Tag: Thanksgiving

Report: Terry McLaurin will play on Thanksgiving despite being listed as questionable

Terry McLaurin has been listed as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Cowboys, but reports assure us that he will play.

Fans of the Washington Football Team might have felt a bit of panic on Wednesday afternoon when the final injury report was released and it showed that star wide receiver Terry McLaurin was listed as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Rest assured, though, it appears that McLaurin will play, according to a report from ESPN’s John Keim. McLaurin had a stellar game against the Cincinnati Bengals just a few days ago but has been dealing with an ankle injury through the light work the team has gone through this week in preparation for their first nationally televised game this season.

Keim also reported that we do not yet know when safety Deshazor Everett will return to the field. There was so home that he might be able to play this week after practicing in limited capacity shortly after a high-ankle sprain suffered just over a week ago, but he has been ruled out for Thursday’s game. Keim reports that there is no guarantee that we see him on the field next week either.

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Yes, there will be a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2020

How to watch the 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is traditionally one of the biggest events of the year in New York City, and while the streets won’t be packed with people on Thursday amid the ongoing pandemic, the floats will go on.

An altered, made-for-TV edition of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will still be staged, and there will still be gigantic balloons to marvel at, and there will be musical performances by Bebe Rexha and Dolly Parton. To keep things as safe and contained as possible, the parade route will be significantly shorter, and there will reportedly be 88 percent fewer participants involved in the 2020 parade.

The 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET on NBC and YouTube.

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Lions elevate Dee Virgin and Albert Huggins to active roster for Week 12

The Detroit Lions announced that they have elevated cornerback/gunner Dee Virgin and defensive tackle Albert Huggins to the active roster for Week 12.

The Detroit Lions announced that they have elevated cornerback/gunner Dee Virgin and defensive tackle Albert Huggins to the active roster for their Week 12 game against the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving Day.

Last night, the Lions protected three players on the practice squad. Today, all three are in line to play for the Lions in Week 12. In addition to Virgin and Huggins elevations, Detroit also signed Mohamad Sanu to the active roster after Hal Vaitai was placed on injured reserve.

With Tony McRae on long-term injured reserve and Mike Ford likely to miss this week with a concussion, the Lions are missing two of their best special teams gunners. Jamal Agnew, Tracy Walker, Jayron Kearse, and Justin Coleman have all seen time at gunner this season, but Virgin is the most talented gunner of the group.

This is Virgin’s second elevation to the active roster — he was also elevated in Week 2 — which is the maximum allowed during a season. If the Lions want to have Virgin available for any games moving forward, they will have to sign him to the active roster — similarly to what they did with tight end Isaac Nauta earlier in the season.

Defensive lineman Frank Herron has also exhausted his elevations, but with Da’Shawn Hand is still dealing with an injury, the team is leaning on Huggins to round out the defensive tackle group. This is Huggins’ first elevation of the season.

DT P.J. Hall among 5 Texans ruled out for the Lions

Houston Texans defensive tackle P.J. Hall will not make the trip to Detroit to take on the Lions on Thanksgiving at Ford Field.

The Houston Texans announced five players will not be traveling with the team as they play the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving at 11:30 a.m. CT at Ford Field.

Defensive tackle P.J. Hall (knee/shoulder), receiver Randall Cobb (toe), fullback Cullen Gillaspia (back), quarterback Josh McCown (illness), and receiver Kenny Stills (quadricep) will not make the trip to Detroit.

Left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who missed last Sunday’s 27-20 win over the New England Patriots with an illness, was not ruled out for Thursday’s game with the Lions. Tunsil was still on the Texans’ injury report with the illness, and was declared a non-participant on Monday, if they had a practice. Similarly, if Houston had practiced on Tuesday, the team said he would have been a full participant.

Steelers players livid over Week 12 schedule change

Several Pittsburgh Steelers players were outraged the NFL rescheduled the Week 12 game vs. the Baltimore Ravens.

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The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will play on Sunday instead of Thanksgiving as initially planned. With the Ravens in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that has already put six players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and with more expected to come today, the NFL made the wise decision to push the game back a few days so Baltimore and the league could better control things. Apparently, the Steelers took that as a personal affront.

Several Pittsburgh players took to Twitter to share their frustration as the news broke of the game being postponed. Most players seemed exasperated by the rescheduling, especially after the Steelers had a Week 4 game against the Tennessee Titans moved as well (adjusting Baltimore’s schedule too).

But not everyone took it as well as those players did. Several of the Steelers’ starters are apparently livid over the schedule change.

I’m not entirely sure why the players are that enraged by the schedule change. The game still happens in Week 12 and none of the players who tested positive will be eligible to play Sunday just like they wouldn’t on Thursday. The best-case scenario for Baltimore is that they’d get a few extra days of rest, though that would obviously extend to Pittsburgh as well. What it does do is allow the team to get a better hold on the outbreak so they don’t possibly spread it to the Steelers’ players and staff members, which seems like the ideal goal for everyone.

It would be fair to criticize the decision and the Ravens had they broken any protocols, but there has been no indication Baltimore has done that here. Everyone understood this scenario was a real possibility, and in this case, the NFL is putting the health and safety of its players, staff members, and officials in front of a Thanksgiving tradition. That’s something players should be applauding instead of whining about.

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America’s Team: Cowboys 10 most memorable Thanksgiving Day games

With 52 Thanksgiving games on their resume, the Cowboys have plenty of holiday memories to choose from. Cowboys Wire picks out the 10 best.

America’s Team is as much a part of the All-American holiday as parade floats and candied yams. The Dallas Cowboys will host their 53rd Thanksgiving Day game in 2020. This season’s edition will mark the tenth time Dallas has welcomed their division rivals from Washington for the traditional late afternoon tilt. That’s the most of any Cowboys Thanksgiving opponent.

Over the years, the club’s Thanksgiving Day series has created some of pro football’s most memorable moments, including several chapters that are absolutely indelible within the Cowboys’ own storied history. To celebrate, Cowboys Wire takes a look back through the archives to dish out the ten quintessential Thanksgiving games that have meant the most to the team.

But the feast can’t be all deep-fried turkey and pumpkin pie; mixed in with some of the franchise’s most satisfying wins are also a few standout games that didn’t go Dallas’s way. Consider them the unpleasant cranberry sauce that your weird aunt brings every few years and makes you have at least a small helping of.

Texans vs. Lions: Time, TV schedule and streaming info for Thanksgiving

The Houston Texans take on the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving in Week 12. Find out how to catch the game as Houston goes for two wins in a row.

The Houston Texans take on the Detroit Lions in a Thanksgiving showdown that may very well be the last chance for either team to have a realistic shot at playoff qualification.

For the Texans, they are 3-7, yet feeling optimistic coming off a 27-20 win over the New England Patriots. Even though it wasn’t Tom Brady, even though the AFC East club was 4-5 entering NRG Stadium last Sunday, New England still has a mystique that could intimidate hard-luck teams like Houston. The Texans got over that hump. Have the Texans finally put things together to have a winning streak and vie for at least a winning record by season’s end?

The Lions took it on the chin 20-0 on the road against the Carolina Panthers. The Lions are 4-6 on the year and it isn’t looking good for their chances to make the playoffs. The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers are atop the NFC North, and it appears the NFC West and the NFC South are the big contenders for playoff spots. Detroit can’t take on any further losses.

In one of the Texans’ few nationally televised games this season, the country will get to see quarterback Deshaun Watson. Will he put on a show in the Motor City on CBS? Watson is coming off winning the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 11.

To get ready for the Week 12 action here is important game day information so you can catch the game.

Follow the @TheTexansWire and @therealmarklane. Also let our friends at FuboTV help you watch the game.

Houston Texans at Detroit Lions — Thursday, Nov. 26 at 11:30 a.m. CT

TV channel: CBS (Jim Nantz & Tony Romo)

Radio: Sports Radio 610 (KILT-AM & 100.3 FM), Mega 101 (KLOL-FM) (Marc Vandermeer & Andre Ware)

Location: Ford Field

Forecast: Cloudy, 50 degrees, 10 mph wind (indoors)

Referee: Shawn Smith

Odds: Texans -3.0

Former Michigan State DE Will Gholston donates nearly 1,000 turkeys in Detroit

Former Michigan State defensive end and current Tampa Bay veteran Will Gholston donated a lot of turkeys in Detroit and Tampa Bay.

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Will Gholston left Michigan State back in 2013 when he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he’s been there ever since in what has been a sneakily nice NFL career for the former Spartan. Now, Gholston is giving back in what has been a tough year for so many.

On Monday, Gholston announced on Twitter that he was donated 992 turkeys in his hometown of Detroit and 900 turkeys in Tampa Bay. On Twitter, Gholston said that he was trying to spread some holiday joy in his old home and his new one:

That’s a true Spartan Dawg. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone.

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Joey Harrington: Beating the Lions on Thanksgiving was his NFL career highlight

Former Lions QB Joey Harrington takes great pride in beating his old team on Thanksgiving in 2006 with the Miami Dolphins

The mere mention of Joey Harrington conjures up a lot of emotion for many Detroit Lions fans. None of those emotions are positive, either. The team’s first-round draft pick out of Oregon in 2002 never worked out as Detroit’s anointed franchise quarterback. He was unpopular with both fans and teammates during his four Lions seasons.

In an interview with Bill Dow of the Detroit Free Press, Harrington covers a lot of ground from his depressing days with the Lions. He opens up about being a wide-eyed youngster on a veteran team, unready for the jump from college at both a football and personal level.

Harrington candidly notes his teammates didn’t like him and the feeling was largely mutual, something he stressed to newly hired head coach Rod Marinelli,

I said ‘that’s great, but you to need to know that I will play for you and Matt Millen because I respect both of you, but except for a couple of teammates, the rest of them can all go to hell.’

After that conversation with the new coach led to a trade to Miami, Harrington got his chance at redemption. He clearly savors the victory over his old team on Thanksgiving in 2006.

“I am grateful that Detroit gave me the opportunity to be a starting quarterback in the league and they paid me well, but beating the Lions on Thanksgiving Day proved to me that I could dig myself out of a hole and play well as an NFL quarterback,” Harrington proudly states.

Harrington didn’t have many positive moments in his career, but beating the Lions is the “Piano Man’s” high point.