Three and out: Gates out for an extended period?

Adam Rank | Tags: Three and out, Antonio Gates, Arian Foster, Felix Jones

With the Monday Nightmare out of the way, it is time to look forward. Here are three big stories on a Tuesday morning.

Gates could miss at least a month. (Associated Press)

Closing the Gates? Chargers TE Antonio Gates could be shutting it down, too. The pain in his foot has been persistent, and the San Diego Union-Tribune wondered if this could be the beginning of the end for the 31-year-old Gates. Gates wasn’t ready to label this the end but he will see a specialist on Tuesday. He then will be faced with the dilemma of playing through the pain, or resting for three to five weeks or longer, hoping that does the trick. One doctor, who has not seen Gates, points out that the All-Pro tight end had the entire offseason to rest and there were no mini-camps or OTAs, so all that time off did not clear up the problem. Which is something we don’t want to think about.

Hey, there’s Felix: We had a sighting of Cowboys RB Felix Jones on Monday night. One of the kids reached out to me on the Facebook on Monday and wondered if Jones was going to be able to score four points that night to seal a win for him. Well thankfully for that fantasy enthusiast, Jones scored 15 points –- but he got hurt again. The Cowboys face the Lions this week and have a bye in Week 5, so make sure Jones is handcuffed in all of your leagues because the team could shut him down for the week to get him healthy. Well, as healthy as Jones is going to be.

Foster expected back: Texans coach Gary Kubiak expects Arian Foster to return this week, and plans to give his running back a full workload, especially in the red zone. The Texans have struggled inside the 20 this season, ranking 30th in red zone scoring. Again, fantasy enthusiasts should temper expectations until Foster both returns and proves that he can carry a complete workload. If you have Ben Tate, you might want to start putting him out there in trade offers to see if you can get a nibble. But do not overact and dump him, because there is no guarantee that Foster can return.

You can receive daily fantasy advice from Rank via Twitter or via Facebook. Be sure to catch the latest on the Dave Dameshek Football Program.

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Urlacher: Bears are ‘the best team, period’

There’s a good chance that somewhere deep in the bowels of Gillette Stadium, Brian Urlacher’s quotes from Thursday are hanging on a bulletin board, circled in red.

Bill Belichick has been known to do such things to motivate his Patriots.

Urlacher provided said material while discussing Sunday’s matchup at Solider Field, and how the circumstances resemble the game two weeks ago against Michael Vick and the Eagles.

“Remember, we have them at home … the same like Philly,” Urlacher told The Chicago Tribune, referring to the Bears’ 31-26 win. “When we played Philly, everybody was saying they were the best, right? It’s the same situation, and hopefully the same result.

“New England is the best team in the NFL, record-wise. But I feel like we’re the best team, period. That’s why I say record-wise. They have the best quarterback, numbers-wise. And everybody likes to go by numbers, right?”

Smack, smack, smack!

You can’t fault Urlacher’s confidence. He’s not the first player to go here, and no doubt swagger is an essential characteristic of winning NFL teams, something Urlacher brings to the Bears. If he wasn’t pissed off when the Bears lose and confident that they’ll win, something is wrong. Plus, he does give props to Tom Brady later in the piece.

But it’s still a good bet his quotes somehow made their way to the consciousness of the Patriots. Willing to bet on it.

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