Saints’ Daniel Lasco Done For Season
Saints running back Daniel Lasco suffered a bulging disc that will end his season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). However, the good news is that his injury is not believed to be a career-ender. 
Lasco was carted off of the field during the Saints’ 47-10 win over the Bills. The running back made a head-first tackle on a kickoff return and wound up lying still on the field after the play. It was a scary scene in Buffalo as his head and body had to be strapped down to a board to limit movement.
Lasco entered the league as a seventh-round pick in the 2016 draft. The Cal product has largely played on special teams, though he did carry the ball 11 times last year for 32 yards.
The Saints may look to add a running back now that Lasco has been ruled out for the year. Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara, and Trey Edmunds serve as New Orleans’ top 3 RBs.
Packers RB Aaron Jones Out 3-6 Weeks
Packers running back Aaron Jones is expected to miss three-to-six weeks after suffering an MCL injury on Sunday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Pending an update on Ty Montgomery, Green Bay is now down to only Jamaal Williams and Devante Mays at running back, meaning the club could add to its backfield in the coming days. Montgomery suffered a rib injury in Week 10, the same issue he dealt with earlier this season. Mays was inactive on Sunday, a designation that will likely change going forward, while fullback Aaron Ripkowski can also handle backfield duties.
The Packers don’t have another running back on their practice squad that can be promoted, although the club could add another fullback — Joe Kerridge — from the taxi squad. A free agent addition is also possible, and players such as Shaun Draughn, DeAngelo Williams, Ryan Mathews, and Tim Hightower could make sense. A number of former Packers, including James Starks and Knile Davis, are also available on the open market.
Jones’ timeline allows for a variety of return dates, and the chance that he could be placed on injured reserve does exist. Such a move would force Jones to miss at least eight weeks, though, meaning he’d be out until the second round of the postseason. Green Bay, of course, isn’t anything close to a lock to earn a playoff berth without quarterback Aaron Rodgers in tow, but Sunday’s victory over the Bears improved their postseason odds to 27%, per FiveThirtyEight.
Jones, a rookie fifth-round pick out of UTEP, took over as the Packers’ starting running back following Montgomery’s initial injury. From Weeks 5-7, Jones managed two 100-yard rushing games and scored two touchdowns. He’d been splitting time with Montgomery during Green Bay’s past two contests.
University Of Tennessee Interested In Jets DC Kacy Rodgers
The University of Tennessee has expressed interest in hiring Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers to replace former head coach Butch Jones, who was fired on Sunday, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
Rodgers, 48, offers extensive experience at both the collegiate level and in the state of Tennessee. A Volunteer alum, Rodgers coached in the collegiate ranks from 1994-2001, serving at such locations as Tennessee-Martin and Middle Tennessee State. That familiarity with the state and program could potentially be enticing as Tennessee looks to replace Jones, who fell to 0-6 in the SEC this season with a loss to Missouri on Saturday.
Rodgers was named Todd Bowles‘ defensive coordinator prior to the 2015 campaign, and has posted mixed results during his two-plus-year run as DC. The Jets ranked fifth in defensive DVOA in 2015, but fell to 21st in 2016 and ranks there again this season. Rodgers, though, has had success guiding young players such as safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye, interior defender Leonard Williams, and linebacker Darron Lee.
Latest On Patriots TE Martellus Bennett
After being waived by the Packers last week, tight end Martellus Bennett told his agent to inform teams not to claim him due to his injured shoulder, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.
“It’s not about, ‘Could you play?’ It’s, ‘Should you play?’ It was one of those things,” Bennett said. “Right now, I’m just like, (expletive) it. At first, I told my agent to tell no teams to claim me because I was still trying to get the surgery. So when Bill (Belichick) called and said they claimed me, I was like, ‘No (expletive) way.’ ”
Bennett, who was apparently considering taking a desk job with Netflix for the rest of the season, will attempt to play through his injury as he closes the campaign with New England. Bennett disparaged Green Bay’s medical staff on his way out of town, but current and former Packers have since come to the unit’s defense. The Packers, meanwhile, may attempt to recoup a portion of Bennett’s signing bonus, and they could do so even if Bennett plays the rest of the year, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Bennett’s case is interesting on a number of levels, but its ramifications on the NFL’s compensatory pick system are unclear at the moment. At a base level, Belichick’s claim of Bennett seems designed to test the comp pick formula, as Nick Korte of Over the Cap notes (Twitter links). Players who are cut before Week 10 typically don’t count towards the compensatory process, but Bennett’s situation is unique given that he was claimed off waivers. However, Korte ultimately projects Bennett will not factor into the comp pick formula.
Claiming Bennett was essentially a no-risk move for the Patriots — Bennett is due a $2MM roster bonus on the third day of the 2018 league year, reports Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, and if New England declines it, the club will have no further financial investment in the veteran tight end. The Patriots could also come away with even more windfall if the Packers file a grievance against Bennett. If Green Bay wins such a grievance, the Patriots would be entitled to a $13MM (Bennett’s salaries in 2018-19) credit on their cap next season, per salary cap guru Troy Chapman (Twitter link).
NFL Could Force Jerry Jones To Forfeit Ownership?
Jerry Jones‘ stand against the NFL hasn’t abated in recent days, and the saga has reached enough of a boiling point that several other owners have discussed a “nuclear option” that would force Jones to forfeit the Cowboys franchise, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
According to the league’s bylaws, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell can decide an owner has acted in a manner “detrimental to the welfare of the League or professional football” and assess a $500K fine. However, if Goodell decides further punishment is in order, he could pass the case on to the NFL’s Executive Committee, which could then force the “cancellation or forfeiture” of a team, per Florio.
While the option exists, the concept of the league forcing Jones to give up control of the Dallas organization is unlikely to occur, according to Florio, especially because the outcome would likely be lawsuits from both parties. But Jones has certainly done his fair share of harping against the NFL over the past week: he’s not only threatened to sue the league, but insists owners are being “misled” on the details of Goodell’s proposed contract extension.
Jones may have also affected the business of the NFL and its sponsors, as owners reportedly believe Jones convinced Papa John’s owner CEO John Schnatter to blame the league for not only decreased ratings, but a downturn in Papa John’s sales. That Jones took “family business outside the family” could potentially push the NFL’s other owners to their breaking point, per Florio.
AFC Notes: Jackson, Kizer, Claiborne, Hurns
It seemed for a few moments on Sunday that the Browns may in fact snap their eight-game losing streak, but it was not to be. One of the key turning points of the game came when the Browns ran a quarterback sneak deep in Lions territory with just seconds left and no time outs. QB DeShone Kizer was stuffed at the line and the clock ran out before Cleveland could get any points on the board. While it looks like the play may have been an audible from the rookie second round pick, head coach Hue Jackson told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com and the rest of the media that the mistake fell squarely on him.
“Doesn’t matter (if he audibled),” said Jackson. “It’s on me. To go ’round and ’round about it, I’m not going to do that. Anything that happens with our offensive football team is my responsibility, so that’s on me.”
The second-year Browns head coach didn’t budge when describing what went wrong at the end of the half, continuing to put on the focus on him being the decision maker of the offense when his football team has the ball.
“It’s on me,” Jackson continued. “I’m mad at myself. Nobody else. period. I’m taking the fall on everything. We’re an 0-9 football team right now.”
- Despite the negativity surrounding the now only winless team in the NFL, Kay Cabot did also pass along in another article that Jackson felt his young quarterback played his best game of his young professional career. Kizer himself also focused on how he’s improving as the year has gone on. “Yeah, every game so far I’ve felt pretty confident that I was getting better,” Kizer said. “I was able to play the whole game, wasn’t benched, wasn’t in a situation in which I was turning the ball over earlier in the game. Got a little rhythm going, so yeah, I think this was my best outing yet.” It’s encouraging to see Kizer put a solid game together, especially given the circumstances surrounding the franchise. He’ll likely have the keys to starting QB job for the rest of the season, so if the rookie can continue to build off his solid performance today, it may make the team think twice about whether they want to bring another young signal caller into the building next season.
- Jets cornerback Morris Claiborne left today’s game vs. Tampa Bay in the first quarter because he aggravated a previous foot injury, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. The former sixth overall pick told Cimini that he wasn’t 100% going into the contest, but wanted to try and tough out the injury. “Wanted to give it a shot to see where it was, to see if I️ could make it through the game. But I also didn’t want to go out and put bad film out there and get beat where you lose the game.” We’ll just have to see how whether the Jets hold out their 27 year-old defensive back in practice this coming week. The team has the likes of Rashard Robinson and Darryl Roberts ready to go if this turns out to be a multi-week issue, the former was brought to the Jets in a trade from San Francisco last month.
- The Jaguars could lose another wide receiver after Allen Hurns went down with a knee injury during today’s comeback win over the Chargers. The wideout was injured on his 26th birthday when he was hit directly on his knee and was forced to leave the game. The former starting receiver was seen on crunches in the locker room, unable to put any weight on his right leg and is set to undergo an MRI on Monday, according to Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com.
NFC Notes: Keenum, Garoppolo, Beathard, Hyde, McCloughan
Case Keenum and the Vikings are now 7-2 after beating a tough Redskins squad today on the road. The third-string quarterback has been of the bigger surprise of stories of the season, especially with his play of late. Apart from leading his team to victory in their last five contests, the 29 year-old signal caller has thrown for 8 touchdowns during that stretch and collected his second 300 yard game of the season during today’s win.
Keenum’s inspiring play of late has kept him ahead of the now healthy Teddy Bridgewater on the depth chart and has Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports saying that the quarterback deserves to be re-signed by the team this season’s end. In a column published tonight, the veteran NFL analyst suggests that Keenum should be the priority of the Vikings three upcoming free agent QB’s (Keenum, Bridgewater and Sam Bradford) because of the other two quarterback’s history of injury issues.
La Canfora notes that Keenum brings a sense of mobility to the position that the team won’t have in the other signal callers and just seems to be getting better as he continues to get playing time. It’s a story that you couldn’t imagine seeing at the start of the offseason, but makes sense now considering the circumstances that have unfolded in Minnesota. There’s a ton of talent that could become available this offseason, but Keenum has made his case to the Vikings for why he should get some serious consideration as a legitimate starting option moving forward.
- Jimmy Garoppolo almost made his San Francisco debut into today’s win over the Giants after starting quarterback C.J. Beathard injured his thumb. However, the rookie signal caller toughed out the injury and was able to finish off the victory. While the 49ers are now no longer winless, the team does intend to start their newly acquired QB in Week 12, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. But, head coach Kyle Shanahan offered a different view of the situation in his postgame press conference. “No, that never was the plan,” the first year head coach told the media. “As I told you guys, I’m taking it week by week so I don’t have to really pause on everything. I’m looking forward to seeing our guys tomorrow so we can review this and coach up. Take a team photo and try to get away from each other for a while. We’ll continue to work with Jimmy over the bye week here and there. We’ll have a bonus practice next Monday to get everyone loose and we’ll see where it goes from there. It’s not just about C.J. or just about Jimmy, there’s a lot of things that go into it,” (via Schefter). It remains to seen what will unfold regarding the 49ers QB depth chart after the team’s bye in Week 11, but there’s no doubt that Garoppolo is getting more comfortable in the offense and was ready to go if Beathard wasn’t able to continue playing.
- In other 49ers news, running back Carlos Hyde went on the record before today’s win to address his upcoming free agency. At least for now the lead back doesn’t want to discuss a deal with his current team, according to Cam Inman of The Mercury News. “I spoke to my agent about it, but I told him I don’t want to talk about contract extensions or anything like that right now,” Hyde said Thursday. “I want to focus on getting our first win, finishing the season off. I told him if we get to that point, then we can talk about it.” Now even though San Francisco is in the win column, it would be a lot to expect a change in heart from the 26 year-old. Hyde could be in line for a solid contract from his current franchise or potentially another RB needy team. The fourth-year back has hasn’t broke the 100 yard marker in any game this season, but has managed to put up decent numbers in an offense without a reliable passing game. He’s just one of many running backs available on the current list of 2018 Free Agents.
- In off the field news, former Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan is set to have his grievance hearing on December 18, according to Pro Football Talk. McCloughan has filed the lawsuit because he wants to be paid the remainder of the balance left on his contract. Washington argues that they should not pay their former G.M. because he was fired for alcohol abuse.
Latest on Ben McAdoo’s Job Security
The Giants helped end the 49ers winless season when they lost to the previously defeated team, 31-21, this afternoon. The defeat had many in the media pointing to just how long of a leash head coach Ben McAdoo had as the leader of this team. Obviously, McAdoo is only in his second season on the job, the first of which he led New York to their first playoff birth since their 2012 Super Bowl run. But we all know job security for NFL coaches is a fickle proposition to begin with, and at 1-8, the Giants will have to start to answer these hot seat questions with some regularity until a definitive answer is given.
General manager Jerry Reese chose not to make a comment about his head coach’s job security after today’s loss, reports James Kratch of NJ Advanced Media (Twitter link). It’s not unusual for NFL executives to not comment on specific decisions if those decisions haven’t been made yet, but it’s worth noting that the general manager did not go out of his way to defend his coach either.
On the other end of the spectrum, one of the better players on the team, safety Landon Collins, offered strong words of support for McAdoo. “He needs to be the coach next year,” said the All-pro safety (via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post).
While many players didn’t necessarily offer the same type of backing for their head coach, they did express a lot of disappointment with the way things unfolded in San Francisco, as Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com passed along after the game.
Starting offensive lineman Justin Pugh said of the defeat that, “Lose to an 0-9 team, it doesn’t get much worse than that,” (via Raanan). Star pass rusher Olivier Vernon was even more simple in responding to reporters, calling the loss “embarrassing” (via Raanan).
McAdoo himself didn’t really address his current job situation during his postgame press conference, opting to focus on what unfolded on the field and looking forward to next week.
McAdoo said of his job security that he, “doesn’t have anything to do with anything,” and that he’s not really worried about his hold on his head coach title, according to Raanan (Twitter link).
Injury Notes: Winston, Jones, Montgomery, Freeman, Brissett
Despite putting an end to their five-game losing streak this afternoon, the Buccaneers did it without their starting quarterback Jameis Winston. The former first overall pick was expected to miss “a couple of weeks” with a shoulder injury, but general manager Jason Licht admitted during the team’s pre-game show that their franchise signal caller may actually miss more time than that, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).
“There is no time line on this, Licht said. “This may be an extended period.” Stroud did relay that Licht revealed his quarterback had no new damage to his shoulder, which is certainly encouraging news for his potential return.
However, while Ryan Fitzpatrick is 1-0 as a starter this season, it’s been a disappointing campaign for a Tampa Bay squad that was expecting to be playoff contenders after barely missing the postseason a year ago. Apart from the injury, Winston himself has not shown the development many thought he would in his third-year in the league. The 23 year-old has continued to turn the ball over this season (6 INT, 5 fumbles) and has accumulated a career-worst QBR of 41.3 in 8 games this season.
- The Packers lost two running backs in today’s win over the division rival Bears. Ty Montgomery left the game with an apparent rib injury, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. While not ideal, it’s an ailment we’ve seen him overcome earlier in the season. But while his outlook remains unclear, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com hears that fellow back Aaron Jones looks to have a sprained MCL. Rapoport reports that the rookie will undergo an MRI on Monday, but has likely avoided a serious injury, even though he may miss a few weeks regardless. Third-string running back Jamaal Williams finished out the contest, but look for the team to add more depth to the position during this coming week.
- Rapoport also passes along that Falcons running back Devonta Freeman was forced into concussion protocol during the first quarter of today’s game vs. Dallas. One of the best running backs in the NFL last year, Freeman has taken a step back along with the entire Atlanta offense in 2017. Predictably, Tevin Coleman got the bulk of the carries after Freeman left the game, and would be in line for major work in the team’s Monday night tilt vs. the Seahawks next week should Freeman not clear concussion protocol before then.
- The Colts suffered a concussion scare of their own when starting QB Jacoby Brissett appeared lightheaded after a big hit during today’s tilt with the Steelers. However, the second-year signal caller didn’t miss much playing time after he supposedly cleared concussion testing during the team’s subsequent defensive series. But in a twist, Brissett wasn’t available for postgame comments because he was experiencing concussion-like symptoms after the close loss, according to Mike Chappell of Indy Sports Central on Twitter. The Colts have since released a statement on their own Twitter account indicating that Brissett passed two concussion tests during the contest, but then started to experience side effects after the game. It seems like a murky situation at the moment, but at the least add this development to a number of other instances this season where there was at the least some confusion regarding the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Eagles To Sign Dannell Ellerbe
It seems the Eagles were still able to make some news today, despite being on bye. The team will reportedly be signing veteran linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Ellerbe is best known for his time playing opposite Ray Lewis during the Ravens 2012-13 Super Bowl run. Since then the soon-to-be 32-year-old has played for both the Dolphins and Saints, collecting 140 tackles during his four years since leaving Baltimore. The linebacker played in just 15 games with New Orleans over the past two years, but is certainly coming in refreshed having not appeared in a game this season.
The former undrafted linebacker out of the University of Georgia will join an Eagles linebacking core that consists of starters Nigel Bradham, Najee Goode and Mychal Kendricks. The team’s backup options include Kamu Grugier-Hill, Nate Gerry and Joe Walker. Philadelphia was forced to place talented third-year linebacker Jordan Hicks on the IR with an achilles injury a few weeks ago.
Ellerbe likely won’t be forced into a starting spot barring anymore injuries, but the veteran should bring some depth to a defensive unit that is allowing the least amount of rushing yards per game in the NFL (66.4) heading into this week’s action.