When asked by reporters today whether Clay Matthews Jr.’s shoulder injury is more concerning that Aaron Rodgers‘ hamstring ailment, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy responded with a simple answer: “Yes.” According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, McCarthy said the club will wait for further results on Matthews’ issue before speculating as to his status for Sunday’s game against the Texans, but Green Bay can ill afford to lose any more linebackers. Starters Jake Ryan and Blake Martinez, plus reserve Kyler Fackrell, were all inactive last night, meaning the Packers are heavily leaning on Matthews’ ability play inside and outside ‘backer.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- Kirk Cousins could be playing himself into the $24MM per year range as he continues to rack up yards and touchdowns for the Redskins, said former agent Joel Corry on 106.7 The Fan today (Twitter link via Grant Paulsen). Cousins, who topped the inaugural edition of PFR’s 2017 Free Agent Power Rankings, is reportedly asking for $23.94MM — the amount he’d get under the ’17 franchise tag — annually. Conflicting reports have emerged as to whether Washington would be willing to franchise Cousins again next season.
- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was spotted doing some light running today, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). It was reported last week that Peterson was likely to run around this time. This could be a good sign for Peterson, who is pushing to return from IR in December.
- 2015 first-round pick D.J. Humphries played well in his first attempt at left tackle on Sunday, and his solid showing gives the Cardinals options going forward, writes Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. Not only could Humphries continue to play on the blindside in 2016, with Jared Veldheer moving to right tackle, but he could allow Arizona to move on from Veldheer in years to come if the club needs to create cap space.
- The Giants need to extend defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul before he hits free agency, argues Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. Now more than a year removed from a fireworks accident, JPP has returned to his old form and could look to score on the open market next spring. New York, of course, has already invested heavily in its front four by handing large contracts to Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison, and defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins is also headed for free agency.
- The Eagles announced that right guard Brandon Brooks has been released from the hospital. Brooks was placed in the hospital before last night’s game against the Packers and ended up missing the contest with a mystery ailment. As such, his availability for Week 13 against Cincinnati is unclear.
Definitely need to bring JPP back and let Hankins go. Best bet would be draft someone to replace him and have him develop around a strong defensive line.
Disagree….. Hankins is a important part of our defense…… sign him…???
I agree. The Giants need to bring back JPP, as the options currently on their team do not seem to be even close to the production or fear that a JPP strikes into opponents. After the loyalty the Giants showed him after the accident I can see him giving the Giants first shot or at least the chance to match any offfer he receives.
As for Hankins, that’s a tough one. He plays a position where, if you don’t hear from hm it means he doing a good job, and history has shown that when he’s on the field the Giants run defense has been good. He only problem is that GM Jerry Reese doesn’t like to hand out 2nd contracts to players after drafting them. It is what has gotten him on the mess the past couple of years. Trying to fill productive players with lower priced free agents or waiver wire pickups. It’s time to evaluate the players and pay those who deserve it.