Patriots Host DT Akeem Spence
The Patriots had a number of players in for workouts and/or visits today, including veteran defensive tackle Akeem Spence, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter).
The 2013 fourth-round pick spent the first four seasons of his career with the Buccaneers, where he compiled 195 tackles, 10.5 sacks, and four fumble recoveries in 56 games (30 starts). He’s bounced around the league a bit since, including a 2018 campaign where he had two sacks in 16 starts for the Dolphins.
The 28-year-old started the 2019 campaign with the Eagles, but he was released after compiling only seven tackles in six games. He signed with the Jaguars soon after, and he compiled 11 tackles in nine games with Jacksonville. Spence worked out for the Bills back in August, but it’s otherwise been quiet for the veteran.
The Patriots also auditioned offensive linemen Zack Bailey, Sam Jones, Timon Parris, Ross Reynolds, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Jones has the most NFL experience, having appeared in five games for the Broncos in 2018. The 24-year-old started the 2020 campaign with the Cardinals.
Injury Notes: Stafford, Bridgewater, Bears
Matthew Stafford is dealing with a hand injury, but there’s hope the ailment won’t sideline the veteran. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the Lions quarterback suffered a “partial tear in a ligament in the thumb on his throwing hand.”
The team will evaluate Stafford’s ability to throw the ball throughout the week, but it’s expected that Stafford will ultimately be in uniform on Sunday against the Panthers.
2019 aside, Stafford has been remarkably durable throughout his NFL career. Prior to his season-ending injury last season, Stafford had appeared in 136 consecutive regular season contests, the sixth-longest mark in NFL history. The 32-year-old has had a solid comeback season for the 4-5-0 Lions, completing 63.7-percent of his passes for 2,403 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
If Stafford were to miss any time, the Lions would likely turn to backups Chase Daniel or David Blough.
Let’s check out some more injury notes from around the league…
- Speaking of Lions/Panthers, Teddy Bridgewater‘s MCL sprain “is consider minor,” according to Pelissero (via Twitter). The Panthers quarterback is expected to practice on a limited basis at tomorrow’s practice, and as the reporter notes, head coach Matt Rhule had previously expressed optimism that Bridgewater will play against the Lions. Bridgewater suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of his team’s loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday.
- Despite being carted off the field yesterday, Bears quarterback Nick Foles could be available following his team’s bye. While the veteran is dealing with both hip and glute injuries, coach Matt Nagy said Foles should be alright. “It wasn’t as bad as we once thought,” Nagy said (via Gene Chamberlain of the Associated Press). “He’ll be working through that here as we go, keeping an eye on that, kind of day to day.”
- While Foles could play against the Packers in two weeks, Nagy wasn’t so confident that backup Mitch Trubisky will be in uniform. “I think there’s a possibility, but I don’t know that for sure,” Nagy said. “I think it’s going to be day by day. I don’t know if he knows that. So we’ll just keep an eye on that.” The former second-overall pick has seen only one snap since Week 3.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/17/20
Today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on IR: TE Nick Boyle, CB Terrell Bonds
- Signed from practice squad: S Geno Stone
Denver Broncos
- Released: CB Davontae Harris
Green Bay Packers
- Activated off IR: WR Allen Lazard
Houston Texans
- Activated off reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Jacob Martin
Indianapolis Colts
- Released: DT Sheldon Day
- Activated off PUP: DE Kemoko Turay
Las Vegas Raiders
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DE Clelin Ferrell, S Lamarcus Joyner
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed from practice squad: OL Brett Jones
New York Giants
- Signed: P Ryan Santoso
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted from practice squad: Michael Jacquet
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: SS Johnathan Cyprien, RB JaMycal Hasty
Tennessee Titans
- Released: P Ryan Allen
Washington Football Team
- Released off IR: OL Michael Liedtke
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DL Matt Ioannidis
Jets Place CB Brian Poole On IR
The Jets’ secondary sure is getting a makeover today. Shortly after releasing starting cornerback Pierre Desir, New York has placed fellow starting corner Brian Poole on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday.
Poole is dealing with shoulder and knee injuries although head coach Adam Gase indicated recently they weren’t overly serious. With this move, Poole will have to miss at least the next three games. Poole has been playing heavy snaps as a starter, leaving the Jets with a lot of production to replace. He entered the league as an UDFA with the Falcons in 2016, then signed a one-year, $3.5MM contract with the Jets in 2019.
He re-upped with another one-year pact worth $5MM this past offseason. In nine games so far he’s racked up 44 tackles, a sack, seven passes defended, and two interceptions. Rookie fifth-rounder Bryce Hall, just activated off the NFI list, was already going to play a bigger role with Desir gone and now he’s even more important. The Jets are going to have a very young group of corners when they take on Justin Herbert and the Chargers this week. Things could get ugly.
Rams Make Handful Of Roster Moves
The Rams made a handful of roster moves Tuesday afternoon. Los Angeles is signing kicker Matt Gay while placing offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, safety Taylor Rapp, and kicker Kai Forbath on IR, the team announced Tuesday.
Obviously with Forbath going on injured reserve, the team needed a new kicker. They started the year with seventh-round rookie Sam Sloman as their kicker, but replaced him with Forbath after he struggled to start the year. Gay was drafted by the Bucs in the fifth-round last year, and spent 2019 as their kicker. He was waived in September following a training camp battle with veteran Ryan Succop that he lost. He then signed with the Colts’ practice squad, which the Rams just poached him off.
Whitworth of course suffered a torn MCL and PCL during Sunday’s win over the Seahawks. The injury was thought to possibly be season-ending, but head coach Sean McVay indicated recently they were hoping to get him back and that it would sideline him only 6-8 weeks. If that’s the case, then the veteran stud left tackle may be able to return and block Jared Goff‘s blindside for a playoff run. 2018 third-round pick Joseph Noteboom will take his place for the time being.
Rapp is a 2019 second-rounder who was a starter as a rookie and had once again been playing a big role on defense this season. He has an MCL sprain which McVay said will likely sideline him between 3-4 weeks. Meanwhile Forbath has a sprained ankle. Gay will apparently compete with Austin MacGinnis, currently on the practice squad, for the kicking job.
Jets Release Pierre Desir
The 0-9 Jets are making a change on defense. New York is releasing veteran cornerback Pierre Desir, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets.
New York signed him to a one-year deal with a base value of around $4MM and max value of $5.5MM with incentives back in March, hoping he could be their top corner this year. Desir had been playing a near every down role, starting all but one game this season, so this is a pretty big shakeup for Gregg Williams’ defense. Obviously Desir is a vet who is set to be a free agent at the end of the year, so as his play has slipped there’s no reason for the tanking Jets not to get a look at some of their younger guys.
Desir will finish his Jets tenure with 47 tackles, eight passes defended, and three interceptions. The three picks are solid, but Desir often struggled in coverage and was pulled from games a couple of times. A fourth-round pick of the Browns back in 2014, Desir spent his first two years in Cleveland before getting cut. After brief stints with the Chargers and Seahawks, he found a home in Indianapolis.
He was with the Colts for three seasons, and was a full-time starter in 2018 and 2019. After a surprisingly strong 2018 campaign he was rewarded with a three-year, $22.5MM deal, but was cut after just one season of that. Since it’s this late in the year Desir will go on waivers, and it’ll be interesting to see if a contending team in need of secondary help decides to claim his expiring contract. Bryce Hall, a rookie sixth-round pick from Virginia who was recently activated off the NFI list, should be one of the aforementioned young guys who gets more run with the Jets moving forward.
Bengals Waive Takk McKinley
Takk McKinley‘s time with the Bengals is over before it really ever began. Cincinnati waived the defensive end after he failed his physical with the team, they announced on Tuesday.
Cincy had just claimed McKinley off waivers from the Falcons last week. He’ll now revert to waivers, where every team will again have the chance to claim him. In addition to the Bengals, the 49ers, Browns, and Raiders also submitted claims last time. The 49ers have the highest waiver priority among those teams so they’ll presumable be able to get him if they still want him, unless a previously uninterested team decides to pull the trigger.
Atlanta drafted McKinley in the first-round back in 2017, but he never lived up to that status. He had six and then seven sacks in his first two years in the league, but had only 3.5 last season. Through four games and limited playing time this season he only has one, although he’s had a very high pressure rate.
He was hoping to get traded, and accused the Falcons of turning down trade offers for him. After the trade deadline came and went he blasted the team on social media, leading to his release shortly thereafter. McKinley has plenty of talent, and at only 25 makes for a nice low-risk upside addition for teams in need of pass-rushing help. It’ll be interesting to see who jumps at the opportunity the second time around.
Giants, Washington Have COVID-19 Positives
We continue to see a steady uptick in COVID-19 cases around the league, although fortunately they have been mostly isolated incidents with no full-blown outbreaks. Tuesday morning we got word of two more teams with players testing positive, both in the NFC East. The Giants and the Washington Football Team are the latest to be hit with the virus.
The Giants’ player is kicker Graham Gano, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweets. Thankfully New York is on bye this week, so Gano should be able to kick by the next time the Giants play a game in Week 12 against Cincinnati assuming there are no complications, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. The Giants are finally starting to pick up a little steam, so hopefully this remains an isolated incident that has minimal implications because of the bye.
Washington also had a player test positive, and also thankfully it sounds like somewhat of a best-case scenario. The unidentified player hasn’t been in the facility in the past few days and didn’t travel with the team for their game in Detroit last week, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. That’s because the player is currently on injured reserve, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets.
Washington is going into the intensive protocol, but since he didn’t play in the game the Lions won’t have to and hopefully no other Washington players caught it. Interestingly, as Pelissero noted in a follow-up tweet, Washington was one of only three teams who hadn’t placed a player on the reserve/COVID-19 list during the regular season before now. The only two remaining are the Rams and Seahawks.
Latest On Drew Breees
The top story in the NFL right now remains the injury to Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and exactly how long he’ll be out. We’re still a bit in the dark, but we’ve got a couple new developments to pass along.
Brees is having his scans sent to other experts for a second opinion on his cracked ribs and collapsed lung, a source told Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Brees has five clear rib fractures but could have even more, Werder noted in a follow-up tweet. Werder writes it’ll be the second opinion that determines whether or not Brees goes on injured reserve and in turn misses a minimum of three games.
We originally heard that injured reserve wasn’t being immediately considered, but it now sounds like that’s very much on the table. The absolute best case scenario seems to be that Jameis Winston and/or Taysom Hill fill in for the next couple of games. Ideally Brees would get a few games to readjust before the playoffs start, but he may not have that luxury. In a final tweet Werder says a source told him no determination on the length of his absence will be made until after the second opinions come in, so everything is still in flux.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/17/20
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: LB Jake Carlock
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: TE Luke Wilson
Carolina Panthers
- Cut: TE Seth DeValve
Cincinnati Bengals
- Cut: OT O’Shea Dugas
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: DE Breeland Speaks
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: P Johnny Townsend
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DT Ryan Glasgow
- Cut: DE Will Clarke
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Nate Wieting
New York Jets
- Signed: TE Connor Davis
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: RB Adrian Killins
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: TE Charles Jones
- Released: LB Ray Wilborn
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on practice squad IR: DB Jared Mayden