Week 6 of the NFL season is upon us and is chock-full of good matchups. Even though several teams have hit their bye weeks, games like the Seahawks-Browns, Texans-Chiefs, Eagles-Vikings and 49ers-Rams are sure to bring excitement.
Heck, even the Redskins-Dolphins game could be entertaining, as one of the teams should finally get a win. Speaking of the Redskins, there has been plenty of news coming out of Washington and the rest of the league. Let’s take a look at some of the intriguing stories from this last week.
Redskins Fire Head Coach
Well, that didn’t take long. On a yearly basis, there are always coaches that find themselves on the hot seat. Sometimes coaches are replaced because there is a better option available at coach. Sometimes coaches are replaced for disappointing seasons.
For Jay Gruden, it was because he couldn’t win a game. Earlier this week, the Washington Redskins officially fired Gruden and replaced him in the interim with offensive line/assistant head coach Bill Callahan.
The Redskins have started the season 0-5, and it hasn’t been pretty at all. The Redskins currently rank 30th in terms of scoring offense, averaging just 14.6 points per game. Defensively, they also rank 30th in the league, allowing 30.2 points per game. Neither of these stats leads to promising chances at success.
Aside from the play on the field, there were other indicators that this could be coming. It appeared that Gruden and owner Dan Snyder differed on their opinions of recent draftee Dwayne Haskins. Snyder appeared to be a huge fan; Gruden didn’t want him.
In addition to that, last week, a video went public possibly showing Gruden smoking marijuana. Overall, it has just been a rough week for Gruden. The sad thing, though, is that it was kind of a lose-lose situation for all involved as regardless of who is at the helm, the Redskins just aren’t very good. As a result, it would not be shocking if Callahan also struggles to get the Redskins wins.
Reed Hits Injured Reserve
Speaking of the Redskins, they received even more bad news, as it appears that tight end Jordan Reed may be done for the season without even playing a regular-season game. The Redskins put the tight end on injured reserve as he is still dealing with a concussion that he received during the preseason.
Scary for Reed, that is his seventh documented concussion going back to his days in college. Prior to his dismissal, former head coach Jay Gruden seemed optimistic that Reed would come back and play this year, but that seems to be farfetched at this point.
In fact, it wouldn’t exactly be surprising if this is the end of the 29-year-old’s playing days in the league.
Gurley Out For Week 6
Todd Gurley has not seemed right since the end of last season, and now it appears he will be missing game time as a result. It was announced earlier this week that the Rams intend to keep Gurley out of their Week 6 game against the very tough 49ers due to a quadriceps issue.
Despite the matchup of NFC West rivals, the Rams appear set to go with Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson in this one. On the season, Gurley has rushed 64 times for 270 yards and five touchdowns. He also has 14 receptions for 68 yards.
While the numbers are down, the touchdowns are certainly still impressive. Still, for a Rams team that has lost two in a row coming into this one, the loss of Gurley will still certainly hurt.
Undrafted Quarterback To Get Start
The Pittsburgh Steelers are having trouble keeping a quarterback in place this year. Ben Roethlisberger, the long-time starter and likely Hall-of-Famer, is done for the season. Now, backup Mason Rudolph is out for this week after suffering a concussion last week.
In the NFL, there is always a “next man up” mentality, but it is getting dire for the Steelers. Against the Chargers on Sunday night, the Steelers will be starting undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges. Hodges, who played college football at Samford, had been on the practice squad to start the season until Roethlisberger was injured.
Now, he has elevated all the way to starting quarterback. It isn’t the worst matchup in the world for your first start to get the Chargers, but a win certainly won’t come easy either. Still, if you go from being an undrafted free agent to starting an NFL game, it is an opportunity that you will surely cherish.
From Starter To Unemployed
While sometimes being a backup can lead to unprecedented opportunities, it can also lead to heartache. For the New York Jets’ Luke Falk, he is feeling the latter of the two.
Falk has started for the Jets over the last two weeks but now finds himself unemployed. New York is prepared to get starter Sam Darnold back after his fight with mononucleosis, which made Falk expendable.
In his short tenure as starter, Falk went 47 for 73 with 416 yards, three interceptions and no scores. For full disclosure, he didn’t exactly have favorable matchups going against the Patriots and Eagles, but still, it appears it is the end of the road for the Falk era in New York.
Jaguars Expect Ramsey To Play
The situation between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Jalen Ramsey continues to be tumultuous. Jacksonville owner Shad Khan expects that Ramsey will play this week against the New Orleans Saints. He also appears to feel all is well between the Jaguars and Ramsey and has discussed a record-breaking deal with the defensive star.
All of this appears to be news to Ramsey, though. According to Ian Rapoport, it would be shocking to see Ramsey play this week, and it appears that his trade demands are still on the table.
It was reported that Ramsey was a limited participant in practices this week, but it appears that means nothing when it comes to his availability for games.
