![Cowboys Panthers Football](https://www.sunjournal.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
The Carolina Panthers fired Coach Frank Reich on Monday, just 11 games into his first season with the team. Eric Verduzco/Associated Press
The Frank Reich era in Carolina is over after only 11 games.
The Carolina Panthers fired their coach on Monday following the team’s NFL-worst 1-10 start in his first year at the helm.
Panthers owner David Tepper announced the move hours after several news outlets reported that he used a profanity as he was leaving the locker room following a 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Tepper hired Reich to fix one of the league’s worst offenses over the past few seasons and develop Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick whom he gave up four draft picks and top wide receiver D.J. Moore to acquire this past offseason in the hopes of winning multiple Super Bowls.
Instead, the Panthers are assured a franchise-record sixth straight losing season.
The Panthers are 30-63 since Tepper bought the team from Jerry Richardson in 2018 for $2.275 billion and have never made the playoffs.
Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will take over as interim head coach. Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will become the team’s play caller, with senior assistant Jim Caldwell serving as his special adviser.
Tabor’s first move as interim coach was to fire quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and running backs coach Duce Staley, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the moves have not been announced. Staley, 48, worked with Reich in Philadelphia in 2016 while Reich was Eagles offensive coordinator and helped the team win Super Bowl LII.
McCown and Staley were handpicked by Reich to be assistants.
When Tepper makes his next head coaching hire after the season, it will be the seventh full-time or interim head coach to serve under him. Tepper is scheduled to address reporters Tuesday at a news conference at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers canceled all media access Monday.
Reich is the second NFL head coach to be fired this season, joining Josh McDaniels of the Las Vegas Raiders.
BILLS: Buffalo pass rusher Shaq Lawson apologized Monday for shoving a Philadelphia Eagles fan behind the team’s bench after alleging the person was making threatening remarks about players and their families.
Lawson posted his apology on his Instagram account a day after a video showed him and five defensive teammates approach a spectator in the first row behind Buffalo’s bench during a 37-34 overtime loss at Philadelphia. The video showed Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips walking up and exchanging words with the unidentified spectator, when Lawson followed and shoved the fan, who was wearing an Eagles shirt beneath his jacket and holding a can of beer.
Lawson said the fan began heckling players before the game began, and was allowed to stay at his seat after the Bills asked stadium security officials to have the person removed.
“Eventually, our emotions boiled over and I made a mistake,” Lawson wrote. “For that, I apologize, but there are certain lines that should not be crossed.”
GIANTS: Coach Brian Daboll on Monday left the door open for Tyrod Taylor regaining his job as starting quarterback despite undrafted rookie third-stringer Tommy DeVito playing solidly over the past two weeks, in two wins.
Regular starter Daniel Jones, is out for the season with a torn ACL. He got hurt in Week 9 at the Raiders. A week earlier against the Jets, Taylor suffered a ribs injury that has sidelined him since. So DeVito started against the Cowboys (loss), Commanders (win), and Patriots (win) and has gained admiration from his teammates along the way, even though it’s clear he’s not an elite quarterback.
Taylor will be eligible to come off injured reserve, since he will have missed the required minimum of four games. But it’s unclear if Taylor will be healthy enough to play in Week 14. Still, Daboll on Monday would not commit to DeVito as his starting quarterback for the Week 14 Monday night home game against the Packers, on Dec. 11.
“We’ll work as a coaching staff and discuss a lot of things,” Daboll said. “That’ll be something, obviously, we talk about. We’re just getting started on that process now. We’ll have plenty of meetings here tonight and tomorrow.”
RAIDERS: Veteran cornerback Marcus Peters was released on Monday a day after being benched against the Chiefs for struggling in pass coverage and as a tackler. Both have been persistent issues throughout the season.
Coach Antonio Pierce, who had a spirited sideline conversation with Peters shortly after the benching, said after the game that benching the veteran cornerback was a “coach’s decision.”
Peters, 30, is a two-time first-team All-Pro and has made three Pro Bowls. The Oakland native signed with the Raiders, his childhood team, in July on a one-year, $3 million deal.
BROWNS: Star defensive end Myles Garrett did not suffer any structural damage to his left shoulder in Sunday’s game at Denver, a positive development for a Cleveland team rocked by major injuries all season.
Garrett, who has 13 sacks for Cleveland’s top-ranked defense, got hurt during the 29-12 loss to the Broncos. He continued playing despite having limited motion. He left the stadium with his arm in a sling.
Coach Kevin Stefanski said an MRI showed nothing major wrong in Garrett’s shoulder, the same one he sprained in a single-car crash last year. Stefanski said Garrett is “sore” but the team feels good about his status going forward.
Stefanski said it’s too early to know if Garrett will be available this week when the Browns (7-4) face the Los Angeles Rams (5-6).
TEXANS: Former Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett has been claimed off waivers by Houston, according to multiple reports.
Philadelphia had waived Barnett, who wanted more playing time, on Friday. Barnett was inactive against the Week 10 and 11 matchups against the Cowboys and Chiefs, and in the two prior meetings he played just 14 snaps.
Barnett, 27, has had three total tackles and a tackle for loss this year. He spent the last seven seasons with the Eagles and signed a two-year extension in 2022 before injuring his ACL and missing most of the season.
Barnett was originally supposed to make $7.5 million this season, with $1.5 million guaranteed. But in August, he said “the people from above” asked him to restructure his contract, to make a maximum of $6 million, with $3.5 million guaranteed, along with per-game bonuses and other incentives.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story