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The Latest: Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski injures ankle

Posted at 12:12 PM, Sep 30, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-30 16:33:21-04

The Latest on Week 4 in the NFL (all times EDT):

3:05 p.m.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has headed to the locker room with an ankle injury.

Gronkowski left the Patriots matchup with the Dolphins in the third quarter and limped off the field favoring his right leg.

Just moments before the injury, Gronkowski hauled in his fourth catch of the day, the 491st of his career. It marked a franchise record for catches by a tight end, passing Ben Coates.

The Patriots lead the Dolphins 31-0.

– Kyle Hightower, reporting from Foxborough, Mass.

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3 p.m.

Jameis Winston has replaced Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback for Tampa Bay.

Winston entered the game to start the second half with the Buccaneers trailing the Bears 38-3 and promptly got intercepted by Danny Trevathan.

Khalil Mack appeared to tip the ball on a pass rush as he released the pass.

Winston rejoined the team following a three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. His punishment stemmed from the league’s investigation of an accusation that the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner groped a female Uber driver during a ride in Arizona in March 2016.

Fitzpatrick was 9 of 18 for 126 yards and got sacked two times.

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2:57 p.m.

Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert was carted off the field after going down with a lower right leg injury early in the third quarter at Atlanta.

Eifert caught a 2-yard pass and was tackled by De’Vondre Campbell and was also hit by Jack Crawford as he crumpled to the turf.

Eifert, the Bengals’ third-leading receiver this season, immediately was on his back in pain. The medical staff stabilized his leg and lifted him onto the cart.

His teammates came over to offer encouragement, and Eifert appeared emotional as he left the field.

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2:46 p.m.

The Bears’ Khalil Mack had a strip-sack in the first half against Tampa Bay.

That made him the first player with a sack and forced fumble in four straight games since Robert Mathis in 2005.

A two-time All-Pro, Mack got traded to the Bears by Oakland on Sept. 1.

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2:45 p.m.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have ruled out two starters for the rest of the day against the New York Jets, including running back Leonard Fournette.

Fournette left the game with tightness in his right hamstring in the second quarter. He returned for a few plays, but was ruled out at halftime.

Fournette missed the previous two games with the same injury, making his setback concerning.

Center Brandon Linder also was ruled out at the break with a back injury.

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2:44 p.m.

The Buffalo Bills are having a miserable day at Lambeau Field.

Mason Crosby kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give the Green Bay Packers a 16-0 lead.

The Bills look nothing like the team that beat the Vikings 27-6 on the road last week in Minnesota. Rookie quarterback Josh Allen is 5 of 19 for 58 yards and an interception late in the first half. He made an ill-timed pass under pressure outside the pocket that was picked off in the end zone by rookie cornerback Jaire Alexander.

The Packers’ defense has contained the mobile Allen, who made the highlight reel last week for hurdling over Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr on a first-down run.

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2:42 p.m.

Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky threw for five touchdowns in the first half, helping the Bears build a 38-3 lead over Tampa Bay.

The only NFL player with more in a single half was Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers with six against Chicago in the first two quarters of a romp at Lambeau Field on Nov. 9, 2014.

Sid Luckman holds the Bears’ record for TD passes in a game with seven against the New York Giants in 1943.

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2:40 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri made a 42-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the first half to break the NFL’s career record.

The 23-year veteran has 566 field goals – one more than Hall of Famer Morten Andersen. And he achieved the feat on his home turf, just a short drive from where Andersen played high school football.

After the kick, Vinatieri celebrated briefly with holder Rigoberto Sanchez, long snapper Luke Rhodes and the rest of the kicking unit. But that was the extent of the celebration for the 45-year-old Vinatieri, who is the league’s oldest active player.

He has moved within 31 points of breaking Andersen’s career scoring record of 2,544 points.

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2:30 p.m.

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Akiem Hicks has been ejected from the game against Tampa Bay for pushing an official.

Hicks was scuffling with a Buccaneers player when he shoved the official. The incident occurred on the other side of the field after Eddie Jackson intercepted a pass by Ryan Fitzpatrick late in the first half.

Also, Bears linebacker Sam Acho left the game with a pectoral injury. Acho was injured in the first half.

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2:05 p.m.

Aaron Rodgers has thrown his first interception of the year. It came on a pass over the middle that was deflected by linebacker Tremaine Edmunds that ended up being high and slightly behind tight end Jimmy Graham.

Rodgers is 7 of 11 for 98 yards with a score. Safety Jordan Poyer picked the ball out of the air for the interception. The Bills though were unable to take advantage on the rare turnover by Rodgers and were forced to punt. It was Buffalo’s fourth three-and-out in five drives. Green Bay leads 13-0 midway through the second quarter.

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2 p.m.

An unnamed stadium security guard was taken off the field on a stretcher late in the first quarter during the Texans-Colts game.

Team officials said he was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Colts spokesman Matt Conti said no other updates will be given because of privacy rules.

The security guard was injured when a player ran into him on a punt. It came just about the same time Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton received a rousing ovation after returning to the sideline with what the Colts described as a chest injury.

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1:45 p.m.

Green Bay Packers tight end Jimmy Graham has his first official Lambeau Leap.

Graham caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers with 5:15 left in the first quarter, though the Mason Crosby missed the extra point to keep the score at 6-0.

Graham had a touchdown catch wiped out a couple of weeks ago by a penalty. He joined the Packers in the offseason as a free agent.

Rodgers is moving a little better in his third game since injuring his left knee. He is 5 of 7 for 72 yards.

For the Bills, safety Micah Hyde is questionable to return with a groin injury. Hyde is returning to Lambeau Field for the first time since leaving the Packers as a free agent after the 2016 season.

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1:40 p.m.

Patriots’ Tom Brady has thrown his third interception of the season. This one was a deep, third down pass over the middle that was picked off by Dolphins cornerback Bobby McCain at the 1:36 mark of the first quarter.

Brady didn’t throw his third interception last season until Week 11 against Miami.

The Patriots lead 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.

– Kyle Hightower, reporting from Foxborough, Mass.

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1:30 p.m.

Titans linebacker Wesley Woodyard has hurt a shoulder in the first quarter against Philadelphia and is questionable to return.

Woodyard is the Titans’ leading tackler this season. The 11-year veteran was hurt tackling Eagles tight end Zach Ertz at the end of a 17-yard reception on Philadelphia’s opening series of the game.

Woodyard walked to the sideline on his own and was evaluated inside the tent behind the bench.

Jayon Brown replaced Woodyard and pressured Carson Wentz into an incompletion on third down, forcing a punt.

– Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee

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1:15 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton walked straight to the locker room after landing hard on his shoulder following a 40-yard catch-and-run against Houston.

It was unclear what Hilton’s injury was and there was no immediate announcement.

The four-time Pro Bowler’s big play set up Indy’s first score, a 4-yard TD pass from Luck to Zach Pascal. Luck extended his streak of consecutive games with a TD pass to 27, tying Peyton Manning for the second-longest total in franchise history.

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1:05 p.m.

Dolphins running back Frank Gore has become the eighth running back in NFL history to appear in 200 NFL games.

Gore took the field in the first quarter of Miami’s matchup with the Patriots.

With 14,124 rushing yards, Gore entered the game ranked fourth on the NFL’s all-time rushing list behind only Emmitt Smith (18,335), Walter Payton (16,726) and Barry Sanders (15,269).

– Kyle Hightower, reporting from Foxborough, Mass.

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1 p.m.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are sticking with Ryan Fitzpatrick as their starting quarterback over Jameis Winston.

Fitzpatrick started against the Chicago Bears on Sunday after Winston rejoined the team following a three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Fitzpatrick has thrown for a league-leading 1,230 yards and 11 TDs. He is the first player in NFL history to top 400 yards passing in three consecutive games.

The discipline against Winston stemmed from the league’s investigation of an accusation that the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner groped a female Uber driver during a ride in Arizona in March 2016.

Defensive tackle Vita Vea, the No. 12 overall draft pick this year, is active for the first time after being sidelined by a calf injury.

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1 p.m.

Dolphins receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson both kneeled during the national anthem before their team’s game against the Patriots and defensive end Robert Quinn raised his right fist.

All three have staged similar demonstrations during the anthem before their team’s other games this season.

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