“EVERYTHING IS GOOD! JUST WASN’T HAPPY WITH WHAT WAS GOING ON BARELY GETTING ANY PLAYING TIME. IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON,” he told the website in a text message.
“I’ve been the leading receiver [on the Titans] for two years. Then all of a sudden I’m barely playing and not even starting,” Matthews added. “Using my injury as the scapegoat. Look at number of snaps and targets.”
Earlier Wednesday, Matthews posted on Instagram: “Daddy is home for good until someone calls him to get off the couch.”
He was not at the Titans’ facility for what coach Mike Vrabel categorized as personal reasons.
In August, Matthews signed a one-year contract extension with the Titans that had a base value of $7.75 million. He missed all of training camp due to a knee injury.
The veteran wideout was off to a slow start this season, catching only three of six targets for a total of 11 yards. His six targets are tied for fifth on the Titans. He played 36 snaps against the Miami Dolphins in the season opener, followed by 28 snaps in Week 2 and 31 in Week 3.
Matthews filled in as a punt returner on Sunday, after cornerback Adoree’ Jackson was knocked out of the Titans’ win over the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a concussion.
Matthews’ role on the team diminished as second-year wide receiver Taywan Taylor and third-year wideout Tajae Sharpe saw their snaps increase. Now, Tennessee will rely on Taylor and Sharpe, along with Darius Jennings and Nick Williams, to make up for the loss of Matthews.
In what could be perceived as criticism of the coaching staff, New York Jets safety Jamal Adams said Tuesday the defense wasn’t prepared for rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, who came off the bench on Thursday to spark the Cleveland Browns to their first win in 20 games.
With the struggling Patriots preparing to host the 3-0 Dolphins, it’s time to ask if the AFC East balance of power might be shifting.
“We had to be open to knowing that Baker could come in, but we were prepared for Tyrod,” Adams said during his weekly paid spot on WFAN radio in New York. “When Baker came in, obviously we didn’t have a game plan for him. But hats off to him. He came in, he definitely played lights out. They gained momentum, and we just couldn’t grab it back.”
The Jets dominated Taylor, who was held to 19 yards on 14 attempts before leaving late in the second quarter with a concussion. The Jets led 14-0 when Mayfield entered the game in his NFL debut.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft rallied the Browns to a 21-17 victory, completing 17 of 23 passes for 201 yards.
The Jets have dropped two straight after a blowout win over the Detroit Lions in their opener.
Adams said he had no idea that Taylor was injured.
“We didn’t see it happening. I’m just being honest,” he said. “Tyrod goes down. I didn’t find out that Tyrod had a concussion until after the game. I thought they took him out. Injuries occur and the next man up. We weren’t prepared for him.
“They’re very similar guys in ways they can move in the pocket and throw the football. At the same time, we stuck to our game plan. Baker came in and he played phenomenal. Hats off to him.”
Prior to the game, Adams was hopeful of facing Mayfield.
In pregame Jamal Adams said with tons of confidence he wants Baker Mayfield on the field tonight. Wish granted kid.
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) September 21, 2018
Jets coach Todd Bowles, who was unavailable Tuesday, said after Thursday’s contest that Mayfield ran the same plays as Taylor, so the Jets didn’t have to make wholesale adjustments. He said they were prepared for both quarterbacks.
Adams declined to comment after the game, bolting the locker room after an interview with SNY TV, which partners with the team.
So far, Adams is the only player who has publicly questioned the game plan.
This isn’t the first time Adams has made controversial comments. In August, he was critical of the team’s culture in 2017, telling Bleacher Report that “everybody was used to losing” and “everybody wanted to do the bare minimum.” In the same story, he expressed confidence the chemistry would be better in 2018.
Adams, drafted sixth overall in 2017, is one of the Jets’ top players. He has one interception and one sack in three games.
TAMPA, Fla. — Winning overshadows all drama. The Steelers said it all week, then proved it to be true — barely — with a performance that, at least temporarily, quells swirling concern in Pittsburgh.
Ben Roethlisberger was brilliant in a 30-27 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, and the defense coupled its quarterback’s best road performance in years with a four-turnover night.
Most of the positives came in the first half. The second half was a near-implosion thanks to the Bucs’ 17 unanswered points and the Steelers’ barrage of mental mistakes.
Fitzmagic morphed back into Ryan Fitzpatrick, then back to Fitzmagic late, but a defense that looked woefully unprepared in Week 2 against Kansas City got to the quarterback early.
Instead of panicking over a winless start through two games, the Steelers — winners of six straight on Monday Night Football — hunkered down and stuck to their plan.
Roethlisberger said during the week he would try to set a tone, and 353 yards later, the Steelers offense can imagine the possibilities. Decisive and aggressive, Roethlisberger completed 26 of his first 31 passes and 30-of-38 overall, including a sidearm, falling-down dime to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the final minutes to seal the game.
Roethlisberger starts a season with back-to-back-to-back games of 300 or more yards for the first time in his career, thanks in part to a masterful two-minute drill to end the first half. With 1:17 left, Roethlisberger smoothly completed 8-of-9 passes for 75 yards and a 1-yard touchdown to Ryan Switzer.
This is the 56th 300-yard game of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s career, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
Without much of a running game, Roethlisberger and the passing offense has more than 800 yards over two weeks.
The offense wanted to utilize McDonald’s speed to offset Tampa’s speedy linebackers. McDonald used that speed after he trucked safety Chris Conte with an open-field stiff arm on his way to a 75-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
On defense, cornerbacks wanted to keep Tampa Bay playmakers in front of them, avoiding the chunk gains and reducing mental errors. The defense is at its best when rushing the passer and creating turnovers. Sacking Fitzpatrick three times and creating four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble) offset Fitzpatrick’s big yardage day.
DETROIT — Marvin Jones had just caught the pass from Matthew Stafford at the end zone, beating Stefon Gilmore across the field. He let go of the ball, ran to the back of the end zone and opened his arms up wide.
Almost like a signal of welcome in, Detroit is going to be here, too. That the bottom of the NFC North, which seemed like it could be where the Lions were headed based off performances against the Jets and 49ers, was not a certainty.
Not after Sunday night, after a 26-10 win over New England on national television that looked almost as dominant in a win as they looked dominated by New York in a Week 1 loss.
After two weeks of poor football, of questions about whether or not the Lions could be good at all this year, Jones’ touchdown and welcoming arms felt like a cathartic moment for a team frustrated for weeks.
The league’s best team over the past decade inside Ford Field, the legendary coach that taught this Detroit staff much of what it knows on the other sideline, this seemed so bad for the Lions entering Sunday night. Bill Belichick usually decimates his pupils. Not on this night, with the Lions desperately needing a win to reverse momentum on a season that started sour. Matthew Stafford hit passes early. The Lions, in the combination of Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount, found a run game. The Lions’ defense held New England to three straight three-and-outs to start the game.
Games like this just weren’t contests Detroit won over the last half decade. The Lions mostly feasted on teams in the bottom half of the NFL, without much pedigree to build on. Good teams? Nah, Detroit couldn’t beat them and often times struggled to hang with them.
Lions receiver Marvin Jones looks toward the stands after scoring on a 33-yard pass reception against the Patriots on Sunday. AP Photo/Rick Osentoski
But this was different. This was strong football on offense — with almost perfect balance of 33 runs and 36 passes. There was diversity and creativity in formations. Detroit even had a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 70 games, Kerryon Johnson’s 101 yards snapping the fourth-longest streak without a 100-yard rusher in NFL history.
This was the type of game the Lions had hired Matt Patricia for in the first place, to find a strong complement of offense and defense. To have a team that limited mistakes. To have a team that won big games on its schedule, ones that were in the national spotlight. Sunday night was all of these things — and Detroit played its best game, considering its opponent, since maybe that Thanksgiving game in 2013 when the Lions beat the Packers, 40-10, and Detroit had its last 100-yard rusher, Reggie Bush. Even in that game, though, the Lions trailed for much of the first half.
Here, on Sunday night, there was none of that. Detroit led the entire game and felt like it controlled it from the start, too. There is a lot of season left, to be sure, and as the NFL showed this week — with Minnesota losing at home to Buffalo and Green Bay falling to Washington and then Detroit’s win over New England — unpredictability often rules in this league.
But if the Lions can play closer to the way it did Sunday night than the first two weeks of the season, they should be a competitive team for most of the season.
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