Colorado won its first game of Year 2 under Deion Sanders on Thursday night, but bad clock management nearly cost them. Sanders, however, said that a late incompletion when his team should have been running out the clock was just an example of his son and quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, being a good teammate.
Colorado had the ball and a 31-26 lead with first-and-10 and 1:41 left in the fourth quarter when Shedeur Sanders threw a deep incompletion to wide receiver LaJohntay Wester. That stopped the clock and ended up giving North Dakota State just enough time that they got the ball back and nearly pulled off a Hail Mary upset on the final play. So why did Colorado throw a deep ball there?
Deion said it was because his son is a good teammate and wanted to help Wester get a big play on a night when Colorado had two other receivers, Jimmy Horn Jr. and Travis Hunter, play phenomenal games.
“Shedeur is such a good kid, sometimes it costs him, because at the end of the game we just want to run the ball,” Sanders said. “And he took a shot to LaJohntay because he wanted LaJohntay to have a big play because you got the other two guys, the dogs having a big day, and he knows he’s going to have a one-on-one matchup. He just didn’t put it out there far enough. I’m like ‘Dawg, come on, Dawg, not right now. It’s not time to be the good guy right now, it’s time to put this game away.’ But that’s what that was. He wanted what he wanted, let’s just put it like that. Usually he hits it.”
Deion said Shedeur played well but also acknowledged that there are things to clean up, including Shedeur’s clock management.
“You see that big thing up there? That’s a clock. Those numbers running down right there, that’s for you,” Deion Sanders joked that he has to tell his son. “Be smart. Be smart.”
Shedeur acknowledged after the game that he needs to learn to manage the game better.
“It was something I definitely would learn from,” Shedeur said. “There’s not too many mistakes you’re going to see me make twice.”
Deion also said he wants to make sure Colorado is protecting the quarterback.
“You never want to see your son get hit,” Deion Sanders said. “Let alone your quarterback.”
The Falcons are sending third quarterback Taylor Heinicke to the Chargers for a conditional sixth-round pick, Dianna Russini of TheAthletic.com reports.
The Chargers needed a No. 2 quarterback behind Justin Herbert, who missed time in training camp with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot.
The Chargers kept Easton Stick, who went 25-of-55 for 303 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in the preseason, and they cut Luis Perez on Tuesday. But they obviously had the eye on an upgrade behind Herbert, with Stick going 0-4 last season when Herbert underwent surgery on his finger.
Heinicke was behind Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. on the Falcons’ roster.
The Falcons kept him on the initial 53-player roster hoping to trade him, and the Chargers answered their call Wednesday.
Heinicke has played 38 games, starting 29, and has thrown for 6,635 yards with 39 touchdowns and 28 touchdowns.
When the Steelers traded for quarterback Justin Fields in March, it was assumed that: (1) Russell Wilson would be the starter; and (2) Justin Fields would have a package of plays.
Now that Wilson has staved of Fields to keep the QB1 position, the question becomes whether the Steelers will use Fields.
Rich Eisen posed that question to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin not long after the announcement was made that Wilson will be the starter.
“My friend Raheem Morris had better be ready for a Justin Fields package, I’ll just say that,” Tomlin said, in reference to Pittsburgh’s Week 1 visit to Atlanta. “I don’t want to disclose any strategic approaches, but it’s probably too much talent to be sitting around watching all day. You know what I mean?”
Indeed we do. It harkens back to 1995, when the Steelers used quarterback Kordell Stewart in certain spots. “Slash” took the Steel City by storm cameo appearances that become, from time to time, explosive and exciting plays.
Fields can bring that element to the table. And he’s one of the best 11 players on offense. Why not get him on the field, either in place of Wilson or with him?
Of course, why would Tomlin say it, if he was thinking about doing it? Most coaches would be more inclined to say nothing or to misdirect. Unless of course Tomlin has gone next level, creating the impression that he’s misdirecting so that the Falcons will think there won’t be a Fields package when in reality there will be.
I just gave myself a headache. Again.
The initial word on Steelers left guard Isaac Seumalo is that he avoided a worst-case scenario after getting hurt in practice.
Seumalo left practice on Wednesday with a pectoral injury and went for tests to determine the extent of the injury. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the team feels it “dodged a bullet” because Seumalo avoided a season-ending injury.
Seumalo is still expected to miss time and it’s unclear if he is a candidate for the team’s injured reserve list. If he does go on the list, he will have to miss at least four games before he’d be eligible to return.
Spencer Anderson and Mason McCormick are the backup guards on the 53-man roster in Pittsburgh.
The Falcons invited plenty of speculation regarding their quarterback plans for Week 1 when coach Raheem Morris decided not to play rookie Michael Penix Jr. in either of the final two preseason games. Did that mean they’re concerned Kirk Cousins isn’t ready to go, following his torn Achilles tendon?
Running back Bijan Robinson believes Cousins is indeed good to go.
“He’s definitely ready to go,” Bijan told Jim Rome on Wednesday. “You know, he looks amazing like he didn’t even tear his Achilles. I mean, the dude’s out here sprinting in practice and just having fun with it. So like I know he’s amped up, I know he’s ready to go. But just to see like his progress from when he got here to now, and seeing how ready he is, I’m excited for him.”
That’s good news for the Falcons, if Cousins truly is ready not just to sprint but to plant his foot hard into the ground and to change directions decisively and suddenly without any issues in his surgically-repaired leg.
Whatever his current status, the Falcons opted not to let Penix get useful reps in two games that don’t count. If Cousins will be the wire-to-wire starter, they were the only reps Penix would be getting until the 2025 preseason.
So, yes, it’s still odd. And it will seem that way until Cousins is on the field playing like he was before he suffered the injury in 2023, six days after arguably one of his best career performances, on a Monday night against the 49ers.
The Falcons host the Steelers in 12 days to start the 2024 season.