In a blink of an eye, we are now approaching the second quarter of the season as we enter Week 5 this weekend. While there are a ton of fascinating games this week, like Green Bay vs. Dallas, Cleveland vs. San Francisco, and the already played L.A. Rams vs. Seattle (Seattle won 30-29), there is plenty of news going on around the league as well. Let’s take a look at some of the stories around the league.
Minshew Taking League By Storm
Every year players seemingly come out of nowhere to make themselves into a household name, and while maybe not everyone in the nation knows him yet, Jacksonville Jaguars’ quarterback Gardner Minshew seems to be taking the league by storm. After taking over for the injured Nick Foles, Minshew is 2-1 as the starter for the Jaguars and has certainly performed admirably.
On the season, Minshew is 84 for 121 for 905 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception. He has also rushed 12 times for 82 yards. In fact, the only downside for his stat line thus far is that he has already had to endure 10 sacks this season.
While the Jaguars are probably not in line to make a major run at a Super Bowl, it is certainly nice to see Minshew not only get his opportunity but to seize it as well.
Burfict Suspended For Season
Vontaze Burfict has a history of being a dirty player, and it appears that the dirtiness may cost him his season. On Monday, the NFL announced that Burfict was being suspended for the rest of the season after a hit on Indianapolis Colts’ tight end Jack Doyle that the NFL deemed, “unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided.”
Burfict is appealing the decision, but the NFL has announced that they have found another helmet-to-helmet hit in the same game that they will add to the evidence in the appeal. Sadly, because of the history of Burfict, many in the NFL, including New York Jets’ running back Le’ Veon Bell, are cheering the suspension as long overdue.
Chubb Tears ACL, Gets Fined To Boot
The saying “adding insult to injury” may have never been more applicable than the situation of Denver Broncos pass rusher Bradley Chubb. Last weekend, in a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chubb tore his ACL and will now miss the rest of the season.
If that wasn’t bad enough, it was announced this week that Chubb has also been fined over $20,000 for a hit on the quarterback during that same game.
If you want to add even more bad news onto the situation, the Broncos lost the game against the Jaguars on a heartbreaking last-second field goal, the second time that has happened to them already this season. In fact, both times have seen the opponents (Bears and Jaguars) make last-minute drives that were aided by questionable roughing-the-passer calls that ended up leading to game-losing field goals.
For Chubb, not only will he be out the rest of the season, but his wallet is a little lighter as well.
Could Diggs Be On The Move?
The Minnesota Vikings have one of the best 1-2 combinations in the league at wide receiver, with both Adam Theilen and Stefon Diggs being well above average. Unfortunately for Vikings fans, neither has been used much thus far due to a combination of a heavy run game and an inability to get them the ball by quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The first is at least somewhat respectable given that the Vikings have a major weapon in Dalvin Cook. On the season, Cook has rushed 71 times for 410 yards and five touchdowns, beyond respectable.
What hasn’t been respectable, though, is the play of Cousins. The quarterback is 64 for 99 for just 735 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. This lack of productivity has seemed to get the angst of his receivers.
Thielen wasn’t necessarily shy about his quarterback’s inabilities, especially with the deep ball. Just to prove the point of the lack of deep ball that Thielen referred to, the leading receiver thus far is Cook, who has 15 catches for 114 yards.
Cousins has been inefficient this year, and Thielen is paying the price for it. After a breakout season last year, Thielen has just 13 catches in four games for only 179 yards and two touchdowns.
For Diggs, not only has the unproductivity irked him, he appears at odds with Minnesota management, and there is some speculation that he may be looked to be traded. While there is not a formal trade request, Diggs has skipped some practices and meetings recently, leading the wide receiver to receive some fines from the team.
He did travel with the team this weekend and is expected to play, but the fact that it was even a question just further pushes the narrative that he may be on his way out. Thus far this season, Diggs has 13 receptions (like Thielen) for 209 yards and one touchdown.
For comparison’s sake to last year, Thielen had 113 catches for 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns, while Diggs had 102 catches for 1,021 yards and nine touchdowns. With the lack of receptions thus far, it is no wonder both of these two are frustrated. In fact, Minnesota, at 99 pass attempts, has thrown the fewest passes in the league.
