49ers’ K’Waun Williams Suffers ACL Injury
49ers cornerback K’Waun Williams played through a somewhat rare ACL sprain on Sunday, but he won’t need surgery to correct the issue, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. If rehab goes well, Williams could be back in action in as little as three weeks. For now, he’ll be shelved on the injured reserve list.
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That’s relatively good news, though the Niners are already shorthanded due to a rash of injuries. Hopefully, Williams is able to make a quick recovery while also healing up from his previous hip issue. Fellow cornerback Richard Sherman might not be back for a little while either, putting more pressure on Jason Verrett and the rest of the group to keep a lid on things. Starter Emmanuel Moseley remains in concussion protocol and the Niners are waiting to see if Ahkello Witherspoon‘s hamstring will allow him to play this week.
Williams, 29, has started in 26 of his 47 games since joining the 49ers. Last year, he set a new personal watermark with two interceptions and also tallied his fourth career sack.
The Niners dropped to 2-2 on Sunday as the Eagles pulled ahead in the fourth quarter. This week, they’ll look to get over the .500 mark against the Dolphins, who are rolling with Ryan Fitzpatrick as their starter.
O.J. Howard Has Torn Achilles
The Buccaneers pulled off an impressive comeback to beat the Chargers on Sunday, but they didn’t escape unscathed. Tight end O.J. Howard suffered a torn achilles and will be done for the year, head coach Bruce Arians announced after the game. As expected, the Bucs will place Howard on season-ending injured reserve, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
It’s a brutal blow for a Bucs offense that is already banged up. Leonard Fournette and Chris Godwin both didn’t play Sunday, and Arians said he doesn’t expect Godwin to play in Week 5 either. Howard was starting to develop a real rapport for Brady, and he had 50 yards and a touchdown against Los Angeles before going down. The 19th overall pick of the 2017 draft, Howard had his fifth-year option exercised by the team back in April.
Fortunately for him that option year is guaranteed for injury and since he likely won’t be healthy by the start of next league year, he should be locked into that $6MM salary. The Alabama product has been solid through his first few years, but never really broke out with Jameis Winston.
His best year was in 2018 when he had 565 yards and five touchdowns in only ten games. Last year he took a bit of a step back, with 459 yards and only one score in 14 games. With Howard on the shelf Rob Gronkowski, who hasn’t had a huge role in the passing game, should see an increase in targets.
Falcons’ Damontae Kazee Done For Year
Falcons safety Damontae Kazee suffered a torn Achilles in last night’s game against the Packers, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). Unfortunately, the diagnosis didn’t come as a huge surprise after Kazee was carted off the field. 
Kazee, 27, was hoping for a big platform season in the final year of his rookie contract. The opportunity was there for him, too, with a slew of injuries in the secondary. Now, he’ll focus on rehab so that he can showcase himself to teams — or land a fresh deal with the Falcons — in the spring.
The versatile former fifth-rounder has started in 34 of his 52 career games for the Falcons, including virtually all of his appearances from 2018-2020. In 2018, Kazee made some serious noise as he led the league with seven interceptions. Last year, he followed up with three INTs, plus 74 total stops.
The Falcons dropped to 0-4 on Monday night without the services of cornerbacks A.J. Terrell and Darqueze Dennard or safeties Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen. Now, they’ll turn their attention to the Panthers in Week 5.
Packers To Meet With Snacks Harrison
Defensive tackle Damon Harrison will meet with the Packers on Wednesday, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). That will follow Harrison’s previously-reported Tuesday get-together with the Seahawks. 
The Packers – who have been without Kenny Clark for the last three games – could use the help up front. The Seahawks, meanwhile, don’t necessarily need Snacks. So far, they rank third in the NFL in rush defense, allowing just 3.4 yards per carry to opposing running backs.
Harrison made his name as a fierce run-stuffer with the Jets before signing a lucrative free agent deal with the Giants in 2016. Then, he was shipped to Detroit midway through the 2018 campaign, where he became the first defensive lineman to appear in 17 games during an NFL regular season.
Harrison wasn’t happy with the Lions and considered retirement last year. Eventually, he decided that he still wanted to play, but only for a winning team. The undefeated Packers and Seahawks would fit the bill, giving him a chance to get further than he ever did with the Lions, Giants, or Jets.
Broncos, Mike Purcell Agree To Extension
The Broncos have agreed to a brand new deal with defensive tackle Mike Purcell, as Mike Klis of 9News tweets. The new pact, which the Broncos announced Tuesday afternoon, will keep Purcell under contract through the 2023 season.
The deal is worth $14.8MM and will guarantee the nose tackle $6.8MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Not bad for a former UDFA whose journeyman career whose final pre-Broncos stop came with the Alliance of American Football. 
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Purcell has been on a nationwide tour for much of his NFL career. After playing for six different teams, being released 10 times over, and having a cup of coffee with the AAF’s Salt Lake Stallions, Purcell found a home with the Broncos. Now, he has a home in Denver for years to come.
While Purcell isn’t much of a pass-rusher, he’s excellent as stopping the run. In fact, Pro Football Focus ranked the 6’3″, 330-pounder as the league’s best run-defending interior player in 2019. Purcell, 29, played in 13 games (seven starts) for the Broncos last season while posting 48 tackles (eight for loss).
The new three-year deal will begin with the 2021 season. For now, the former UDFA will earn $3.259MM, per the terms of his restricted free agent tender.
Titans, Patriots Have No New COVID-19 Positives
The Titans received no new positive tests for the second straight day, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Patriots received good news as well — three days after Cam Newton‘s diagnosis, no one else on the team has tested positive for COVID-19 (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter).
With two straight days of zero positives, the Titans may be able to reopen their facilities on Wednesday. The Titans have been barred from holding in-person activities since Sept. 29. Later that week, the NFL postponed their scheduled Week 4 game against the Steelers.
The NFL is ramping up the pressure on teams to follow COVID-19 protocols and contain potential outbreaks. On Monday, the league office informed clubs that they could be forced to forfeit games if an outbreak occurs due to lax internal standards.
The Patriots’ game against the Chiefs was played as scheduled on Monday night, though things didn’t exactly go according to plan. With Brian Hoyer under center for the first three quarters and Jarrett Stidham finishing out the game, the Chiefs rolled to a 26-10 victory. Meanwhile, Newton was said to be asymptomatic as of Monday, a promising sign for his recovery and eventual return.
NFL Implements COVID-19 Policy Changes, Raiders Players Fined
In response to the growing number of positive COVID-19 tests around the league, the NFL is taking action. In a call with all 32 teams the league office laid out a slew of new policy changes, and sternly warned teams about the consequences of not following them.
In the memo recapping the call, which you can read courtesy of this tweet from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, they laid out some new protocols. The NFL and NFLPA jointly agreed to a “longer onboarding process” for free agent workouts, bans on gatherings outside the team facility, limits on the number of tryouts allowed per week, and the implementation of a “league-wide video monitoring system” to ensure teams are wearing masks and following protocols within their own buildings.
Details were sparse, but it sounds like Roger Goodell will now be watching what is going on within each facility. The line about gatherings outside the facility may have been directed toward the Raiders, who were just slapped with more fines after players were photographed mask-less at a fundraiser hosted by tight end Darren Waller. Waller was fined $30K for the incident, while Derek Carr, Derek Carrier, Zay Jones, Nevin Lawson, Erik Magnuson, Foster Moreau, Nathan Peterman, Hunter Renfrow, and Jason Witten were each fined $15K, according to a tweet from Dan Graziano of ESPN.com.
We just got word earlier that the Raiders had been fined $50K after an investigation into unauthorized locker room access, and the team and head coach Jon Gruden were fined hundreds of thousands for mask violations in Week 2.
Perhaps most significantly, the memo outlines potential extreme punishments for new violations. The memo says that any team that has a COVID-19 protocol violation which results in spreading of the virus that impacts scheduling or other teams may be subject to the loss of draft picks or potential forfeitures of games.
Forfeiting a game would be a truly nuclear option, and the fact that it was even broached shows how serious the league is taking threats to the rest of the season. That would seem to apply to a team like the Titans, which had a true outbreak which has caused the only actual postponement to date. The new free agent workout restrictions could make it harder for veterans on the market to find jobs. This surely isn’t the last we’ve heard on the subject, and we’ll keep you posted whenever anything new comes along.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/5/20
Today’s practice squad updates will be posted here:
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Alex Bachman, DT David Moa
- Cut: WR Johnny Holton
New York Jets
- Signed: QB Mike White
White was a fifth-round pick of the Cowboys out of Western Kentucky in 2018. He signed with the Jets’ practice squad the following year and spent most of the 2019 season there. He was on the active roster for a bit this season before being cut last week. Holton has spent time with the Raiders, Eagles, and Steelers, and he had 218 yards and three touchdowns with the Raiders in 2017. He was a special teamer in Pittsburgh last year.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/20
On the heels of the Texans’ surprise firing of Bill O’Brien, we’ve got some much more tame moves to pass along. Here are today’s minor transactions:
Green Bay Packers
- Signed to 53-man roster from practice squad: WR Reggie Begelton
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Waived: S Doug Middleton
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: RB Adrian Killins
With Davante Adams and Allen Lazard both out, it makes sense why the Packers are bolstering the receiving corp. Begelton is a 2016 UDFA from Lamar who spent the past three seasons in the CFL. If he gets on the field for the Packers, it’ll be his first NFL action. Killins is an undrafted rookie from UCF, who made his pro debut on Sunday Night Football last night. He carried the ball once for -12 yards and caught one pass for two yards. He’ll likely head back to the practice squad if he clears waivers.
Texans Fire HC/GM Bill O’Brien
Well we certainly didn’t see this one coming. The Texans have fired head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
The Texans of course are 0-4, but it’s still a pretty shocking development since there hadn’t been any recent reports that O’Brien’s job was in imminent danger. Schefter noted in a follow-up tweet that a source told him Romeo Crennel is the likely interim head coach. O’Brien clearly wasn’t expecting to get canned, as we heard just yesterday that he was taking over offensive play-calling duties and taking a more active role in the game-planning.
The Texans are a trainwreck at the moment, as not only are they winless but they’re also without their first and second-round picks in next year’s draft due to trades O’Brien made. O’Brien had recently clashed with prominent players at practice and executive Jack Easterby is now in charge of the organization for the time being, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets.
O’Brien now becomes the first head coach fired during the 2020 season, beating out contenders like Adam Gase and Dan Quinn for the honor. GM Brian Gaine was fired back in June of 2019, and O’Brien has been in complete control of the team ever since. He was formally named the general manager back in January.
The former Penn State coach and Patriots offensive coordinator made a slew of controversial moves, most notably trading away superstar DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals this offseason for relatively little in return. The Texans have a franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson, but things are pretty bleak outside of him due to the lack of draft capital.
It’s been a rapid collapse for Houston after they advanced to the second round of the playoffs last year and had a huge lead over the Chiefs in the first half. O’Brien became the head coach in 2014 and while he’s earned a lot of the criticism he’s gotten, he did lead the team to the playoffs in four of his six full seasons.
The Texans started with an absolutely brutal schedule of the Chiefs, Ravens, and Steelers in their first three games, and are running out of time to turn things around. Crennel has been with the team in varying capacities since 2014 as well. He’ll take over a team with some real talent, and he has head coaching experience. He coached the Browns from 2005-08, and was more recently the Chiefs’ head coach from 2011-12.
As for their next full time head coach, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is sure to get consideration. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report tweets to keep an eye on current defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, writing that the “team loves him and he’s seen as a serious contender for a HC job this offseason.” Meanwhile Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that Easterby is on a “very long-term contract,” and notes that he is close with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as well as Pats exec Nick Caserio, who the Texans originally wanted to be their GM last year. Easterby is going to be heavily involved in the ensuing search process alongside owner Cal McNair, according to multiple reports.
McDaniels’ name is brought up annually in head coaching searches, and it sounds like that will be the case once again here. A handful of reporters immediately began speculating on Twitter that there could be interest in Dabo Swinney, Watson’s former coach at Clemson. That was all just spitballing and nothing sourced, but it’s fun to think about nonetheless. Watson isn’t the only connection there, as Albert Breer of SI.com tweets he’s been told Easterby is also “very friendly” with Swinney.
As for O’Brien, it’s anyone’s guess what his next move will be. Today ends a tumultuous era of Texans football, and it’ll be very interesting to see if Watson can lead the team out of the hole they currently find themselves in.