Ravens’ Mark Ingram, J.K. Dobbins Test Positive For COVID-19
Ravens running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins have tested positive for COVID-19 (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). They’ll both land on the reserve list today, leaving Gus Edwards as their primary back for Thursday night against the Steelers. 
Ingram has already missed significant time due to injury. Now, he’s out for at least an additional week until he clears the league’s coronavirus protocols. For Dobbins, the timing is especially unfortunate — he’s coming off of a strong showing against the Titans where he rushed for 70 yards off of just 15 carries, good for an average of 4.67 yards per tote.. All in all, the second-round pick out of Ohio State has averaged 5.3 yards per attempt as Ingram’s fill-in.
Edwards has also impressed in a shorter sample size, tallying 376 yards off of 85 carries (4.4 ypc) and three touchdowns. The 25-year-old Rutgers product has averaged 5.1 yards for the Ravens since turning pro — not too shabby for a backup RB.
The Ravens, sans two of their offensive stars, will look to stop a two-game slide on Thursday when they head to Pittsburgh.
Jaguars’ Josh Allen Suffers Knee injury
Jaguars coach Doug Marrone says Josh Allen‘s knee injury will keep him out of action for a while (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco). Allen avoided ligament damage, but he may be placed on injured reserve later this week. 
Allen went down in the third quarter against the Steelers and had to be escorted over to the medical tent. Now that the Jaguars are 1-9, they might not be in much of a rush to get Allen back on the field. If Allen doesn’t return this year, his season will end with 13 stops and 2.5 sacks across eight games. Those numbers don’t necessarily jump off of the page, but the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus frame Allen as a top-30 edge rusher in the NFL.
Meanwhile, guard Andrew Norwell is considered week-to-week with an arm injury (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). He’s a no-go for this week’s game against the Browns, who will be without star edge rusher Myles Garrett.
The Jaguars haven’t won since their season opener, putting them just behind the Jets in the race to the bottom.
Latest On Browns’ Myles Garrett
Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett will remain on the COVID-19 reserve list this week, according to head coach Kevin Stefanski. With that, Garrett will be held out of Sunday’s contest against the Jaguars, marking his second straight missed game.
Garrett was parked the reserve list last week, keeping him out of their Week 11 game against the Eagles. They still managed to win 22-17 without their top defensive player, thanks to Sione Takitaki’s pick-six and Olivier Vernon’s sack/safety. The front seven delivered, just in the nick of time. Heading into Week 11, Garrett had 9.5 sacks to lead the league while everyone else on the Browns had combined for just 12.5 sacks.
The Browns are now 7-3, but they’ll have to continue their playoff push without Garrett for at least one more week. Per the NFL’s coronavirus protocols, Garrett can’t return to the team until at least 24 hours after his symptoms have passed. There’s no word yet on his status or specifics on any symptoms that Garrett may have experienced since he was placed on the reserve list.
If the Browns keep things up, they’ll have an opportunity to snap their 18-year playoff drought, the longest in the NFL.
AFC East Notes: Patriots, Newton, Jets
Midway through an up-and-down year with the Patriots, does Cam Newton want to return in 2021? The quarterback claims that he hasn’t given it much thought.
“Man, I have interest in winning the Arizona Cardinals game. How about that?” Newton told WEEI (via NBC Sports). “There are so many things that — I don’t want to even harp, dwell, or even think – as the Bible says, my cup runneth over. Just trying to focus on the near future rather than the far future.”
Newton has led the Pats to wins over the Dolphins, Raiders, and Ravens this year, but he also has seven interceptions across nine games. All in all, he’s 4-5 as the Patriots’ starter. The Patriots haven’t missed the playoffs since 2008, and they’ll be in rough shape if Newton can’t deliver against the Cardinals this weekend.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- The Patriots had Stephon Gilmore back on the field against the Texans. The reason for his three-game absence? Gilmore says his knee injury occurred was caused by a collision in practice (via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). Fortunately, it looks like he’s healed up significantly, though his presence wasn’t enough for the Pats to win on Sunday.
- The Jets are expected to do some defensive demolition this offseason, according to ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. In fact, GM Joe Douglas could wind up with seven new starters — safeties Marcus Maye and Bradley McDougald; cornerbacks Pierre Desir and Brian Poole; and linebackers Tarell Basham, Jordan Jenkins, and Neville Hewitt are all ticketed for free agency. Maye is the best of the bunch, but the Jets have flirted with trading him in the past. Defensive lineman Henry Anderson is also on the chopping block, thanks to his $9.5MM cap figure for 2021.
- Douglas will be in charge of the roster, but it’s not clear whether owner Woody Johnson or CEO Christopher Johnson will be running the show. As Cimini notes, Woody may be free to return from his ambassador role in January.
- The Dolphins benched Tua Tagovailoa against the Broncos, but the star rookie will continue to start ahead of Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Eagles Add Jordan Howard To Practice Squad
The Eagles have signed Jordan Howard to the practice squad, per a club announcement. This was the expected move after Howard auditioned for Philly late last week.
[RELATED: Eagles Activate G Isaac Seumalo From IR]
Howard was traded from the Bears to the Eagles last year and parlayed his performance into a two-year deal with the Dolphins. Things didn’t go according to plan in Miami — after averaging just 1.2 yards per tote, Howard was left off of the active roster, taking a backseat to Myles Gaskin and Matt Breida. Then, he was dropped from the roster altogether. No one picked up Howard (and his contract) on the waiver wire, leading him back to the Eagles.
Howard topped 1,100 rushing yards in his first two Bears seasons but was less effective in Matt Nagy‘s scheme in 2018. With the Eagles, Howard bounced back by averaging 4.4 yards per carry and rushing for six touchdowns in ten games. He’ll look to reprise that type of production, if and when he’s given the opportunity. The Eagles could give him a chance to get back on the field next week, when they face the Seahawks in a Monday night matchup.
Extra Points: Watson, Tagovailoa, Prescott
The Houston Texans are at a crossroads as an organization. After surprisingly firing Bill O’Brien toward the beginning of the year they were left without a head coach and GM. Romeo Crennel and Jack Easterby have taken over those roles on an interim basis, but the franchise is currently in a bit of a rut and lacking direction. They’re also without a lot of draft picks, including their first-rounder next April, due to trades O’Brien made. As they look to dig themselves out of that mess, owner Cal McNair is apparently leaving no stone unturned.
McNair recently had dinner with quarterback Deshaun Watson, the one thing the team has going for them at the moment, and he picked his brain about what he’d like to see moving forward, McNair told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Schefter writes that “McNair wanted to hear Watson’s thoughts and opinions on who should be the next head coach.” Assuming Watson gets legit input, it would be relatively safe to assume the Texans will target an offensive mind. Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy is sure to be a hot name, although there are plenty of other offensive minds as well.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Tua Tagovailoa‘s honeymoon as the Dolphins’ quarterback came to an end Sunday in a loss to the Broncos. Tagovailoa struggled mightily during the defeat, and was pulled for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Speaking after the game, head coach Brian Flores confirmed Tagovailoa did not have an injury and was benched for performance. That being said, Flores also wasted no time declaring that his rookie will be his starter next week, meaning we’ll have to wait again for our first dose of Fitzmagic. Tagovailoa was 11/20 for only 83 yards before getting pulled during the loss, which snapped Miami’s five-game winning streak. He’ll have a get-right spot against the Jets next week.
- Fortunately, we’ve got another positive update to pass along on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Appearing on the radio Friday, team EVP Stephen Jones said he’s been getting “amazing reports” from doctors on Prescott’s status, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “Shouldn’t come as any surprise,” Jones said. “He does everything to the nines and the 10s and he just does it the very best. He’s been so diligent in his rehab and that shouldn’t surprise anybody. They said if anything he’s ahead of schedule and rolling. That should come as no surprise. So we expect him to have a full recovery.” Jones also reiterated that Prescott avoided any infections, which can sometimes occur with compound fractures. Everything continues to look good for Prescott’s chances of being ready for Week 1 of 2021.
- Let’s wrap things up with some punter news. Veteran specialist Jon Ryan has been working out and has drawn interest from teams recently, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Ryan is 38 now but clearly has no plans of hanging up his cleats. Pelissero notes he led the CFL in gross punting average last season. He most notably spent ten years as the Seahawks’ punter from 2008-17.
Texans’ P.J. Hall Done For The Year
The season-ending injuries just keep rolling in, and the Texans are the latest to be hit. Defensive tackle P.J. Hall tore a pec and will miss the rest of the season as a result, a source told Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Hall was scooped up on a cheap one-year deal back in August, and he’s turned into a nice find in an otherwise lost year. He’d started the past nine games, playing a little over half of the defensive snaps. He’ll finish his first season in Houston with 34 tackles, a sack, and a couple of quarterback hits. It’s yet another blow for a Texans defense that is already missing several starters.
While it’s a disappointing finish, Hall likely rehabilitated his value at least a little as he prepares to enter free agency. The 57th overall pick of the 2018 draft by the Raiders, he never lived up to his second-round status. He started 12 games for the Raiders last year but fell out of favor with the coaching staff, and was traded to Minnesota for a seventh-rounder in August. That deal was quickly nixed as he was waived with a failed physical, allowing him to sign with Houston.
Patriots Fear Rex Burkhead Has Torn ACL
It’s just not the Patriots’ year. New England lost another game at the last minute Sunday, and it looks like they’ll be without a key piece of the offense the rest of the way.
The Pats fear running back Rex Burkhead has a torn ACL, a source told Jeff Howe of The Athletic (Twitter link). Howe adds that he’ll get an MRI to confirm, but initial field tests for ACL tears are extremely accurate and almost never wrong. He was never a featured back in New England, but he’s played a consistent role for Bill Belichick over the past four years. He’ll finish the season with 67 carries for 274 yards and three touchdowns, adding 25 catches for 192 yards and another three scores through the air.
A sixth-round pick of the Bengals back in 2013, Burkhead was signed by Belichick after his rookie deal expired in 2017. Burkhead is now set to be an unrestricted free agent again this spring, and he’ll be 31 by the time next season starts. With the Pats having youngsters Damien Harris and Sony Michel in the backfield, it’s certainly possible they’ll decide to move on. That being said he remained productive this season, and was actually seeing a little bit more volume than in years past.
If this is the end of his run with the Patriots, he’ll finish it having won Super Bowl LIII with the team. At his age and now coming off the ACL tear he’ll struggle for much guaranteed money on the market, assuming he decides to keep playing.
Titans’ Jayon Brown Out For Season
We’ve unfortunately got word of another season-ending injury to pass along. The Titans won an overtime thriller over the Ravens to snap out of their slump, but they weren’t able to escape unscathed.
Linebacker Jayon Brown suffered a dislocated and fractured elbow and will miss the rest of the season as a result, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a devastating blow for a Tennessee defense that has already struggled this year. The inside backer has been the team’s leading tackler in 2020. A fifth-round pick in 2017, Brown became a starter during his second year in the league when he had 97 tackles, six sacks, and six passes defended.
He had played almost every single snap this year, so it’s hard to overstate how big of a loss this is. Starting cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is still hurt, and they just placed edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney on injured reserve. They’re going to be significantly shorthanded on defense as they enter a pivotal division game in Week 12 against the Colts which could determine who wins the AFC South.
Brown, a UCLA product, should be ready well in advance of the 2021 season, but this certainly wasn’t the end to the rookie contract he was hoping for. He’ll now be an unrestricted free agent in March, and while this hopefully won’t hurt his market too much, it certainly won’t help. Either way, the 25-year-old should be in for a big raise this offseason.
Joe Burrow Done For The Year
UPDATE, 4:45pm: It is indeed believed to be an ACL tear for Burrow, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapsheet adds that “there may be additional damage.” We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have more details.
3:58 pm: Devastating injury news to begin Week 11, as Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had to be carted off the field with a knee injury. Shortly after leaving the game, Burrow confirmed on Twitter that he was done for the season.
“Thanks for all the love. Can’t get rid of me that easy. See ya next year,” the former LSU star wrote to fans. We still don’t have official word on the exact injury, although an ACL tear looked possible based on the way his left knee got rolled up on. Assuming that’s the case, or if it’s hopefully less severe, Burrow should be fully recovered in time to be under center for Week 1 of next year. No matter what, it’s a disappointing end to what had been an exciting rookie campaign.
Cincinnati has struggled mightily but Burrow has been a bright spot in an otherwise bleak season, looking every bit like the number one overall pick. Despite playing behind a patchwork offensive line that frequently had him running for his life, he showed plenty of flashes and had some huge games. The former Heisman Trophy winner will finish his first year as a pro with 2,688 yards, 13 touchdowns, and only five interceptions through nine-plus games.
Ha also added another three scores as a runner. This year was tough, but with some solid weapons around him, the future is bright for this offense. As for the rest of the season, it looks like the Bengals will turn to 2019 fourth-rounder Ryan Finley moving forward. They also have Brandon Allen on the practice squad. Here’s to hoping this turns out to be little more than a small blip on a long career.