Decker has hip surgery, pushing back 2017 return
Published 4:27 pm Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Herald wire services
NEW YORK — Eric Decker will be sidelined a bit longer than initially expected.
The New York Jets wide receiver, already on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, underwent surgery Tuesday on his hip.
The Jets announced on their website that the hip surgery was deemed necessary after Decker had an evaluation when he was placed on IR last week with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.
The team said the anticipated recovery time for Decker’s hip surgery is six months. When the wide receiver is able to get off crutches during that period — it’s uncertain how long that will take — he will then have the surgery on his shoulder, with recovery time expected to be eight months.
So, if Decker hypothetically needs two months to get off crutches, the shoulder procedure requires about eight additional months of recovery time. He could miss time during the 2017 season, but Decker could also still be ready for Week 1, in a best-case scenario.
“It’s probably too early for that,” coach Todd Bowles said during a conference call of Decker possibly missing the start of next season. “It’ll probably be close, but I’ve got to see how he heals.”
In a post on her Twitter page , Decker’s wife Jessie James said he has “quietly battling these injuries for years and fighting through them.” She added that her husband is “doin great!! Get ready 2017. He will be ready to rock!!!”
Decker, who had nine catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns, injured his shoulder at Buffalo on Sept. 15 and it worsened the following week at Kansas City in Week 3.
He was inactive for two games while the Jets waited to see if the shoulder would improve through rest and rehab. When it was determined last week that it hadn’t, the Jets decided to place Decker on injured reserve so he could have season-ending surgery.
“He wasn’t recovering the way we hoped he would,” Bowles said last Wednesday. “He wasn’t getting any better. It was getting worse. At some point, he had to try to get surgery.”
Decker had 80 receptions for 1,027 yards and 12 scores — including a team-record 10 TDs inside the opponents’ 20-yard line — last season as he and Brandon Marshall combined for 26 TDs.
He signed as a free agent with the Jets in 2014 after four seasons in Denver and has been one of the NFL’s most-productive receivers in that time with 163 receptions for 2,183 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Chiefs trade RB Davis to Packers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have traded backup running back Knile Davis to the Green Bay Packers, who desperately need to add depth to their injury-riddled backfield.
The Packers gave up a conditional draft pick Tuesday for Davis, who has already started practicing with his new team.
The Packers needed help at running back with Eddie Lacy nursing a bothersome ankle and James Starks undergoing knee surgery. Lacy was their only active running back against Dallas on Sunday, when he rushed for 65 yards on 17 carries in a 30-16 loss.
Starks will be out a couple of weeks. Lacy was being held out of practice Wednesday because the ankle was “very sore,” coach Mike McCarthy said.
That means the Packers will have to get Davis up to speed on the playbook quickly if he’s going to be ready when the Chicago Bears visit Lambeau Field on Thursday night.
“It’s obviously a big challenge when you’re on a short week, but he’s definitely a talented young player,” McCarthy said. “So just looking forward to getting him into the mix and get going.”
Top cornerback Sam Shields, who has been out since the season opener with a concussion, was placed on injured reserve to make room for Davis on the active roster.
The Packers have been struggling in the passing game, and the injuries to Lacy and Starks have added to their issues on offense. McCarty got a look at Davis in Green Bay’s last preseason game, when he ran for 58 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries in the Chiefs’ 17-7 win on Sept. 1.
Davis had been passed over by Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West on the Chiefs’ depth chart, and the return of Jamaal Charles from his knee injury made him expendable.
“I feel like I’m off the reins,” Davis said after practice Tuesday. “I’m just excited to be a part of Green Bay and do what I can here. Hopefully my role is bigger.”
The Kansas City Star first reported the trade.
Davis, the former Arkansas standout, was the Chiefs’ third-round pick in 2013. He was expected to team with Charles in a power-and-lightning backfield. But issues with fumbles that plagued him in college continued in the NFL, and he gradually lost playing time to other running backs.
His best season was 2014, when he ran for 463 yards and six touchdowns. But he’s only carried 29 times for 70 yards and a touchdown the past two seasons combined.
Davis was a longshot to make the Kansas City roster out of training camp, but his special teams ability may have made the difference. He’s averaged 27.2 yards on kickoff returns during his four-year career, and returned three kicks for touchdowns.
The fact that the Chiefs and Packers were trade partners is hardly surprising. Chiefs general manager John Dorsey played for the Packers in the 1980s, spent most of his career in their front office and rose to director of football operations before joining the Chiefs prior to the 2013 season.
Davis was the third player he drafted in Kansas City.
Belichick: Done with tablets
BOSTON — Bill Belichick is throwing in the towel in his ongoing fight with the use of tablets on the sideline.
Responding to a question in a conference call Tuesday about headset issues the Patriots had during last week’s win over the Bengals, Belichick said he “can’t take it anymore” with the tablets, adding there isn’t enough consistency in the performance of the devices.
He also railed for several minutes about on-going issues with NFL technology, including the communication system between coaches in the press box and those on the field, as well as the coach-to-quarterback play calling system, which Belichick said “fail on a regular basis.”
Earlier this season Belichick was caught on camera slamming down a sideline tablet following a Bills touchdown.
Belichick said going forward he’s going to stick with low tech — printed images taken of plays during the game to help strategize on the sideline.
Hyde not practicing
Running back Carlos Hyde was not on the practice field Tuesday, the result of a right-shoulder injury he sustained in the 49ers’ fifth consecutive loss Sunday at Buffalo.
Hyde instead worked out on a stationary bike in the weight room next to the practice field, and he did so with his right arm in a sling. He got hurt during the third quarter of the 45-16 loss, came back for a few snaps and finished with 14 carries for 52 yards.
If Hyde doesn’t play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — the 49ers have their bye the following weekend — then the likely starter would be either Shaun Draughn or Mike Davis.
Davis served as Hyde’s primary backup last game and failed to convert on third-and-1, fourth-and-1 runs. Davis has 10 carries for 18 yards this season, a 1.8-yard average that is just up from last year’s mark of 1.7 yards per carry as a rookie.
Draughn started six games last season after Hyde fractured his left foot. Draughn has 26 carries for 55 yards this season.
Roethlisberger, Heyward out
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin ruled quarterback Ben Roethlisberger out for Sunday’s game against the Patriots after he underwent outpatient surgery on the meniscus in his left knee Monday. Tomlin also said defensive end Cam Heyward will miss a second consecutive game with a hamstring injury.
Other players who have missed games in recent weeks have a chance to play, Tomlin said. Those players include right tackle Marcus Gilbert, inside linebacker Ryan Shazier and receiver Markus Wheaton. All three did not play in the 30-15 loss in Miami.
Gilbert has missed the past two games with an ankle injury. Shazier has missed the past three games with a knee injury, and Wheaton has been in and out of the lineup due to a shoulder injury he’s been dealing with since the preseason.
Shields placed on IR
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Cornerback Sam Shields said on Instagram on Tuesday that he will be out eight weeks, an indication the Green Bay Packers are placing him on injured reserve.
Shields will have to miss a minimum of eight weeks, but he is eligible to play again under the “designated to return” option each NFL team has. The rules allow a team to bring one player back from injured reserve during the season provided he has sat out a minimum of eight weeks.
Shields suffered a concussion in the season opener against Jacksonville and has not played since. His time on injured reserve is not retroactive, so the soonest Shields would be eligible to play would be Week 15.
The Packers need the roster spot after trading for running back Knile Davis, who took part in practice Tuesday. They are also expected to make one more roster move so they can promote running back Don Jackson from the practice squad.
Byrd memorial set
TULSA, Okla. — A memorial has been set for a former NFL defensive lineman Dennis Byrd, who was killed in a car accident in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says Byrd died Saturday in a two-vehicle collision on Oklahoma 88 north of Claremore.
Byrd, who was 50, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 17-year-old driver and a 12-year-old passenger in Byrd’s vehicle were taken in critical condition to a hospital in Tulsa.
Rogers County District Attorney Matt Ballard says the investigation is ongoing.
Byrd starred at the University of Tulsa before playing for the New York Jets. His career was ended by a neck injury.
The Tulsa World reports that the memorial service is scheduled for Oct. 25 in Tulsa.
Five ‘medical timeouts’ in 2015
Independent medical observers stopped NFL games five times in 2015, the first season in which the “Medical Timeout” was employed as a method to identify players who had suffered major injuries or possible concussions.
In its 2016 Health and Safety Report, released Tuesday, the NFL said an average of 29 health care providers attend games, many of whom can rule a player out due to a concussion.
Last season, the NFL stationed athletic trainers in spots high above the field and allowed them to watch replays and to call timeout if they saw injuries that otherwise went unnoticed.
Rams quarterback Case Keenum stayed on the field after his head slammed to the turf near the end of a game last season, spurring questions about how well the new rule worked.
