AFC Notes: Bills, Phins, Cutler, Broncos, Jets
Though there weren’t many positives to glean from a 54-24 drubbing by the Chargers, the Bills did receive one bit of good news on Monday. Newly acquired wideout Kelvin Benjamin did not tear his ACL in the loss, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (Twitter link).
Though the injury could force the physical receiver to miss a few games, he should be able to help the Bills, currently tied with Baltimore for the last playoff spot, contend for a wildcard berth down the stretch.
After letting Robert Woods walk and trading away Sammy Watkins in the offseason, Buffalo pulled off a deadline deal with Carolina for Benjamin, who was expected to serve as Tyrod Taylor‘s top target. That has yet to come to fruition with Benjamin catching four passes in two games and Taylor being benched for the first half vs. Los Angeles.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- Dolphins QB Jay Cutler is officially in the NFL’s concussion protocol, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Dolphins are 4-6 and mired in a four-game losing streak, so their showdown with New England could be a make-or-break game for their slim playoff hopes. Matt Moore will assume the starting role should Cutler not be fit for the game.
- After being placed on injured reserve earlier this month, Raiders first-round pick Gareon Conley underwent surgery to repair his injured shin on Monday, NBC Sports’ Scott Blair reports. The cornerback suffered the injury in training camp and aggravated it in Week 3 vs. Washington.
- The Jets are still holding out hope for the postseason. With that in mind, the team will roll with Josh McCown as the team’s starting quarterback unless injured, reports Newsday’s Calvin Watkins. McCown is on the same page as Bowles and appreciates the vote of confidence.
- Following the firing of Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator, the Broncos promoted Bill Musgrave to the post and named Klint Kubiak quarterbacks coach, according to Schefter. The offensive coordinator in Oakland the last two seasons, Musgrave helped the Raiders produce one of the league’s most potent offenses in 2016. Kubiak, the son of former Broncos head coach and team senior personnel advisor Gary Kubiak, served as wide receivers coach at Kansas in 2015 before joining the Broncos as an assistant in 2016.
- Remaining with the shakeup in Denver, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes that John Elway should also receive some blame for the team’s downward spiral in 2017. Florio writes: “Despite efforts to blame the players and, as of Monday morning, to blame offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, and possibly to blame coach Vance Joseph, responsibility for the six-game losing goes to every layer and level of the organization, and the buck ultimately stops on Elway’s desk.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/20/17
Here are today’s minor moves:
Miami Dolphins
- Cut: RB De’Veon Smith
Houston Texas
- Promoted to active roster: WR Cobi Hamilton
New Orleans Saints
- Waived: LB Adam Bighill
Josh Gordon Set To Return To Practice
There isn’t much to celebrate in Cleveland with the Browns remaining as the league’s only winless team. Don’t tell head coach Hue Jackson that. He is in the holiday spirit with Josh Gordon‘s impending return to the practice field on Wednesday. 
“It’s like Christmas,” Jackson told reporters, including Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “I get to open a new toy. I know what’s in that box, but I just want to see how good it is. It’s exciting that he’ll be back out there.”
Plagued by suspensions throughout his career, Gordon was reinstated to the league on Nov. 1 and is eligible to return to the field for Cleveland’s Week 13 matchup at the Chargers. Gordon produced one of the best seasons by a receiver in NFL history in 2013 when he led the league with 1,646 yards in just 14 games. He has played just five games since that breakout campaign.
If he is anywhere near his 2013 form, Browns fans will have at least one thing to be thankful for this holiday season.
Robert Woods To Miss Time
The Rams will be without top wide receiver Robert Woods for “a couple weeks,” head coach Sean McVay told reporters including ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez (Twitter link). McVay touched on the importance of the injury, calling it “a significant loss for us.” 
Though McVay also stated the injury could threaten the receiver’s season and require surgery, he remained positive, saying the Rams hope to have him back in two weeks.
Woods injured his left shoulder in the Rams’ Week 11 matchup with Minnesota after being tackled by safety Harrison Smith.
To call the injury a significant loss is putting it lightly. Woods has been easily the team’s No. 1 wideout in recent weeks, posting 20 catches, 322 yards and four touchdowns in the team’s last three games. The emergence of the fifth-year pass catcher has also hid the ineffectiveness of Sammy Watkins, who has posted more than two catches just once since Week 3.
Woods has been quite the find for the Rams, who signed the former Bills receiver to a five-year contract prior to the 2017 campaign. The California native has looked right at home in the Rams’ new-look passing attack and has already recorded a career-high 703 yards through 10 games.
With the loss, the Rams will look for Watkins, who the team traded for in the offseason, to fill the void.
Washington Places Terrelle Pryor on IR
Washington wide receiver Terrelle Pryor underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured ankle on Monday and was placed on injured reserve, head coach Jay Gruden told reporters including the Associated Press. 
The move comes after Pryor was declared inactive for Washington Week 11 matchup with New Orleans. The receiver saw foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte on Monday and the decision was made to operate on the ankle that has been bother Pryor since Week 2, according to ESPN. “[Dr. Anderson] said the stuff he saw in there, he couldn’t believe I was still playing,” Pryor told reporters.
Washington was hoping for a big season out of Pryor, who the team signed to a one-year deal after topping 1,000 yards on 77 receptions in a breakout season with Cleveland. Those hopes didn’t come to fruition, as the former quarterback finished the season with just 20 receptions for 240 yards and one touchdown.
The injury was sustained following a nasty — but legal — hit by Rams safety Cody Davis. The defender hit Pryor around his knees and led to the receiver calling out the safety following the game.
49ers Claim Sheldon Day From Jaguars
The 49ers claimed defensive lineman Sheldon Day off waivers from the Jaguars, the team announced on Monday.
Day was waived on Saturday when the Jaguars activated rookie Dede Westbrook. A fourth-round selection in 2016 coming out of Notre Dame, Day has appeared in 22 games, logging 11 tackles, two sacks and one pass defensed. With the move, the second-year defender will be reunited with San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who spent three seasons in Jacksonville as a linebackers coach before heading west.
A Second Team All-American at Notre Dame, Day posted 15.5 tackles for loss as a senior in 2015, the most by a Fighting Irish player since Derek Landri in 2006.
Saints To Sign CB Sterling Moore
The Saints are signing cornerback Sterling Moore, according to a source who spoke with Herbie Teope of the Times-Picayune (on Twitter). Terms of the deal are not yet known, but it’s presumably a one-year pact for the prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum. 
Moore began the year with the Saints but was let go in late October after being slowed by a pectoral injury. His two appearances in the fall marked his only action of the season.
The 27-year-old has bounced around the league since his 2011-12 stay with the Patriots. He mostly started for the Cowboys, Bucs, and Saints from 2014-2016, but he’s more of a role player at this stage of his career. He’s expected to provide depth for the Saints the rest of the way behind starting corners Marshon Lattimore and Ken Crawley and may see some time at safety as well.
Cardinals Waive RB Andre Ellington
The Cardinals have waived running back Andre Ellington. Arizona has also signed running back Bronson Hill to its practice squad.
Although Ellington is a vested veteran, he will be subject to waivers since we are past the trading deadline. He hasn’t had the role of a starter or looked the part of one in some time (he was inactive on Sunday, his final game with the Cardinals), but he could hold value for several teams looking to fortify their running situation. The Redskins, for example, might consider claiming him after losing Chris Thompson for the season. Ellington is not as explosive as Thompson, but he does have soft hands out of the backfield.
In eight games this year, Ellington had 15 carries for 53 yards – good for just 3.5 yards per attempt – and one touchdown. He made a bigger impact as a pass-catcher, hauling in 33 grabs for 297 yards Heading into the season, the Cardinals planned to line up Ellington exclusively as a receiver instead of at running back, though they backed down from that plan in June.
The 0-10 Browns will have top priority on the waiver wire, so they’ll have the first opportunity to add Ellington to the roster. The 49ers (1-9), Giants (2-8), Bears (3-7), Colts (3-7), and Broncos (3-7) will also be among the teams at the front of the line.
In September, the Cardinals planned to have David Johnson, T.J. Logan, and Ellington as their top three backs. Thanks to injuries and Ellington’s ineffectiveness, all three players are out of the equation.
NFL Suspends Steelers’ Marcus Gilbert
Steelers offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert has been suspended four games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy. In a statement, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert announced that Gilbert will not appeal the ban. 
This hasn’t been a banner year for Gilbert. Thanks to injuries, he has missed five of the team’s ten games to date. His PED suspension means that he will not be eligible to play again until Christmas against the Texans in Week 16.
Gilbert, 29, is signed through the 2019 season thanks to the five-year, $30MM extension he inked before the 2014 season. The Steelers discussed another extension with him prior to this season, but they ultimately did not agree to terms and the team may have second thoughts about a fresh deal given the way things have gone in recent months.
Last year, Pro Football Focus graded Gilbert as the NFL’s No. 11 tackle among 76 total qualifiers, painting him as one of the league’s very best right tackles. Heading into 2017, the former second-round pick started 75 games over six seasons in Pittsburgh.
NFC Notes: Bears, Floyd, Redskins, Pryor
Bears coach John Fox says linebacker Leonard Floyd is going to miss some time, but he would not commit to putting Floyd on injured reserve when speaking to reporters on Monday (Twitter link via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune). That’s because the team believes that he does not have a torn ACL, so a return later in the year is still possible. All in all, it’s good news for Floyd after he was carted off the field in Sunday’s loss to the Lions.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- Redskins wide receiver Terrelle Pryor is getting arthroscopic surgery on his ankle, a source tells Mike Jones of the Washington Post (on Twitter). Doctors should have a better idea of his recovery timetable after he goes under the knife. Pryor, a big free agent signing, has yet to really shine in Washington. To date, he has 20 catches for 240 yards with one touchdown in nine games.
- Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston‘s shoulder was re-evaluated today and he is not ready to return, head coach Dirk Koetter tells reporters (Twitter link via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com). Winston will be out this week against the Falcons, but doctors will check him out next week.
- Cardinals coach Bruce Arians says Blaine Gabbert will start again this week (Twitter link via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com). The plan, he says, is to stick with him until Drew Stanton is totally healthy. Gabbert completed 22-of-34 of his passes for 257 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, both occurring late in the game. He did a solid job overall, but the Cardinals wound up falling short and falling to 4-6 on the year.
- Packers defensive lineman Kenny Clark suffered a high-ankle sprain on Sunday, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The injury does not appear to be a season-ender, but he may miss multiple games.