NFC Notes: Kap, Eagles, Aguayo, Brooks

With Nick Foles battling an elbow injury that has kept him out of preseason action and Matt McGloin having such a subpar summer that he’s likely to lose his roster spot, the Eagles may have a backup quarterback problem. They could potentially solve it by signing free agent Colin Kaepernick, Mike Sielski of Philly.com contends. Kaepernick remains unemployed in part because owners don’t want to deal with the backlash that would accompany signing the political activist, but that shouldn’t be a problem for the Eagles. After all, owner Jeffrey Lurie signed Mike Vick as a backup QB in 2009, after he served an 18-month prison sentence for his role in a dogfighting ring. While it’s up for debate whether Kaepernick is in the right, Vick’s actions were undeniably revolting. And yet he was able to land a second chance in Philadelphia.

More from Philly and two other NFC cities:

  • Second-year kicker Roberto Aguayo‘s struggles have transferred from Tampa Bay to Chicago, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com writes. Aguayo, whom the Bears claimed off waivers from the Buccaneers on Aug. 13, missed a 49-yard field goal in his preseason debut with Chicago last week and, according to head coach John Fox, had a rough practice Friday. “I think our kicker had a little bit of a struggle today in some of his field goals, but it was something we knew about Roberto,” Fox said. “He’s got a very strong leg; he needs to work on his accuracy. That’s why we’re out here practicing.” Fox added that the Bears will spend the next week-plus working to help Aguayo turn around his fortunes. Otherwise, given that he’s competing with Connor Barth, Aguayo could find himself on waivers again. That would be a stunning turn of events for a kicker who was not only a second-round pick in 2016, but someone the Buccaneers also surrendered a third- and fourth-rounder for when they traded up to select the ex-Florida State standout.
  • It appeared Eagles defensive lineman Beau Allen would miss the first few weeks of the regular season when he suffered a chest injury in April. That won’t be the case, though, as Allen passed a physical Friday and came off the active/PUP list, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The three-year veteran is now in position to keep his iron man streak alive, as he has never missed a game during his career. The return of Allen will further bolster a strong D-line and give the Eagles a player who was on the field for 554 snaps last year (412 on defense, 142 on special teams).
  • The 49ers released linebacker Ahmad Brooks on Friday rather than closer to the Sept. 2 deadline because they wanted to give him a better chance to hook on elsewhere before the season opens, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters (via Mike Florio Pro Football Talk). “Doing it right now is more just in the best interest for Ahmad,” Shanahan said. “It’s a real tough decision. [General Manager] John [Lynch] and I had gone back and forth with it the last few days. Once we really came to the conclusion he wasn’t going to be a part of our final 53, we weren’t going to keep him around just to let him know [eight] days from now. So, we know there’s a lot of teams that will be interested in him. So we gave him that opportunity to go out and find them.” Brooks should indeed draw interest in free agency, having posted no fewer than five sacks in any of his eight seasons with the 49ers. He also missed just eight games during that span.
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