NFL notebook: Bears' Miller has emergency vascular surgery

Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller will remain in the hospital following Sunday night's emergency vascular surgery on his leg after he suffered a dislocated left knee in the game against the New Orleans Saints.

The 33-year-old Miller is at University Medical Center in New Orleans after doctors performed "urgent vascular surgery" to stabilize his devastating injury, which was diagnosed as a torn popliteal artery in his left leg, the Bears announced Monday.

"During our game at the New Orleans Saints yesterday, TE Zach Miller sustained a serious injury to his left knee and immediate evaluation from our medical team on site rushed him to nearby University Medical Center New Orleans (UMC) for urgent vascular surgery to repair a torn popliteal artery," the Bears said in a statement. "Successful surgery was performed immediately on Sunday by the UMC vascular surgeons to stabilize his injury.

"Zach remains at UMC, along with Bears medical personnel, where he will stay under further evaluation. We are thinking of Zach and his family and support from our entire organization goes out to them."

Surgeons were called in to save Miller's injured leg, league and team sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen earlier Monday. Miller underwent an MRI on Monday as doctors evaluated the blood flow and overall anatomy of his leg, sources told Mortensen.

--The NFL suspended Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman 10 games for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing substances.

This is the second time the league has suspended Freeman. He missed four games in 2016 for the same violation.

Freeman, in his sixth season from Mary Hardin-Baylor, will begin serving his suspension immediately and will not be paid. He currently is on injured reserve after suffering a torn pectoral and concussion. He will miss eight games this season and two games in 2018.

--Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien is trying to keep his players focused after a weekend of dealing with team owner Bob McNair's "inmates running the prison" comment.

All but 10 Texans players kneeled and linked arms during the national anthem before Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks in protest of the owner's comment. O'Brien was asked about the keys to keeping players focused, a day after the 41-38 loss at the Seattle Seahawks.

"Understand the players' feelings," O'Brien told reporters regarding the issue. "Understand that you have 63 guys in that locker room that come from all different types of backgrounds, all different parts of the country.

"Make sure you listen to the players, and at the end of the day, you support the players. The players are the ones going out there and putting it on the line for us every week. I feel like our coaching staff and our players have a very important bond, and that's key. That's why I've always, since I started coaching when I was a graduate assistant, it's always been about the players for me."

--Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck does not appear to be close to returning to the practice field because of soreness in his surgically repaired right shoulder.

The soreness continues to persist and now it has the Colts looking for answers, a league source told the Indianapolis Star. The soreness prompted the team to shut down Luck two weeks ago after he finally returned to practice on Oct. 4.

The 28-year-old Luck plans to see additional shoulder specialists in the coming days to find the source of the soreness, according to multiple reports. One of those visits to a specialist is scheduled for Monday, a source told ESPN.

--The Arizona Cardinals promoted linebacker Bryson Albright to the active roster from the practice squad.

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Albright joined the Cardinals' practice squad on Sept. 4. He spent the preseason with the Cincinnati Bengals until he was released on Sept. 2

Albright appeared in one game with Buffalo in 2016 and split his rookie season between the Bills' active roster and practice squad. He entered the NFL with Buffalo last year as an undrafted free agent out of Miami (Ohio).

NFL notebook: Texans protest owner's comment

The majority of Houston Texans players kneeled and linked arms during the national anthem before Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks in response to team owner Bob McNair making his "inmates running the prison" comment.

About 10 Texans players stood during the anthem.

In addition, some of the Seahawks' defensive line again sat on the bench during the anthem -- Michael Bennett, Sheldon Richardson, Cliff Avril, Jarran Reed, Frank Clark, Quinton Jefferson, Marcus Smith, Branden Jackson and Nazair Jones, according to ESPN.

Another defensive lineman, Dion Jordan, stood next to those players along with offensive linemen Justin Britt and Oday Aboushi. Linebacker Michael Wilhoite again took a knee.

After his comment -- "We can't have the inmates running the prison" -- reported by ESPN The Magazine became public Friday, McNair apologized, met with the Texans players and issued two statements.

--Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller was carted off the field with a left leg injury in the third quarter of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints.

Miller appeared to have caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, but he landed awkwardly on his left leg. After an official review, the scoring catch was reversed because the officials ruled Miller did not maintain control throughout the catch.

Miller was carted off, and the official's ruling was announced. If the catch had stood, the Bears would have cut the Saints' lead to 14-10. They settled for a 44-yard field goal by Connor Barth, cutting the deficit to 14-6.

--The Washington Redskins were without three starting offensive linemen as they faced the Dallas Cowboys at FedEx Field on Sunday.

Listed among Sunday's inactives were tackle Trent Williams (knee), center Spencer Long (knee) and guard Brandon Scherff (knee/back). In addition, top offensive line backup, tackle Ty Nsekhe (core muscle), was out and starting right tackle Morgan Moses was playing on a pair of sprained ankles.

On defense, the Redskins were minus cornerback Bashaud Breeland (knee) and linebacker Mason Foster (shoulder), who was placed on injured reserve this week, but regained the services of cornerback Josh Norman (rib), who missed the last two games.

--The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a depleted secondary in Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium.

Cornerbacks Brent Grimes (shoulder) and Robert McClain (concussion protocol) were on the inactive list for Tampa Bay. Additionally, the Bucs are without defensive end Noah Spence, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.

The Panthers were without center Ryan Kalil (neck), who missed two games before returning and aggravating the injury last week in a 17-3 loss against the Chicago Bears.

NFL notebook: Cardinals' Palmer possibly out for season

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer suffered a broken left arm in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Twickenham Stadium in London.

Palmer will have surgery when the team returns to Arizona, coach Bruce Arians said after the game. Arians expects Palmer to miss at least eight weeks and might be lost for the season.

Palmer was injured on an interception in the second quarter after taking a hit from linebacker Alec Ogletree just as the quarterback released the ball.

Palmer's pass was intercepted by safety Lamarcus Joyner. Palmer was 10 of 18 for 122 yards with the one interception when he exited the game. The Rams led 23-0 at halftime.

Drew Stanton, a 10-year NFL veteran, replaced Palmer.

--Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler left Sunday's game against the New York Jets due to cracked ribs, according to multiple reports.

Cutler, who tossed two touchdown passes in the first half, was hit hard by Jets linebacker Jordan Jenkins and left the game in the third quarter clutching his chest.

NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport tweeted that Cutler is feared to have cracked ribs and that he will likely miss Thursday's game against Baltimore pending test results.

Matt Moore replaced Cutler at quarterback against the Jets.

--Cleveland Browns All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas was knocked out of Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans with a left triceps injury with 5:31 left in the third quarter. He didn't return.

Thomas was replaced by Spencer Drango.

Thomas never missed a snap in his NFL career prior to the injury. He played 10,363 consecutive snaps over 10-plus seasons.

--Buffalo Bills cornerback E.J. Gaines left Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a hamstring injury.

The injury occurred when Gaines tackled Buccaneers wide receiver DeSean Jackson after a long completion that was called back due to a holding penalty.

Gaines missed the Bills' previous game before the bye week with a groin injury. The Bills acquired Gaines from the Los Angeles Rams during the preseason in a trade for wide receiver Sammy Watkins.

Shareece Wright replaced Gaines in the Bills' lineup.

--Buffalo Bills kicker Stephen Hauschka tied an NFL record on Sunday by making his 12th consecutive field goal attempt of at least 50 yards.

Hauschka's 52-yard field goal gave the Bills a 20-13 lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early in the fourth quarter. It was his fifth field goal of 50 yards or more this season. He made two each in Buffalo's victories over the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons.

Blair Walsh, Robbie Gould, Justin Tucker and Matt Prater share the record with Hauschka.

Hauschka, who spent the past six seasons with Seattle, last missed from 50-plus yards in the Seahawks' win over the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 21, 2014. He missed from 50 and 52 yards in that game.

--Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette was declared inactive for Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts because of an ankle injury.

Fournette suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of last Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The first-round rookie did not practice all week and was listed as questionable.

Fournette, the fourth overall pick out of LSU, is second in the league in rushing (596 yards) and carries (130) with six touchdowns in six games. He also has 15 catches for 136 yards and one TD.

Running back Chris Ivory started for the Jaguars. He has rushed for 162 yards on 40 carries with 16 catches for 143 yards and one touchdown.

-- New York Giants starting middle linebacker B.J. Goodson suffered an ankle injury at the end of the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium.

It was unclear what happened to Goodson, who was injured on the Seahawks' final drive of the first half, but he immediately came off the field and went into the locker room for evaluation. He was ruled out to start the third quarter.

The Giants came into the game thin at the linebacker spot. Defensive captain and starting weakside linebacker Jonathan Casillas was inactive with a neck injury while backup middle linebacker Calvin Munson was inactive after suffering a quad injury last week.

With Goodson out, Keenan Robinson took over making the calls in the defensive huddle.

-- Dallas Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey sustained a right groin injury and was ruled out for the rest of the game in the first half of Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.

The Cowboys went for two points but failed after a touchdown with 10:26 left in the half with Dallas leading 20-3. Cowboys safety Jeff Heath then kicked off to the 49ers.

Heath made two of three extra-point attempts in the game.