Jairus Byrd’s season is over after the safety suffered a torn lateral meniscus during practice Thursday, coach Sean Payton announced. The 28-year-old, who signed a six-year deal to come to New Orleans in the offseason, is placed on injured reserve.
Rafael Bush will replace Byrd on a defense that allows 272.5 passing yards per game, the fifth worst in the NFL.
Byrd, though, has struggled this year and has been part of the problem. Bush in fact has been more productive at free safety.
Bush has recorded 14 tackles in 91 snaps, while Byrd has recorded 16 tackles in 272 snaps (Byrd has also missed seven tackles to Bush’s one).
Both, like the rest of the New Orleans secondary, have been iffy in pass coverage.
Byrd’s injury doesn’t affect the Saints’ football team as much as it does their wallet.
SMITH FINED 12K FOR CURSING
Geno Smith shouted a couple of mighty expensive expletives.
The Jets quarterback was fined $12,000 by the NFL on Friday for cursing at a fan after the team’s game against Detroit last Sunday.
Smith was walking off the field following the 24-17 defeat when he glared at a heckler in the stands and yelled at him, twice using an expletive. The fine issued by the league was for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The second-year quarterback immediately apologized after the game, but acknowledged during the week that he would likely be fined for his actions. Cleveland rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel received a similar fine from the league during the preseason for flipping his middle finger at Washington’s sideline.
“Always be above the situation,” Smith said Wednesday. “Never let people get to you. Never let anyone’s words affect you in that manner. So I’ve just learned, and it’s something I’ve already known, but (I’ve) just got to handle those situations better.”
Smith has declined to say what the fan said to him that set him off. Owner Woody Johnson said Thursday he was disappointed by Smith’s actions, saying they were “absolutely unacceptable.” But, he also was confident Smith would never again put himself in a similar situation.
PALMER OUT AGAIN
To no one’s surprise, Drew Stanton will get his third straight start at quarterback for Arizona when the Cardinals play at Denver on Sunday.
Coach Bruce Arians made the announcement on Friday.
Carson Palmer, out since the season opener with a “dead” nerve in his throwing shoulder, wasn’t at practice. Arians said Palmer was out receiving an unspecified “special treatment.”
Palmer threw some last week but his condition regressed. He only did conditioning and footwork drills at practice this week.
PRATER GETS THE BOOT
The Broncos have cut ties with Matt Prater, who is about to come off his four-game suspension.
First-year kicker Brandon McManus has turned his temp job into a full-time one.
In a statement, GM John Elway said releasing Prater was “a very difficult football decision.”
He added that McManus “has earned the opportunity to continue kicking for our team with how well he’s played to start the season. He has a very strong leg and we have confidence in him on both field goals and kickoffs.”
Prater appeared in 96 regular-season games for Denver from 2007-13, connecting on 141 of 170 (.829) field goal attempts and 259 of 261 (.992) extra point attempts for 682 total points. He registered 262 touchbacks on 497 kickoffs (.527) for the Broncos while posting eight special-teams tackles.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HELP
The NFL has hired Beth E. Richie as a senior adviser on domestic conduct.
Richie is the director of the Institute of Research on Race and Public Policy and a professor of African-American studies, criminology, sociology, gender and women’s studies, and criminal law and justice at Illinois-Chicago. She is considered a leading expert on issues of sexual assault.
Richie joins five previously hired advisers. According to a memo sent by Commissioner Roger Goodell to all team chief executives and presidents, the advisers meet with the league daily “to help develop our educational and service programs, and to assist in revising our personal conduct policy.”
Goodell also mentioned that the NFL met with the heads of groups representing the parents of pro football players, and with Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron, the CEO of the YWCA, the largest provider of domestic violence services in the United States.
Contributors: Tadd Haislop, The Associated Press
