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NFL

WR Marshall eyes Giants return, Hall of Fame

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Wide receiver Brandon Marshall wants to return to the New York Giants next season. He thinks there are two quality years left in his 33-year-old body, and he wants to complete a résumé that will lead him to the Hall of Fame.

Marshall signed a two-year deal with the Giants last offseason. He missed the final 11 games of this season with an ankle injury that required surgery.

It hasn’t stopped him from training and rehabbing at the team facility. He has been working as if there is life after 2017.

“I’m all-in on football. I’ve rebuilt my body. I think I’m two great years away from — and I’ll say it, I want to be a Hall of Famer, and I think I got two great years to go to be mentioned with some of the greats,” Marshall said. “I’m not just playing this game just to be a guy; I want to be remembered for the product that I put out on the field.

“So these last few years have been tough, last year with the Jets, this year with the Giants. But I’m hopeful that the next couple years for me will be some amazing years and some of my best work.”

Brandon Marshall has one more year on his deal with the Giants and could earn up to $5.5 million, but he produced just 18 catches for 154 yards in five games this season before being injured. Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire

Marshall is said to be progressing well in his rehab. He is already running and will be doing so without restrictions in a couple of weeks.

Newly hired general manager Dave Gettleman will have a decision to make. Marshall should be healthy and is signed for one more year. He could earn up to $5.5 million, but he produced just 18 catches for 154 yards in five games before suffering the injury and needing surgery.

Marshall understands the reality of the situation.

“You know how it is, you get to the plus side of 30, a production slip, you get injured, the business side of it, history says that you’re going to get cut or they are going to ask you to take a pay cut,” he said. “That’s the business side of it, that’s history. So I’m prepared for that. I’ve had a lot of change in my life, but one of the reasons why I came to this organization was for stability and also not to be an environment that we created this year, right? So I was looking for more stability, but I’m built for this and I’ll learn from it.”

Does that mean he would be open to a pay cut to return to the Giants?

“Well, one, it’s not about the money for me,” Marshall said. “I’ve done well, my wife and I, we’ve done a great job. So it’s not about the money. I’m good for life, my kids are good for life. But I’m back to my beast, bullish, Brandon Marshall ways. The things that you guys have seen get me in trouble Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, I’m back to that type of mentality. I want it all. It’s about respect, it’s about finishing strong, and although it’s not about the money, but I’m approaching it as whatever is for me, I want it all. If that’s $100,000, $500,000, $1 million, I want it all. Whatever I’m worth, I want it all.”

Marshall is on his fifth professional team. He has played for the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears, in addition to the Jets and Giants. He has 959 career catches for 12,215 yards and 82 touchdowns. He’s currently top 25 all time in catches and receiving touchdowns.

What’s noticeably missing from his potential Hall of Fame résumé is playoff production. Marshall has never appeared in a postseason game throughout his 12-year career.

He was hoping that would change with the Giants. Instead, this season was a disaster. The Giants (2-13) lost three wide receivers for the season — including Marshall and Odell Beckham Jr. — in one Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. It didn’t get much better from there.

After experiencing his share of problems throughout his career, Marshall admittedly tried to lay low with the Giants. He said it felt good not to be in the middle of the drama for once.

The veteran receiver tried to play a different role with the Giants this year. He’s one of the players embattled cornerback Eli Apple said he had conversations with throughout the season and offered advice.

Marshall is attempting to serve as a resource and mentor.

“I do have compassion for him. I talk to him and I want to spend time with him this offseason,” Marshall said.

“And I told him it’s not about football. I want to help him get through this because, from my story, I ended up in a mental institute for three months,” Marshall said, referencing his journey to a borderline personality disorder diagnosis, which led to him becoming a passionate advocate for mental health. “I was in the outpatient program because, like so many other guys, we were Atlas, you know the guy who was holding up the world. You’re holding up your family and everybody around, right? What that does to a person, especially a young kid fresh out of college with no life experiences, that can break somebody down.”

Marshall knows. He says he made it through similar experiences early in a career that he hopes has a couple of years remaining.

Soccer

Mutko steps down from World Cup's local organising committee
Russia's deputy prime minister and the Russian Football Union (RFU) president Vitaly Mutko meets with the media after a session of the RFU executive committee in Moscow on December 25, 2017. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, who has been hit with a lifetime ban from the Olympic Games over doping, on December 25, 2017 said he is suspending his role as president of the Russian Football Union while he contests the ban in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. / AFP PHOTO / Alexander NEMENOV

ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP / Getty

Vitaly Mutko has quit for the second time in two days.

As detailed by the Associated Press, Mutko stepped down as chairman of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee on Wednesday, and told Russian news agencies that he would be replaced by Alexei Sokorin, the chief executive officer of the committee. The announcement came just one day after Russia’s deputy prime minister suspended his work as the president of the Football Union of Russia.

Mutko was excluded from any participation in all future Olympic Games as the International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for “the systematic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system in Russia” during the Winter Olympic Games of Sochi 2014. At the time, he was Russia’s minister of sport.

According to the Guardian’s David Conn, FIFA removed Cornel Borbely as chairman of the Ethics Committee’s Investigatory Chamber while he was on Mutko’s trail, investigating the alleged role of the deputy prime minister in state-sponsored doping.

NFL

Rams may rest starters for finale vs. 49ers

Several key Los Angeles Rams starters may sit for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

First-year head coach Sean McVay indicated Tuesday that the Rams, who clinched a division title last week, prefer to keep key players fresh as opposed to fighting for positioning in the NFC playoffs. The Rams (11-4) don’t have a chance at a first-round bye and will either be the third or fourth seed.

“Every single game is important,” McVay told the media from the team facility in Thousand Oaks, California. “But I think it will provide an opportunity for us to potentially get some guys healthier, rest them, give some other guys a chance to step up. How that affects the guys that are healthy that we want to be smart with is going to be determined as the week progresses. But it is one of those deals where I think you might see us rest some guys.”

The Rams would more than likely rest veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan for Sunday’s home game against the 49ers. If that’s the case, quarterback Jared Goff and running back Todd Gurley II probably would not play either. Sean Mannion is Goff’s backup and Malcolm Brown would stand to get the majority of the carries in Gurley’s absence.

McVay also mentioned inside linebackers Mark Barron and Alec Ogletree as candidates to not play. Other key veterans — such as receivers Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, defensive linemen Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers, outside linebackers Robert Quinn and Connor Barwin, cornerback Trumaine Johnson, safety Lamarcus Joyner and offensive lineman Rodger Saffold — could also at least see a limited workload.

“You don’t ever take anything for granted, but knowing that you do have a home playoff game regardless of how things play out, this might provide an opportunity for us to get some guys healthy,” McVay said. “That’s a luxury that we want to try to take advantage of.”

A loss to the division-rival 49ers, who are 4-0 since Jimmy Garoppolo became the starting quarterback, would drop the Rams to the No. 4 seed if the New Orleans Saints (11-4) beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-11). If the Saints lose, the Carolina Panthers (11-4) can take the No. 3 seed from the Rams by beating the Atlanta Falcons (9-6).

The Rams are guaranteed to host the first round, and not drop below the No. 4 seed, because they have already won the NFC West. Regardless of whether they are third or fourth, they would have to travel for the second round of the playoffs, to face either the first-place Philadelphia Eagles (13-2) or the second-place Minnesota Vikings (12-3).

Todd Gurley II is having an MVP-level season for the Rams, but sitting out the regular season finale may hurt his chances. AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

The Rams are currently lined up to host the Falcons in the first round, but the Seattle Seahawks are also in the running.

“I think really what we’ve discussed is when you really take into consideration that there’s four potential teams that we can play — all of them are very, very good football teams, and however it plays out, you’re going to be on the road the following week,” McVay said. “When you look at getting guys healthy, knowing that you are going to be able to play a home playoff game, and then you think about kind of the risk-reward, we feel like that’s probably going to be the best decision, is to rest some of those guys for our team.”

Ogletree and Barron, in particular, could benefit from a rest. Ogletree has been playing through a hyperextended left elbow and Barron was a surprising inactive for Sunday’s game because of what McVay deemed a sore Achilles tendon, calling it a “day-to-day” injury.

Resting Gurley could hurt his chances at the MVP. The Rams’ running back leads the NFL with 2,093 scrimmage yards and 19 touchdowns, but is going up against Tom Brady for an award that traditionally goes to quarterbacks. The biggest concern for the Rams, however, revolves around key players potentially being rusty for the playoffs if they take a game off.

McVay recalled the way the Rams played coming off their bye week, in a 51-17 road win over the New York Giants in Week 9.

“I love the way that our team came off the bye,” said McVay, who also expressed concern about starters playing in the regular-season finale with fear of getting injured.

“When you talk about the timing and rhythm from an offensive standpoint, I thought it was one of our more productive games where we’re hitting deep balls, we’re able to run the football, have a nice little bit of balance, guys are making plays. I think we’ve got the right types of guys that can handle that the right way and understand how we need to practice and what we need to do in the meantime if it is a situation where they’re not going to play this coming week.”

McVay also announced that Matt Longacre, a key rotational edge rusher, will be placed on injured reserve with a back injury. That would prompt Samson Ebukam and Carlos Thompson to step up as backups at outside linebacker for starters Robert Quinn and Connor Barwin.

The Rams’ new kicker, Sam Ficken, will remain with the team, McVay added. Ficken, an undrafted free agent out of Penn State in 2015, beat out 11 other kickers in a tryout last week to replace Greg Zuerlein. Ficken then missed an extra point and a 36-yard field goal to start Sunday’s eventual 27-23 win over the Tennessee Titans, which served as his first NFL regular-season game. But he recovered to make his next three extra points.

“There was a reason why we signed him — because he had a great workout, his resume kind of going back to what he’s doing in college is something that we felt good about, and we’re going to continue to give him an opportunity,” McVay said. “We believe in Sam. Like we said, we loved the way that he responded. And I think this week will provide a great chance for him to continue to do some things for our team. We’re going to move forward with confidence in him.”

NFL

Eagles clinch No. 1 seed in playoffs, but look shaky against Raiders

PHILADELPHIA — The good news for the Philadelphia Eagles is they secured the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with a 19-10 win against the Oakland Raiders. The bad news is they once again looked shaky while doing so.

For the second straight week, the Eagles found themselves in a dog fight with a bad team. Coach Doug Pederson likened what happened the previous Sunday against the New York Giants — a nail-biter in which an anemic Giants offense racked up more than 500 yards and 29 points — to his old days coaching high school ball, when a power team would enter overly confident against a lesser opponent and get caught off guard. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz cited a lack of urgency, suggesting his unit had grown accustomed to winning easily and wasn’t playing with the same fire from start to finish. Both agreed that these were important lessons to learn before the postseason, and that the Eagles would be better off for having been battle-tested.

Nick Foles completed just 19 of 38 passes for 163 yards with a touchdown and an interception on Monday. He and the Eagles converted just 1 of 14 third downs. AP Photo/Michael Perez

Monday night’s performance raises the possibility that the team’s issues might go beyond the need for a mentality shift.

Last week, the defense was the issue. This time around, it was the normally reliable offense that struggled. Quarterback Nick Foles (19-of-38, 163 yards, TD, INT) came back to earth following a four-touchdown outing against New York.

He was off-target on a number of throws — including a pair to tight end Zach Ertz deep in Oakland territory that could have put them in control. His high pass on a short throw to Ertz midway through the fourth quarter tipped off Ertz’s outstretched hand and was intercepted by safety Reggie Nelson. If not for the defense’s efforts, that could have been the game’s key moment. Behind Foles, a team that had been red-hot on third down went just 1-for-14 in those situations.

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Former starting quarterback Carson Wentz attended a game for the first time since tearing the ACL in his left knee against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14. Using crutches to get around, he joined his teammates on the sidelines pregame before heading to a team box, where cameras showed him taking notes throughout the game. For the first time, his presence on the field was truly missed.

Still, the Eagles found a way to pull the game out — just as they did against New York the week prior. A Ronald Darby interception of Derek Carr late in the fourth quarter set up a go-ahead 48-yard Jake Elliott field goal with 22 seconds remaining, and the defense capped the night with a Derek Barnett fumble return for a touchdown. The win moves them to 13-2 on the season and ensures that they will not have to leave Lincoln Financial Field until a potential trip to Minneapolis in February for the Super Bowl.

The odds are in their favor historically. Since the 1990 format expansion, there have been 54 No. 1 seeds. Twenty-eight have made it to the Super Bowl (52 percent success rate), and 13 have won it (24 percent). Pederson can rest some of his players in the regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys if he chooses, and the Eagles then get to sit back and watch the wild-card round, knowing that the NFC playoffs run through their back yard.

Despite the record, they have not looked like the team to beat of late. Whether they’re able to click back into gear won’t be known until the divisional round of the playoffs.

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