COWBOYS
Weeden’s time may be up
IRVING, Texas — Brandon Weeden didn’t last long as the starter in Cleveland. Now he might not make it to the end of his temporary assignment filling in for the injured Tony Romo in Dallas. On Sunday, Weeden couldn’t move the offense while the Cowboys had heavy pressure on Tom Brady with a defense rejuvenated by the return of Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain from suspensions.
After Brady and Super Bowl champion New England got rolling in a 30-6 victory, Dallas Coach Jason Garrett essentially declared the quarterback competition open with Romo missing at least four more games because of a broken left collarbone.
Weeden is 0-3 as Romo’s replacement, extending his personal losing streak to 11 starts going back to his days as a first-round pick by the Browns. And Matt Cassel, acquired in a trade with Buffalo after Romo’s injury, was active for the first time with the Cowboys on Sunday.
The Cowboys (2-3) have the bye to consider a switch to Cassel. Their next game is Oct. 25 at the New York Giants. “I don’t really believe in making changes for change sake,” Garrett said Monday. “If you just start changing things for the hell of it, everybody starts looking around like, ‘What are these guys doing?’ We have core beliefs. We have convictions about how we want to do things.”
Weeden had 36 yards passing at halftime Sunday, and the running game wasn’t much help as it continues to struggle without DeMarco Murray, who led the NFL in rushing last season before leaving for Philadelphia in free agency.
The problems for Dallas are compounded by the absence of star receiver Dez Bryant, who could return against the Giants after breaking his right foot in the opener against them. Romo went down the next week.
Cassel started 71 games over seven seasons with New England, Kansas City and Minnesota — nearly three times as many starts as Weeden. He led the Patriots to an 11-5 record after Brady went down with a season-ending knee injury in the 2008 opener.
CARDINALS
LB Freeney signs deal
TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona signed veteran defensive end/outside linebacker Dwight Freeney to a one-year contract, a person with knowledge of the situation said Monday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the signing had not been officially announced by the club.
The move comes after the Cardinals’ top outside pass rusher, Alex Okafor, went down with a calf injury in Sunday’s 42-17 victory at Detroit.
Freeney, 35, a seven-time Pro Bowl player, ranks 21st in the NFL in career sacks with 111½ and led the league with 16 sacks in 2004.
JAGUARS
Bortles sprains shoulder
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles sprained his throwing shoulder in a 38-31 loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday. The team said Bortles suffered a “Grade 1 AC joint sprain” early in the game but played through it. Coach Gus Bradley said Bortles should be able to play against Houston on Sunday.
Bortles completed 23 of 33 passes for 303 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception against the Buccaneers. He also was sacked a season-high six times.
“Don’t be surprised if you don’t see him out there Wednesday,” Bradley said. “If he could practice Wednesday, it would be a situation where we don’t want him to be sore and affect his throwing mechanics. But we think he should be OK.”
BROWNS
Concussion for DB Haden
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden will likely miss one game with a concussion he sustained during Sunday’s 33-30 overtime victory at Baltimore.
Haden, who was already playing with a broken right ring finger, got hurt when he came up to stop a screen pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. Coach Mike Pettine said Monday that Haden has been placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Haden sat out last week’s game with the broken finger but received injections and played with a padded glove against the Ravens.
Also, Browns quarterback Josh Mc-Cown said he will continue to receive treatment on his left ankle, which he rolled late in the game. McCown passed for 457 yards — a franchise regular-season game record. He’s hoping to be able to play this week when the Browns host Denver.
COLTS
QB Luck back at practice
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck returned to full participation for Monday’s practice for the first time in two weeks.
He is still listed as day-to-day with a sore right shoulder and has been limited in practice since leading Indianapolis to a 35-33 victory at Tennessee on Sept.
- The Colts (3-2) host defending Super Bowl champion New England (4-0) on Sunday night.
Luck said he is hopeful to play against the Patriots after missing the past two games — at Houston last Thursday and Jacksonville last Sunday.
Luck wouldn’t go into detail about what exactly he did in practice and Indianapolis Coach Chuck Pagano didn’t reveal much either.