Eagles won’t trade rarely used, disappointing former first-round pick?
49ers announce terrible news on offensive weapon
After finishing their Week 6 contest without Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel on the field, the 49ers are set to be without at least the latter for the time being.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Saturday that Samuel is dealing with a hairline fracture in his shoulder and that he will miss a minimum of the next two games as a result, via NFL.com’s Brenna White. San Francisco is set to play Minnesota on Monday to close out Week 7, followed by a home matchup against the Bengals.
The 49ers then have their bye week, so Samuel’s next game will come no earlier than Week 10, giving the team plenty of time to determine their course of action with the 27-year-old. Another evaluation will take place after the bye week, Shanahan added.
Regardless of the length of Samuel’s absence, his injury will leave San Francisco without one of its highly versatile offensive weapons. The All-Pro has posted a 20-302-1 statline in the passing game to date, while adding 95 yards and another score on the ground.
This news adds to Samuel’s injury history, however, which has seen him miss time in each of his five seasons in the NFL. Samuel was limited to seven games in 2020, his second campaign in San Francisco.
Various ailments have popped up since then, though the South Carolina alum managed to play 16 games the following season and 13 last year. His lack of an extension last offseason led to a public trade request, but he ultimately signed a three-year, $71.55M deal.
Samuel failed to duplicate his 1,770 total-yard performance from the previous year in 2022, and this latest injury will hurt his production as well. The 49ers also have wideout Brandon Aiyuk in place as a key cog in their passing game, as is the case for tight end George Kittle.
That pair will assume a larger share of the 49ers’ targets on offense, while 2020 seventh-rounder Jauan Jennings (who has posted a 41% snap share this season) could be in line for an uptick in playing time.
McCaffrey has been the subject of speculation for his Week 7 availability, but he practiced on Saturday and appears to be on track to suit up on Monday. Regardless of if that happens or not, though, Samuel will not be available for at least a short stretch.
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Dusty Baker has fantastic explanation for not leaving after Game 5 ejection
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker was absolutely livid over what went down in the eighth inning of Friday’s ALCS Game 5. He was still frustrated one day later, when he was asked about his emotions during the moment.
Baker was furious after Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu was ejected for hitting Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia with a pitch late in Game 5. Garcia was angry because he had hit a massive home run in his previous plate appearance, and he felt the Astros had thrown at him over that.
Baker pointed out how absurd it would have been for the Astros to put an extra runner on when trying to keep the deficit at two runs ahead of the ninth inning of a pivotal playoff game. Baker was ejected for arguing, but he waited a long time to leave the dugout.
He said Saturday that he stayed, essentially, because he felt he shouldn’t have been ejected to begin with. “My thought process was I wasn’t ready to go, because I shouldn’t have been ejected in the first place,” Baker quipped.
The move to protest further may not have been gamesmanship on Baker’s part, but opposing manager Bruce Bochy certainly felt that it played a role in his team’s collapse a half-inning later. Baker probably did not mean it. He was just mad, but it worked out for him.
The ALCS is scheduled to resume Sunday, where the Astros will have two chances to close out the Rangers at home and advance to another World Series.
Forget about Philadelphia’s Kelly Green uniforms for a moment. Are Eagles fans ready for a midfield throwback logo? Prior to the team’s Week 7 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, groundskeepers at Lincoln Financial Field replaced the modern, Seahawks-esque team logo with something better suited for the team’s attire.
While the team will be wearing classic uniforms reminiscent of coach Buddy Ryan’s teams of the 80’s and 90’s, the field itself has been adorned with an image synonymous with Eagles teams from 1987-1995.
Over the years, Philadelphia has used six variations of a football-clenching Eagle as their logo. The first debuted in 1933 and was actually blue. When World War II forced the Eagles and Steelers to join forces as the “Steagles” in 1943, the football was replaced by a helmet in the eagle’s talons.
The logo used for this week’s Dolphins game was replaced in 1996 when team owner Jeffrey Lurie sought to distinguish his team from the nearby New York Jets. To be honest, the old logo looks incredible, and the team should seriously consider keeping it.
