Buccaneers Place Vita Vea and Jack Cichy On IR
On Tuesday, the Buccaneers officially placed defensive tackle Vita Vea on injured reserve. The former first-round pick will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken leg against the Bears. 
[RELATED: Bucs Contacted Snacks After Vea Injury]
Vea started in all 16 of the Bucs’ games last year and all five of this year’s contests. Thanks in part to Vea, the Bucs have boasted one of the league’s best run defenses. Playing at the nose tackle spot, he managed two sacks this season to bring his career total to 7.5. One of those sacks came on Thursday night, prior to the season-ending injury.
The injury is unfortunate for obvious reasons, but also for contractual reasons. Vea will be extension-eligible after the 2020 season — he’ll also be light on leverage. The Bucs will probably let things play out, since they have Vea under contract in 2021 at a cap figure of $4.7MM. Meanwhile, Will Gholston and Rakeem Nunez-Roaches will likely take on larger roles up front.
Vea will be joined on IR by linebacker Jack Cichy, who suffered a hamstring injury. Fortunately, that injury doesn’t look like a season-ender and he’ll be eligible to return in as little as three weeks.
No New COVID-19 Positives For Titans
Tonight’s Titans-Bills game will go on as (re-)scheduled. Monday’s round of COVID-19 testing yielded no new positives, clearing the way for their Tuesday Night Football matchup. Ditto for the Chiefs and Patriots (Twitter links via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero).
Over the weekend, one Titans staffer tested positive for the coronavirus, though that person had not been at the team facility for roughly two weeks. Since the staffer has not been in contact with other players, coaches, or executives, the Titans still had the green light to play, pending Monday’s test results. The Titans also got some more good news on Tuesday morning – wide receiver A.J. Brown is good to go after healing up from his bone bruise, per Paul Kuharsky (on Twitter).
The Patriots were asked to nix in-person activities after their flare-up, but they should be able to get back to the practice field on Wednesday. There’s no official word yet, but there’s hope that the Patriots will be able to face the Broncos on Sunday. The two teams were originally scheduled to play last Sunday, then slated for Monday night, before being bumped to Week 6.
Jaguars Sign Jabaal Sheard
The Jaguars have added Jabaal Sheard to their practice squad, per a club announcement. Sheard will be at the ready for a Jaguars’ edge unit lacking in experience and lagging in production as of late. 
[RELATED: Jaguars Release K Stephen Hauschka, Promote K Jon Brown]
Sheard has 103 starts and 51.5 sacks for his career, including a recent three-year stint with the Colts. The Colts let him walk this offseason, and he didn’t generate a ton of buzz once he hit the open market. He wasn’t a world-beater in 2019, but he did grade as one of the better run defenders among edge players, per Pro Football Focus, during his first two seasons with Indy.
Despite having recent first-round picks Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson in the lineup, the Jags have just five sacks through five games. On Sunday, the front seven managed to put some pressure on Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the team’s offensive shortcomings. Now 1-4, the Jaguars will look to stop their four-game slide against the Lions on Sunday.
Dolphins’ Davon Godchaux Done For Year?
Dolphins defensive tackle Davon Godchaux suffered a biceps injury that could end his season, sources tell Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The former fifth-round pick will go for a second opinion, but it sounds like he’ll be out for an extended stretch, at the minimum. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Place LT Austin Jackson On IR]
Godchaux underwent surgery to repair the injury. The Dolphins placed the starting defender on IR, but Godchaux has not thrown in the towel on returning this season, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweets.
Godchaux has been a full-time starter in Miami the last few years and he was gunning for a pay bump in his contract year. The run-stuffing nose tackle — making $2.1MM in 2020 — had 16 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and two QB hits through five games this season.
Last year, Godchaux made more stops within two yards of the line than any other defensive tackle in the NFL. He also turned in a career high of 75 tackles and a new watermark of seven pressures, plus three sacks from the interior. The Dolphins were high on him coming into this year, as shown by their lack of serious interest in top defensive tackles like D.J. Reader.
The Dolphins advanced to 2-3 after their 43-17 drumming of the 49ers. On Sunday, they’re set to face the Broncos in Denver as they try to close the gap with the division-leading Bills.
Texans LB Benardrick McKinney Done For Season
Benardrick McKinney‘s season has come to an end. Mark Berman of Fox 26 reports (via Twitter) that the Texans linebacker has to undergo shoulder surgery and is done for the year. The team is expected to place McKinney on injured reserve.
It’s uncertain when McKinney initially suffered the injury, but the ailment sidelined him for this past weekend’s win over the Jaguars. Through the first four games of the season, the 27-year-old had compiled 37 tackles and one pass defended. He had also played at least 80-percent of his team’s defensive snaps through those four contests.
The 2015 second-round pick has spent his entire career in Houston, including a 2016 campaign where he earned a second-team All-Pro nod after compiling 129 tackles and five sacks. After inking a five-year, $50MM extension with Houston in 2018, he garnered his first and only Pro Bowl appearance.
It’s never easy losing a player of McKinney’s caliber, but the team does have some solid depth at linebacker. Tyrell Adams earned the start in McKinney’s stead this past weekend, and he responded by compiling a career-high 13 tackles.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/12/20
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Nate Hairston
Carolina Panthers
- RB Rodney Smith
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: TE Dominique Dafney
Houston Texans
- Signed: LB Emmanuel Ellerbee, K Brett Maher
- Released WR Dwayne Harris, QB Alex McGough
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DE Jabaal Sheard
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DE Eddie Yarbrough
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Travis Jonsen, TE Codey McElroy, RB Aca’Cedric Ware
- Released: C Zach Shackelford
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LS Matt Overton
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/12/20
Here are today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted from practice squad: C Trystan Colon-Castillo
- Placed on IR: LB Otaro Alaka
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted from practice squad: LB Deon Lacey
- Placed on IR: LB Del’Shawn Phillips
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DT Caraun Reid
- Placed on IR: S Andrew Wingard
- Released: DT Carl Davis
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DE Jordan Brailford
New England Patriots
- Moved to COVID-19 list: DT Byron Cowart
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: CB Ken Crawley
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Austin Carr, TE Garrett Griffin
- Released: DL Margus Hunt
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: CB Ross Cockrell, LB Chapelle Russell
- Placed on IR: LB Jack Cichy
- Waived: CB Parnell Motley
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from COVID-19 list: LS Beau Brinkley, NT DaQuan Jones
Falcons Fire ST Coordinator Ben Kotwica
It’s been a busy day for the Falcons, and the changes keep coming. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that Atlanta has fired special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica. Running backs coach Bernie Parmalee will take over the position.
[RELATED: Falcons Fire Dan Quinn, Thomas Dimitroff]
ESPN Vaughn McClure notes that Kotwica had been on the hot seat since the team’s Week 2 loss to Dallas. Late in that game, the Falcons’ special teams unit fell victim to the “watermelon” onside kick late. The Cowboys recovered the ball and proceeded to win on a game-winning field goal.
Kotwica, 45, joined the Falcons in 2019. He had spent the previous five seasons as the Redskins special teams coordinator, and he also held that role with the Jets in 2013. Parmalee, who spent nine years in the league as a player, has served as the Falcons running backs coach since 2018. McClure tweets that game management coordinator Will Harriger will be the new running backs coach.
Earlier today, we learned that the Falcons had replaced Dan Quinn with defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. McClure tweets that Jeff Ulbrich will now take over as defensive coordinator. The former third-round pick had served as the Falcons linebackers coach since 2015, and he had earned a promotion to assistant head coach earlier this year.
Texans Sign Kyle Emanuel Off Raiders’ Practice Squad
Kyle Emanuel‘s NFL comeback is taking another step in the right direction. The Texans have signed the veteran linebacker off the Raiders’ practice squad, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
A fifth-round pick of the Chargers back in 2015, Emanuel quickly became a starter. From 2016-18 he started 29 games, but at the conclusion of his rookie contract he surprisingly opted to retire despite reportedly having multiple contract offers on the table. After sitting out the 2019 season, he announced his intention to return to the league back in March.
Obviously COVID-19 threw a bit of a wrench into his plans, and he ended up having to wait until late August to sign with Las Vegas. He was elevated to the active roster for Week 3 but has mostly been on Jon Gruden’s practice squad until now. 29 now, Emanuel will hope to revamp his career with a struggling Houston defense.
Sammy Watkins To Miss Time
The Chiefs are coming off a disappointing defeat at the hands of the Raiders where they lost as double-digit favorites, and now the offense is taking a blow. Receiver Sammy Watkins is expected to miss time with a hamstring injury, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The source told Schefter that the injury will sideline him “possibly a couple weeks.” Watkins has been having a solid but not spectacular season as a secondary option in Kansas City’s offense, with 21 catches for 222 yards and two touchdowns through their five games. He’s in the middle of his third season with the Chiefs after coming over from the Rams.
Watkins is seemingly always dealing with a health issue of some sort, and he hasn’t played a full 16-game season since his rookie campaign with Buffalo back in 2014. A player whose production has never quite lived up to his talent, there was a lot of talk this offseason about Watkins taking a paycut. He briefly flirted with taking a year off from the game, but ultimately agreed to reduce his salary from $14MM to $9MM (with another $7MM available in incentives) to stay with the team.
After an enormous Week 1 last year he quieted down before breaking out again in the playoffs. He had seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in the AFC Championship Game, and five catches for 98 yards in ther Super Bowl win over the 49ers. 2019 second-round pick Mecole Hardman will become the number two receiver and play a bigger role in Watkins’ absence.