NFL news roundup: Justin Blackmon suspension, Percy Harvin MRI and more

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon was suspended indefinitely for violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy on Friday. Blackmon is suspended without pay and may not be able to apply for reinstatement until next season. It's a big loss for the Jaguars, but it's an even bigger concern for Blackmon himself. This is the fourth incident of this kind and he obviously has some issues he needs to sort through.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin recently had an MRI that showed "no complications" with his hip. Harvin injured his hip in the offseason and has not played a regular season snap for the Seahawks yet. Harvin is sitting out Sunday's Week 9 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but could return the following week.

Friday saw the release of the official injury reports, as usual. There are several big names of note, with players such as Arian Foster and Roddy White being game-time decisions. Click the link above for the rest of the names, and then this link for a roundup post-injury report.

The Minnesota Vikings named quarterback Christian Ponder the starter for Week 9. He earned the start over Josh Freeman despite a poor performance in Week 8. Freeman might not be ready to handle the offense just yet, as he's still relatively new to the team. Smart money is on Freeman starting in Week 10 if Ponder does anything other than have a huge performance.

Miami Dolphins players denied any kind of abusive environment for offensive tackle Jonathan Martin. His fellow offensive linemen said that none of the things they did to poke fun at Martin were any different than the normal things that go on in the locker room.

As is customary with Fridays, we found out some of the NFL's weekly fines. The most interesting is that Golden Tate of the Seattle Seahawks was fined for taunting on a touchdown. Tate's fine was for $7,875, and has brought about discussion of potentially negating a touchdown altogether for taunts of that kind.