Trenches Talk: Falcons' Turner Puts Chip on His Shoulder

Falcons RB Michael Turner(notes) did some self-scouting to find out why he wasn't breaking off big runs. What was wrong with the Pro Bowl running back? "I just had to run with the same determination I had last year," Turner said. "Run with kind of a chip on my shoulder."

After rushing 20 times for 151 yards and one TD in last week's loss at New Orleans, Turner (right) is feeling confident again. Before the breakout game, he had been averaging 3.4 yards per carry after averaging 4.5 last season.

Turner hasn't run with as much intensity, but the line also hasn't done as good a job in extending blocks and forcing defensive backs to take on the 256-pound Turner.

• In Sunday night's game, Eagles secondary coach Brian Stewart will get a chance at revenge on the Cowboys, who first stripped him of his defensive coordinator title last season before firing him at season's end. Stewart isn't talking publicly, but his players are.
 
"You'd be crazy not to think that," Eagles CB Sheldon Brown(notes) told the Delaware County Daily Times. "It didn't work out there. He was one of the fall guys. I'd feel the same way."

• The Packers placed OL Jason Spitz(notes) on injured reserve with a lower-back injury. The center/guard appeared in five games as part of a line that has yielded a league-worst 31 sacks. To fill the roster spot, the Packers signed WR Biren Ealy(notes) off the practice squad. 

• The Saints placed DT Kendrick Clancy(notes) on injured reserve with a knee injury and signed DT DeMario Pressley(notes) off the practice squad. Clancy, a 10th-year player in his third season with the Saints, was inactive for five games because of the injury. Pressley was a fifth-round pick last year.

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