Sports

The NFL honored the memory of Marshawn Kneeland during games this weekend. The Cowboys, though, didn't play.

They were on their off week last week when Kneeland died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to authorities, following a police chase early Thursday morning. He was 24.

The team returned to The Star on Monday, the first time they have met since Kneeland's death.

The Cowboys announced they will remember Kneeland in a number of ways.

Players will wear a helmet decal for the remainder of the season, and they also will wear special T-shirts before the next two games.

The Cowboys don't play at home until Nov. 23 against the Eagles when they will hold a moment of silence and video tribute before the game.

Kneeland's girlfriend, Catalina, and his family will attend the game, Clarence Hill of All City DLLS reports.

"He had a big passion and love for the game," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan on Monday. "He played with a high motor. He loved to get after it. Certainly, that jumped off the tape when you watched Marshawn when we were scouting him. I mean he just jumped off the tape, how he hustled, how he played the game, his passion for the game. And certainly, he was that way as a person and played that way for us and we're just going to miss him so much."

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan's Monday injury update featured some optimism about wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.

Pearsall has been out with a knee injury for the last six games, but Shanahan told reporters on a conference call that the team is hopeful that Pearsall will practice on Wednesday. Pearsall had 20 catches for 327 yards in the first four weeks of the season.

Shanahan did not have any positive changes to report about wideout Brandon Aiyuk. He remains on the physically unable to perform list as a result of last season's knee injury and Shanahan said he will not return to practice ahead of the team's Week 11 game against the Cardinals.

Shanahan said on Sunday that there's hope quarterback Brock Purdy will be able to play this week and didn't offer any further update on his condition Monday.

Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward has taken 38 sacks for 295 yards in nine games this season. That is 100 more yards than Raiders quarterback Geno Smith has absorbed on 27 sacks.

That puts him on pace for 72 sacks for 557 yards.

The NFL records are the 76 sacks that Texans quarterback David Carr took as a rookie in 2002 and the 489 yards that Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham lost in 1986.

Ward is averaging a loss of 7.8 yards per sack and is being sacked more than four times per game on average. That has played a big role in the team ranking last in the NFL in third-down conversions (28 percent) and in points scored (14.4 per game).

“The first part is it’s the number of sacks. We’ve taken too many sacks as an offense," interim coach Mike McCoy said Monday, via Terry McCormick of titaninsider.com. "I think at times, too, there’s an opportunity to throw balls away when you’re outside the pocket. You might do certain things or when you’re making plays. And I think that will come with experience of him understanding it. When do you dirt balls and do certain thing or when is it better to try to get out of a problem instead of just getting the ball out of your hand?

“So, I think it’s combination. I mean, you’d have to look at every play to say, ‘This is why.’ If you looked at the film I have, I’ve got a breakdown of this is why sacks happen. Is it on the quarterback? Is it offensive linemen? Is it a running back? Did something happen with the receiver that caused Cam to hold the ball long? So there’s a number of things that come into play. But you obviously want to minimize the yardage you lose.”

McCoy had a cut-up made for Ward to review his mechanics, throwing motion and situational awareness.

“I met with him this morning, and I sat down with him, and I [told him], ‘Hey, here’s some things I think you could look at from my perspective, and here’s some things you can mechanically clean up,’” McCoy said.