National Football League

The Latest: Patriots pay tribute to Red Sox slugger Ortiz

Published Sep. 18, 2016 2:47 p.m. ET

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The Latest on Week 2 of the NFL season (all times local):

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1:40 p.m.

New England is paying tribute to Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.

David Ortiz popped down to the Patriots game to be honored before the team's home opener against the Miami Dolphins.

The Patriots showed some clips of Ortiz's career, including his celebrated speech after the Boston Marathon bombings . The Red Sox slugger then came out of the tunnel wearing a Tom Brady No. 12 jersey. He got a hug from owner Bob Kraft and a Patriots jersey with his No. 34 and ''Big Papi'' on the back. He also was handed a Patriots helmet.

Ortiz has the afternoon off with the Red Sox playing the Yankees on Sunday night.

Ortiz went out for the coin toss as an honorary captain and posed for selfies with members of the officiating crew.

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1:35 p.m.

New Orleans Saints second-year cornerback P.J. Williams has been carted off after making a tackle in the first quarter of the game against the New York Giants.

Williams' head hit the knee of Giants' tight end Larry Donnell after he caught at pass with 6:15 left in the quarter. A split second later New Orleans' linebacker Craig Robertson hit Williams in the back of the helmet trying to help on the play.

Giants receiver Victor Cruz immediately waved his arms toward the Saints bench calling for help. Trainers and doctors from both teams went on the field to aid Williams, and players from both teams took knees with a few even appearing to console one another.

Medical personnel placed Williams on a backboard and he was carted the field. He did not wave to the crowd at MetLife Stadium.

The game was delayed more than five minutes.

Other injuries in the first quarter of games on Sunday included:

- Redskins nose tackle Kedric Golston injured his right hamstring on the first play from scrimmage and is out for the rest of the game. He was replaced by Ziggy Hood.

- Lions defensive end Ziggy Ansah left in the first quarter against Tennessee with a left ankle injury. Ansah was being tended to on the sideline. He had 14 1-2 sacks last season.

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1:05 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick continued his protest against social injustice by kneeling for the national anthem before the Carolina Panthers' home opener on Sunday.

Safety Eric Reid kneeled next to Kaepernick.

Kaepernick's protest continued with support from some quarters and amid critics speaking out this week against him, including Iowa GOP congressman Steven King who said the player kneeling is akin to "activism that is sympathetic to ISIS."

Before the game, as Kaepernick stopped to take selfies with fans and sign autographs, one fan in the distance began yelling, ''USA! USA!''

In New England, three members of the Miami Dolphins - safety Michael Thomas, wide receiver Kenny Stills and running back Arian Foster - all took a knee again for the anthem. And at Detroit, Tennessee defensive tackle Jurrell Casey and Titans cornerback Jason McCourty appeared to raise their fists at the end of the anthem, after standing near midfield during the song.

- Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina; Kyle Hightower in Foxborough, Massachusetts and Noah Trister in Detroit.

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12:45 p.m.

NFL games have an NBA feel, at least in Washington and Carolina right now.

On the field for warmups of the Cowboys-Redskins matchup was Washington Wizards star guard John Wall, who surely raised some eyebrows by wearing ... a throwback Emmitt Smith jersey .

Wall hasn't made any secret in the past that he's a Dallas fan.

Meanwhile, at Carolina, part of the San Francisco 49ers' warmups included players running the three-man weave up and down the field. It's a drill commonly used during warmups for high school basketball games, except the 49ers were flipping a football to each other instead of a basketball.

Earlier this week Panthers safety Kurt Coleman compared 49ers coach Chip Kelly's fast-paced offense to the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team in how quickly they get up and down the court.

Maybe he's on to something.

- Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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12:30 p.m.

The Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans were playing games even before kicking off Sunday.

Detroit and Tennessee announced who would be inactive, including linebackers DeAndre Levy and Derrick Morgan, because they were required to 90 minutes before meeting at Ford Field.

The Lions, though, refused to reveal who would start for Levy at outside linebacker. The Titans, in turn, chose to decline announcing who would play in Morgan's spot at outside linebacker.

Usually, teams do release lineup changes along with the list of players that won't play that day.

- Larry Lage in Detroit.

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12:10 p.m.

Some big division matchups highlight the eight early NFL games, including what is likely to be a brutal rematch between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

The Steelers eliminated the Bengals in a physical wild-card game last season, and Cincinnati will be without linebacker Vontaze Burfict because of a suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit against receiver Antonio Brown near the end of that contest.

The Ravens travel to Cleveland in another AFC North game Sunday, with the Patriots playing at home against the Dolphins in the AFC East. The other 1 p.m. games are Tennessee at Detroit, Kansas City at Houston, the 49ers at Carolina, the Saints at the Giants and Dallas at Washington - another division matchup, in the NFC East.

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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-NFL

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