Week 9 was not particularly kind to former Eagles throughout the NFL

It wasn’t a particularly good week for former Eagles players throughout the NFL, but it sure was notable. From Sam Bradford being released, to Matt Barkley getting signing, and even Caleb Sturgis returning to the doghouse for the Chargers, Week 9 was filled with drama — not for the Eagles of course, who thankfully were on bye.

Here are some of the highlights:

Chargers are not happy with their kicker

After missing a couple weeks due to a quad injury, the Chargers released their short-term kicker Michael Badgley, and gave the duties back to former Eagle Caleb Sturgis.

Things did not go well in Week 9.

Sure, the Chargers beat the Seahawks 25-17 (after a failed last-minute touchdown pass by Seattle), but it wouldn’t have been nearly as close if Sturgis had made either of his two field goal attempts, or more than one of his three point after kicks. But, he didn’t. In his return in Week 9, Sturgis hit just one point after, leaving eight possible points on the field.

From Charean Williams at ProFootball Talk, NBC Sports:

“You don’t just throw [players] out when they’re down,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said of Sturgis’ future, via Ryan Kartje of the Orange County Register. “We try to help them and bring them back. But he didn’t kick well today. So we have to reevaluate the whole situation.”

Lynn quickly ended any further questions about Sturgis: “We won the football game,” Lynn said. “Don’t really want to talk about the kicking right now.”

Not exactly a roaring vote of confidence.

Buffalo’s offense is a disaster

Well, Matt Barkley found a way to extend his NFL career just a bit longer. Just after the NFL trade deadline, the Bills made the move to sign the former Eagles draft pick after their QB situation went from bad to worse after Week 8.

“Veteran Matt Barkley arrives in a battered quarterback room to help the unit after Derek Anderson was injured on Monday night. That follows rookie quarterback Josh Allen already being injured. Now, there’s some doubt if Allen will return at all this year.”
—Dan Lavoie, Buffalo Rumblings

Barkley was briefly with the Bengals this offseason, but was added to IR after injuring his knee, and then eventually released altogether.

He didn’t play in Week 9, but starter Nathan Peterman threw three interceptions and zero touchdowns (despite one rushing score), so it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Barkley gets more than time on the bench.

Things aren’t much better for running back LeSean McCoy, who despite a long list of rumors, wasn’t traded ahead of the deadline. After last week’s Monday Night Football matchup against the Patriots, McCoy couldn’t hold back his frustrations:

“In 10 years, I’ve had bad games, but just the flow, the season, everything is just bad,” McCoy said following Monday night’s loss, Buffalo’s fourth time in six losses scoring fewer than seven points. “The hard work that we put in, the hard work I’ve put in my whole life, my whole career, for it to happen like this every game, it’s tough. You see the defense out there just grinding. So it is frustrating.”

Heading into the Bills’ Week 9 game against the Bears, McCoy had just 257 yards from 75 carries, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry, and zero touchdowns. And on Sunday against Chicago, Shady had just 10 yards on 10 carries, and left the facility before reporters could get to him after the game.

Cardinals release $20 million QB

That’s right. During their bye week, the Arizona Cardinals decided to part ways with quarterback Sam Bradford, their $20 million anchor, and continue on with Josh Rosen at the helm.

Here’s BLG’s (correct) take on the situation:

If they were going to be so reckless about making a quarterback acquisition this offseason — and they were — why couldn’t they have done it in a way that helped the Eagles? You know, maybe fork over Patrick Peterson or a couple draft picks for Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles?

But no. The Cardinals insisted on signing an injury-prone Sam Bradford to a one-year contract worth $20 MILLION with $15 million guaranteed. Everyone with a brain knew that was a horrible move that wasn’t going to work out. And hey, guess what? It didn’t work out! Bradford was rightfully benched after just three starts and now he’s a free agent again since Arizona cut him.

The hope here is that Bradford finds a way to return to the NFC East. Not to the Eagles, of course, but rather to a team that employs a man who has consistently been in Bradford’s corner throughout his career: Pat Shurmur. The early word is the Giants have no interest in adding him ... but maybe that changes after this season if/when New York moves on from Eli Manning and Sammy Sleeves becomes their new “bridge quarterback.”

Breaking: The Raiders are bad

The Oakland Raiders under Jon Gruden have not been good. There’s been numerous reports of issues in the locker room, and their new head coach for the next decade is getting rid of some of the best talent they had to build around. Sure, things are fine.

Daryl Worley may have missed the first four games due to suspension, but he came back won the starting role over second-year player Gareon Conley. Worley has had some big games since his return, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday Night Football when the Raiders lost 3-34 against the 49ers, and Worley claimed just three total tackles and two pass breakups.

What was dubbed the “Battle of the Bay” quickly became a slaughtering — and this was all while San Francisco played their No. 3 quarterback Nick Mullens, who literally no one had heard of before he was named the starter.

Mullens is a first-year player out of Southern Mississippi, and was brought up from the team’s practice squad. In his first taste of NFL action, Mullens went 16-of-22 for 262 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71 yard long pass.

Other Notables

• ICYMI: The NFL finally put an end date on the suspension of linebacker Mychal Kendricks.
• The Buccaneers lost to the Panthers in an ugly, 28-42 matchup on Sunday afternoon. Former Eagles DT Beau Allen had just one tackle in Week 9, and Vinny Curry — who is back after missing several weeks with an ankle injury — also snagged just one tackle. Receiver DeSean Jackson didn’t have a much better game, even with Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm, and had just two receptions for 34 yards against Carolina.
• The Lions have an offense problem now that the Eagles traded for Golden Tate, and one former Eagles rusher isn’t enough for them to succeed. Detroit lost to the Vikings 9-24, and running back LeGarrette Blount went for just eight yards on five carries, and had one reception for two yards in the matchup.

Play of the Week

Trey Burton

The Bears are slowly becoming a team that can win, and tight end Trey Burton hasn’t been a big part of the team’s offensive scheme, but they like him in the red zone and definitely target him in certain situations. He only had two receptions in Week 9 for 28 yards, but one of those was good for six points, in what became a 41-9 blowout over the Bills.

Injuries, Inactives and Bye Weeks

• Torrey Smith continues to be inactive for the Panthers as he recovers from a knee injury.
• Aside from the Eagles, there are five other teams on bye this week, including the Cardinals, Bengals, Colts (Najee Goode), Jaguars, and Giants (Connor Barwin).
• And, your weekly reminder that a handful of former Eagles are sitting on IR, including Jaylen Watkins (Chargers), Marcus Johnson (Colts), and Patrick Robinson (Saints).