• OLB Ernie Sims, DET - left Sunday with a hamstring injury and was replaced by rookie DeAndre Levy.
  
  
• OLB Aaron Kampman, GB - suffered a concussion on Sunday and his status is in question this week.
  
  
• ILB Eric Barton, CLE - his season is over with a bulging disc in his neck.
  
  
• OLB Thomas Davis, CAR - his season is over with torn right ACL. Landon Johnson takes over the weak side for the Panthers.
  
  
• ILB Lawrence Timmons, PIT - was unable to overcome an ankle injury over the bye week and sat out Monday night. Keyaron Fox started in his place and led the team with 9 tackles (8 solo).
  
  
• ILB Channing Crowder, MIA - was inactive Sunday with a shoulder injury. Reggie Tobor started in his place.
  
  
• OLB Akeem Jordan, PHI - suffered a knee injury on SNF and his status is uncertain this week. Rookie Moise Fokou, who replaced Chris Gocong last week, could get the start for Jordan, if Gocong is ready to return, as expected.
  
  
• OLB David Thornton, TEN - was inactive Sunday with a hip injury. Rookie Gerald McRath got his first career start in his place.
  
  
• OLB Tyjuan Hagler, IND - placed on IR with a ruptured biceps; Philip Wheeler gets the first team reps in his place.
  
  
• S Bob Sanders, IND - after sitting out most of the season recovering from a knee injury, Sanders is done for the year after tearing his left biceps in his second game of the year. Melvin Bulitt becomes a high-upside pick-up for the rest of the season.
  
  
• CB Marlin Jackson, IND - tore his left ACL at practice last week and is done for the season; he tore his right ACL last year. With Kelvin Hayden also out indefinitely, rookies Jerraud Powers and Jacob Lacey will continue to start together.
  
  
• S Chris Horton, WAS - out 4-6 weeks, and possibly for the year, with a significant toe injury. Horton has struggled in his sophomore season and now Reed Doughty locks up the uncontested starting SS role for the Redskins.
  
  
• S Ryan Clark, PIT - as expected, Clark was inactive for MNF in Denver due to concerns with the thin air related to his sickle-cell trait and previous complications playing there. Tyrone Carter was quite effective in his place, grabbing 2 picks and returning one for six, but Clark should return to his starting role this week.
  
  
• CB Fabian Washington, BAL - missed most of the game Sunday with a leg injury. Rookie Lardarius Webb played well in his place.

• With Minnesota DE Jared Allen on a bye, Denver OLB tweener Elvis Dumervil moved in to a tie with him with a half-sack on MNF. Both players have 10.5 sacks on the season. Allen has 7.5 sacks against the Packers this year in two games and 3 sacks in his other six games. Indianapolis DE Dwight Freeney kept pace with 1.5 sacks in their win over Houston. He is one sack behind the lead and now has a sack in nine consecutive regular season games, a new team record.

Linebacker

• In Seattle, David Hawthorne continues to amaze. The former undrafted free agent continues to produce excellent numbers in place of Lofa Tatupu (IR) in the middle of the Seahawks defense. He posted 9 tackles (8 solo) and grabbed 2 picks. In his three starts this season, he has filled up the box score with 33 tackles (28 solo), 2 sacks, 3 picks and a forced fumble.
  
  
• After posting his first 2 sacks of the season in the previous game, San Diego OLB Shawne Merriman did it again on Sunday and quickly now has 4 on the season. He has value again in leagues that value sacks heavily. With ILB Tim Dobbins out for two weeks and ILB Kevin Burnett missing another game, Brandon Siler got a start inside. Dobbins is expected to be out this week, as well, but Burnett should be back.
  
  
• With Eric Barton joining D'Qwell Jackson on the IR for Cleveland, rookie David Veikune joins rookie Kaluka Maiava to form the inside tandem for the Browns.
  
  
• Between an opening day suspension and injuries, it has been a rough start to his career with the Giants for Michael Boley, but he was back in the starting lineup at WLB on Sunday, posting 7 solo tackles and a pass defensed. He is an appealing addition from the waiver wire if you are hurting at linebacker.
  
  
• After a slow start in his first couple games, rookie tweener Brian Orakpo had his first multi-sack game on Sunday. He has at least a half-sack in 5 of the last 6 weeks, giving him 5.5 on the season.
  
  
• While he was abused in pass coverage by Peyton Manning and Dallas Clark, it helped Houston rookie OLB Brian Cushing pad his stats. He led the team with a career-high 12 tackles (10 solo), his third double-digit tackle game of the season. He is second in the league with 78 tackles on the season, one more than San Francisco ILB Patrick Willis.
  
  
• Atlanta MLB Curtis Lofton leads the NFL with 84 tackles on the season.

Defensive Back

• Washington CB DeAngelo Hall was the epicenter of an altercation with his old team after SS LaRon Landry leveled a late hit on QB Matt Ryan on the Atlanta sideline. Hall, Landry, ATL reserve LB Tony Gilbert, and ATL HC Mike Smith could all be facing disciplinary action from the skirmish.
  
  
• Despite some nice fantasy performances recently, inconsistency and struggling in pass coverage cost C.C. Brown the starting safety job with the Giants. Aaron Rouse, who Green Bay released earlier this year over similar concerns, replaced him and isn't much of an upgrade, but should also be a decent fantasy performer.
  
  
• Denver signed free agent veteran Ty Law last week and he dressed Monday night seeing work in certain pass packages. He is a role player at this point in his career and seems unlikely to replace Andre Goodman as a starter.

Milk Carton Player of the Week
In putting an injury-plagued 2008 season behind him and departing from one of the worst teams in the league, DE tweener Derrick Burgess looked like a strong contender to be the latest successful reclamation project by the Patriots. Instead, he has struggled to find a role in their 3-4 and failed to establish himself as a playmaker. He has just 2 sacks on the season with sporadic playing time, mostly in pass packages.