
in the second quarter of Sunday's 38-10 win over the Titans, and
$20,000 for striking Mariota in the head and neck area in the third
quarter. Vernon said he will appeal the fines.
Mariota was injured on the first hit by Vernon.
- - -
The San Francisco 49ers placed safety Antoine Bethea on the injured
reverse list and activated receiver Jerome Simpson to the roster.
Bethea suffered a serious shoulder injury in Thursday night's game
against the Seattle Seahawks. The 10-year veteran was injured while
making a tackle attempt on Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin.
Simpson is available to play for the first time this season after
serving a six-game suspension for a violation of the league's
substance-abuse policy. He has not played in an NFL game since 2013.
- - -
[to top of second column] |
Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley addressed wide receiver
Percy Harvin's absence from the team this week in London.
Whaley said the Bills have not been in contact with Harvin in recent
days but will reach out to him when the team returns following
Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"It's still a personal reason that he's out and we'll address it as
soon as we get more answers on it," Whaley said. "We knew the
situation and what was going on with him.
"We found out early last week that he needed to take some time for
personal reasons. We're going to focus this week on this game and
when we get back we'll reach out to him and see where he is."
Harvin did not travel with the team because of what coach Rex Ryan
described as a personal issue on Wednesday.
- - -
The Bills signed kickoff specialist Jordan Gay to their 53-man
roster in time for Sunday's game against the Jaguars.
Gay was cut just three weeks ago after Buffalo signed veteran kicker
Bill Cundiff, who handled kickoffs for the Week 5 game at Tennessee.
Cundiff was released last week and placekicker Dan Carpenter pulled
double duty handling kickoffs and field goals. The Bills released
safety Josh Bush to make room for Gay.
- - - (Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
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