NFL suspends Beckham for one game
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Losing control during Sunday’s loss to the Panthers will cost Giants star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. one game.
The NFL on Monday suspended Beckham for next weekend’s visit to Minnesota for his conduct against Carolina, when he drew three personal foul penalties. The league cited “multiple violations of safety-related playing rules.”
Beckham appealed the decision. His case will be heard by either James Thrash or Derrick Brooks, the hearing officers jointly appointed by the NFL and the players’ union.
Without Beckham, the Giants (6-8) would be missing their best offensive weapon as they try to stay alive in the NFC East race.
Beckham and Panthers cornerback Josh Norman tangled from the beginning of the Panthers’ 38-35 victory. At one point, Beckham delivered a diving helmet-to-helmet hit on Norman while blocking.
There was plenty of pushing, shoving, swinging, wrestling, late hits and trash talking between them.
Beckham, the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year, has 91 catches for 1,396 yards and 13 touchdowns, tied for the league lead. He has a base salary of $893,000 and would lose $55,813 for being suspended for Sunday night’s game.
The suspension was imposed by NFL Vice President of Football Operations Merton Hanks, who ruled that Beckham’s actions placed his opponents at unnecessary risk of injury and should have been avoided.
“At numerous times during (Sunday’s) game against the Carolina Panthers, your actions placed a fellow player at unnecessary risk . and clearly did not represent the high standards of sportsmanship expected,” Hanks said in a letter to Beckham.
Hanks specifically pointed to a late helmet-to-helmet hit against a defenseless player in which Beckham left his feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent (Norman); lowered his helmet and initiated forcible contact with his helmet; and forcibly struck the defenseless player’s head.
This “blindside block” was particularly flagrant because Beckham, with a 10-yard running start, had an unobstructed path to his opponent, the position of the opponent was not impacted by any other player, and the contact with the head/neck was avoidable, the NFL’s statement said.
The conduct of other players in the game is being reviewed by the NFL for potential fines.
Mariota out with MCL sprain: Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota has a sprained MCL in his right knee that will keep the rookie out of Sunday’s home finale with Houston.
Interim coach Mike Mularkey said Monday that Mariota will be re-evaluated after that game and wants to play the season finale at Indianapolis on Jan. 3.
Mularkey said Mariota has not been ruled out of the season finale. The coach said Mariota’s injury is less serious than the sprained left knee that kept the quarterback out of two games earlier this season and the rookie wants to play.
Mathieu tears ACL: Safety Tyrann Mathieu, one of the inspirational leaders on the Arizona Cardinals defense, is out for the season with a torn ACL.
Coach Bruce Arians revealed the extent of the injury at his Monday news conference.
Mathieu injured his right knee after intercepting a pass in the final minutes of Sunday night’s 40-17 victory at Philadelphia.
It’s the second serious knee injury for Mathieu in his young career. He hurt his left knee in the 2013 season.
Mathieu, known to fans as the “Honey Badger,” was having an outstanding season and was the NFC defensive player of the month for November.
Gordon’s season over: Rookie running back Melvin Gordon of the San Diego Chargers has torn cartilage in his left knee and will miss the final two games of the season.
Gordon was hurt late in the second quarter of Sunday’s emotional 30-14 victory against Miami, which might have been the Chargers’ last game in San Diego if Dean Spanos can get his fellow owners to approve a move to an industrial suburb of Los Angeles.
Gordon, the team’s first-round draft pick, didn’t score a touchdown or have a 100-yard game while running behind an inefficient offensive line.
He also was benched twice due to fumbles. He lost four of his six fumbles.
Another arrest for Blackmon: Suspended Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Justin Blackmon has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in Oklahoma.
Online court records show the misdemeanor was filed Monday against the 25-year-old Blackmon in Carter County. Blackmon was released after posting an $850 bond.
Court records show he was arrested Saturday while driving a 2015 Jeep Wrangler.
Assistant District Attorney Jack Coppedge declined to release additional details. Blackmon’s defense attorney and his agent didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
Last year, Blackmon pleaded no contest to misdemeanor marijuana possession. Authorities say police in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond stopped Blackmon in July 2014 for a minor traffic violation and discovered three grams of marijuana inside his car.
Blackmon was suspended indefinitely in 2013 for repeated violations of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
Moore to start for Cowboys: Kellen Moore will be the fourth starting quarterback for Dallas this season after replacing Matt Cassel and sparking the offense in a loss to the New York Jets.
Coach Jason Garrett said Moore would start Sunday at Buffalo after making his first regular-season appearance in his fourth NFL season in Saturday’s 19-16 loss to the Jets.
Moore threw a touchdown pass to Dez Bryant, but had three interceptions.
Tony Romo missed seven games with a broken left collarbone and was lost for the season after breaking it again in his second game back. Cassel was 1-6 filling in for Romo after Brandon Weeden went 0-3 following the first injury.