Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota will have surgery on his broken leg Wednesday and will need four to five months to recover.
Mariota sustained a fractured right fibula during Saturday’s 38-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Coach Mike Mularkey told reporters Monday that Mariota will have a plate inserted where the fracture is located. The second-year quarterback is expected to return in time for offseason organized team activities in May or June.
The Titans (8-7) were eliminated from the playoffs later after the Houston Texans beat the Cincinnati Bengals 12-10 on Saturday night to clinch the AFC South.
Steelers sack Bradshaw’s critique of Tomlin
The Pittsburgh Steelers rallied behind their head coach after Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw criticized Mike Tomlin, describing him as a “great cheerleader guy” but not a great coach.
Bradshaw, who quarterbacked the Steelers from 1970 to 1983 and guided the team to four Super Bowl titles in six seasons, appeared as a guest last Friday on Fox Sports 1’s “Speak For Yourself.”
“I don’t think he’s a great coach at all,” Bradshaw said of Tomlin. “He’s a nice coach. To me, I’ve said this, he’s really a great cheerleader guy. I don’t know what he does. I don’t think he is a great coach at all. His name never even pops in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL.”
Ben Roethlisberger disagreed with Bradshaw.
“No offense to Terry,” Roethlisberger said Sunday. “I think he is one of the greatest of all time. I consider him Steeler family. But this is the real family, the tight-knit family that we have in here in this locker room. And when people talk, it’s dust in the wind, if you will. I laughed at it because, well, it was what it was. But we can’t dwell on it.”
“We weren’t happy about it,” guard David DeCastro told ESPN of Bradshaw’s comments. “Hopefully it will fire us up the rest of the way.”
Banglas place TE Eifert on IR
The Cincinnati Bengals placed tight end Tyler Eifert and guard Clint Boling on injured reserve.
Eifert (back) and Boling (shoulder) both missed Saturday night’s 12-10 loss to the Houston Texans. The moves leave two open spots on the 53-man roster for Sunday’s season finale against the Baltimore Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium.
Browns have decision to make on RG3
Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III remains in the NFL concussion protocol and his status for playing in Sunday’s season finale is uncertain.
Griffin was sacked seven times and suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of the Saturday’s 20-17 win over the San Diego Chargers, the Browns’ first victory of the season.
Head coach Hue Jackson was not ready to name a starter on Monday.
Cowboys plan to play starters
The Dallas Cowboys, who already have clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, plan to play their starters in the final two regular-season games, including Monday night against the Detroit Lions.
Coach Jason Garrett said he will give quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and the other starters a normal workload against the Lions.
49ers RB Hyde suffers MCL injury
San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde suffered a serious MCL injury in Saturday’s game and will miss the last contest of the season, according to multiple reports.
A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Hyde tore his MCL. He will miss Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.