The Rams feared the worst on the return flight and on Monday announced results of an MRI. Surgery will be done in the next 2-3 weeks once the swelling goes down and Fisher was confident Bradford would make a complete recovery in time for next season. "Very disappointing," middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "I thought he was putting up a strong season. It's a long grind now for him." The Rams will be auditioning quarterbacks this week but coach Jeff Fisher said they won't make a trade, which means Clemens is likely set for his first extended opportunity since he made eight starts in 2007 for the Jets....

There is more information across the big board to better determine both who remains worthy of first-round consideration and who deserves more of it. Without further ado, with less than two months to go before the draft starts April 23, here’s our latest edition of projecting where prospects will be picked. NFL DRAFT BIG BOARD:Top 100 players in the 2020 draft class NFL mock draft 2020 Cincinnati Bengals (2-14) Joe Burrow, QB, LSU...

Here’s a money-line pick for the Week 4 NFL card: New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 p.m. ET, NBC Saints quarterback Drew Brees seems to enjoy playing on the road against the Cowboys. With a 3-0 record at Dallas, Brees and the Saints head into Week 4’s Sunday night matchup with tons of confidence. The South Point sports book in Las Vegas has the Cowboys as +150 underdogs on the money-line, implying about a 40 percent chance of winning....

With last week’s win over Cincinnati, the Steelers moved within one-half game of the AFC North lead. They’ll match up against a Falcons team still very much in the playoff picture, sitting atop the underachieving NFC South. Vegas odds have the Falcons as slight +115 underdogs on the money-line, implying about a 46.5 percent chance of winning. AccuScore data picks a different winner than does Vegas, giving Atlanta a 52 percent chance of winning the game outright....

The Steelers and Titans meet in a battle of undefeated teams in the 1 p.m. window, and that promises to be a tight matchup between two black-and-blue teams. There are seven divisional matchups, including a 4:25 p.m. showdown between the Cardinals and Seahawks. That will be a showcase between Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray. The prime-time slots feature a “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the Buccaneers and Raiders and a “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Bears and Rams....

The 2019 NFL season thus far has presented its share of surprises, including the rebounds of a handful of teams that failed to make the playoffs last year. MORE: Get the latest NFL odds at Sportsbook Review Four teams that missed the postseason in 2018 — the Bills (3-0), Lions (2-0-1), Packers (3-0) and 49ers (3-0) — are undefeated through the first three weeks of the 2019 season. This year marks the fourth time (2013, 2003 and 2002) at least four teams have started the season undefeated through their first three games after missing the postseason the previous year since 1990, when the current playoff format was put in place....

With the Buckeyes marching down the field during Monday night’s College Football Playoff title game, the Alabama DB squared up and hit Ohio State tight end Jeremy Ruckert right in the head with the crown of his helmet, causing an incomplete pass and earning Battle an automatic ejection on the play. MORE: NFL players want Jaylen Waddle to shut it down Both players were hobbled following the hit, which was flagged for targeting....

The Baltimore Ravens have one hand on first seed in the AFC and home advantage throughout the playoffs, while the Kansas City Chiefs have secured a fourth consecutive AFC West title last week and the New Orleans Saints remain in the hunt for one of the top two spots in the NFC despite losing at home to San Francisco last week. The New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks can all join the list of playoff-bound teams on Sunday....

The 49ers host the Packers at Levi’s Stadium in their first NFC Championship Game appearance since 2014 and are seven-point favorites to reach Super Bowl LIV. Shanahan, however, is determined to avoid complacency from creeping in and suggested the result in Week 12 would have no impact on the teams’ respective performances on Sunday evening. “We know it’ll be different,” Shanahan said earlier this week, as per NBC Sports. “That game got away from them early, and that’s definitely not the team we’re going to see this week....

So predictions regarding how all teams including the Seahawks will finish in the 2020 NFL standings and beyond are more of a crap shoot than usual. We have no choice but to operate with the roster and schedule knowledge we have of all 32 teams heading into what will be a strange season. Based on NFL senior writer Vinnie Iyer’s game picks for the entire 2020 season, SN is projecting a slight improvement for Seattle following last year’s 11-5 regular season and loss to Green Bay in the divisional round of the playoffs....

Both teams sit at 1-1 after making a steady start to preseason, with the Texans winning 30-23 at home against the Detroit Lions last Saturday, while the Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams 14-10 in Honolulu, Hawaii. There was positive news for both franchises, with their respective starting quarterbacks already looking sharp. Deshaun Watson completed five of his seven passes for 60 yards, including a four-yard touchdown pass as the Texans defeated the Lions....

Seattle rested more than 10 starters in their 22-14 win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday, with Russell Wilson, Tyler Lockett, Chris Carson, Jaron Brown, Duane Brown, D.J. Fluker, Bradley McDougald, K.J. Wright and Jarran Reed among those missing out. Wilson’s absence was particularly significant as the quarterback had never missed the Seahawks’ first preseason game since he was drafted in 2012. The 30-year-old, however, will be getting some snaps this weekend against the Seahawks’ NFC rivals....

Yet somehow, with its change in roster cut-downs this week — eliminating the 75-player date that came a week before the final regular-season 53-player reduction — the NFL managed to make the last two preseason games even more problematic and, likely, dangerous. In the case of the last preseason week, it’s now either completely unwatchable or must-see TV, depending on whether the viewer is the Roman colosseum gladiator-type. No rules....

An NFL spokesman confirmed to Sporting News that the league is “reviewing the matter.” Instagram user miamor_i_adore posted a photo of her “best friend” with a bloody face, which she alleges came from McCoy’s abuse. The woman in the photo is Delicia Cordon, who has had an on-again, off-again relationship with McCoy in the past. WARNING: Graphic image below The post has been deleted from the Instagram page. In addition, the account that shared the photo and Cordon’s Instagram account have been made private....

The only other choice the NFL gave them was, in the players’ minds, unreasonable: losing games, losing money, losing a chunk of their limited careers that, as no one should ever forget, can end at any time on one play. STEELE: Players have to curb NFL power The NFL knows this. The NFL exploits this. And the players, once again, showed that they’re not willing to sacrifice that for a principle — no matter how noble it is, and no matter how right they are....

It certainly wasn’t best for the players involved. That includes not only those players injured by overzealous play, but also some who engaged in over-the-line behavior. Specifically: Had Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster lit up Vontaze Burfict with an illegal block on Sunday at 3:25 p.m., with six or eight other games going at the same time, or had Bengals safety George Iloka gone helmet-to-helmet with Antonio Brown in the end zone of such a game, would either have earned a one-game suspension from the league?...

“I think when you look at of the actions in their entirety it does warrant an ejection,” Blandino said during NFL Network’s “Total Access” show. “Anytime a player is suspended for his actions, (it) would warrant an ejection. We don’t take disqualification lightly. It is a short season and the action really has to raise above and beyond the normal course and this certainly did. MORE: Best photos from Week 15 | DIAMOND: Coughlin’s enabling of OBJ should cost coach job...

Each team must be compliant with the cap number by March 11, when the league's free agency period begins. The cap amount announced Friday, which applies to active players' salaries, is up from $123 million last season and surpasses the previous high of $127,997,000 in 2009. MORE: Saints tag Graham | Panthers do same with Hardy NFL teams can carry over unused salary cap room from the previous league year, and the NFLPA says in a release Friday that the average carryover for those teams that elected to do so was $6....

Speaking of the AFC playoff picture, Sunday afternoon’s Patriots-Steelers game in Pittsburgh is huge, just like it was last year. Though both teams have slipped of late, neither wants to be stuck on the road in the divisional round of the playoffs should they reach that point. In the NFC, the Rams and Saints have chances to clinch first-round byes with games against the Eagles and Panthers, respectively. MORE: Watch the NFL live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial)...