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LAKE FOREST Matt Bryant Jersey , Ill. (AP) Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky knew the numbers.

Those stats make it obvious what his team’s offense needs to end a five-game losing streak Sunday at Cincinnati.

”More explosive plays,” Trubisky said Wednesday.

Progress for the Bears (3-9) is being measured these days in inches instead of yards and they’ve ground to a complete halt. It’s increasing the heat on coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, and they’re searching for solutions.

”We want to be in third-and-manageable or just go first down, second down, first down with the explosive plays,” Trubisky said. ”We just need to get the ball into our playmakers’ hands Matt Bosher Jersey , stay efficient and be good with the football.”

Fox doesn’t want to place blame on his rookie quarterback, and earlier this week even called Sunday’s 15-14 loss to San Francisco one of Trubisky’s better games.

”I think Mitch has been outstanding,” Fox said. ”In fact, he even moved up a couple of spots – he’s seventh in the league in third-down passer rating.

”I think he has moved up a little bit as far as rookie quarterbacks go. I think both our staff and him have done a good job.”

Trubisky’s passer rating (74.6) remains worse than Mike Glennon (76.9), the player he replaced. He’s thrown for more than 179 yards in a game only once in eight starts, and threw for 102 last week.

”If you had told me before the (49ers) game that we were going to have no turnovers; the quarterback was going to have a 117 rating and only throw three incompletions; that we would be 50 percent on third down and 100 percent in the red area; I’d tell you that we were going to probably play well Ricardo Allen Jersey , score some points and beat an underrated football team,” Loggains said. ”Obviously the game didn’t go the way we wanted. We’re excited to move on and learn from it and get started on this week.”

Chicago’s offense is last in the NFL in yards, passing yards and passing attempts. The Bears average 1.8 trips inside the red zone each game, last in the league.

Loggains said defenses are scheming to prevent the Bears from going downfield with passes, although throwing to an injury-depleted receiving group makes such passes difficult anyway.

”We’re getting a lot of soft zones and people have been playing with a zone vision, trying to keep the run in front of them Ryan Schraeder Jersey , not trying to give up explosive runs that way,” Loggains said.

He said the offense has to take its shots downfield instead of checking down to shorter passes.

”Keep making good decisions when we do call those (longer) plays, that when we dump it down to Jordan (Howard), and those things, we stay in second-and-6 and second-and-5,” Loggains said. ”It’s hard to get in third-and-10 or take sacks on those plays.”

Blocking figures to be no better for Trubisky and running back Howard Andy Levitre Jersey , who had showings of 6 and 38 yards the last two games. The Bears on Tuesday placed three-time Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long on season-ending injured reserve due to a shoulder injury.

Long had also battled ankle and hand injuries.

”You know, he’s a tough guy,” center Cody Whitehair said. ”He’s what the Bears are all about: tough guys that are fighting through certain injuries. So he’s going to be missed, for sure.”

NOTES: Nose tackle Eddie Goldman missed Wednesday’s practice with a hip injury. . Linebacker Pernell McPhee (shoulder) and safety Adrian Amos (hamstring) missed Wednesday’s practice.

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FLORHAM PARK Frostee Rucker Jersey , N.J. (AP) Jermaine Kearse is no fan of Thursday night games.

The New York Jets wide receiver echoed what has become a growing sentiment among NFL players who think the league should get rid of short work weeks because they are detrimental to their health and safety.

”You’re asking guys who play a high volume on one day and literally give it their all on that one day and ask them to recover and try to bounce back in a couple of days,” Kearse said after practice Friday. ”It’s kind of tough, especially when you’re already dealing with certain stuff from previous weeks that might be nagging or lingering.”

Kearse was asked about his thoughts on Thursday games a day after he watched former Seattle teammate Richard Sherman suffer a season-ending Achilles tendon injury in the Seahawks’ win against the Arizona Cardinals.

When asked whether the NFL should ditch the Thursday games, Kearse said flatly: ”Yeah.”

The veteran receiver said he couldn’t speak for all players Jared Veldheer Jersey , but thinks games on Thursday nights aren’t ”helpful” because of the short recovery time after playing on Sunday.

”This game has a 100 percent injury rate,” Kearse said. ”That’s the truth, that’s the facts. … You give them a short week like that, it’s tough.”

Kearse says the NFL Players Association needs to address the issue during its next collective bargaining agreement meetings with the league.

”I think there definitely needs to be a discussion Tyvon Branch Jersey , for sure,” he said. ”Just finding better ways to take care of the players. I mean, guys are putting their bodies on the line, day in and day out.”

Kearse mentioned Houston rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson suffering a season-ending knee injury on a noncontact play in practice last week.

He added that if players gets banged up on Sunday J. J. Nelson Jersey , they sometimes aren’t ready to play until the following Saturday.

”It depends on how you come out of the game, really,” Kearse said.

Kearse played in a Thursday night game last week when the Jets beat the Buffalo Bills 34-21 . He said he was fortunate to not have had any injury issues coming out of the previous game against Atlanta.

”For me, I just have to do as much as I can A.Q. Shipley Jersey , whether it’s spend more time in the recovery process or trying to get my body to its best ability to go out there and perform on that Thursday,” he said. ”For others, some guys are fighting their recovery until the night of the game.”

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CINCINNATI (AP) Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict will be sidelined to start a season for the fourth year in a row Nick Boyle Jersey , this time serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers.

The NFL rejected Burfict’s appeal without comment and upheld the full suspension on Thursday. It’s the third time the volatile linebacker has been suspended by the league in the past three years.

The Bengals are accustomed to going without their most valuable defensive player, whom they’ve steadfastly supported throughout his suspension-shortened career. They even gave him a three-year contract extension last season while he was serving a three-game suspension from the league.

They’ll have to plan to do without him again as they try to rebound from a second straight season of failing to reach the playoffs. The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, the sixth-longest streak of futility in NFL history.

Burfict missed the first six games of the 2015 season while recovering from knee surgery. The biggest meltdown of his career came during the playoffs that season Terrance West Jersey , when he hit Antonio Brown in the head on an incomplete pass, drawing a penalty that set up Pittsburgh’s field goal in the closing seconds for an 18-16 victory.

Reacting to the hit – which left Brown with a concussion – the NFL suspended Burfict three games for the start of the following season, noting his history of such conduct.

Last year Mike Wallace Jersey , his egregious hit on Kansas City’s Anthony Sherman during a preseason game – he leveled the running back as he came out of the backfield on a downfield pass play – drew a five-game suspension that was reduced to three games on appeal. In a letter informing Burfict of that decision, the league referred to his history of hits on defenseless players.

Jon Runyan, the league’s vice president of football operations Eric Weddle Jersey , told Burfict that ”you must be held accountable for this continuing unacceptable conduct.”

The suspension handed down on Thursday is Burfict’s first for using impermissible substances.

Burfict also was ejected last season during a game at Tennessee for contact with an official , drawing a fine but no suspension for that infraction.

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CLEVELAND (AP) John Dorsey turned the Kansas City Chiefs back into winners.

His new project is more daunting.

The Cleveland Browns hired Dorsey on Thursday to be their new general manager and fix a team that has won just one game over the past two seasons and remains in a perpetual search for a franchise quarterback.

Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam wasted no time in landing Dorsey Nick Boyle Jersey , who was brought in hours after the team fired vice president of football operations Sashi Brown after less than two seasons.

Brown was able to acquire future assets during his tenure, but he missed on quarterbacks in the draft and the Browns went just 1-27 under his watch.

”We are thrilled to have John Dorsey lead our football operations,” the Haslams said. ”John has been immersed in the NFL for 26 years, won two Super Bowls, built sustainable winning football teams and is highly respected for his football acumen. We know we have a critical and very positive opportunity ahead of us to profoundly impact the foundation of this football team.

”Bringing in someone of John Dorsey’s caliber Terrance West Jersey , his track record of success and his experience, significantly strengthens our opportunities to build a winning football team and that has been, and continues to be, what we want for our fans.”

Dorsey was fired by the Chiefs in June, ending a successful four-year run. But while he was Kansas City’s GM Mike Wallace Jersey , the club flourished, going 43-21 and advancing to the postseason three times. After starting 1-5 in 2015, the Chiefs went 12-4 the following year and won the AFC West.

While with Kansas City in 2013, Dorsey traded for quarterback Alex Smith, who has developed into a Pro Bowler. He also selected All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce Eric Weddle Jersey , cornerback Marcus Peters and wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

A former NFL linebacker, Dorsey is looking forward to the challenge of rebuilding the Browns.

”Football is what I know, it is what I love, it is what I have worked my whole career at and I thrive on every element that goes into building a winning football team,” said Dorsey Matt Judon Jersey , who worked in Green Bay’s front office before joining the Chiefs.

”I have spent a majority of my football life with two franchises that also have storied history and I think I have a feel for the mentality of the fans in Cleveland and what it would mean to recreate the success this franchise once had. I also have quickly realized how passionate Jimmy and Dee are about bringing a winning team to the city and would have not taken the job if I didn’t think the right ownership was in place.

”I am eager to work with Hue, his staff, and our personnel department and help bring us the success these fans so deserve.”

Along with firing Brown, the Haslams said coach Hue Jackson will return in 2018 despite winning just one game in two seasons.

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