Wildfires cause Tomlinson, other Chargers to evacuate
Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson was among several San Diego Chargers players, coaches and staff members who had to evacuate their homes as wildfires burned in San Diego County.
The Chargers, who had just returned from their bye weekend, canceled practice Monday. Players were dismissed so they could take care of their families and because the air quality was poor due to smoke, spokesman Bill Johnston said.
As of late Monday morning, wildfires fanned by fierce desert winds forced the evacuations of nearly 250,000 people in the county.
There was no immediate word if any Chargers employees had lost their homes. Many players live in Poway and other suburbs northeast of downtown San Diego.
Center Nick Hardwick said players were asked at a team meeting to raise their hands if they were affected, "and at one point, three-quarters of the room raised their hands. I guess a lot of guys live up there. There were some pretty long faces this morning. A lot of coaches and people upstairs have to deal with this."
Hardwick lives in Point Loma, near the Pacific Ocean.
"It's pretty humbling, for sure," Hardwick said. "You've got guys with families dealing with real situations. You don't normally expect that coming to work. Normally, the worst-case scenario is when you miss a block or something, but if your house is burning down and you have to get your family out of the city, that's a different issue."
Johnston said it was too early to know if the fires will affect Sunday's scheduled home game against the Houston Texans at Qualcomm Stadium, where the parking lot was being used as an evacuation center.
Four years ago this week, the Chargers had to move a home Monday night game to Phoenix on short notice because the Qualcomm parking lot was being used as an evacuation center during deadly wildfires.
Dolphins lose Brown for season: Things go from bad to worse for the Miami Dolphins, who lost running back Ronnie Brown for the rest of the season because of a knee injury.
Brown will need surgery to repair a torn ACL, coach Cam Cameron said Monday. He twisted his right knee in the third quarter of the Dolphins' 49-28 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
"His spirits are up," Cameron said. "He's already talking about getting the surgery and getting ready to get back and get it rehabbed and be ready for spring."
Vikings' offense regresses: One week after Adrian Peterson's franchise-record rushing explosion suggested hope for the Minnesota Vikings and their maddeningly ineffective offense, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson followed with a passing performance that couldn't have been much worse in a 24-14 defeat at Dallas. He completed only 6 of his 19 throws for 72 yards and no scores, and he was sacked three times.
"I thought he was into the rhythm of the game and was doing a decent job with the checks he was making on the line of scrimmage. We would've like to have some of those throws hit their target," said coach Brad Childress, who denied considering a substitution with second-stringer Kelly Holcomb.
Peterson finished with 63 yards on 12 carries, well below his 224 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Bears on Oct. 14.
Falcons' Leftwich has ankle MRI: The most pressing concern for the banged-up Falcons is the status of quarterback Byron Leftwich, who went down with what appeared to be a high right ankle sprain in his first start for the Falcons. He underwent an MRI on Monday, but coach Bobby Petrino wasn't sure how long Leftwich might be out.
"I'm hoping Byron's on a timetable that he's back at some point," Petrino said.
Arm surgery for Titans' Hall: Tennessee Titans fullback Ahmard Hall had surgery on a broken left arm Monday and could miss four weeks.
Hall broke his arm on Houston's first onside kick attempt in Sunday's 38-36 win by the Titans. Hall had gone in for Donnie Nickey, who had hurt an ankle. Coach Jeff Fisher said they had worried Hall's injury might be season-ending but are now hopeful for a late-season return..