Oakland Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree and Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib were ejected from their game with 11:56 left in the first quarter Sunday after a fight at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
Crabtree and Talib each received offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties. Raiders offensive guard Gabe Jackson was also ejected for making contact with an official and was penalized 15 yards.
As Crabtree and Talib went to the ground hard and continued battling on the Broncos sidelines, players from both teams rushed to join the confrontation.
When the Raiders and Broncos met last season in Denver, Talib ripped Crabtree’s chain off his neck on one play.
–Tampa Bay running back Doug Martin sustained a concussion, one of six Buccaneers injured in the 34-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Right tackle Demar Dotson and center Ali Marpet left with knee injuries and Martin suffered his concussion in the second quarter.
Defensive tackle Clinton McDonald (back), safety T.J. Ward (concussion) and cornerback Josh Robinson (hamstring) were hurt in the third quarter.
The Falcons lost cornerbacks Desmond Trufant (concussion) and Brian Poole (lower back) in the second quarter.
–New England special teamer Nate Ebner suffered a knee injury on a 14-yard run with a fake punt that helped the Patriots drive to their first touchdown of the game with the Miami Dolphins.
Ebner, a key to the Patriots’ special teams, took a direct snap and ran to the right for a first down on his team’s first series of the day. He was injured on the play and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.
The Patriots needed four plays after the Ebner first down to score the game’s first touchdown, 4:21 into the game.
–Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch sustained a non-contact ankle injury during the third quarter and departed Denver’s game against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
Trevor Siemian replaced Lynch, who was injured after a third-down completion with 4:55 remaining in the third.
Lynch completed 9 of 14 passes for 41 yards with one interception while making his first start of the season and the third of his career.
–The Dallas Cowboys waived little-used running back Darren McFadden.
Coach Jason Garrett confirmed McFadden’s release that will allow the 10-year veteran to land with another team this season.
“Darren’s been a really good player for us and has been just a first-class guy on our football team,” Garrett said Sunday. “And just the way the running back rotation has been and is probably going to be as we go forward he wasn’t going to get many opportunities. … I really wish Darren nothing but the best.”
McFadden has been a healthy inactive for most of this season, including the current three-game losing streak coinciding with the first three games of star running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension.