CLEVELAND, Ohio – Take a deep breath. It has been a wild couple days in the NFL: Keenan Allen's history-making season is over. Johnny Manziel is preparing to start. Colin Kaepernick was benched and teammate Vernon Davis was traded. The declines of quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Andrew Luck led to the firing of Ken Whisenhunt and Pep Hamilton, respectively.
The bizarre fall of Joseph Randle has put him on the street.
The injuries to Matt Forte and Eddie Royal are not as serious as first thought.
And guess who will be calling plays for the Colts this weekend? Former Browns coach Rob Chudzinski.
Teen phenom Connor McDavid, the NHL's "next Gretzky," suffered what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury Tuesday night.
Former Indian Bud Black was the Washington Nationals' first choice to be their next manager, but the union was doomed when he initially was offered just a one-year deal, and Dusty Baker was hired instead.
It only took three weeks, but NASCAR finally has decided to do something about its plethora of late-race shenanigans, and Matt Kenseth was the driver who paid with a two-race suspension.
Clemson is No. 1 and Ohio State officially is in the playoff race, but the Buckeyes are losing ground in the recruitment of the nation's top high school running back.
And Jordan Spieth is back as the PGA Tour picks up steam in China.
Those are just some of the trending sports stories Wednesday:
Connor McDavid injured: Just 13 games into a career that was showing such progress, Connor McDavid was injured in the Edmonton Oilers' game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night and will be out "long-term" according to coach Todd McLellan.
The 18-year-old phenom slammed into the end boards under the weight of Flyers' defensemen Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto late in the second period. When he got up, he had his right hand on his left shoulder, which could also indicate a collarbone injury. (Edmonton Journal)
Keenan Allen has lacerated kidney: Keenan Allen will miss the rest of the season but is expected to make a full recovery with a lacerated kidney, a source said Tuesday.
The Chargers wide receiver was injured Sunday on a 13-yard touchdown against the Ravens. He joined the team on its flight back to San Diego from Baltimore but was hospitalized that evening when his symptoms worsened. Allen underwent what was described as a minor, non-surgical procedure Monday to stop the bleeding, and he remained hospitalized as of Tuesday morning. He'll be placed on injured reserve in the afternoon.
Allen caught 67 passes the first eight games. That is tied for the third-most in NFL history. He also totaled a team-high 725 yards and four touchdowns. The team was expected to promote Javontee Herndon to the 53-man roster. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Forte and Royal could be back: Bears coach John Fox said Monday that running back Matt Forte and receiver Eddie Royal did not suffer season-ending knee injuries against the Vikings on Sunday at Soldier Field.
"Right now the feeling is, and again it's not exact because we're done with it, I don't see it being season-ending on either one," Fox said at Halas Hall. "Even at this point, it's not an [anterior cruciate ligament], surgically repaired stuff moving forward."
Fox reiterated that surgery is not expected for either player. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Cowboys release Randle: The Dallas Cowboys have officially released Joseph Randle, ending a turbulent two weeks for the third-year running back who took over as the starter when league leading rusher DeMarco Murray left in the offseason for Philadelphia.
The Cowboys had grown concerned over Randle's mental stability over the last two weeks as he was away from the team dealing with several personal issues.
A chaotic confluence of events that includes a demotion, a nagging back injury, a looming punishment by the NFL for violating the personal conduct policy in February and an unusual call to Irving police on Wednesday knocked Randle off balance in recent days. Randle didn't practice last week and spent most of his time away from team headquarters. (Dallas Morning News)
How did Randle fall so fast? The fast-and-furious decline of Joseph Randle hit bottom Tuesday when the Cowboys released the running back, raising a couple of questions in the process:
How does a once-promising career go so bad, so fast?
And what else can go wrong this season? (Kevin Sherrington, Dallas Morning News)We go on to the next goal. We go on to the next trophyColin Kaepernick not done: Kap will be back. That is not a prediction. It is a certainty.
For those who believe that this week's benching of Colin Kaepernick means the end of the 49ers quarterback ... apparently, you have not been studying how life in the NFL works. Quarterbacks are the lightsabers in the Star Wars battle scenes. As long as the lightsaber is functioning, someone finds a use for it. Otherwise, the movie isn't nearly as exciting. (Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News)
Mariota's decline, Whisenhunt's fall: The health and well-being of Titans' franchise quarterback Marcus Mariota played at least a part in the firing of former head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
It will be a top priority for interim coach Mike Mularkey moving forward as well. Mularkey, the former assistant coach/tight ends coach, will have a nine-game audition to keep his new job permanently.
The Titans fired Whisenhunt Tuesday morning, two days after the team suffered its sixth straight loss and fell to 1-6 this season. Whisenhunt's overall mark with the Titans was 3-20, and the team posted a home record of just 1-11 since he took over at the start of the 2014 season. (Nashville Tennessean)
Chud returns: The AFC South saw another big change on Tuesday, as hours after the Tennessee Titans fired head coach Ken Whisenhunt, the Indianapolis Colts fired offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton.
Associate head coach/special assistant Rob Chudzinski will now serve as coordinator.
Hamilton was fired in the wake of another loss for Indianapolis (3-5), this one in overtime against the Carolina Panthers on Monday night. The Colts got into another hole, and though quarterback Andrew Luck brought his team back to force overtime, he didn't do enough to get the Colts over the hump and to a .500 record.(Yahoo.com)
Manziel prepares to start: Browns coach Mike Pettine wasn't ready to turn the team over to Johnny Manziel on Monday, but by Tuesday, he had no choice.
That's because Josh McCown tossed and turned in his bed Monday night and woke up feeling worse on Tuesday than he had at any point since Sunday afternoon. (cleveland.com)
Nationals pass on Black, hire Baker: In a stunning about-face, the Nationals announced the hiring of Dusty Baker as the sixth manager in the team's brief history.
The Nationals chose Bud Black to be their manager last Wednesday, but contract talks broke down over the weekend, leading to the hiring of Baker, the other finalist, on a "multi-year deal" to replace fired Matt Williams. (Washington Post)
Clemson, LSU, Ohio State and Alabama top playoff rankings: Being undefeated doesn't guarantee you a spot in the top four of the College Football Playoff, as Alabama at 7-1 joins undefeated Clemson (No. 1) , LSU (No. 2) and defending champion Ohio State (No. 3) atop the season's first rankings. Although ranked seventh in the AP poll, the Tide leaped over unbeatens such as Baylor, TCU and Michigan State in the season's first CFP rankings. (ESPN)
Kareem Walker de-commits from Ohio State: Five-star running back Kareem Walker of Wayne (N.J.) DePaul has seemingly been on the fence with his Ohio State commit for the past month.
On Tuesday, Walker, the nation's top running back, decided to reopen his recruitment. (Cleveland.com)
Kenseth suspended two races: "Boys Have At It" is not a wink-wink free-for-all to wreck stock cars.
Matt Kenseth and the Joe Gibbs Racing team found that out Tuesday night when NASCAR popped Kenseth, a former season Cup champion, with a two-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Joey Logano at Martinsville this past weekend.
Joe Gibbs Racing will appeal the decision, which will take Kenseth out of this week's race at Texas and next week at Phoenix. The reality is that NASCAR had to send a tough-love message to Kenseth. For three consecutive weeks, we've seen suspect and controversial outcomes at races. (Orlando Sentinel)
Spieth ready for new season: Jordan Spieth's description of his trophy collection from an amazing season brings to mind a scene in ''Caddyshack'' when Lacy Underall is at Ty Webb's house and keeps finding uncashed checks littered about the living room.
There's a U.S. Open trophy in one corner of his bedroom. A green jacket in the closet. A crystal trophy from the Tour Championship over here. The FedEx Cup trophy over there. Trophies from the Valspar Championship and John Deere Classic. A bronze of Jack Nicklaus for PGA Tour player of the year.
It's all there for hardly anyone to see.
''I've never wanted to just display stuff,'' Spieth said Wednesday. ''That's what we try to win, and when we win we get satisfaction. It's very satisfying, and then we go on to the next goal. We go on to the next trophy. ... I feel uncomfortable if it's all out in the open.''
''When you achieve those goals and you have those trophies in your possession, that's what is important to me,'' he said. ''People already know that I won. So what good does it do for me to have my friends over and just flaunt it in their face? Just keep it in my room and go for the next one.''
The next chance starts Thursday at the HSBC Champions, a World Golf Championship that technically starts a new PGA Tour season for the 22-year-old Texan, even though it still feels like he is winding down a year that brought him stardom and fame that he never imagined. (Associated Press)
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