NFL offensive coordinators, be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

The NFL is a no-patience league when it comes to coaches. But this season, it is offensive coordinators, not head coaches, who are being made to pay for teams’ struggles.

There has not yet been a head coaching change league-wide this season. But when Minnesota offensive coordinator Norv Turner resigned this week, the Vikings became the fourth NFL team to make a switch at that position, following the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Bills’ Greg Roman, the Ravens’ Marc Trestman and the Jaguars’ Greg Olson all were fired. So Turner at least exited on his own terms. But the moves, taken together, are a clear indication of where the focus is in today’s NFL.

Even after the Denver Broncos were carried by their powerful defense last season to a Super Bowl title, it remains an offense-first league. And when things go wrong, it is the person in charge of the offense who is made to answer for it.

“It buys you a little time if you’re feeling the heat as a (head) coach,” a front office executive with one NFL team said earlier this season. “You know you’re probably next.”

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Indeed, two of the head coaches to have dismissed their offensive coordinators this season, the Bills’ Rex Ryan and the Jaguars’ Gus Bradley, have been engulfed by speculation about their own job security.

But Turner’s case was different. The Vikings were one of the league’s success stories in the season’s early stages. They started 5-0 even after losing quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, tailback Adrian Peterson and left tackle Matt Kalil to injuries. They made things work with Sam Bradford at quarterback even after trading for him only eight days before the regular season.

Things unraveled, however, with losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears. Coach Mike Zimmer was critical of his offensive line following the defeat in Philadelphia, calling its play “soft.” But things didn’t improve noticeably against the Bears. That led to Turner’s surprising departure.

The Vikings replaced Turner with tight ends coach Pat Shurmur, formerly Bradford’s offensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams and the Eagles.

There had been talk that Turner might retire after the season. But the timing of the move had even Turner associates stunned.

“I had not heard a word about it,” one of Turner’s former players said the day of the move. “I do think he’d been going back and forth about coaching this season. I think one reason he stayed was to help get his son (Scott, the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach) more established. But to happen like this, during the season, that’s coming out of nowhere for me.”

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Not everyone was baffled. Former NFL executive Joe Banner wondered on Twitter why there was so much confusion over the move, writing that the Vikings’ offense “wasn’t great” and that Zimmer and Turner “had different views on how to fix it. Norv decided was best to go (their) separate ways.”

COWBOYS: The woman who accused Dallas Cowboy rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott of abusing her for several days in July told Florida police of a similar allegation several months before, according to a police report obtained by USA Today on Friday.

The Ohio woman told officers who responded to Elliott’s apartment Feb. 12 that he had pushed her against a wall and injured her left shoulder, according to the Aventura, Florida, police report.

There were no visible signs of injury and the woman declined to go to a hospital.

Elliott told authorities the woman “became angry over a social media incident and upset because she was asked to leave his apartment, and go back to Ohio,” according to the report obtained by Tom Pelissero and A.J. Perez of USA Today.

He said that the situation escalated and that she tried to prevent him from locking himself in his room by grabbing him around the waist so he pushed her to get her off.

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Officers told the woman how to file charges and gave her an ice pack before she left in an Uber. Elliott wasn’t arrested.

DOLPHINS: Tight end Jordan Cameron was placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season because of a concussion that threatens his career.

Cameron has been sidelined since Week 3 and has been seeing a concussion specialist in Pittsburgh. He said this week he was improving, and he hoped to return this season, but the Dolphins decided to replace him on the roster. The concussion was at least the fourth for Cameron since he joined the NFL in 2011.

BILLS: Coach Rex Ryan expects Percy Harvin to play at Seattle on Monday night, less than a week after Buffalo lured the receiver out of retirement.

Ryan said he “feels good about Percy” but adds he will be used sparingly because he has not played in nearly 13 months. Harvin played only five games with Buffalo last season. He cited nagging injuries to his right knee and hip in announcing his retirement in April.

CHIEFS: Kansas City brought back Knile Davis, completing a bizarre odyssey for the running back that began with a trade from Kansas City to Green Bay and included a fleeting moment with the New York Jets.

Davis was traded to the Packers when the Chiefs were flush with running backs. But since then, Spencer Ware sustained a concussion and Jamaal Charles had surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his right knee.

Kansas City signed Bishop Sankey for depth, but he’s had only a couple of days to learn the offense. That means it’s possible Davis, who has spent three-plus seasons with the Chiefs, will be active Sunday against Jacksonville.


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