Beaten and bruised: The Chiefs (0-2) listed 13 players on their injury list on Wednesday, forcing coach Romeo Crennel to decide against holding practice in pads, The Kansas City Star reports. Crennel says he plans to hold the team’s weekly padded practice today instead as the team prepares for Sunday’s game at New Orleans (0-2). The Chiefs’ injury report, heading into the game, includes tight ends Kevin Boss (head) and Jake O’Connell (knee), as well as guard Ryan Lilja (back). Boss is expected to be out a couple of days, Crennel says, which could make playing him Sunday doubtful. Kickoff is slated for noon. Read the full story here.
“C’mon, hit me”: A critical comment from nine months ago is serving as motivating bulletin board material for Auburn this week, the Montgomery Advertiser reports. LSU fullback J.C. Copeland called into question the toughness of Auburn players months after LSU’s 45-10 win over Auburn last year—which Copeland called his most memorable game of the 2011 season. “After the first couple of hits, everybody [on Auburn’s defense] was just backing up. They didn’t want to hit at all. Before I got to them, they just fell down and just laid on the ground,” Copeland said following the game. “I actually said, ‘C’mon man, you’re better than that. C’mon, hit me.’ That was like the only game I went home and had no nicks and bruises at all.” Read the full story here.
Spreading it out: Las Vegas casinos think this weekend’s NFL games will be the highest-scoring ever, thanks to the league’s replacement officials. Oddsmakers say casinos are revising their expectations as interim referees add new variables to the game, altering its pace and the approaches taken by players and coaches. Casinos haven’t fully changed lines yet because there have been only two weeks of games and referees might adjust how they call games based on weekly feedback from the league. “It’s starting to concern us a bit,” says oddsmaker Mike Colbert of Cantor Gaming Colbert. “[Officials] should have no influence on the total or the side.” Read the full story here.
