The usual excuses were trotted out when Colin Kaepernick’s fellow protestor found himself out of a job. And none of them turned out to be true

Why Eric Reid wasn’t playing football at the start of 2018 was as obvious to his detractors as anyone. But with each passing week, with each snap, with each dynamic swoop to close on a quarterback or break up a pass, that eight-month stretch out of the NFL takes on a darker, more sinister tone.

To recap, Reid knelt alongside his friend Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when they played together at the San Francisco 49ers. And, just like Kaepernick, he soon found himself without a job despite being a solid pro and in the prime years of his career. Detractors hit Reid with the same nonsense that they used to justify Kaepernick’s exile. A rebuke of his political beliefs dressed up as football commentary: he couldn’t find a team because he wasn’t very good; players of his type, at his position, were dying out; he would be a distraction.

NFL bans Raiders' Vontaze Burfict for rest of season after brutal hit Read more

Unlike Kaepernick Reid eventually found a team willing to take him on – he signed for the Carolina Panthers four months after filing a grievance against the NFL alleging teams colluded to keep him out of the league. Reid plays at safety and teams want linebacker-safety hybrids, guys who are comfortable playing the run and turning and running in coverage. Reid is the prototype.

And, in some ways, Reid has been a distraction. He speaks freely and openly about politics, and continues to kneel for the anthem. He has accused – with some justification – the NFL of singling him out for drug tests. He has got into a pre-game scuffle with another player campaigning for social justice, Malcolm Jenkins.

And guess what: Reid’s on-field play continues to make a mockery of fears about those distractions. He is one of the five most impactful, consistent defenders on one of the top-10 defenses in the league. Through four weeks of the 2019 season he has played 100% of the team’s defensive snaps. His head coach, Ron Rivera, one of the sharpest defensive minds in the league, has built a defensive scheme with Reid as one of its tentpoles – he is as important as the team’s other defensive stars, Luke Kuechly, James Bradberry and Gerald McCoy.

And, besides, are Reid’s storylines any more of a distraction than the Panthers’ run on a behind-the-scenes documentary? Or star quarterback Cam Newton’s new vegan diet? Or whether this is Newton’s last year in Charlotte or not?

Sunday saw Reid’s best performance of the season so far, his best since his return. He rattled Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson physically and mentally. Reid was here there and everywhere, in coverage and in the backfield. He finished the game with a tackle for a loss, a fumble recovery, and a sack.

The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) Eric Reid brought the pressure and came up with the fumble recovery 💪 @E_Reid35 pic.twitter.com/SM7m8Moxeb

Reid was forced to play a pair of quarters on Sunday. He left the stadium in a walking boot. He hobbled from play to play, with an obvious, pronounced limp. “It would have been easy for him not to go back into the game but he gutted it out,” Rivera said post-game. “That’s the kind of young man he is.”

Reid wanted to play football and to help people. For that, he was shunned, ostracized. Now, given an opportunity to play, he has thrived. And his play serves as a snap-to-snap reminder of that period in league history when teams chose cowardice over what was right and just – and good for them.

Stat of the week

At half time of the Bears-Vikings game, Chicago’s backup quarterback Chase Daniel was 16/21 passing, with 138 yards and a touchdown. That’s more passing yards than Mitchell Trubisky has had in seven of his 29 career starts. The Bears have a Trubisky problem and it’s time to admit it.

Chicago have the best defense in the league, by a pretty decent distance. Historically, defensive performance varies year-to-year. If you stumble upon a franchise quarterback, you have a good offense for a decade, but keeping a great defense together is hard: free agency, injuries, and age all sap a unit of its talent. That’s not the case in Chicago though – they were the top unit in the NFL last year and have somehow improved.

Not cashing in on this window would be a crime. The pride of a GM – and the organization as a whole, who traded up to get Trubisky in a draft that also contained Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson – cannot cost the team a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl.

MVP of the week

Minshew Mania is here to stay. Gardner Minshew inspired the Jaguars to their come from behind victory on the road in Denver with his patented blend of machismo and swagger and odd, off-script playmaking. I mean, what even is this?

SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) WHAT CAN'T GARDNER MINSHEW DO 😱#JAXvsDEN (via @thecheckdown)pic.twitter.com/FYJpoRemZm

The NFL’s Next Gen stats system paints an even more bonkers portrait:

Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) Gardner Minshew evaded three Broncos defenders to find Ryquell Armstead in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown.



Minshew held on to the ball for 7.51 seconds, the longest time to throw on a TD pass this season.#JAXvsDEN | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/1qiS9Y7XSg

Minshew finished the day 19/33 passing for 213 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Leonard Fournette and the Jaguars defense played well too (Fournette had the best game of his career), but it was Minshew’s fearlessness that eventually wore down the Broncos defense and got the Jags over the line. Minshew continues to defy his pre-draft expectations: he’s an instant star.

Quote of the week

“Not all of Mozart’s paintings were perfect” – Chiefs coach Andy Reid following the team’s 34-30 win over the Lions in Detroit.

There has never been a better distillation of what it means to be a ‘football guy’. Reid doesn’t know nor care if Mozart was a painter, decorator, composer or bank robber. Tell him tonight and he’ll forget by tomorrow. Unless Mozart can do a job on special teams – unlikely – Reid’s not interested.

Video of the week

Vontaze Burfict’s hit on a defenseless Jack Doyle was barbaric:

Football Is Life (@FootbaIl_Tweets) Raiders LB Vontaze Burfict has been ejected for this hit 🤐 pic.twitter.com/Gdx4xMp3Uf

Burfict’s play, dating back to his days in college and through his pro career in Cincinnati and Oakland ranks among the dirtiest of any sports figure anywhere at any time. He isn’t looking to tackle opponents, he’s looking to do serious harm.

The NFL has enabled Burfict long enough, we are only a week removed from Burfict randomly punching players at the end of a play. His career with the Bengals was marred with grizzly hits and cowardly acts. Cincy finally had enough. Oakland decided to reward his actions with a fat free-agent deal and a team captaincy. It’s time for the league to step in and levy a long-term ban.

Elsewhere around the league

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Bears’ 1936 uniforms caught the eye this weekend. Photograph: Matt Marton/AP

- The Dallas Cowboys lost their unbeaten record with a 12-10 lost to the Saints in New Orleans. Teddy Bridgewater, in for the injured Drew Brees, hasn’t exactly shone at quarterback for the Saints but he has won both his games as the temporary starter. He was also, correctly, quick to thank his defense and the team’s excellent kicker, Wil Lutz, who was successful on all four of his field goals.

- Your Defensive Player of the Year through a quarter of the season: Tampa Bay’s Shaquil Barrett. Barrett is the first player since sacks were officially recorded in 1982 to have at least eight sacks (!) and one interception in his team’s first four games of a season. Barrett was a former rotational rusher with the Broncos who would flash in short stints but racked up most of his production against back-ups and weaker offensive lineman. A move to Tampa, where he’s now an every-down player, has allowed him to fulfill his potential.

- Jared Goff may have produced the least inspiring 500-yard performance in NFL history. The Bears clearly have a quarterback problem, and the Rams may have one too. Since 2017, when Goff entered the league, only two other quarterbacks – Jameis Winston and Kirk Cousins – have turned the ball over more. Goff has coughed up 49 turnovers over his career, and has fumbled 14 times in his last 13 games. That’s not exactly the production you want from a QB making in excess of $110m guaranteed over the next four years.

- Dan Quinn’s job is in danger after another lackluster performance from the Falcons. Slow starts on offense and a leaky defense have become hallmarks of the Quinn era. Who’s excited for Jay Gruden v Quinn in the inaugural XFL Bowl? Count me in.

- Larry Fitzgerald passed Tony Gonzalez as the second all-time leader in receptions in NFL history during the Cardinals’ loss to the Seahawks. The Hall of Fame awaits.

- Austin Ekeler finished his month as the Chargers’ starting running back with 490 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns. Melvin Gordon hasn’t topped those figures over a four-week span at any time during his first three seasons as a pro. Gordon’s holdout was so ineffective that it feels almost mean to mention it.

- The Bears’ 1936 inspired throwback uniforms were beautiful. There should be a nationwide movement to lobby the team to make them their full-time getups. The story behind them is even more interesting. The uniform was used to address one of the darkest periods in the team’s – and league’s – history: that the NFL was a segregated, all-white league in 1936, thanks to a 12-year ban on black players that ran from 1934 through 1945. That means the black players currently on the Bears roster were the first ever permitted to wear the uniform on the field.