The NFL has announced eight finalists for this season’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award.
A panel made up of former NFL players Warrick Dunn, Larry Fitzgerald, Curtis Martin, and Leonard Wheeler chose the finalists after each team nominated one player for consideration. The award goes to the player that “best demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, an integrity in competition.”
Cardinals safety Budda Baker has been selected as a finalist for the third straight season. Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David, Saints linebacker Demario Davis, and Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill are the other finalists from the NFC.
The AFC finalists are Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, Jets defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler, and Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
Current NFL players will cast their votes for one of the finalists and the winner will be announced at the NFL Honors event during Super Bowl week.
Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb remains in concussion protocol, but with the team on a mini-bye, he has extra time to recover.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer offered a promising update on Lamb on Monday as the Cowboys returned to the team facility.
“He’s doing good,” Schottenheimer said, via the team website. “Talked to him over the weekend. He’s progressing nicely, and hopefully things work out like we expect.”
In Thursday night’s 44-30 loss to the Lions, Lamb had six catches for 121 yards before landing on his head with 12:42 remaining in the third quarter.
He has 57 receptions for 865 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games this season.
The Cowboys also are waiting to see the status of edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney (hamstring) and left tackle Tyler Guyton (knee) as the week progresses. Both missed the game against the Lions.
“We will find out a little bit more over the next two days, 48 hours,” Schottenheimer said of Clowney and Guyton’s availability for Sunday Night Football.
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has had two of the worst statistical games of his career the last two weeks, catching two passes for four yards in last week’s 26-0 loss to the Seahawks, and then catching two passes for 11 yards in yesterday’s 31-0 win over the Commanders. It’s easy for Jefferson to say which game he enjoyed more.
After Sunday’s win, Jefferson said his individual stats aren’t important to him on days when his team plays well.
“I’d rather win and not get the ball than lose and not get the ball,” Jefferson said. “As long as we’re winning, this team is coming in here with a smile on our face and we have the confidence to continue on and better ourselves, and make sure that we continue this feeling, that’s the main objective.”
Jefferson is averaging a career-low 12.7 yards per catch, a career-low 4.9 catches per game and a career-low 62.3 receiving yards per game. He can’t be happy with how the season is going.
But after the Vikings snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday, Jefferson was not complaining. The first priority is to win, and then he’ll hope he can go back to putting up the numbers he has for most of his career.
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s return to the Vikings lineup on Sunday couldn’t have gone much better.
The Vikings took the opening kickoff and easily moved through the Commanders defense before McCarthy threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josh Oliver. McCarthy would throw two more touchdowns while going 16-of-23 for 163 yards in a 31-0 win.
It’s likely too little and too late to help the team’s playoff chances, but McCarthy said it was a “step in the right direction” during a season that has featured multiple injuries and underwhelming play for the 2024 first-round pick.
“It’s definitely reassuring,” McCarthy said in his postgame press conference. “I always knew I had that and I always knew the potential is there, but I’m looking at it right now and there’s so many ways I could get better. I’m so far from where I want to be, so it’s just great to get the win and grow in this game.”
The next step for McCarthy and the Vikings will be to stack a string of performances like Sunday together to close out the year. If they can do that, they will be able to head into the offseason with some positive momentum to balance out all that went wrong over the first 12 weeks of the season.
Commanders tight end Zach Ertz was emotional as he left the sideline on a cart in Sunday’s 31-0 loss to the Vikings.
Vikings safety Jay Ward lowered his helmet and hit Ertz’s right knee as Ertz stretched for a high throw with 2:05 left in the third quarter. The team’s medical staff placed Ertz in a full leg brace.
The Commanders quickly ruled him out.
Coach Dan Quinn said after the game that “the early signals aren’t good” when asked about a torn ACL.
Ertz will undergo an MRI on his injury on Monday to confirm the bad news.
He had one catch for 11 yards on Sunday and likely will finish his season with 50 catches for 504 yards and four touchdowns.
