Jeff Fisher: Giants to blame for sideline melee: Report

St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said his team did not instigate what turned into a wild second-quarter brawl (video at bottom) in the Giants' 37-27 win at St. Louis. Fisher pinned the blame squarely on the way the Giants responded after receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was thrown down out of bounds by Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree.

"To buy into all of our friskiness or all this stuff that they're referring to, I think it would be good if they look themselves in the mirror," Fisher told the St. Louis Post Dispatch . "They beat us physically in a number of instances, but I don't think we had a lot to do with those things on the sideline other than the attempt to break things up."

Fisher went as far as saying he would be surprised if any of his players got fined or disciplined for their actions leading up to or in the brawl. One of his players, defensive end William Hayes, was ejected along with two Giants, Preston Parker and Damontre Moore.

The Rams coach accused Beckham of pulling Ogletree down by grabbing his facemask. Replays seem to indicate it was Ogletree who, with a pile-driver move, knocked Beckham down well out of bounds — sparking the wold brawl.

“When you look at it really close, Odell has [Ogletree’s] facemask and he’s pulling him out of bounds, so it’s hard for [Ogletree] to let up.’’ Fisher said.

Giants safety Antrel Rolle said it was “very unfortunate that it had to come down to that’’ but had no problem with the response from the Giants.

Bills' Eric Wood blames ESPN as reason no NFL team has picked up Michael Sam: Report

After Michael Sam was cut by the St. Louis Rams Saturday and wasn't picked up by another team, one NFL player put the blame for the openly gay Sam being passed over by the other 31 teams on the reporting of the sports network ESPN.

Eric Wood, an offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills tweeted "blame that on ESPN" in response to a reporter wondering why Sam was passed over after a solid preseason, reported ProFootballTalk.com.

Ross Tucker, an analyst for NBC and Sirius XM NFL Radio, wondered aloud via Twitter: "Michael Sam performed much better than most expected and still isn't even on a practice squad?" 

Wood tweeted in response: "blame that on espn. No one wants the distraction."

@RossTuckerNFL blame that on espn. No one wants the distraction
— Eric Wood (@EWood70) August 31, 2014

Last week ESPN apologized for a report that quoted an unnamed Rams player as saying that Sam hadn’t showered with teammates in training camp. The story even had perturbed head coach Jeff Fisher reluctantly addressing the situation at a press conference.  

So maybe Wood’s opinion is a logical explanation for why Sam still isn't even on some team's practice squad — although ESPN isn't the only offender.