NFL notebook: Football Hall of Fame members want benefits, pay

Former Rams running back Eric Dickerson is the chairman of the board created
to represent the pursuit of health care and a piece of the NFL's massive
revenue pie.

The Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, has undergone an enormous construction
project in recent years -- Hall of Fame Village, aided by a huge sponsorship
deal with Johnson Controls -- that includes a retirement center for players,
who would receive health care on the premises. The project also included a new
stadium and will bring multiple football fields for youth participation
initiatives.

In the letter, Hall of Fame members reference Major League Baseball's lifetime
health coverage afforded any player who serves a single day on a big-league
roster, and point to the established $620 million "Legacy Fund" as one of the
NFL's "cynical public relations ploys that fail to help those who desperately
need it."

--Former No. 1 draft pick Jameis Winston has one game remaining on his
season-opening suspension, but Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver DeSean
Jackson is already saying he wants Ryan Fitzpatrick to keep the job.

"He's playing on fire right now," Jackson said of Fitzpatrick on the NFL
Network. "With the way the team is rallying behind him and just playing
lights-out football, you have to kind of honor it. You can't take the hot man
out. You got the hot fire right now. It's like NBA Jam. We used to play NBA
Jam - whoever got that hot fire shot, you got to keep shooting, man."

Tampa Bay is 2-0 behind veteran quarterback Fitzpatrick, who is 48-of-61
passing (78.7 percent) and leads the league with 819 yards. The 35-year-old
has thrown eight touchdown passes against just one interception, and his 151.5
passer rating also leads the league. Jackson has caught three of those
touchdown passes and leads the league with 275 receiving yards.

--Patriots quarterback Tom Brady warned of placing great expectations on wide
receiver Josh Gordon before he has time to settle in with New England. The
Patriots traded a conditional fifth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns to
acquire Gordon on Monday.

"You know, I hate to make projections and expectations. That's not fair,"
Brady told Jim Gray on Westwood One on Monday night. "I've never met Josh
personally, just like I hadn't met some of the guys that have come in the last
couple weeks. So we'll see how it goes this week and hopefully he can work
hard, put the team first and end up helping us in any role that he can find
for himself on the team."

After missing training camp to enter a rehab facility at the University of
Florida as a preventive measure, Gordon caught a touchdown in Week 1. But he
ran out of chances with the Browns, who parted with the troubled wide receiver
following multiple suspensions and repeated violations of the league's
substance-abuse policy.

--Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews has become the virtual poster boy
for the roughing the passer penalty in the NFL's latest instructional video
for officials. NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron is packing
Matthews' roughing penalty, questioned by Packers coach Mike McCarthy and
almost universally on social media channels Sunday, into a video distributed
to league officials this week.

Referee Tony Corrente made the right call, Riveron said, when Matthews was
flagged for taking Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins to the ground
and landing on him with his weight. A strikingly similar play in the
Jaguars-Patriots game ended with Tom Brady on the ground but no yellow flags
were tossed.

After the game, Corrente provided his explanation. "It has nothing to do with
the rule of full body weight," Corrente said. "It has nothing to do with
helmet to helmet. He picked the quarterback up and drove him into the ground."

--San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster, Green Bay Packers running back
Aaron Jones and New York Jets wide receiver ArDarius Stewart are among the
players returning from two-game NFL suspensions this week.

Foster served a suspension for violations of league policies on personal
conduct and substance abuse. The 49ers have a two-day roster exemption, ending
Wednesday, before being required to clear a spot for him on the 53-man roster.

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said Jones would be with the team Wednesday
when Green Bay returns to the practice field. Jones was suspended for
violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Stewart was suspended for
performance-enhancing drug use. He had six receptions for 82 yards in 15 games
as a rookie in 2017.

--Brice Butler is back with the Dallas Cowboys, who continue to search for the
right combination at wide receiver.

Adding Butler gives the team seven wide receivers on the 53-man roster. Safety
Tyree Robinson was released to make room on the roster.

Butler had 43 catches and six touchdowns in 36 games after being acquired in
2015. Butler spent three seasons with the Cowboys before he was released in
the offseason and drew fire in Dallas for going on FS1 to vent his
frustrations with the franchise.

--Field Level Media