Cardinals lose two linebackers for season

The Arizona Cardinals have lost starting outside linebackers Sam Acho and Lorenzo Alexander for the season, and safety Rashad Johnson has lost the tip of a finger.

Acho broke a leg and Alexander sustained a season-ending foot injury in Arizona’s 31-7 loss at New Orleans on Sunday.

Johnson doesn’t know how the tip of his left middle finger was severed during the game, but says it was probably the most painful injury of his career. Still, with the finger — now about the same length as his index finger — shaved off and stitched up, there’s a chance he could play Sunday against Tampa Bay.

Johnson said that while he was on punt coverage tackling New Orleans running back Darren Sproles, he believes that his finger was caught in the playing surface. Johnson missed the second half to get surgery.

“It’s a different kind of injury, it’s something I have to adjust to but at the end of the day I’ve got nine more [fingers],” Johnson said. “It shouldn’t change the way I play, you generally catch balls with the index finger. The middle finger probably wouldn’t have been used for anything good anyway.”

Jones OK after altercation

Baltimore Ravens receiver Jacoby Jones is doing well after being involved in an altercation on a chartered bus.

Coach John Harbaugh says the incident occurred early Monday morning and that Jones is “fine.”

TMZ reported Jones and his teammates were returning from the District of Columbia after celebrating offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie’s birthday when Jones was hurt. An eyewitness told TMZ that he saw a bottle being swung at Jones and it “connected with his head and hurt him.”

Harbaugh did not provide details of the altercation. The coach did say Jones “went through everything today that he was supposed to go through.”

Jones is rehabilitating a knee injury and has not played since the season opener. Harbaugh says he scolded Jones and addressed the team. He says, “It’s not something we want to be known for. … It’s nothing to be proud of. I’m kind of disappointed in that sense.”

Etc.

The Green Bay Packers released receiver and return man Jeremy Ross a day after the second-year player muffed a kickoff that set up a touchdown in a 34-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. ... Chicago Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton will miss the rest of the season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament Sunday night at Pittsburgh. ... San Francisco linebacker Aldon Smith was placed on the reserve non-football injury list as he enters rehab for substance abuse and begins what team Chief Executive Jed York has termed an indefinite absence. “I am taking a leave of absence to address my health,” Smith said through the 49ers. “I am sorry that I have affected my team, my family and the organization.” ... Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who missed the last two games after slicing open the back of his throwing hand, will start Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. ... Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones was accused by police of making offensive comments while drunk during a traffic stop early Monday and was given a disorderly conduct citation. Jones was arrested around 2:30 a.m. after the vehicle he was in was pulled over for driving 60 mph in a 45 mph zone on a highway in Cincinnati, State Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston said. ... A judge in New Jersey ordered Minnesota Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf and their cousin Leonard Wilf to pay $84.5 million to two former business partners who she previously ruled they had defrauded in a 1980s real estate deal.