Browns Place OT Joe Thomas On IR
Browns stalwart left tackle Joe Thomas suffered a torn triceps in Sunday’s loss to the Titans and will miss the remainder of the season, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) was the first to report Thomas had likely torn his triceps. The Browns have since placed Thomas on injured reserve.
Thomas, 32, had not missed a single offensive snap since entering the league as a first-round pick in 2007. That streak is now over at 10,363, but that figure stands as a testament to Thomas’ amazing consistency and resiliency. And Thomas, a nine-time All Pro, hasn’t yet hit a decline, as Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 3 offensive tackle in the league through seven weeks.
The winless Browns turned to Spencer Drango to replace Thomas on Sunday, making the 2016 fifth-round selection the first player other than Thomas to man left tackle in Cleveland since 2006. Drango will presumably continue on the blindside for Cleveland — which ranks a mediocre 18th in both adjusted line yards and adjusted sack rate — but the Browns could also conceivably take a look at fellow tackle Zach Banner, a fourth-round rookie whom Cleveland acquired off waivers from Indianapolis.
With Thomas done for the year, any chance of the Browns reaping draft pick compensation for him via trade is eliminated. Cleveland reportedly had “no intention” of dealing Thomas, who has been oft-mentioned in trade rumors given the Browns’ lack of success on the field and his status as the club’s best player, and Thomas’ health questions would render any theoretical discussions moot. Thomas is signed through the 2018 season, and has a $8.8MM base salary on the books for next season.
Ravens Sign TE Gavin Escobar
The Ravens have signed tight end Gavin Escobar and released offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom, the club announced today.
Escobar, 26, never lived up his to second-round draft status, as he managed only 30 receptions and 333 yards over four seasons with the Cowboys. He inked a minimum salary benefit contract with the Chiefs in March, but was part of the club’s final cutdowns in September. Since then, Escobar has been on the workout circuit, and while he’s auditioned for a number of clubs, he hadn’t found a deal until now.
Baltimore currently has four tight ends on its roster, with Ben Watson, Nick Boyle, Maxx Williams, and Vince Mayle serving as the club’s depth at the position. Watson and Boyle have done most of receiving work for the Ravens this year, while Williams was inactive for Sunday’s contest with an ankle injury. Williams’ health questions could have conceivably led Baltimore to inking Escobar.
Bergstrom, meanwhile, was sent to Baltimore in a preseason trade but has since bounced on-and-off the Ravens’ roster. He’s appeared in four games this season but played just 32 total snaps.
Latest On Jay Cutler, Dolphins’ QB Situation
Confirming reports from Sunday night, Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler did indeed suffer cracked ribs in Miami’s Week 7 win over the Jets, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Cutler is initially expected to miss two-to-three weeks while recovering from the injury.
With Cutler sidelined, Miami is meeting with free agent quarterback David Fales, per Rapoport (Twitter link). Fales spent the summer with the Dolphins, and also worked under Miami head coach Adam Gase when the pair was in Chicago. Given that history, Fales should have enough familiarity with Gase’s offense in order to serve as Matt Moore‘s backup on Thursday night. If signed, Fales will have been chosen over Dolphins practice squad quarterback Brandon Doughty.
Despite Cutler’s struggles to begin the 2017 season, he’s expected to remain Miami’s starter under center when he returns from injury, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Moore could certainly change that with excellent play over the next several weeks, but the Dolphins plan to re-insert Cutler when he’s available. Cutler, who un-retired to join Miami, hasn’t performed well this year, as he ranks 28th in quarterback rating and 29th in adjusted net yards per attempt.
Texans OT Duane Brown Ends Holdout
Texans offensive tackle Duane Brown has ended his holdout and reported to the club, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Brown, 32, hasn’t played a single game for Houston this season as he continues to push for a new contract. His decision to rejoin the Texans doesn’t necessarily mean the team’s front office has decided to cave on a new deal, and in fact there’s no indication that’s the case. Instead, Brown is likely reporting in order to gain credit for the 2017 season, as he needed to appear in eight games to do so.
Presuming that he’s ready to immediately step in at left tackle, Brown should provide a significant upgrade on the blindside. Houston has turned to Chris Clark (five starts) in Brown’s absence, but he’s offered a sub-par performance thus far, Pro Football Focus ranks Clark as just the No. 52 tackle among 71 qualifiers. While the Texans’ offensive line has played well in the run game, the unit is 31st in adjusted rack rate, according to Football Outsiders.
If the Texans are intent on not reaching a new deal with Brown, they could conceivably still trade him, something the club is reportedly open to doing. Cleveland currently owns Houston’s first- and second-round picks in 2018, so shipping Brown for draft capital could help the Texans recoup some of its lost assets. The Seahawks, notably, have been linked to a potential Brown acquisition.
But “barring the unforeseen,” Brown is set to play for the Texans, and not act as trade bait, tweets Rapoport. His return is coming at a fortuitous time, as Clark is now expected to miss a week or two after suffering a calf injury, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
NFL’s Request For Expedited Ezekiel Elliott Hearing Denied
A judge has denied the NFL’s request for an expedited hearing in Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s suspension case, according to legal analyst Daniel Wallach (Twitter link). The league had been pushing for an October 27 hearing, but the case will instead be heard on October 30 as originally planned.
The most immediate impact of Judge Katherine Failla is that Elliott will be available to play in Dallas’ Week 8 contest against the Redskins, which takes place just one day before the October 30 hearing date. That’s an incredibly important NFC East matchup, especially given that the Cowboys now sit at 3-3 after Sunday’s thrashing of the 49ers (Washington, meanwhile, is 3-2 pending the result of Monday Night Football).
Following that game, Elliott and his team will take his case to Failla. Elliott, of course, is facing a six-game suspension stemming from domestic violence allegations, but last week was granted a temporary restraining order against the NFL that allowed him to stay on the field. If Ellliott’s ban sticks after Week 8, he would miss critical games against the Falcons, Chiefs, Eagles, and Redskins, and wouldn’t be able to return until Week 15.
Elliott is fresh off his best performance of the season, as he totaled 219 yards from scrimmage and scored three times against San Francisco. If Elliott is suspended, the Cowboys would likely turn to a combination of Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden in the backfield.
Colts’ Malik Hooker Out For Year
Malik Hooker‘s season is already over. The Colts safety suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) reports.
The first round rookie was off to a strong start this year. Heading into this weekend, he was ranked as a top-35 safety by the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. He also proved to have a nose for the ball with a team-leading three interceptions.
The No. 15 overall pick is no stranger to injuries, unfortunately. In January, he underwent operations to fix a torn labrum and address a hernia issue. Still, he was viewed as a high-end pick despite the health concerns. In his final year at Ohio State, Hooker racked up 74 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and an eye-popping seven picks. Some talent evaluators even preferred Hooker to LSU safety Jamal Adams who went nine picks earlier to the Jets.
“[He’s] still so raw and you see him making all of those plays. He’s a player who will come in and look bad his first year and then be an all-pro by his third year. I think that’s his arc. No short-cut for experience,” one AFC personnel director told Lance Zierlein of NFL.com before the draft.
Turns out, Hooker looked great in his first NFL season, but his frosh campaign in the pros has ended prematurely. He’ll look to build off of his hot start in 2018.
Injury Notes: Bailey, Foster, Wallace, Spence
It was a dominant win for the Cowboys in San Francisco this afternoon, but the team did not escape the contest with their special teams intact. Kicker Dan Bailey was forced out of the game with a groin injury, according to the Dallas News. Bailey was reported to have suffered the injury in warmups, but it remains to be seen whether the news will force Dallas to bring in another kicker. In one of the more entertaining aspects of this week’s action, safety Jeff Heath was the emergency fill-in for today’s game, which included him clunking an extra point off the pole and through the uprights.
- It’s been a trying rookie season for 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster so far. After missing a few games already with an ankle injury he suffered earlier in the season, the former Alabama defender was back on the sidelines after suffering an apparent rib injury in the third quarter. Foster seemed unsure of what was to come following the game.“I really don’t know, I’ve got to come in here (get an) MRI and treatment and just see what he doctors say about it. If they clear me, they clear me. If they don’t, they don’t,” he told Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. It’s worth noting that Foster did return to the game initially, but was later taken out again for X-Rays. Barrows did add that Foster was cleared to return later in the fourth quarter by team doctors, but the coaches weren’t comfortable letting him back on the field at the end of a blowout.
- The Ravens suffered another blow to their depleted wide receiver corps in today’s game vs. the Vikings when Mike Wallace was diagnosed with a concussion after taking a big hit on a pass over the middle of the field. However, Wallace was pleading to play following the hit, explains Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. The 31 year-old receiver was seen walking up-and-down the sideline trying to convince coaches to put him back in the game. However, head coach John Harbaugh said that Wallace staying out of the game “was a done deal”, tells Zrebiec. The Ravens play on Thursday next week, so Wallace would need to pass all the concussion protocol rather quickly in order to suit up. If not, the Ravens have just Michael Campanero, Chris Moore and Griff Whalen remaining on the depth chart.
- Bucs rookie pass rusher Noah Spence left today’s contest with an apparent shoulder injury, reports Josh Reed of WIVB.com (Twitter Link). Reed passes along that Spence will likely require surgery and is probable to miss an extended period of time. He later added onto the initial report stating there is concern that the 2017 second round pick may end up missing the rest of the season. In his first six professional games, the linebacker had just nine tackles, including one strip sack.
NFC Notes: Kaepernick, Ward, Saints
More is coming out about Colin Kaepernick‘s collusion lawsuit against the NFL. Kaepernick’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, recently shed some light about some of the points they will attempt to prove that collusion exists between the NFL owners in the latest episode of his Reasonable Doubt podcast. Geragos pointed out the need for a “smoking gun” that proves there is coordinated effort from owners from blocking his client from signing with a franchise. In response to a question about a potential email regarding the collusion from Roger Goodell, Geragos stated “there is very good reason to believe that that exists,” the lawyer said (transcription via Pro Football Talk). “The interesting thing will be when the discovery comes, and I expect the discovery to be very quickly.” Even with the confidence coming from the lawyer, the overall sentiment around the case is that collusion will be a difficult charge to prove, but it looks like Kaepernick and his team are serious about their lawsuit and will look far and wide to see if any hard evidence exists.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- New Buccaneers safety T.J. Ward is apparently frustrated with his part-time defensive role, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The reporter passes along that the veteran defensive back is at his “wits end” in regards to his role on the team. Ward was not on the field during Tampa Bay’s fourth quarter collapse at the hands of the Bills. The 30 year-old expected to bring more physicality when he signed a one-year, $4MM deal with the team after he was cut by the Broncos in the preseason. Ward only has 11 total tackles on the year and looks to be on his way out of the rotation after what transpired today.
- Saints linebacker Hau’oli Kikaha could be on the trading block after his deactivation from today’s contest vs. the Packers, Larry Holder of NOLA.com speculates (Twitter link). It’s a disappointing turn of events for the former 2015 third round pick, who was benched in favor of defensive lineman Al-Quadin Muhammad. However, despite Kikaha’s struggles, the Saints defense has turned the corner in recent weeks, getting another takeaway today, after notching five turnovers last Sunday.
- In other Saints news, we have now learned that the team’s former veteran cornerback Brandon Browner was arrested for cocaine possession last May, reports Amos Moralle III of NOLA.com. Browner last appeared for the team in 2015, but was mostly ineffective with the team deciding to move on from the defensive back that following offseason.
AFC Notes: Chargers, Cutler, Thomas
The LA Chargers experiment has come under fire from some for their small stadium, high prices and noticeable attendance from the road fanbases over the first six weeks of the NFL season. However, a Chargers team representative reportedly defended the move during last week’s owners meetings, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. La Canfora points out that the team does have a few years to get things right before they move into the new Inglewood stadium that will be shared with their Hollywood rival Rams. Although, there’s still concern about the lack of a Plan B if things continue to sputter for the newly relocated franchise. In addition to facing the challenge of capturing attention of the fanbase from the now 5-2 Rams, the Chargers are set in a smaller stadium and less certainty off the gridiron as well, even though it would seem that the team’s ownership group is not backing down from the problems that have stemmed from their controversial move from San Diego.
- Jay Cutler will soon undergo X-Rays on his ribs due to an injury he suffered in today’s game vs. the Jets, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter Link). Rapoport adds that team officials fear he has suffered cracked ribs, but will “check it all”. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com adds that he is now hearing Cutler may be out for the next 2-3 weeks. The injury adds to what has been a pedestrian season for the once retired 34 year-old. Through six games, he’s accumulated a QBR in the 30s, throwing almost as many picks as touchdowns (7 TD-5 INT). For the time being, Miami will turn to backup Matt Moore who led the team to a second half comeback in today’s win over New York.
- In another injury news, All-Pro Browns tackle Joe Thomas had his consecutive snaps streak broken after exiting with an apparent left arm injury. The injury represents another blow to what has been another gloomy season in Cleveland. The veteran lineman sent out a personal tweet after today’s game confirming that he will undergo an MRI tomorrow. Thomas has been a staple on the Browns offensive line since he was drafted by the team third overall in 2006. He played an incredible 10,363 offensive snaps until he exited today, which truly shows that grit and toughness of arguably best offensive lineman in the league for the past decade.
- Patriots highly-paid cornerback Stephon Gilmore sat out last week after suffering a concussion when he collided with the Bucs Mike Evans in Week 5. However, even with Gilmore and fellow corner Eric Rowe sidelined, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com opines that the team is more likely to promote a player for the practice squad than sign a veteran free agent like Leon Hall. Without Gilmore, the Pats will be relying Malcolm Butler, Johnson Bademosi and Jonathan Jones in the short-term.
- Jags rookie wide receiver Dede Westbrook is eligible to come off the IR after week 8 and he could be a welcomed deep ball threat for an offense that lost Allen Robinson early in the season, according to Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. DiRocco cautioned that the team’s 2017 fourth round pick hasn’t played an NFL snap, but could operate as the Jags third wideout behind Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns because of his speed and big play ability. Jacksonville had struggled passing the ball through the first six weeks of the season, but found their rhythm today, albeit against a struggling Colts defense.
5 Key NFL Stories: 10/15/17 – 10/22/17
Quarterbacks go down in Green Bay, Arizona. Aaron Rodgers will be sidelined for at least eight weeks after suffering a broken a collarbone in Week 8, and while there’s a chance he could return later this year (and into the postseason), some reports indicate that the Packers aren’t expecting Rodgers back. Green Bay won’t add a veteran quarterback, meaning 2015 fifth-round pick Brett Hundley will handle starting duties. The Cardinals, meanwhile, will be without Carson Palmer for eight weeks, as well, as the veteran signal-caller broke his left arm on Sunday. Like Rodgers, could conceivably play again this season, but if Arizona is out of contention, it’s unlikely he’ll return.
Zeke’s suspension on hold…again. Ezekiel Elliott was granted yet another temporary restraining order last week, ensuring his availability for the Cowboys’ Week 7 contest against the 49ers. Next up is a hearing on October 30, meaning that Elliott should be available in Week 8, as well. However, the NFL is pushing for an expedited hearing (with a target date of October 27). And despite reports to the contrary, the league has no interest in discussing a possible settlement with Elliott.
NaVorro Bowman stays in the Bay Area. After securing his release from the 49ers, Bowman signed on with the Raiders, inking a one-year deal worth $2MM. The veteran linebacker will be able to “double dip,” as the lack of offset language in his San Francisco deal means he’ll be able to collect a paycheck from both the 49ers and Raiders. The Niners had originally agreed to trade Bowman to the Saints a week ago, but Bowman wanted to hit free agency and choose his next club. He had a visit lined up with the Cowboys before signing with Oakland.
Colin Kaepernick alleges collusion. With no teams showing serious interest in Kaepernick despite several injuries around the league, the free agent signal-caller initiated a collusion lawsuit against the NFL, accusing the league’s owners of keeping him unemployed because of his social activism. Kaerpernick has a broader goal in mind, however, as he reportedly wants his lawsuit to lead to the termination of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. All the latest on Kaepernick and the NFL’s anthem protests can be found here.
Beast Mode suspended. Marshawn Lynch was banned for one game after making contact with an official in Thursday night’s Raiders victory. Lynch, who was ejected following the incident, is appealing the suspension. League spokesman Joe Lockhart seemingly indicated Lynch would also be heavily fined for the contact, but the league is surprisingly not hitting Lynch with a financial penalty.