Monday's NFL: Eagles QB Jalen Hurts suffers sprained right shoulder
Philadelphia — Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a sprained right shoulder and his status is uncertain for Philadelphia's game at Dallas, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.
Hurts was injured Sunday during a win over Chicago, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team hadn't announced the injury.
Hurts has led the Eagles to a 13-1 mark and the best record in the NFL. The 24-year-old morphed into a serious NFL MVP candidate in his second season as a starter.
Hurts has thrown 22 touchdowns and has 3,472 yards passing, and he has rushed for 747 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He went 22-of-37 passing for 315 yards and added 61 yards rushing on 17 attempts with three touchdowns against the Bears.
The Eagles need one more win to clinch the NFC East and secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Bears' Jenkins out of hospital after injuring neck in game
Lake Forest, Ill. — Chicago Bears offensive lineman Teven Jenkins has been released from the hospital and was seeing specialists Monday, a day after he was carted from the field with a neck injury during a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Coach Matt Eberflus called the news “encouraging," though he had few details about the extent of the injury. He said Jenkins was released from the hospital on Sunday and was seeing specialists to “double-check and cross-check everything.”
Whether Jenkins will play again this season was not clear.
“We’ll see,” Eberflus said. “We’ll see. I don’t know yet. I don’t know. All those injury reports will come out tomorrow or we’ll know more as time goes. But that’s where it is right now.”
Jenkins went down while blocking for David Montgomery on a running play on the game's opening drive. The right guard was surrounded by many of his teammates as he was loaded on to the cart.
Eberflus had no update on rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn after he left the game with an ankle injury. But it looks as if their running game will get a boost this week, with Khalil Herbert expected to return against Buffalo after missing four games because of a hip injury. Eberflus said he will practice this week.
“He is cleared, ready to go, like we said last week, he’s got all his jumps, his speed. He’s been cuttin’. He’s been movin’. He looks great. We’re excited about his return.”
Herbert, who has run for 643 yards and four touchdowns, was hurt returning a kickoff in Chicago's loss to the Detroit Lions on Nov. 13. He was placed on injured reserve two days later.
Personnel dept.
... The death of Adam Zimmer, a former Minnesota Vikings co-defensive coordinator and the son of former head coach Mike Zimmer, was caused by chronic alcohol use, according to medical examiners.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office in Minnesota released the finding Friday. Zimmer had been found dead in his home in Mendota Heights, a Twin Cities suburb, on Oct. 31. He was 38.
Adam Zimmer had been working remotely this season as an offensive analyst for the Cincinnati Bengals, after eight years with the Vikings under his father. When Mike Zimmer was fired in January, the majority of his staff was also dismissed.
Adam Zimmer broke into the NFL in 2006 with the New Orleans Saints. He was hired by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2010 as an assistant linebackers coach and spent the 2013 season with the Bengals as an assistant defensive backs coach in Mike Zimmer’s final season there as defensive coordinator.
... The Green Bay Packers have released veteran wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins had 13 receptions for 206 yards and no touchdowns in his lone season with the Packers. He hadn’t caught a single pass since Nov. 13, when he had three receptions for 47 yards in a 31-28 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
The Packers (5-8) signed Watkins in the offseason as they attempted to restock at the receiver position following the trade of two-time All-Pro wideout Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders. Watkins, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 draft, had played for the Los Angeles Rams in 2017 when Packers coach Matt LaFleur was that team’s offensive coordinator.
Watkins, 29, caught three passes for 93 yards in a Sept. 18 victory over the Chicago Bears. But he missed the Packers’ next four games with a hamstring injury and hasn’t been productive since coming back.
... Former NFL linebacker Willie McGinest Jr. was arrested Monday in connection with an assault at a Southern California nightclub, authorities said.
The incident occurred Dec. 9 at a club in West Hollywood and witnesses identified McGinest as one of the people who were involved, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
McGinest was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon after coming to the West Hollywood sheriff’s station to give a statement about the incident.
McGinest posted bond and was released, the sheriff’s statement said. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney to comment on the allegation.
McGinest spent 15 years in the NFL with New England and Cleveland after playing college ball at Southern California.