Cardinals Place RB Chris Johnson On IR
The Cardinals are placing running back Chris Johnson on IR with a groin injury, according to a team announcement. Safety Tyvon Branch is also headed to the IR with the same injury. 
In theory, both players could be eligible to return on December 4th for the Cards’ home contest against the Redskins. However, that will depend on the condition of each player and the team will also have to prioritize them against other candidates to return from IR. Each team can have a player return to action after eight weeks, but they can do only do so with one player.
Johnson had 95 yards and one touchdown off of 28 carries this season as he played the backup role behind David Johnson. Andre Ellington, who was once supposed to be the main guy in Arizona, now moves into the No. 2 RB role.
To replace Johnson on the roster, the team officially re-signed running back Kerwynn Williams. Also, with Carson Palmer‘s status in the air (concussion), the team also promoted quarterback Zac Dysert from the practice squad. Versatile wide receiver/defensive back Brittan Golden was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster. In other moves, punter Drew Butler (calf) was waived with an injury settlement and safety Christian Bryant was added to the practice squad. The team still has one opening on the taxi squad.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Redskins Work Out Donte Whitner
Donte Whitner worked out for rival Redskins this week, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). However, they will not be signing him at this time, a source tells ESPN.com’s John Keim (on Twitter). Whitner also auditioned for the rival Giants recently, but they’re still in deliberations. 
Whitner, 31. started 14 games for the Browns last year, defensing four passes, forcing one fumble, and posting 1.5 sacks. Whitner also graded out well via the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus, which rated him as the league’s No. 24 safety among 89 qualifiers.
Late in the offseason, we ranked Whitner as one of the very best defensive free agents to remain on the board. Even if he’s not as good as the advanced numbers would indicate, we’re surprised to see that he’s still without a job in October.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Sign TE Clay Harbor
The Lions have signed tight end Clay Harbor, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Harbor was let go by the Patriots earlier this week and he wasn’t out of work for long. 
Detroit has been on the lookout for tight end depth and they found a good one this week when New England discarded Harbor. Harbor was considered to be a candidate for release with Tom Brady and Rob Ninkovich returning, but he perhaps wasn’t the most obvious one. In any case, Harbor will hope to see more playing time than he did in New England. The veteran logged 25 snaps on offense and 39 on special teams for the Pats, but not register an official statistic.
In other Lions news, the team swapped out running backs on the practice squad this week.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ravens Release RB Justin Forsett
The Ravens announced that they have released running back Justin Forsett. Forsett took to Twitter moments ago to bid farewell to the organization (sic). 
“Baltimore will always have a special place in my heart. Love y’all & thank u for the amazing support over the years,” Forsett tweeted.
As a vested veteran, Forsett will not have to pass through waivers. He immediately becomes a free agent.
The 30-year-old was released by the team prior to the season, but he quickly returned to the club. There seemed to have been some prearranged agreement between the two sides and it was presumably done for cap reasons.
Following a 2014 season that saw him set career-highs in rushing yards (1,266), rushing touchdowns (eight) and receptions (44), Forsett came back down to earth in 2015. The veteran appeared in only ten games, compiling 641 yards on 155 carries. Still, Forsett managed to average 4.2-yards-per-carry, solid numbers for a veteran running back.
Forsett, 31 later this month, was the Ravens’ starting tailback to kick off the season, but the run game has been geared more towards Terrance West and Javorius Allen as of late. The injured Kenneth Dixon is getting closer to returning and he figures to get a good amount of carries as well.
The Ravens are still on the hook for Forsett’s $3MM base salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cardinals Restructure G Mike Iupati’s Deal
The Cardinals have restructured guard Mike Iupati‘s deal, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The two sides agreed to convert $2MM of his salary into a signing bonus, creating $1.5MM in 2016 cap room. 
Iupati, 29, left the 49ers to join the rival Cardinals prior to the 2015 season. The deal, worth $40MM over five years with incentives, naturally eats up a good amount of cap room. The Cards don’t have any regrets about the signing, however, as Iupati earned his fourth-straight Pro Bowl nod in 2015.
Through four games this season, David Johnson is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and he owes a great deal of credit to Iupati’s blocking on the interior line. At the quarter mark, Pro Football Focus has Iupati ranked as the 12th best guard in the NFL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cowboys G La’el Collins To Have Surgery
Cowboys left guard La’el Collins will undergo toe surgery today to repair a ligament tear in his right big toe and will be placed on injured reserve, according to sources who spoke with Todd Archer of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Dallas was hoping that Collins would not require surgery, but it was determined to be the best course of action after meeting with three different specialists, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. 
Previous reports indicated that surgery would mean up to a 12-week absence for the second-year lineman. After the surgery is performed, we should have a better idea of Collins’ timetable. Under the league’s new IR rules for 2016, Collins could theoretically return to practice after six weeks and play in eight weeks. Teams may only bring one player back from IR each season, however.
Since Collins went down earlier this year, Ronald Leary has replaced him in the starting lineup. Leary wanted out of Dallas this offseason, but the Cowboys are glad they held on to him.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raiders To Place LB Ben Heeney On IR
The Raiders will likely be without linebacker Ben Heeney for the rest of the season. He hasn’t been formally placed on IR yet, but coach Jack Del Rio indicated that’s coming for him and tight end Lee Smith. It’s not clear exactly when Heeney suffered his injury, but a team spokesman tells the AP that Heeney is dealing with an ankle injury. 
“Both of those guys are likely to go (on IR),” Del Rio said Monday. “As they finish the work that is done on those guy with our doctors and all the experts looking at it, if we determine that the time is such that we won’t be able to get them back they could in fact go down. It’s not officially done but it’s headed in that direction,” the coach said (via Michael Wagaman of The Associated Press).
A fifth-round pick in 2015, Heeney started at middle linebacker for Oakland’s first two games this season. In Week 3, he was leapfrogged by rookie Cory James, pushing him to more of a special teams role.
James led Oakland with 15 tackles in the win over Baltimore while Heeney played mostly on special teams. Del Rio didn’t say when or how Heeney got hurt but a team spokesman confirmed that Heeney had suffered an ankle injury.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jets Not Planning QB Change Right Now
Jets head coach Todd Bowles told reporters that he doesn’t “foresee any changes right now” at the quarterback position, meaning that Ryan Fitzpatrick will continue to start, according to Kimberley A. Martin of Newday (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Jets Considered Placing Eric Decker On IR]
Save for a solid performance in the New York’s only win (Week 2 against the Bills), Fizpatrick has played extremely poorly throughout the 2016 campaign. At the risk of piling on, Fitzpatrick ranks 31st in completion percentage, 32nd in QB rating, 30th in DVOA, 32nd in DYAR, and — unsurprisingly — 1st in interceptions. His 10 picks are tied for the eighth-most through four games since the merger in 1970, and no signal-caller has thrown as many interceptions through a quarter of the season since Daunte Culpepper in 2005.
Having said that, the Jets don’t have a plethora of other options to turn to, especially given that they’ve committed $12MM for one year of Fitzpatrick. Geno Smith has never shown the ability to be an above-average starter, while second-round pick Christian Hackenberg clearly isn’t ready to start. Bryce Petty, meanwhile, is still on the roster as New York carries four quarterbacks, but it’s not clear if he’s recovered from a preseason shoulder injury.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cardinals To Promote QB Zac Dysert
The Cardinals will sign quarterback Zac Dysert off their practice squad, a move that could indicate the club has doubts about Carson Palmer playing on Thursday night against the 49ers, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Cardinals To Re-Sign Kerwynn Williams]
Arizona planned to be “very, very careful” with Palmer after he left yesterday’s contest with a head injury. Palmer is now in the concussion protocol after being sacked during the fourth quarter of what turned out to be the Cardinals’ third loss of the season. Head coach Bruce Arians said yesterday that he doesn’t expect Palmer to play on Thursday if he can’t practice during the week.
The defending NFC West champions are now two games behind both the Rams and Seahawks after being a surefire playoff pick by most experts. Arizona would turn to Drew Stanton, as they did after Palmer exited yesterday, against San Francisco if Palmer is unable to play.
Dysert, 26, is now on his sixth roster after being chosen in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. He was added to Arizona’s practice squad in early September. In his three-plus years in the league, Dysert has never attempted a regular season pass.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bills’ Shaq Lawson Will Be Ready In Week 7
Bills rookie pass rusher Shaq Lawson will be able to play as soon as his stay on the PUP list ends following Week 6, head coach Rex Ryan told reporters, including Joe Buscaglia of WKBW. Per Ryan, Lawson will be “ready to roll.”
[RELATED: Sammy Watkins Likely To Have Second Surgery]
However, Lawson isn’t expected to jump right into a full-time role, according to Buscaglia, who writes that Lawson will likely play as a situational player as he gets acclimated to the NFL. Initially, it was expected that Lawson would miss 4-5 games, but he’ll need some additional time to recover from shoulder surgery. Buffalo took Lawson with the No. 19 overall pick in this year’s draft while many other teams were said to have moved him down their boards due to his ailment.
In his evaluation of the Bills’ rookie class for PFR, scouting consultant Dave-Te Thomas spoke highly of Lawson:
When healthy, Lawson has been a terror – whether in a relief role or during his lone year as a starter. Through his first two seasons, he recorded 79 tackles (47 solos), an impressive figure for relief duties. However, he delivered 23 of those tackles for losses and brought down eleven other opponents for no gains on running plays. He also registered twenty-one third-down stops from 2013- 14 and recorded five touchdown-saving tackles.
Buffalo will get another defender — defensive tackle Marcell Dareus — back even sooner than Lawson, as the Dareus will return in Week 5 after serving a four-game suspension.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.