Posted by Will Brinson

As always, we list the big name ACTIVES up top: Donald Driver, WR, Packers; Bernard Berrian, WR, Vikings, Darnell Dockett, Cardinals; Beanie Wells, RB, Cardinals, Clinton Portis, RB, Redskins

And INACTIVES right here:

Jonathan Stewart, RB, Panthers -- Stewart's out (concussion) and so is DeAngelo Williams, which means it's the Mike Goodson party against Baltimore. Somehow the Ravens aren't favored by more than two touchdowns yet.

Kevin Smith, RB, Lions -- Smith is actually on IR, so he's done for the year now.

Jimmy Clausen, QB, Panthers -- Clausen also suffered a concussion and won't play. Brian St. Pierre, away!

Brandon LaFell, WR, Panthers -- New Mad Lib game: _____ of the Panthers suffered a concussion Sunday.

LaRod Stephens-Howling, RB/KR, Cardinals: You probably shouldn't be starting their defense on your fantasy team. Unless it's bonuses for negative points.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Ravens @ Panthers

Ravens guard Chris Chester is questionable with a skin infection. If he’s unable to go, utility backup Tony Moll would fill-in. That would be a downgrade in terms of run-blocking mobility, though Baltimore would survive.

The Panthers are without pretty much any offensive player worth watching. QB Jimmy Clausen is out (concussion). RB Jonathan Stewart is also concussed and won’t play. Same goes for rookie WR Brandon LaFell. RB DeAngelo Williams is done for the season with a foot injury. With backup RB Tyrell Sutton also out (ankle), the run game will fall on the shoulders of Mike Goodson. Against this Ravens defense it will be tough for the second-year pro to match his 100-yard output of a week ago.

Texans @ Jets

Matt Schaub is expected to play after being hospitalized midweek with a bursa sac problem. Schaub won’t have Owen Daniels (hamstring) to throw to, though.

The Jets are in a similar situation. QB Mark Sanchez (calf) was less than 100 percent all week but will play. But he won’t have arguably his favorite inside target, WR Jerricho Cotchery (groin). Expect TE Dustin Keller to play a more prominent role, especially given that Houston has no safeties who are adept in coverage and two linebackers who are questionable (Zach Diles, illness; Xavier Adibi, hamstring).

The only other injury of note here is Jets cornerback Dwight Lowery, who is out with a head injury.

Bills @ Bengals

No C.J. Spiller (hamstring) for the Bills, which means they’ll have to find someone else to dance along the outside running lanes and distrust the run-blocking. Hamstring injuries struck Buffalo’s defensive line, with Spencer Johnson out and Kyle Williams having been limited in practice this week.

The Bengals could list half their team as questionable with a bad attitude, but that would only be an admission of their failed personnel moves. Thus, they’ll stick to listing traditional injuries. Included in those injuries are both starting defensive ends being on the shelf (Antwan Odom, wrist; Jonathan Fanene, hamstring), backup DE Frostee Rucker likely joining them (knee, no practice all week) and DT Tank Johnson very doubtful with a bum knee. Slot CB Morgan Trent also has a bum knee and won’t play. If that’s not enough, LB Rey Maualuga (thigh) and S Chris Crocker (calf) were limited in practice and are both questionable.

Of course, we’re talking about two teams with a combined three wins, so really, besides Bills’ and Bengals’ friends and family, is anyone really that concerned about who takes the field Sunday?

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

- Not only does Steelers WR Hines Ward think he should play next week vs. the Raiders following his concussion Sunday vs. the Patriots, he thinks he should have gone back in the game after his injury. Ward’s mistake, he said, was getting up too early from his collision and stumbling across the field. Instead, he thinks he should have stayed on the turf in an effort to clear his head. Instead, he proved, without a shadow of a doubt, he should not return to the game.

- His Jets teammates were awfully impressed by WR Jerricho Cotchery’s diving overtime catch Sunday, despite hopping around on a bad groin. Damien Woody said the Jets were in awe of Cotchery’s dedication.

- After a Titans debut in which he was targeted just four times (and caught one pass for 26 yards), coach Jeff Fisher said there would be more opportunities for WR Randy Moss in the future. Speaking of Tennessee, it’s Vince Young’s team to run again. Kerry Collins will be out several weeks with a calf injury.

- Chiefs coach Todd Haley to Broncos coach Josh McDaniels: Um, sorry about that.

- With Giants Tom Coughlin announcing Monday that WR Ramses Barden has a fractured left ankle and significant ligament damage, making him likely done for the season, New York only has three healthy receivers to play. That would be Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and (let me know if you’ve ever heard of …) Duke Calhoun.

- Making matters worse for Seahawks DE Raheem Brock, who was arrested on a DUI charge last weekend, he didn’t tell his coaches about it before playing in Sunday’s game. That likely won’t sit well with the decision-makers in Seattle.

- Anybody wanting to take a bet on whether Dolphins LT Jake Long will play this Thursday, despite suffering a torn labrum in his shoulder, should consider this: In the first 42 games of his career, he’s played 99.4 percent of his team’s snaps (missing only 18 out of 2,838). That said, his injury does not sound so good.

- Former Buccaneers guard Arron Sears is battling mental issues. And it’s not like he’s far removed from his playing days.

- The Panthers did not appreciate Tampa Bay’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina QB Jimmy Clausen that might have led to Clausen’s concussion. Especially WR Steve Smith.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Panthers coach John Fox told reporters today that QB Jimmy Clausen suffered a concussion late in Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers, and right now, he’s day to day.

That might mean that, because original starter Matt Moore is out for the season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, third-string Tony Pike could make the first start of his career with Armanti Edwards as the backup. Edwards, as you might know, is actually a wide receiver.

Though, as the Gaston Gazette points out, Moore returned from a Week 1 concussion the very next game – meaning Clausen could do the same – I think it’s now appropriate for Panthers fans to pull out their shirt collars, a la Dave Letterman, and give a very large gulp.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Per usual, we list the big name ACTIVES up top:

And then the INACTIVES below: Kellen Winslow, TE, Buccaneers,

- Jonathan Stewart, Tyrelle Sutton/DeAngelo Williams, RB, Panthers: You probably knew this already, but just as a reminder, the Panthers are starting both Jimmy Clausen and Mike Goodson this week. And Brinson is lucky enough to tweet about this game too! Watch out, it's a scorcher.

- Armanti Edwards, WR, Panthers: He's actually listed as the third quarterback, but you won't be seeing any Wild Mountaineer Sunday unless it's total desperation.

- Sidney Rice, WR, Vikings: Rice wasn't removed from the PUP list and as a result won't play for Minnesota.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Any time someone like Tom Brady (a guy who epitomizes a certain region) wears the hat of an opposing region's baseball (or whatever -- think Yankees in the case of Brady) team, fans get upset. So, naturally, Redskins fans were just THRILLED when Clinton Portis wore this Thursday:



Yes, that is a Phillies hat. Is it offensive because Redskins fans are so impassioned with the Washington Nationals that they can't stand a 'Skins player rooting for another NL East team? Not so much.

Is it offensive to Redskins fans because the Redskins are playing the very hated Philadelphia Eagles this week? Absolutely.

Now, I'm a Carolina Panthers fan, so I don't really have a ton of knowledge as to how this would feel -- there's not really an equivalent around here since baseball is apparently too good for the Carolinas, the big jerks.

So I started thinking about what would happen if Jimmy Clausen wore a New Orleans Hornets hat the week before the Panthers played the Saints, and I started getting angry. But that may just have been a normal reaction, so don't read too much into it.

Portis, for his part, claims that it "matched his hoodie" (it does) but, seriously, Clinton? Just go buy a Nats hat.

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Posted by Will Brinson



Got a link for the Hot Routes? Hit us up on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL).

• Braylon Edwards is correct that he will be booed when the Jets play in Cleveland this weekend. He is incorrect in thinking that he doesn't deserve his reputation for dropping the ball. After all, that's not like a rep for running hard or anything -- dropping the football is an easily quantifiable statistic, even if Derek Anderson is the guy throwing you the ball. Either you hold onto it or you don't. What makes his pre-Browns game behavior so bizarre is that by any account, Edwards should be humbled and thrilled that he got a chance to go somewhere else and pick up DUIs play football. And instead, he's just trying to hate on a city that deserves nothing more than pity when it comes to sports these days.

• The only thing better than player-on-media crime? Coach-on-media crime, which happened Wednesday night when Jim Schwartz decided to call Tom Kowalski's report that Matthew Stafford's done for the year "irresponsible." 

• Mike Shanahan might be ready to poach another Eagles QB after all -- he has some praise-filled words for Michael Vick (whom the Redskins have been linked to next year). Hopefully before he brings Vick into the fold in D.C. he'll sign Donovan McNabb to a three-year deal first.

• Rex Ryan has instituted a new "pushups for penalties" rule in Jets practice -- and said penalty includes owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Tannenbaum, who were forced to do pushups every time the Jets committed a penalty too. We need video of this ASAP. 

• Brian Cushing is going to maybe move back to strongside linebacker after spending some time in the middle. Not that it really matters for Houston, since people have stopped bothering trying to run against them and now just have opposing quarterbacks throw the ball as high and as far as they can on every single play. Or at least that's what it feels like.

• No discipline coming for the officer who got an autograph from Ray Rice after not writing him a ticket for having windows with tint that's too dark.

• Percy Harvin missed practice Wednesday because of migraines. Sidney Rice, of course, remains injured. Everything's coming up Hank Baskett!

• For Jimmy Clausen, the biggest thing he needs to do to succeed is just "getting comfortable." Really.

• Poor Dolphins -- they got away with Randy Moss not doing anything against them, then thought they were done with him. Not so fast, my friend!

• Eben Britton is gonna need three months to recover from shoulder surgery. Which is approximately how long my fantasy teams have suffered because I drafted Maurice Jones-Drew. Yes, I'm selfish. Whatever.

Posted by Will Brinson

Because you didn't get enough about the Panthers in the awesome column about their coaching situation from earlier, here's something for you: Jimmy Clausen and Mike Goodson will start for Carolina on Sunday at Tampa Bay.

Clausen is kind of expected, as Matt Moore is done for the year and his only competition is Tony Pike, the rookie out of Cincinnati. If Clausen struggles, though, don't be surprised to see John Fox give Pike some run.

Goodson is the backup to the backup to the backup in Carolina (and you could even argue one more backup there with Tyrell Sutton in play), but because of injuries to Jonathan Stewart (concussion), DeAngelo Williams (foot sprain) and Sutton (ankle), Goodson could get the majority of touches for the Panthers.

In fact, he's one out of that group who practiced Wednesday, and so Fox went ahead and named him the starter.

There's still a chance that Williams, who's day-to-day, could play in Week 10, but considering the Panthers only have pride left to play for, they're certainly not going to force the franchise's best player onto the field if he's not ready to go.

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