Colts’ Andrew Luck To Practice This Week
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will return to practice this week, general manager Chris Ballard tells WFNI-1070 AM. It’s a big step forward for Luck, who has yet to play this season. 
[RELATED: Colts C Deyshawn Bond Suffers Torn Quad]
“We’ll slowly start working him back into practice this week,” Ballard said (transcript via ESPN.com’s Mike Wells). “We’ll see how much he gets. But we’ve got a plan in place to where we want him to start getting him reps, and then in time, as we can get him incorporated back into team work and all that, we’ll get him back on the field.”
There is hope that Luck can suit up in time for Week 6 against the Titans, but that could be wishful thinking with less than two weeks to go between now and Monday Oct. 16. A more realistic return date might be Oct. 22 against the Jaguars, but Ballard did not offer speculation on when Luck may suit up again.
Luck’s shoulder injury dates back to Week 3 of the 2015 season and he is hoping to put those woes behind him for good. The Colts could certainly use him back in the lineup after Sunday night’s loss to Seattle left them with a 1-3 record.
Panthers Sign S Jairus Byrd
The Panthers announced that they signed Jarius Byrd. The veteran safety will fill in for Kurt Coleman while he recovers from a sprained MCL. 
[RELATED: Kurt Coleman Sprains MCL]
Byrd was a three-time Pro Bowler during his time with the Bills. He parlayed that success into a lucrative six-year deal with the Saints in 2014, but he was released midway after a frustrating three-year stretch. Byrd intercepted an eye-popping 22 passes in 73 games for Buffalo, but totaled just three picks in three years in New Orleans, where he appeared in 33 games and made 32 starts.
However, the 30-year-old Byrd (31 on Saturday) is coming off his first 16-start season since 2012. He totaled 82 tackles and two INTs in the process, and his performance put him roughly in the middle of Pro Football Focus‘ 89 qualified safeties.
Byrd visited the 49ers in May, but we weren’t hearing much about him before the Carolina deal.
West Rumors: Chiefs, 49ers, Hoyer
Chiefs starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif exited Monday night’s game in the first quarter with an apparent knee injury. Tests on Tuesday morning will determine the extent of the injury and the team is hopeful that it is an MCL injury and not an ACL tear, Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
The Chiefs and Duvernay-Tardif agreed to a five-year, $41.25MM extension in the offseason, making him one of the league’s highest-paid interior linemen. Losing him for a lengthy period of time would be a setback for KC.
Here’s more from the West divisions:
- 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan says he not given any consideration to a quarterback change, as Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee writes. For now, the Niners are sticking with Brian Hoyer, but it sounds like Shanahan will not hesitate to yank him if he feels it would benefit the team. “I think he needs to play better,” Shanahan said of Hoyer. “And I think we can play better around him. … When you have the time and you have guys open, you need to hit them. I thought he struggled with that at times (Sunday). I know he can do better. But I also know when he did make throws, guys weren’t great at catching them for him, either.” If Hoyer gets the hook, rookie C.J. Beathard will get a chance to show what he can do.
- The Rams will add Mike Thomas to the roster and go to seven wide receivers when he returns from suspension this week, coach Sean McVay said (Twitter link via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com). Thomas was hit with the ban in July for PED use.
- Cardinals tackle D.J. Humphries is still out with an MCL injury and coach Bruce Arians doesn’t expect to see him back until two weeks from now, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets.
Raiders Not Considering Colin Kaepernick
The Raiders will be without Derek Carr for a while, but they’re not about to go out-of-house to replace him. The Raiders have no plans to add a quarterback to their 53-man roster, a team source tells ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Meanwhile, another source tells his colleague Josina Anderson (Twitter link) that the team is “not yet” ready to consider Colin Kaepernick. 
[RELATED: Raiders’ Carr Suffers Injury]
The Raiders will turn to former Bills starter E.J. Manuel as their No. 1 QB this Sunday and it only makes sense for them to give him a chance before looking at other options. NFL sophomore Connor Cook will serve as Manuel’s understudy, so even if he falters, the Raiders could theoretically still stand pat.
We’re now at the quarter mark of the season, but Kaepernick hasn’t had so much as an NFL nibble in weeks. Last week, we learned that Kaepernick (unsurprisingly) is not interested in the CFL.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/2/17
Today’s minor moves..
Main Roster
Chicago Bears
- Promoted to active roster: WR Tre McBride
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed off Rams‘ practice squad: DE Quinton Jefferson
Practice Squad
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Jason Thompson
East Rumors: Cowboys, Elliott, Jets, Giants
Despite some optimism about a potential court ruling on Monday, the Ezekiel Elliott saga is ongoing. If things are still in limbo by the end of business Tuesday, we still don’t know whether or not the NFL will allow the Cowboys running back to play, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. There will be no decision from the league on that matter until the judge makes his decision. The Cowboys are set to face the Packers on Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
Here’s more from the East divisions:
- Jets coach Todd Bowles says he hasn’t made a decision yet on wide receiver Jalin Marshall, who is eligible to return after serving a four-game suspension (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini). There may not be a place for Marshall on the team at this time, so it is a situation to monitor. Already, the Jets have five receivers on the roster in Jeremy Kerley, Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse, ArDarius Stewart, and Chad Hansen with Kerley handling punts and Stewart on kickoff return duty.
- The x-rays came back negative on the ribs of Giants running back Paul Perkins and a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) that he likely just bruised them. Perkins’ pain tolerance for pain will now dictate whether he misses time.
- Bills head coach Sean McDermott says safety Colt Anderson will need surgery for his forearm (Twitter link via Joe Buscaglia of WKBW). Anderson has yet to see time on defense but is a regular on special teams. The injury will likely land him on IR.
Chargers’ Tuerk Not Yet Reinstated
Several players are slated to return to action this week after starting the year with four-game bans, but that won’t be the case for center Max Tuerk. The Chargers lineman has not yet been reinstated because he has yet to complete his obligations as outlined by the league’s policy on performance enhancing drugs, Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com tweets. 
Tuerk was hit with the suspension late in training camp. At the time, he blamed a tainted supplement for the positive test.
“This offseason, I made the mistake of taking over-the-counter supplements,” Tuerk said in a statement. “In doing so, I opened myself up to the possibility of consuming a tainted supplement – something that ultimately led to a positive test for a banned substance. I accept responsibility for my actions and understand the NFL’s policy is very clear on this matter. This is a very hard way to learn a lesson, and I will never make this mistake again.”
Tuerk, a product of nearby USC, missed his entire rookie season due to injury. It’s not clear when he’ll finally make his NFL debut.
The Bolts lost to the Eagles 26-24 on Sunday, bringing them down to 0-4. Next up is a road contest against the winless Giants in which someone’s 0 has to go.
Latest On Raiders QB Derek Carr
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr suffered a transverse process fracture in his back, coach Jack Del Rio told reporters on Monday afternoon. The team will have to see how he responds to treatment before getting an exact timetable for his recovery. Typically, Del Rio explained, this injury calls for a 2-6 week recovery period. 
Carr will almost certainly miss Sunday’s game against the Ravens and he should probably he considered doubtful for the following week against the Chargers as well. While he’s out, E.J. Manuel will be the team’s top signal caller with 24-year-old Connor Cook serving as his backup.
Last season, Carr completed 63.8% of his passes for 3,937 yards, 28 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 6 QB last season, putting him ahead of Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford, Dak Prescott, and several other major names. Only Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Luck, and Russell Wilson finished with higher scores than Carr.
In June, the Raiders signed Carr a lucrative extension worth roughly $25MM/year.
Latest On Saints’ Kenny Vaccaro
The Saints have asked teams for a seventh-round pick that can convert to a sixth in exchange for safety Kenny Vaccaro, a source tells ESPN.com’s Mike Sando. Another executive opined that New Orleans would probably have to eat a portion of his contract to facilitate a deal. He’s still due the prorated portion of his $5.7MM salary for 2017. 
“This would be maybe a fourth-rounder if he were not on the final year of his deal, and a sixth-rounder because he is in the final year,” one league insider said. “Vaccaro is making too much money with too little production to get traded now. The Saints would have to eat salary.”
Vaccaro pushed for an extension this offseason, but the interest was not reciprocated by the Saints. Two weeks ago, we learned that the Saints have discussed a Vaccaro trade with a “handful of teams.” We now know that the Saints are not asking for much in return.
Vaccaro has technically started in all four games for the Saints, but he has been taken off the field for significant chunks of time, including the team’s Week 2 loss to the Pats. As of this writing, he is Pro Football Focus’ lowest-ranked safety among those with enough snaps to qualify.
The Saints have roughly four weeks until the Halloween trade deadline if they want to move the veteran.
Bills Shopped DT Adolphus Washington
The Bills had Adolphus Washington on the trade block during training camp, ESPN.com’s Mike Sando hears. The asking price was a fifth-round pick, but there were apparently no takers. 
Washington, a third-round choice under the Bills’ old regime in 2016, was acquitted of a weapons charge over the summer. The new management in Buffalo had at least some interest in moving on from the defensive tackle and one has to wonder if they could revisit that idea with the trade deadline coming up. Not everyone is convinced that the Bills would pull the trigger on a deal, however.
“I just think with [defensive tackle] Kyle Williams being so old, it could be hard to trade him,” one NFL executive told Sando. “Plus, they have a good thing going right now.”
However, the 3-1 Bills have shown a willingness to revamp their roster via trade. Nothing can be ruled out when talking about the team that shipped Sammy Watkins to the Rams and Ronald Darby to the Eagles on the very same day in August.
Washington started 11 games for Buffalo last season. This year, he’s appeared in three games – all off of the bench – with four total tackles.