Whether or not Earl Thomas should have raised his middle finger in the

direction of his team's sideline Manti Te'o Jersey , this much is clear: His broken leg amid an ongoing flap with the Seattle Seahawks illustrates why the lack of guaranteed contracts is such a problem for NFL players.This is exactly what Thomas was worried about when he sat out training camp. And when he skipped practices after the season started.There are, of course, all manner of injuries in each and every game, each and every week, around the violent-by-design league.Often, they involve stars ?such as Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who left New England's 38-7 win over Miami with an injured right ankle. Often, they are gruesome such as what happened to Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert's lower right leg in Cincinnati's 37-36 victory at Atlanta, leaving him covering his face with interlocking fingers as he was driven to the locker room.So this given Sunday was no different from any other, really. Thomas' particular case, though, seemed to resonate ?yes, because of his flipping reaction, but also ?because he has been so public about his concerns about health and finances.He's in the final year of his deal and repeatedly has spoken about wanting the extra security of a fresh contract."I need to make sure my body is 100 (percent)," Thomas said a week ago, "and I'm invested in myself."Prescient sentiment. In the fourth quarter of Seattle's 20-17 victory at the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Thomas's left leg was fractured while he tried to defend against what became a 22-yard touchdown pass. As the six-time Pro Bowl safety was driven away on a cart along Arizona's sideline, his leg in an air cast, he looked across the field, lifted his right hand and made his anger clear.It elicited a ton of reaction on Twitter, including this nugget from Thomas' former Seahawks teammate Cliff Avril: "Exactly why guys want extensions."In case you missed it, here are other top topics after the NFL season's fourth Sunday:ROUGHING THE PASSERYes, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews was credited with half a sack while helping take down Bills QB Josh Allen in the second quarter as Green Bay beat Buffalo 22-0 . And, lo and behold, Matthews did not get flagged for roughing the passer 鈥?the first game this season that he did not get whistled for it. All in all, the uproar caused by the focus on that particular penalty seemed to have an effect, because after an average of more than 10 roughing calls per week through Week 3, there were only five entering the Monday night game. Then again, one of Sunday's was pretty hard to believe: when Oakland's Arden Key barely touched Cleveland QB Baker Mayfield.NOT TAKING A KNEEHey, maybe Jaguars coach Doug Marrone was worried that the Jets would return a kickoff for a touchdown Limited Rick Leonard Jersey , then line up and go for 14? Hard to figure out what else would motivate him to go for a 2-point conversion after a TD put his team ahead 31-12 with 25 seconds left 鈥?unless, of course, Marrone just wanted to rub it in a bit against a club that passed him over for its top job. Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams called it "really disrespectful." Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson's take? "He doesn't like those guys. I don't know what they did to him, but he doesn't like them." And Marrone's explanation? "On the chart," he said, "it says go for two."YOUNG RUNNERSDon't bother with a running game, they say. Never draft a tailback too high, they insist. Maybe they're right, but there is a young crop of runners who are looking fantastic right now. There's second-year back Alvin Kamara, who scored three second-half TDs and finished with 134 yards on the ground in the Saints' 33-18 victory at the New York Giants, whose rookie Saquon Barkley looks pretty talented, too. Rookie Sony Michel ran for 112 yards and his first NFL TD for the Patriots, while his college teammate at Georgia, Nick Chubb, needed all of three carries to gain 105 yards and score twice for Cleveland in its 45-42 OT loss at Oakland. Yet another rookie, Kerryon Johnson, bulled through defenders while producing 55 yards and a TD for Detroit, which was beaten 26-24 by Dallas.AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Fla., contributed to this report.Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at ://HowardFendrich Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning isn't ready to hand over the job as the New York Giants' starting quarterback.With fans and many in the media calling for him to be benched with the Giants off to a second straight 1-7 start, the 37-year-old Manning insisted Monday he wants to play when New York takes the field against the 49ers in San Francisco on Nov. 12.Before Manning spoke, Coach Pat Shurmur said the 15-year veteran remains his starting quarterback, but he will be evaluating everything during the upcoming bye week."I've always been a team player, and do kind of what I'm told," Manning said. "I expect and want to be the starting quarterback until I'm told differently."To be honest, Shurmur doesn't have many good options at quarterback.Alex Tanney has played in one game in his three years in the league, appearing for Tennessee in 2015. Rookie Kyle Lauletta was a fourth-round draft pick out of Richmond. Neither has played a down this season.Making a change would allow the Giants, who are 4-20 over the past 1陆 seasons, a chance to evaluate Tanney and Lauletta in a regular-season game.Former coach Ben McAdoo was in a similar position last season and gave veteran Geno Smith a start against Oakland when many felt Dave Webb, a third-round draft pick in 2017 Josh Hill Jersey , would get a chance to show his stuff.Manning was not only benched, but his streak of consecutive starts was snapped at 210.The Giants lost the game and McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese were fired days later. Manning returned as the starting quarterback the following week.Manning has hit 215 of 315 passes for 2,377 yards, a completion rate of 68 percent. The problem is the offense is not scoring in the red zone. Manning has eight touchdown passes, with most coming late in the fourth quarter."I think the answer just comes to execution," Manning said. "We got good players. There's some good football. There are some good plays. There's some big plays, some explosive plays. There's just some bad football as well. So, it's just cleaning up the bad stuff."There is a lot to clean up.The revamped offensive line has struggled. Manning, whose biggest weakness is his lack of mobility, has been sacked 31 times, with seven coming in the 20-13 loss to Washington on Sunday.Despite the addition of Saquon Barkley, the running game is ranked among the bottom three. It gained 37 yards against the Redskins.Manning said the offense won't be changing the system in the bye week. The goal will be to figure out what is working well and what plays can be run either more or differently. The goal will be to keep the Giants in manageable situations and to avoid sacks."We've just got to find ways to be productive, whether you get the ball out quickly or more max protection, or just have a combination of the two, or move in the pocket," Manning said. "Just things to try to get us out of those situations, because sacks are drive killers. We have playmakers. We got to get them the ball, and get it to them in a timely fashion, and let them make plays."Shurmur chose his words carefully talking about evaluating the quarterback position."Yeah, I think Eli is our quarterback; but I did say, and again, I know you're all trying to tease a headline out," Shurmur said. "At this point, Eli is our quarterback, and we are looking at all areas to improve. That's where it's at."The coach said Lauletta and Tanney have been taking snaps all season to be ready to play. He said he has not considered lifting Manning in any game this season.NOTES: Right tackle Chad Wheeler hurt his right foot and ankle. He was in a walking boot Monday, but he hopes to be ready for the 49ers. ... With the trading deadline on Tuesday, Shurmur said he will talk with general manager Dave Gettleman. New York traded cornerback Eli Apple and defensive tackle Damon Harrison last week. Custom Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys