NFL notes: Odell Beckham is questionable for Giants’ opener; Chiefs’ Eric Berry lost for season

Odell Beckham Jr. has been listed as questionable for the New York Giants’ season opener against the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday night while the Kansas City Chiefs are off their biggest season-opening win in history at the expense of All-Pro safety Eric Berry, who ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon.

Questionable in NFL terminology means Beckham has a 50-50 chance to play. He has not practiced since spraining his left ankle on Aug. 21 in a preseason game against Cleveland. He stretched with teammates before practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but worked with trainers during the practices.

The three-time Pro Bowler and the Giants’ leading receiver will have another chance to practice Saturday when the team works out at roughly 85 percent of full speed before traveling to Texas.

Coach Ben McAdoo said Beckham would work with trainers Friday, a day the Giants let players rest and recover.

Berry was injured during the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s 42-27 victory over the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, not only ending his season but leaving the Chiefs without one of the most visible and vocal leaders on their defense.

“You’re not going to replace Eric Berry with another Eric Berry. That’s not what happens,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who confirmed the team’s initial fears in a conference call Friday. “But the guys know that Eric would be disappointed if they left off the accelerator at all. I think we’ll be OK there.”

Berry was hurt while covering Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski on a passing route. He hobbled at the end of the play and promptly sat on the turf, where the team’s training staff began examining him. Berry did not appear to be in obvious discomfort, but it took a cart to remove him from the field.

The Chiefs have dealt with a rash of Achilles tendon injuries in recent years, including two sustained by Derrick Johnson. The star linebacker’s latest occurred late last season, but he managed to return to the field by summer workouts and was a full participant in training camp.

Berry also has a history of overcoming serious hurdles in his career.

He missed most of the 2011 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee, only to start 16 games the following season. He also missed the final 10 games of the 2014 regular season while undergoing treatment for lymphoma, only to return to training camp and again play all 16 games the following season.

In other NFL news:

-- The NFL suspended former New York Giants kicker and current free agent Josh Brown for six games, a person familiar told The Associated Press on Friday. The decision to extend the ban follows a league review of Brown’s repeated abuse of his former wife while they were married. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL had not released its ruling. The person expects the decision to be announced later in the day. ESPN first reported the suspension, the second handed to Brown for abusing his former wife, Molly.

Brown served a one-game suspension at the start of last season. He was eventually released by the Giants in late October after authorities in Washington state released a report on their investigation into his arrest in 2015. Details in the report angered many because Brown received a suspension of only one game.

-- Saints coach Sean Payton says long snapper Jon Dorenbos has a “serious” heart condition that will require surgery. Payton, who spoke about Dorenbos on a media conference call Friday morning, says Saints physician John Amoss discovered he long-snapper’s aortic aneurysm during a physical examination and “basically saved his life.” Dorenbos, who was entering his 15th NFL season, was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia before the New Orleans’ final preseason game. New Orleans is now placing Dorenbos on its non-football injury list and looking to bring in another long snapper before Monday night’s regular season opener at Minnesota. Dorenbos is the second Saints player this year to be placed on the non-football injury list for a heart condition. The first was veteran defensive tackle Nick Fairley his summer.

-- First-round draft pick Adoree Jackson might start in the Tennessee Titans’ opener on Sunday against Oakland after starting cornerback LeShaun Sims was ruled out of the game because of an injured groin. Sims was hurt in a special teams drill Monday and has not practiced since. Titans coach Mike Mularkey refused to say Friday who will start, saying only that Tennessee has enough depth to overcome Sims’ injury. Mularkey says Jackson will play a good bit.

-- The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed rookie receiver Dede Westbrook on injured reserve because of a core muscle injury and claimed former first-round draft pick Calvin Pryor off waivers from Cleveland. Westbrook, a fourth-round draft pick from Oklahoma, led the NFL in receiving in the preseason and even played the finale after seeing a core muscle specialist in Philadelphia. Pryor, the 18th overall pick by the New York Jets in 2014, has 191 tackles, 14 pass breakups and two interceptions in 44 games. The Jets traded Pryor to Cleveland in June. The Jaguars also signed offensive lineman Josh Walker and released guard Earl Watford.

-- J.J. Watt is being honored by the NFL Players Assn. after raising more than $29 million for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Watt was named the NFLPA’s Community MVP on Friday for his work in the days since the hurricane and flooding devastated Houston and much of southeast Texas. Watt announced the fundraising page with a video on Twitter after Houston’s preseason game against the Saints in Aug. 26, with a goal of collecting $200,000. As donations kept pouring in, he raised the goal again and again. The number skyrocketed thanks to almost 200,000 donors including Jimmy Fallon, Ellen DeGeneres, Drake and Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul.