The Latest on NFL Week 1 (all times EDT):
5:30 p.m.
Jason Witten has a touchdown catch in his first game back after a year in retirement.
The Dallas Cowboys tight end caught a 4-yard scoring pass from Dak Prescott early in the second quarter to give the Cowboys a 14-7 lead over the New York Giants.
The TD catch was the 69th of Witten’s career, moving him within four of Dez Bryant’s franchise record.
Witten and Giants quarterback Eli Manning are both setting franchise records with their 16th season. Witten’s comes after spending a season in broadcasting.
-Schuyler Dixon reporting from Arlington, Texas
—
5:20 p.m.
Make that three players who have been ejected on opening weekend so far.
San Francisco linebacker Kwon Alexander was penalized 15 yards and ejected for lowering his helmet to initiate contact on a hit to Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston as he was sliding after a 5-yard run.
Alexander, who spent the past four seasons with the Buccaneers, was playing in his first game since signing with the 49ers as a free agent this year.
Also today, Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack was tossed for taking a swing at Chiefs linebacker Demarcus Robinson and Browns left tackle Greg Robinson was thrown out for kicking Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro.
-Fred Goodall reporting from Tampa, Florida.
—
4:05 p.m.
The first half of opening weekend is in the books, and it’s been a good start for visiting teams.
The Packers kicked off the NFL’s 100th season with a 10-3 win at Chicago on Thursday night and so far today home teams are just 2-5 with the Vikings beating visiting Atlanta 28-12 and the Eagles edging Washington 32-27.
The Rams won a close one at Carolina 30-27 and the Bills rallied to beat the Jets 17-16 at the Meadowlands.
The others were blowouts: the Ravens raced past the Dolphins 59-10 in Miami and the Chiefs beat the Jaguars 40-26 in Jacksonville. In Cleveland, the Titans routed the Browns 43-13.
-Arnie Stapleton reporting from Denver.
—
5 p.m.
Odell Beckham Jr. caught seven passes for 71 yards in his Browns debut.
OBJ wore a blank and orange watch during his first game for his new team and in photos it appears to be a Richard Mille RM11-03 McLaren Limited Edition timepiece worth about $250,000.
The Browns were blown out by Tennessee 43-13.
-Arnie Stapleton reporting from Denver.
—
4:40 p.m.
The Kyler Murray era in the desert has started with a three-and-out.
Arizona used the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft on the Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, hoping he would be the perfect fit for first-year coach Kliff Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense.
Murray’s arrival led to one of the most anticipated season openers in Cardinals’ history against Detroit, but it didn’t go according to plan.
Murray had an overthrow on first career NFL pass, then a holding penalty negated a solid run by David Johnson. A short run and a short completion later, Arizona punted the ball away.
-John Marshall reporting from Glendale, Arizona.
—
4:20 p.m.
Patrick Mahomes picked up right where he left off last season when he was named the NFL’s MVP for his 50-touchdown season and Lamar Jackson threw for five touchdowns on opening weekend.
Mahomes threw for 378 yards and three scores in the Chiefs’ 40-26 win at Jacksonville despite limping off the field in the second quarter and needing to have his left ankle heavily taped for the rest of the game.
New Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles left the game in the first half with a broken left clavicle in his first start for Jacksonville.
The Ravens routed Miami 59-10 with Jackson throwing for 324 yards and five touchdowns on 17-of-20 passing.
-Arnie Stapleton reporting from Denver.
—
3:10 p.m.
The Baltimore Ravens have set a franchise record for points in the first half by taking a 42-10 lead at Miami.
Lamar Jackson’s first nine passes, all completions, went for 204 yards and four scores. Two of the touchdowns went to first-round draft pick Marquise Brown and covered 47 and 83 yards.
The Ravens showed no mercy against Miami rookie coach Brian Flores.
With a 35-3 lead, Baltimore faked a punt and Anthony Levine took the short snap and ran 60 yards to set up another touchdown.
-Steven Wine reporting from Miami.
—
2:45 p.m.
There was a lot of curiosity and even some anxiety from Rams fans over how running back Todd Gurley would perform in the season opener after struggling down the stretch last season with a knee injury.
Gurley’s done nothing to ease those concerns.
Gurley, who led the NFL with 21 touchdowns last season, has been a non-factor so far against the Panthers with five carries for 8 yards and one catch for 4 yards in the first half.
Gurley’s backup Malcolm Brown has been more effective with five carries for 29 yards and a touchdown.
-Steve Reed reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina.
—
2:40 p.m.
Browns starting left tackle Greg Robinson has been ejected for kicking Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro.
Robinson’s replacement, Kendall Lamm, injured a knee when the Browns surrendered a sack in the end zone for a safety.
On their next possession, the Browns moved right tackle Chris Hubbard to left side and put newly signed Justin McCray at right tackle.
The drama began at the end of a running play in the second quarter when Robinson was on the ground when he delivered a blow with his leg to Vaccaro.
Robinson, who is in his second season with Cleveland, was escorted from the field as coach Freddie Kitchens asked for an explanation.
-Tom Withers reporting from Cleveland.
—
2:30 p.m.
Rams safety Eric Weddle was carted off the field in the second quarter after taking a knee to the right side of his head while attempting to tackle a leaping Christian McCaffrey.
The Rams said Weddle has a head laceration and his return is doubtful.
McCaffrey caught a ball in the right flat and tried to avoid the six-time Pro Bowl selection by leaping over him as Weddle went low. Weddle immediately went to the ground and didn’t get up for several minutes.
Television cameras showed Weddle bleeding from the right side of his head when he sat up. Trainers called for the carts and he was taken to the locker room.
Weddle was signed a two-year, $10.5 million contract this offseason to help shore up the Rams secondary.
-Steve Reed reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina.
—
2:20 p.m.
Chiefs star receiver Tyreek Hill has been knocked out of the Chiefs’ game at Jacksonville with a left shoulder injury.
Hill is the third player to leave the game in the first half, joining Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles and linebacker Myles Jack.
Foles has a shoulder injury and Jack was ejected for throwing a punch during a fracas in the end zone.
NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes limped off the field following a sack in the play that led to the scuffle, but he returned with his left ankle and foot heavily taped.
—
2:10 p.m.
Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack has been ejected after taking a swing at Chiefs linebacker Demarcus Robinson.
Jack had to be restrained by two team officials and essentially pulled off the field.
Jack and receiver Sammy Watkins got into a shoving match after a play, and then Robinson came in and shoved Jack in the back. Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey and others joined in, prompting officials to throw five flags and a hat onto the ground.
Jack eventually got the boot.
The delay allowed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to get his left ankle taped on the sideline. He hurt it on the play, which ended with a sack by rookie Josh Allen and a forced fumble by Yannick Ngakoue. The Chiefs recovered.
Mahomes had limped off but came back for another third down snap after the fight produced offsetting flags. Mahomes couldn’t step out of the pocket and he was knocked down again as he threw a pass.
-Mark Long reporting from Jacksonville, Florida.
—
1:50 p.m.
Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles has been knocked out of Jacksonville’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs with a left shoulder injury. And a short time later, Chiefs star wide receiver Tyreek Hill left the game with a shoulder injury.
Foles left the bench with medical personnel after throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark in the first quarter against Kansas City. Defensive tackle Chris Jones slammed Foles to the ground and landed on him after he released the ball.
Jacksonville gave Foles a four-year, $88 million contract in April even though he’s never played a full season.
Rookie Gardner Minshew replaced Foles.
Shortly after Foles was injured, Hill got hurt after making a catch and looked to be in pain as he went to the sideline. He then rode a golf cart to the locker room. The team says his return is questionable.
Hill caught 87 passes for 1,479 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
-Mark Long reporting from Jacksonville, Florida.
—
1:35 p.m.
The Minnesota Vikings are off to a strong start against Atlanta, thanks in part to their first blocked punt in five years.
Eric Wilson recovered his own block of the punt by Matt Bosher at the 21-yard line after the first possession by the Falcons. The Vikings scored a touchdown three plays later and added another one after an interception by Anthony Harris gave their offense another short field, giving them a 14-0 lead with less than 7 minutes elapsed.
The last Vikings player to block a punt was Jasper Brinkley on Nov. 30, 2014, against Carolina. The Vikings actually had two in that game, the first by Adam Thielen. Both of those were returned for touchdowns.
-Dave Campbell reporting from Minneapolis.
—
1:25
New York Jets running back Le’Veon Bell has become the fastest player in NFL history to get 8,000 yards from scrimmage for his career.
Bell, making his debut for the Jets on Sunday, reached the milestone with a 5-yard run his first carry for New York in the first quarter of his 63rd career game. The 27-year-old Bell entered the game against the Buffalo Bills with 7,996 yards from scrimmage.
The previous fastest was Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, who accomplished the feat in 64 games. Edgerrin James and LaDainian Tomlinson were next, both reaching 8,000 yards in 65 games.
The record counts only games players actually appeared in, so Bell’s mark doesn’t count the 16 games he missed last season while sitting out in a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The versatile running back signed a four-year, $52.5 million deal with the Jets in March.
-Dennis Waszak Jr. reporting from East Rutherford, New Jersey.
—
1:10 p.m.
One game won’t make or break a season. But winners of Week 1 games are historically more than twice as likely to reach the playoffs than teams that lose their season openers.
Since 1978 when the league went to a 16-game schedule, 52 percent of teams that won their opener made it to the playoffs while only 24 percent of Week 1 losers reached the playoffs.
The Denver Broncos own the league’s best opening day record at 39-19-1 and the NFL’s longest active winning streak in openers at seven. They’ll try to make it eight straight when they open at Oakland on Monday night.
The longest active winning streak in the NFC belongs to the Packers, who won their fifth straight opener 10-3 at Chicago on Thursday night to kick off the NFL’s 100th season.
Bears fans can take solace in knowing that nine teams that lost on opening weekend ended up winning the Super Bowl.
-Arnie Stapleton reporting from Denver.
—
1 p.m.
A couple of players knelt during the national anthem on opening weekend, continuing their quest to call attention to social and racial injustice.
Dolphins receiver Albert Wilson took a knee in Miami. It was the Dolphins’ first game since they traded Wilson’s teammate, Kenny Stills, who has also been kneeling before games and has been outspoken on the subject of social injustice.
The game was the first for Wilson since he suffered a hip injury last October that ended his 2018 season.
In Charlotte, Panthers safety Eric Reid continued his tradition of kneeling for the national anthem. Reid initially started kneeling alongside Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when they were teammates with the San Francisco 49ers.
-Steven Wine reporting from Miami and Steve Reed reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina.
—
10 a.m.
The NFL season already is so unpredictable that Antonio Brown is a New England Patriot.
No, he won’t suit up Sunday night when the Patriots host Brown’s former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, from whom he forced a trade to Oakland in the offseason. He might be on the New England sideline at Gillette Stadium after seeking his release following a turmoil-filled few months with the Raiders.
Brown had been scheduled to earn up to $50 million from Oakland over the three-year deal. Instead, the Patriots guaranteed the wide receiver $9 million this season, with the potential to earn as much as $15 million.
Brown, a four-time All-Pro and one of the league’s most dynamic pass catcher, is not eligible to be officially signed until Monday.
—
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/tag/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP-NFL
25% Bonus via Western Union
