National Football League

The Latest: Cincinnati LB Burfict injures knee, returns

Published Oct. 30, 2016 11:49 a.m. ET

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The Latest on Sunday's NFL action (all times Eastern):

10:45 a.m.

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict returned to the game against the Washington Redskins at Wembley Stadium after injuring his right knee in the second quarter.

Burfict was making a tackle on Redskins running back Chris Thompson, who gained four yards on second-and-8 with 10:35 remaining before halftime. He was tended to by athletic trainers on the field before being helped off.

He went to the locker room briefly, but quickly returned.

The linebacker, suspended the first three games for repeated violations of the player safety protocol, entered Sunday tied for third on the team with 29 tackles. He had also sustained an ankle injury in practice last week.

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10 a.m.

Both the Bengals and Redskins seem to have forgotten to pack their defenses for London.

Washington took its opening possession in Wembley Stadium 80 yards on a 15-play drive capped by rookie Robert Kelley's 4-yard run up the middle for his first rushing touchdown.

Cincinnati immediately responded with a 66-yard kick return by Alex Erickson up the right sideline. Giovani Bernard took a handoff 8 yards to the end zone to cap a seven-play, 36-yard drive to tie the score at 7-7 with 4 minutes still left in the opening quarter.

- Shawn Pogatchnik reporting from London.

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9:30 a.m.

Cincinnati, the official ''home'' team for Sunday's London game, emerged from a specially constructed tunnel featuring city landmarks -Big Ben, Parliament, the Eye ferris wheel and Tower Bridge - painted in Bengals orange and black and entwined in a green jungle vine.

But when local broadcasters asked the crowd to cheer for their favored teams, the large Washington contingent out-roared the Bengals' fans. Both teams are making their first appearance at Wembley Stadium, but Redskins fans in team jerseys appear to outnumber their Bengal-striped counterparts by at least 5 to 1 in the sold-out stands.

Fans used colored sheets at their seats to transform the stadium into the red, white and blue shared by the U.S. and British flags during their respective anthems. No player from either team made any physical protest during the singing of ''The Star-Spangled Banner.''

- Shawn Pogatchnik reporting from London.

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8:50 a.m.

They may become enemies once the starting whistle blows, but Redskins coach Jay Gruden spent much of Sunday's pre-game warmups on the Wembley Stadium field in London chatting with old teammates.

Gruden, who was the Bengals' offensive coordinator from 2011 to 2013 before taking the top job in Washington, spent 15 minutes chatting and laughing heartily near the 50-yard line with quarterback Andy Dalton, left tackle Andrew Whitworth, tight end Tyler Eifert and other Bengals whose careers he shaped in Cincinnati.

Both teams brought retired NFL royalty to London to serve as honorary captains. The Redskins are represented by ex-quarterback Joe Theismann and linebacker LaVar Arrington, the Bengals by ex-running back Stanford Jennings and tackle Anthony Munoz.

The Wembley big-screen TV poked a bit of fun at the visitors' lack of knowledge of British pop culture. Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, linebacker Trent Murphy and cornerback Bashaud Breeland were asked to define a string of Britishisms. Only Murphy knew ''bangers and mash'' were sausages and potatoes, Cousins didn't know that a ''bloke'' is a man, and nobody knew a ''chin wag'' was a conversation.

- Shawn Pogatchnik reporting from London.

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8 a.m.

Wake up, NFL fans! Week eight of the season features an early start from London, where the Cincinnati Bengals host the Washington Redskins.

The 9:30 a.m. Eastern (1330 GMT) kickoff from Wembley Stadium launches the first of 11 games Sunday. It's also the last of this year's three NFL contests in London. Wembley, the 84,000-seat home of English soccer, is expecting another sellout crowd to watch the Bengals (3-4) against the Redskins (4-3).

Later, the Patriots (6-1) take their two-game AFC East lead to Buffalo to face the second-place Bills (4-3), while the Lions (4-3) seek their fourth win in a row on the road versus the AFC South-leading Texans (4-3). The Packers (4-2) head for Atlanta (4-3), where the NFC South-leading Falcons hope to stop a two-game losing skid.

The Sunday night game features the NFC East-leading Cowboys (5-1) at home against the second-place Eagles (4-2).

Also playing Sunday: Arizona at Carolina, New York Jets at Cleveland, Kansas City at Indianapolis, Seattle at New Orleans, Oakland at Tampa Bay and San Diego at Denver. NFC North-leading Minnesota (5-1) plays the Bears in Chicago on Monday night.

- Shawn Pogatchnik reporting from London.