Veteran pass rusher Marcus Davenport didn’t request his release from the Bears’ practice squad so that he could sign with another team’s practice squad.
Via NFL Network, the 30-year-old Davenport will retire.
He was a first-round pick of the Saints in 2018 (14th overall). He spent five years in New Orleans, one in Minnesota, and two in Detroit before joining the Bears.
Davenport has 78 regular-season appearances with 43 starts. He hasn’t played much since leaving the Saints — 19 regular-season games and 11 starts in four seasons. He also has four postseason appearances and one start, all of which came with the Saints.
Davenport has 25.0 career sacks, with a career-high of 9.0 in 2021.
The NFL has issued a pair of suspensions to officials after incidents with players during Sunday’s games.
The league has suspended referee Adrian Hill one game and line judge Jeff Seeman for two games for unprofessional conduct. The suspensions were issued by NFL vice president of officiating Ramon George.
Hill was knocked over by Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson while Wilson was being blocked by Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon through the whistle. Hill got up and got in Wilson’s face while yelling at him to get back to his team’s huddle. Wilson was not penalized on the play.
Cameras caught Seeman saying “f—k you” twice to Cardinals tight end Trey McBride after McBride complained about the lack of a flag for pass interference during Arizona’s loss to the Giants. The NFL Players Association called Seeman’s response “unacceptable” in a statement to PFT on Sunday.
The Vikings remain undefeated at 4-0, but they will have to deal with some injuries along their offensive line.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters in his Monday press conference that left guard Donovan Jackson suffered a torn meniscus and will likely miss the rest of the regular season.
Jackson is set to undergo surgery to repair the injury.
O’Connell also noted that left tackle Christian Darrisaw is in the concussion protocol after Sunday’s win over Miami.
But tight end Ben Yurosek and offensive lineman Michael Jurgens are set to return to practice this week. Both players are currently on injured reserve.
The Vikings will be on the road to play the Saints on Sunday.
An odd incident took place during Sunday’s Vikings-Dolphins game when referee Adrian Hill got knocked to the ground and then got in the face of Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson.
The NFL is reviewing the matter, according to ESPN.
On the play in question, Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon was blocking Wilson after the play had been blown dead, pushing Wilson into Hill and knocking Hill down. Hill got up, got in Wilson’s face, yelled at him and pointed him back to his huddle. Hill did not throw a flag, but many people watching the game thought Hill overreacted by yelling at Wilson.
Wilson said after the game that he thought it was no big deal.
“That was funny, honestly,” Wilson said. “I ended up apologizing to him and explained the situation. He was cool about it. He understood what was going on. He just said he didn’t want us fighting, me and [Gordon]. He said he was just trying to break us up.”
The altercation between Wilson and Hill was one of a few between players and officials on Sunday. Official Jeff Seeman appeared to shout obscenities at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was flagged for using an obscenity toward an official.
The Vikings have essentially co-opted the slogan of the team that beat Minnesota in its most recent Super Bowl appearance, 50 years ago.
Just win, baby.
Whatever it takes. However it looks. Only one stat matters — points scored vs. points allowed.
And the Vikings did it on Sunday against the Dolphins with a quintet of field goals, two weeks after the Vikings won in Chicago with only three field goals.
Via Kevin Seifert of ESPN, the Vikings are now the third team to start 4-0 despite failing to score a touchdown in multiple games.
The first was the 1922 Chicago Cardinals. The second was the 1923 Chicago Cardinals.
There may be more no-touchdown games. The offense continues to underperform.
The good news, if there is any, is that the Vikings gained a season-high 336 yards against Miami. The Vikings hadn’t gotten to 250 yards in any of the first three games.
Also, tight end T.J. Hockenson took a knee at the Miami two-yard line when he could have scored. It allowed the Vikings to nail down the victory with three snaps in victory formation to clinch the win.
But he didn’t, and the Vikings ultimately had no touchdowns, again. And they won, again.
