Brian Urlacher says Bears don’t have a problem with Jay Cutler

AP

Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher says the locker room isn’t divided after quarterback Jay Cutler’s sideline spat with left tackle J’Marcus Webb in last week’s loss to the Packers.

“People get mad,” Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve gotten in spats with coaches, players as well. It happens. . . . People get pissed off and sometimes do things we shouldn’t do. But it happens.”

Everyone — including Cutler — seems to agree that Cutler bumping Webb was something he shouldn’t have done. But Urlacher says sideline screaming matches are non-issues.

“It’s just like a fight in practice: It’s in practice, who cares?” Urlacher said. “You guys probably see us fight in training camp every year. So what? After practice is over, you’re in the locker room [and] you’re buddies again. It’s not a big deal. You lose your emotions sometimes out there and you get mad. But once it’s over with, it’s over with. We spend a lot of time around each other, so you better get rid of it real quick. It’s going to be a long season if we don’t.”

And it’s going to be a long season if the Bears’ offensive line doesn’t do a better job of protecting Cutler.

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Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware wasn’t one of the players mentioned by name by team vice president Stephen Jones.

But Ware knows his name hasn’t been called nearly enough this season, and vows to change that the last three weeks as they fight for a playoff spot.

“What’s my name?” Ware said, via Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “All right. Ain’t nothing changed. I don’t feel like nothing has changed.”

Well, the production has. Ware’s posted a career-low 6.0 sacks, after seven straight years in double-digits.

Injuries have been a factor, as he missed three games with a quadriceps strain, and said he didn’t feel completely well until last week. But he’s confident he’ll turn things around now.

“I see a guy who is close,” Ware said. “People can say what they want to say. Tell them to get in front of me and see if they can block me. Then we’ll go from there.”

That’s been easier to do than ever this year, and if he doesn’t deliver, the Cowboys chances of improving a defense that’s leaking at record rates isn’t good.

AP

Jets coach Rex Ryan is a fairly confident character when it comes to his defense, but the prospect of facing Panthers quarterback Cam Newton gives him a little pause.

Before the 2011 draft, Ryan said that Newton could throw a strawberry through a battleship and he remains full of wonder about the physical abilities of a quarterback who is almost the same size as one of the Jets’ outside linebackers.

“This guy’s a scary athlete,” Ryan said, via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “And when you meet him, he’s scary because it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ I just remember that when we were in the preseason. I’m like, ‘Who’s going to tackle that guy?’ He’s about as good looking an athlete at quarterback as I’ve ever seen, and he can throw. He’s got a bazooka for an arm. The kid’s just ridiculous. It’s Calvin Pace back there.”

It would help to have all hands on deck when dealing with such a player and the Jets took a step toward that on Thursday when cornerback Antonio Cromartie returned to practice. He was in a no-contact jersey because he hasn’t progressed fully through the league’s concussion protocol at this point, but his presence was a good sign for his chances of playing this Sunday.

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The Broncos offense has carried them all season, but the yards and points didn’t come so easily against the Chargers on Thursday night.

Denver had three straight three-and-outs in the second quarter, they earned eight fewer first downs than their season average and put up just 20 points thanks to a strong defensive effort from the Chargers. Their own defense could not do the same, leading to a 27-20 loss that sent the inside track to home field advantage in the AFC to New England.

The Chargers held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, converting 6-of-12 third down opportunities and going on long, methodical drives that ate time even if they didn’t result in any points for the visiting team. On top of that, the Broncos committed several blunders that led to penalties for being offside and having too many men on the field. Coach John Fox said after the game that the Chargers did a better job of preparing on a short week, but linebacker Wesley Woodyard doesn’t think that the abbreviated prep time is any excuse.

“They made a lot of plays on third down, and that’s the tale of this game, not getting off the field on third down,” Woodyard said, via ESPN.com. “Thursday night or not, it shouldn’t matter. Any time you step out on that field, you have to put out your full effort, and we fell short of that.”

No one is expecting the Broncos defense to suddenly start carrying the team, but they’ll need to do more than they did on Thursday night for the team to realize its goals this season.

AP

The Patriots may be the biggest beneficiaries of the Broncos’ loss to the Chargers on Thursday night.

With the loss, the Broncos fell to 11-3. That means the 10-3 Patriots, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Broncos, now just need to win their last three games to clinch home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots are at Miami on Sunday and at Baltimore next week before closing the season at home against the Bills.

The AFC West race also just got closer: Denver still leads Kansas City and will clinch the division by winning its final two (at Houston and at Oakland), but now the Broncos can’t afford another slip-up, or else the Chiefs would be able to win the division by winning out.

And the Chargers’ upset kept their own slim playoff hopes alive. At 7-7, San Diego still trails both 7-6 Baltimore and 7-6 Miami for the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC, but the Chargers can at least hope that if they win out and get to 9-7, they’ll get enough help to get to the playoffs.

Ultimately, the Chargers’ win over the Broncos made the AFC playoff race more interesting, and made it more likely that all the contending teams will have something to play for in Week 17.

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Very few gave the Chargers a chance last night against the Broncos, but few in the Chargers room had a doubt such wins were coming.

While the Chargers improved to 7-7, it was a statement win for first-year coach Mike McCoy, whose conservative demeanor undersells his ability to reach his team.

“They bought in from Day One,” McCoy said last night, via Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego.

But it wasn’t simply an act of players, as the Chargers aren’t so full of talent that immediate improvement was a given. McCoy inherited an odd mix of veterans and kinds, and enough of the old guys threw in with McCoy from the start.

“He had a plan early on,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “Veteran players can see through it if the guy is feeling his way around. He had a definite plan. So whether we always agreed with every little thing, it was like, ‘Well, we don’t have a choice but to buy in.’ ”

“This is not the most talented team I’ve played on,” tight end  Antonio Gates. “But this is the best team I’ve been on, in terms of playing together. . . . When you have a change, especially with the situation we’ve had in the past, people wanted something to believe in. He was like a new movement. He brought this way about him. He made us believe we had to play for one another. When you watch us, you see we play for each other.”

That’s the kind of shift that’s philosophical more than anything to do with Xs and Os. They’ve had guys in the job that are good at those.

But McCoy has his Chargers looking like more of a team than any recent versions, and that takes leadership that transcends drawing football plays.

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Denver Broncos cornerback Kayvon Webster will require surgery to repair an injured thumb suffered during Thursday night’s loss to the San Diego Chargers.

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, Webster will have surgery on Friday.

The Broncos don’t believe the injury is season-ending and believe he could just miss next week’s game against the Houston Texans.

Webster has been playing in place of starting cornerback Champ Bailey, who has missed 11 of the Broncos 14 games this season. Webster has 41 tackles, 10 passes defensed, an interception and a forced fumble this season.

The scene in Denver following the conclusion of Thursday night’s game between the Broncos and San Diego Chargers has apparently shifted from collective disappointment to something much worse.

The Denver Police Department confirmed via their Twitter account there was a quadruple stabbing outside of Sports Authority Field at Mile High following the conclusion of the Chargers 27-20 victory over the Broncos. The incident was initially called into police just before 10 p.m. MT. Officers have suspects in custody and are not currently searching for any more perpetrators.

According to Daryl Orr of FOX 31 KDVR in Denver, one victim is in critical condition with the remaining three victims in stable condition.

Denver police say there is no word on what led to the incident in the aftermath of the game.

UPDATE 3:15 a.m. ET: Denver police say there are only three confirmed victims at this point. There is a possible fourth victim that is still missing after the altercation.

photo courtesy of Daryl Orr, FOX 31 KDVR

AP

The notion that Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is “extremely angry” over being shut down for the last three games of the season is compelling.  It may not, however, be accurate.

Per a source close to Griffin, the second-year quarterback is disappointed but not angry.

“Where they got that I don’t know,” the source said of the report that surfaced Thursday night on NFL Network.  “No competitor would be happy but to say he’s angry makes for good TV, I guess.”

The source added that Griffin has “accepted the decision,” even though Griffin still wanted to play.

“He feels like he let his teammates down and he wanted to finish the season with them,” the source said.  “Now he will just do it from the sideline and through practices.”

This assumes that coach Mike Shanahan will even let Griffin be on the sidelines for the final three games.  The next move in the protracted game of checkers/chess/chicken could be to pull a Josh Freeman-style banishment of Griffin to a luxury suite away from the many cameras covering the on-field action.

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Peyton Manning spent this week railing against the narrative that he can’t win games in cold weather.

Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers, Peyton Manning again lost in cold weather.

The usually high-powered Broncos’ offense was held to less than 300 yards of total offense by the Chargers on a chilly night in Denver. With temperatures into the 30s, Manning went 27 of 41 for 289 yards and two touchdowns. However, a late interception led to a field goal by Nick Novak to give the Chargers a two-score lead with 2:36 left to play.

Manning’s pass for Julius Thomas was deflected by Corey Liuget and picked off by Thomas Keiser at the Denver 33-yard line. San Diego managed one first down before a 35-yard field goal from Novak gave the Chargers a 27-17 lead.

Manning led the Broncos to a 42-yard field goal from Matt Prater to pull within a touchdown but an onside kick attempt failed to travel the required 10 yards and the Chargers were able to run out the clock.

The Broncos scored a touchdown on their opening possession but were held to just a field goal until the fourth quarter.

San Diego scored 21 straight points with two touchdown passes from Philip Rivers to Keenan Allen to give the Chargers a 24-10 lead.

Manning hit Andre Caldwell for a 5-yard touchdown, his second of the night, to pull within a touchdown. The Broncos defense held to give Denver a chance to tie before Manning’s interception ended those hopes.

Ryan Mathews had one of his best games for San Diego in the win. He carried 29 times for 127 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers.

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Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos offense did what it’s done most of the season in marching down field for a touchdown on their opening possession. Since then, the night has belonged to the San Diego Chargers.

San Diego has scored 21 consecutive points in taking a two touchdown lead over the Broncos midway through the third quarter.

Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen hooked up for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter – a 19-yard and a 14-yard touchdown, respectively – in taking a 17-10 lead into halftime. The Chargers continued to move the ball against a struggling Broncos’ defense to open the second half. An eight-play, 80-yard drive was capped by a 23-yard touchdown run from Ryan Mathews to extend the San Diego to 24-10.

The Broncos high-powered offense has managed just one first down since late in the first quarter.

AP

If Mike Shanahan isn’t talking to reporters off the record, someone committed to his version of reality is.

The latest twist in the Godfather RGIII saga comes from Mike Silver of NFL Network, who reports that owner Daniel Snyder was the “impetus” for the trade that sent three first-round picks and a second-round pick to the Rams for the ability to trade up and draft Griffin.

We say in response, “Baloney.”

Shanahan has final say over the composition of the roster.  If Shanahan didn’t want to trade for Griffin, all Shanahan had to do was say so.  While standing pat for, say, Ryan Tannehill would have placed extra pressure on Shanahan to earn an extension, Shanahan should have taken a stand if the owner were trying to impose his unqualified will on the football operation.

Even if it’s true (and we doubt that it is), Shanahan forfeited the ability to complain about the decision to give up so much to get Griffin by ultimately signing off on the trade.  If Snyder pushed the issue and Shanahan ultimately went along to get along, Shanahan opted to try to have it both ways.

If Griffin had worked out well (like he did last year), Shanahan could be regarded as a genius.  If Griffin didn’t work out (like he didn’t this year), Shanahan or someone close to him could start leaking like a racehorse the notion that Shanahan didn’t want Griffin in the first place.

Snyder has remained silent throughout the past few days of dysfunction.  At first, we thought he was making himself look bad by letting Shanahan make him look bad.  The truth may be that Snyder has opted to simply let Shanahan make himself look bad, before firing Shanahan for cause.

And when Snyder fires Shanahan for cause and Shanahan files a grievance with Commissioner Goodell and reporters from other networks can’t be forced to disclose at the hearing whether Shanahan or someone close to him were leaking detrimental information, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with reporters who work directly for the league, and indirectly for the Redskins.

AP

The Texas Rangers got plenty of free publicity on Thursday by selecting Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in the Rule 5 draft, a name that actually makes baseball sound even more boring than it is.

The Rangers got some more free publicity, via Wilson and others talking about whether he’ll play baseball.

“Obviously, I love baseball and just love the game,” Wilson told reporters on Thursday, via quotes distributed by the team.  “It’s a relaxing sport, it’s a good sport.  I played it my whole life, but there’s nothing better than playing the quarterback position and playing in front of 90,000 people and it being third and six and the game on the line or being in the red zone and having to make a play in a big situation.  So that’s why I decided to play football because I love those moments and I love those big games.”

Wilson admitted that, at one point, he considered being a two-sport athlete at the professional level.

“[Rangers G.M. Jon Daniels] asked me if I’m trying to go Bo Jackson?” Wilson said.  “I thought about it before, I’m not going to lie.  But no.  I mean I’m just focused on football.”

Some think he should consider playing baseball, including an NFL Hall of Famer who once played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta Braves — on the same day.  (Mrs. PFT and I attended the baseball half of that doubleheader, two years before she was Mrs. PFT.  And nine years before PFT was PFT.)

During the Chargers-Broncos pregame show, Deion Sanders said that Wilson should weigh all options and consider playing baseball.  49ers owner Jed York tweeted, “I agree.”

I agree with his agreement, for reasons explained during Thursday’s PFT Live.  Wilson will be eligible for a new contract after the 2014 season, but he’ll have no way to force the Seahawks to do a new deal that pays him close to market value.  Playing baseball in lieu of playing football becomes a viable alternative, especially if the Seahawks make a below-market offer to extend a contract that would pay him a mere $798,000 in 2015.

Wilson’s “Go ‘Hawks!” attitude is refreshing, but if he carries that mindset too deeply into his career, he’s going to get hosed.  Having options means having leverage.

Wilson currently has a significant option that eventually can be parlayed into significant leverage.  While playing two sports at the same time is unrealistic for a modern NFL quarterback, Wilson shouldn’t close the door on taking up baseball — especially since he could play it a lot longer, emerge from the game a lot healthier, and if he rises to the major leagues make a lot more money.

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Things have gotten so bad in Washington that the ongoing debate regarding the team’s name arguably represents not an unwanted annoyance but a welcome diversion from current football-related controversies.

On Thursday, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights voted unanimously to urge the owner of the Washington Redskins to change the team’s name.

“This is not someone else’s problem, this is everyone’s problem,” said Wade Henderson, CEO of the The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 diverse national organizations.  “Having an offensive slur for the Washington team name teaches young people to celebrate the denigration of people for being who they are.  That has a damaging psychic impact on individuals, as well as on the entire nation.  Changing the name is the right thing do, regardless of how comfortable fans have become with it.  And when Mr. Snyder does decide to put the slur away, I think he’ll discover a new market of consumers who recognize the dignity of all people and want to honor that with the sports teams they support.”

The team, which has remained largely (but not completely) silent in response to the persistent calls for change, has issued a statement in response to the resolution.

“The Washington Redskins hold these civil rights leaders in high regard, but we respectfully believe they are mischaracterizing decades of honor and respect toward America’s Indian heritage that our name represents for generations of Redskin fans and Native Americans alike,” the team said.  “We understand these leaders hold their views deeply, but so do hundreds and hundreds of Native Americans who have written to us expressing an opposite point of view. . . .

“We believe it is important to listen to and respect all sides on this issue, and that includes also listening to and learning from Native Americans and countless Redskin fans who, for generations, believe our name represents the strength, character and pride of our Indian heritage.”

In other words, the team’s current position is that the issue falls squarely within the realm of subjects on which reasonable minds may differ.  Some people reasonably find the term offensive.  Others reasonably find the term not offensive.  And while the team will listen to those who find the name offensive, the team won’t change the name as long as sufficient Native Americans and Redskins fans are not actually offended.

So, basically, the team won’t change the name unless and until a unanimous consensus emerges that the name is offensive.  And that likely won’t happen any time soon.

AP

Peyton Manning is closing in on taking the NFL record for most touchdown passes in a season back from Tom Brady.

On the first drive of Thursday night’s Chargers-Broncos game, Manning marched Denver’s offense down the field on a drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell, Manning’s 46th touchdown pass of the season.

Brady set the current NFL record of 50 touchdown passes in a season in 2007, breaking a record that previously belonged to Manning, who threw 49 touchdown passes in 2004. Now Manning is just five away from breaking Brady’s record.

Manning now looks like a lock to break Brady’s record. With a few touchdowns to spare.

AP

The longstanding agreement that gives DirecTV exclusive access to the Sunday Ticket package that gives NFL fans the ability to watch every game expires after next season. But the two sides have apparently come to terms on a new deal.

Multiple reports on Thursday say the league and the satellite TV provider have agreed to keep Sunday Ticket on DirecTV for years to come.

DirecTV, which pays about $1 billion a year to the NFL for exclusive access to Sunday Ticket, expects to keep that exclusive access going forward.

“We’ve had very, very constructive conversations with the NFL, but it’s complex,” DirecTV CEO Michael White told Variety. “I’m very optimistic we will get an exclusive deal done on NFL Sunday Ticket.”

There had been talk that the NFL might open up the Sunday Ticket package to cable companies, or that an Internet distributor like Google’s YouTube could bid on the contract. But DirecTV seems set to keep the competitors at bay and hold onto exclusive access to Sunday Ticket.

A new deal would need to be approved by DirecTV’s board of directors and the NFL’s owners, but this is a deal that has made both sides a lot of money, and now seems likely to keep making both sides a lot of money for many more years.