The NFL’s Week 4 was a rough one for a number of players.
Vontaze Burfict is done for the season after his latest egregious hit, Josh Allen (the quarterback) could be missing time with a head injury, and Davante Adams will definitely be missing at least one game.
Here is the NFL news roundup for Week 4.
Davante Adams Out
Wide receiver Davante Adams is expected to miss the Packers game against the Dallas Cowboys after hurting his toe against the Philadelphia Eagles. As USA Today’s Packers Wire reported, it’s believed that Adams suffered a turf toe injury.
Adams did practice with the team on Monday, and Packers coach Matt LaFleur called it “day-to-day.”
As the report noted, the Packers could be ready to give more work to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Geronimo Allison, and Jimmy Graham to make up for the loss of Adams
Josh Allen In Concussion Protocol
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was sent to concussion protocol after suffering a helmet-to-helmet hit early in the fourth quarter of his team’s 16-10 loss to the New England Patriots. Allen was trying to scramble for a first down on a 3rd-and-8 play and was met at the first down marker by Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones, whose helmet struck Allen’s.
While the NFL has decided that the hit wouldn’t warrant a suspension, Jones could still face a potential fine, and Allen may be missing some time. The team announced on Monday that Allen was in the league-mandated concussion protocol. The process itself is largely guarded, so it’s not clear where Allen stands or if he could be cleared for Sunday’s game, but Bills coach Sean McDermott said that backup Matt Barkley is ready to play if called upon.
“Until we know more (about Josh) that’s what we have to do,” said McDermott. “We have to make sure that Matt is ready to go.”
Josh Allen knocked out cold. Vicious, unnecessary hit on a defenseless runner. #Bills pic.twitter.com/nG0ySY1lXr
— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) September 29, 2019
Vontaze Burfict Suspended For The Year
Sunday’s game will be the last of the year for Vontaze Burfict, who was ejected for a hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle and now has been suspended for the rest of the season.
While Jonathan Jones’s hit that knocked Josh Allen out of Sunday’s game appeared largely incidental, Burfict’s was anything but. Replay showed that Burfict hit Doyle in the head across the middle, with the NFL determining that it was intentional.
“Vontaze Burfict needs to be kicked out of the NFL.”
— @mspears96 pic.twitter.com/cuHl5yzL2Z
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 1, 2019
Burfict, who has a series of other controversial hits in his career, will be suspended for the remainder of the season, the league announced. It is the longest suspension handed down for an in-game act. In a letter to Burfict published by ESPN , NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan said that the hit could have been avoided.
“Your contact was unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided. For your actions, you were penalized and disqualified from the game,” Runyan wrote. “Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed officers that future violations would result in escalated accountability measures. However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk.”
