Bewerbungen » Wide receiver Torrey Smith chuckled at the notion that Eric R

eid's return to the NFL this week might be a distraction for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday when they host the New York Giants.Smith said Reid's stance on racial injustice hasn't been an issue in the locker room Limited Vonn Bell Jersey , adding that "no one cares" if he kneels or not during the national anthem.He said Reid's new teammates are more eager to see what he does on the field rather than what he does before the game."It's not like he's out there and coach calls 'Cover 3' and he's going to take a knee and let a guy run by him. If that was the issue, it would be a problem," Smith said with a laugh. "But that's not the way it works. Eric knows what is best for Eric and we all know what he is fighting for."Reid, who knelt alongside Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco during the national anthem to bring attention to racial and social injustice, hasn't said if he will demonstrate Sunday in his first game since filing a collusion grievance against the NFL alleging that teams wouldn't sign him because of his protesting.Regardless of Reid's beliefs, the Panthers (2-1) are excited to have the 2013 Pro Bowler, who is expected to start at safety after Da'Norris Searcy was placed on injured reserve last week with a concussion.Cam Newton said the Panthers "got a steal" when they signed the 26-year-old Reid."He's a great player," Newton said. "We've accepted him with open arms. We know he's going to be an impact player for us, and that's all I care about."Reid, who is African-American, said after signing a one-year contract with Carolina that he plans to "continue to speak for my people" and use his platform to talk about injustices."I'm going to stand by him and none of that will be a distraction as far as us winning football games," Newton said. "What he does on the football field is going to impact this team. I know that."Things to watch in Sunday's game:FAMILIAR FACESWhen Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly turned on the film this week, he saw plenty of familiar plays being run by the Giants. New York's offensive coordinator is Mike Shula, who worked as Carolina's offensive coordinator from 2013-17. So Kuechly saw just about every one of Shula's play calls over the last five years in practice.Of course, what Kuechly didn't see too much of on tape this week were zone read options, something Shula ran frequently with Newton as his quarterback. That's not something the Giants are running with the slow-footed Eli Manning at the helm. "If Eli runs like Cam does, then we are in trouble," Kuechly said.Moving the ball and scoring points has been a struggle this season for the Giants under Shula.ON THE RUNGiants coach Pat Shurmur admittedly didn't use rookie Saquon Barkley enough in the loss to the Saints last weekend. The running game was limited to 65 yards on 15 carries. Barkley had 44 yards on 10 carries, with 28 coming on a sprint around end. New York usually doesn't win unless it can establish some kind of run game to set up the play-action pass. Expect Barkley to either double his carries this week or have backup Wayne Gallman carry more than twice. The Panthers are allowing 110 yards per game on the ground.Jonathan Stewart, Carolina's all-time leading rusher, was placed on injured reserve last week by New York.VERNON'S BACKThe Giants are optimistic that outside linebacker Olivier Vernon will see his first action of the season after a strong week of practice. Shurmur thinks that could give the defense a boost, saying "when you have a fresh body that has the talent, the skill and abilities of a pass rusher, it helps your defense. Certainly adding him back to the mix will help."Vernon has 40 陆 sacks over the past five seasons while playing mostly defensive end. He missed the first four games after suffering a high ankle sprain in late August.DEFENDING RUSHING QBSThe Giants' defense has struggled against opposing quarterbacks in the run game. In four games, opposition QBs have gained 151 yards on 20 carries, a 7.55 average. That could be a major problem this week with Newton taking snaps. The 2015 league MVP has carried 28 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns in three games. He has rushed for at least 700 yards in each of the last three seasons, joining Michael Vick as the only NFL quarterbacks with three 700-yard seasons rushing. The Saints used a new wrinkle last weekend against the Giants, having backup quarterback Taysom Hill rush four times for 28 yards.MORE McCAFFREYAided by Newton's skills as a runner , the Panthers have the league's No. 1-ranked rushing offense, while the Giants are 29th against the run. So it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what Carolina wants to do Sunday. Christian McCaffrey is coming off a career-high 184 yards rushing on 28 carries in a 31-21 win against the Bengals before the bye week. But given that offensive coordinator Norv Turner is known to mix things up from week to week, it wouldn't be a shocker if Turner leans a little more heavily on backup running back C.J. Anderson this week.AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan contributed to this report. Enough of this.If the Eagles are going to make a respectable showing after their first Super Bowl title, it's time to do so. They have lost three of four. They turn over the ball too often and can't make big defensive stops.They are heavily injured physically and, perhaps psychologically, by a 4-6 record as they host the New York Giants (3-7) on Sunday."It's uncharted territory a little bit," coach Doug Pederson says. "I think the guys have really handled it well. They're disappointed Authentic Thomas Morstead Jersey , they're frustrated, quite frankly, as we all are. We haven't played up to the caliber that we're capable of playing."Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, and we're not going to do the same. We just have to come to work ready and practice, and prepare, and as they say, try to go 1-0 each week."Six weeks of 1-0 might be good enough to win the NFC East, in which they trail Washington by two games and Dallas by one. The Eagles have two games left with the Redskins and one with the Cowboys, to whom they have lost in Philly.New York has won two in a row to temporarily quiet the social media and tabloid complaints about Eli Manning. The veteran quarterback has shown that given time to throw 鈥?the O-line has vastly improved the past two weeks 鈥?he still can produce. And he has talented teammates in Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard."I think we're running the ball better than we did, so I feel like we're playing better football, but we got to continue doing that," Manning says. "They're a good team, they're a good defense, they got a good front four and they're a little banged-up in the secondary, but they'll have a good plan and we just got to go execute."The weekend began with the Thanksgiving Day tripleheader.At New Orleans, Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes to inexperienced receivers and the Saints (10-1) won their 10th straight game with a 31-17 victory over Atlanta (4-7) that eliminated the Falcons from contention in the NFC South.At Dallas, Amari Cooper had a 90-yard touchdown catch while finishing with 180 yards receiving and two scores and Dallas pulled even with Washington atop the NFC East at 6-5 with a 31-23 Thanksgiving victory over the Redskins.At Detroit, Chase Daniel set career highs with 230 yards passing and two touchdowns to keep Chicago (8-3) rolling with a 23-16 win over the Lions (4-7).Off this week are the Chiefs and Rams, the final byes of the season. They are probably exhausted after that 54-51 Monday night affair in which Los Angeles improved to 10-1 and Kansas City fell to 9-2.Seattle (5-5) at Carolina (6-4)The winner could place itself in strong position for a wild card. Neither the Seahawks nor Panthers figures to catch their division leaders, the Rams and Saints, respectively. A Seahawks loss clinches the NFC West for LA.Carolina has lost two straight in entirely different manners, a blowout at the hands of Pittsburgh and then a one-point defeat at Detroit when a 2-point conversion failed .Both teams will want to run; Seattle leads the league in yards on the ground despite not having a standout running back.Tennessee (5-5) at Houston (7-3), Monday nightNot only are the Texans, winners of seven in a row, in charge of the AFC South, they've become a factor for a potential playoff bye. They'll need to keep up the excellent work on both sides of the ball.J.J. Watt has made an impressive comeback from basically two wasted seasons with 10 sacks and a seemingly non-stop presence around the ball. He could be particularly destructive if the Titans need to play Blaine Gabbert for the injured starting QB, Marcus Mariota.The Titans have been maddeningly inconsistent. They dominate New England, then get blown out at Indianapolis. This is a rare difficult matchup for the rest of their schedule.Pittsburgh (7-2-1) at Denver (4-6)A sign of a contender is playing poorly 鈥?very poorly at times 鈥?and still winning. The Steelers did that last week at Jacksonville, a game that could catapult them to bigger things in a division they already control.Antonio Brown is tied for the league lead with 11 touchdown receptions and has at least one touchdown catch in eight consecutive games. With a TD reception on Sunday, Brown would tie Hall of Famer Lance Alworth (in 1963) and A.J. Green (in 2012) for the third-longest streak of games with a touchdown catch in a single season. Jerry Rice has the mark with 12 in 1987.Denver comes off a stirring comeback victory at the Chargers and linebacker Von Miller comes off another one of his dominant performances with a key interception and his 100th sack.Miami (5-5) at Indianapolis (5-5)A pair of .500 teams headed in opposite directions.The Dolphins are reeling, coming off a bye after losses in three of four, but expect to have starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill back from a shoulder injury. The Miami offense has gone nine quarters without a touchdown.Indy is one of the NFL's hottest teams with four consecutive victories. Andrew Luck has thrown a TD pass in a league-high 33 straight games, and at least three TD passes in seven straight Trey Hendrickson Jersey , tying Dan Marino for the third-longest streak in NFL history. Luck can tie Peyton Manning (eight) for No. 2 against Miami.He also has not been sacked since Oct. 4, a career-best 214 attempts. That five-game string without a sack is tied for third longest since 1982.Green Bay (4-5-1) at Minnesota (5-4-1)Yet another prime-time appearance for the Vikings, who are 0-3 at night. Both teams are chasing the Bears, of course, and have wild-card aspirations, too.If Minnesota doesn't find a ground game, it's likely doomed to being home in January; it ranks 31st. Green Bay allowed 173 rushing yards to the Seahawks last week.Green Bay doesn't have that problem. Aaron Jones, who missed the early season tie between these clubs while suspended, has 342 rushing yards and four TDs in the past four games, plus 12 receptions for 100 yards and one TD. Jones leads the league with 6.4 yards per rush.But the Packers have lost seven straight regular-season road games since winning in overtime at Cleveland last Dec. 10.New England (7-3) at New York Jets (3-7)Just what the spiraling Jets need: Tom Brady and the very annoyed Patriots making a visit.New England played poorly at Tennessee before its bye, but wasn't within light years of how badly the Jets performed in their loss to Buffalo. While the Patriots are on pace for their millionth straight AFC East title (actually their 10th), the heat on Jets coach Todd Bowles has intensified. New York has lost four in a row and has beaten New England once in the past eight tries.Brady needs 147 passing yards and four touchdown passes to surpass Peyton Manning (79,279 passing yards and 579 touchdown passes) for the most in each category in NFL history, including the postseason.Jacksonville (3-7) at Buffalo (3-7)The Jaguars had a chance to turn around their disappointing season when they led Pittsburgh 16-0 last week. They folded, and now the questions intensify about the security of the coaching staff and quarterback Blake Bortles.Still, though Jacksonville has dropped six in a row, it's remaining schedule is anything but difficult. To not make some sort of turnaround would be inexcusable.One thing worth noting about the Bills: They keep coming at you, despite perhaps the least-talented offensive roster in the league. Their defense makes them competitive.Arizona (2-8) at Los Angeles Chargers (7-3)The Chargers blew a chance to be tied for the AFC West lead with some suspect play calls and play-not-to-lose mentality late against Denver. Still, they are in excellent shape for a playoff berth, particularly if Philip Rivers makes better decisions with a game on the line.Rivers has 23 touchdown passes and has thrown for at least 25 in 10 consecutive seasons. He needs two TD throws to tie former teammate Drew Brees for the second-longest streak. Peyton Manning had 13.Like LA, the Cardinals come off a late-game fold, against Oakland.Oakland (2-8) at Baltimore (5-5)With Joe Flacco sidelined against Cincinnati, first-round pick Lamar Jackson brought a running game to the QB position, something Flacco won't be doing when he returns.The Ravens rushed for 265 yards as Jackson ran 27 times for 117 yards, Gus Edwards had 115 yards on the ground and both rookies rushed for seven first downs."Oh, he had 27 carries," coach John Harbaugh said. "You know what he did? He won the game. He played his tail off. Celebrate that, and move on."The Raiders hadn't celebrated a victory since Sept. 30. They ranked 31st in run defense, so another win here seems unlikely.Cleveland (3-6-1) at Cincinnati (5-5)The Bengals have been ravaged by injuries and seem headed for yet another disappointing season. But a win Sunday would keep them in the wild-card chase.Neither team plays much defense, so while this won't be Chiefs-Rams, it could keep the scoreboard lit.San Francisco (2-8) at Tampa Bay (3-7)Not much to recommend here.Bucs receiver Mike Evans has 957 yards receiving and can join Hall of Famer Randy Moss (six consecutive seasons) and A.J. Green (five) as the only players in NFL history with at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of their first five seasons. He figures to get it against the 49ers whether Jameis Winston returns to starting duty at quarterback or Ryan Fitzpatrick goes. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys