HEADLINES

Month: September 2021

Raiders Sign OL Jordan Simmons

September 15th, 2021 at 2:44pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders will sign offensive lineman Jordan Simmons off of the Seahawks’ practice squad (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The deal should become official later today, once Simmons clears his physical.

Simmons started his career with the Raiders in 2017 as a UDFA. The USC product spent the entire year on the practice squad before being waived the following August. The Seahawks picked him up in 2018 and deployed him in six games (three starts). He missed all of ’19 due to injury, but bounced back last year for 14 games, including six starts.

Simmons will help fill in for guard Denzelle Good, who will spend the remainder of the year on IR. He’ll join John Simpson as a supporting guard, though one of the two could start if Richie Incognito‘s calf doesn’t help up in time for Week 2. Simpson might have the edge in that case, since he got the call in Week 1.

“He’s gotten a lot of experience and reps because of Richie’s injury,” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said before Monday’s contest (via ESPN.com). “So, we feel comfortable there. And again, we talked about the depth that we have in the inside and he provided us with great depth and now he provides us with a starter.”

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/15/21

September 15th, 2021 at 12:51pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s taxi squad moves here:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Las Vegas Raiders

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Bengals Place Ricardo Allen On IR

September 15th, 2021 at 12:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Bengals safety Ricardo Allen will be out for at least three weeks with a hamstring strain and a broken hand (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). As a result, they’ll place Allen on short-term IR and sign veteran safety Sean Davis to the practice squad as insurance. 

Allen joined the Bengals in March to fortify the safety group. Before that, he operated as a first-string safety for the Falcons from 2015-2020, including a start in Super Bowl LI. Despite losing his 2018 season to injury, the 29-year-old was mostly healthy over the last two years, up until now.

In his 12 games last season, the 29-year-old registered 25 stops and a pair of interceptions. Counting the ill-fated season opener against the Vikings, he’s appeared in 78 games (76 starts) since 2014. And, in those 21 snaps on Sunday, Pro Football Focus assigned him a solid overall grade of 85.4.

The Bengals could promote Davis, Brandon Wilson, or Trayvon Henderson as they await Allen’s return from IR. They’ll likely make the call today as they gear up for the Bears in Week 2.

Cardinals’ Chandler Jones Confirms Trade Request

September 15th, 2021 at 12:37pm CST by Zachary Links

Chandler Jones acknowledged his offseason trade request while chatting with reporters on Wednesday (Twitter link via Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic). However, the Cardinals defensive end says that he’s keeping his mind off of any contract issues and letting his agent handle matters. 

Jones asked Arizona to deal him sometime in July. As it stands, the 31-year-old has one year and $15.5MM to go on his contract. He wants a new deal now — not in the spring — to cover the remainder of his prime and perhaps some post-prime seasons.

A short-term deal in the $20MM AAV neighborhood could make sense for both sides. At the same time, he doesn’t have a ton of leverage after losing much of 2020 to a biceps injury. In his five games, he registered eleven tackles, one sack, and seven QB hits. On the whole, he didn’t look like his usual self, even while healthy.

The Cardinals’ previous refusal to trade Jones signals a desire to stay the course with the three-time Pro Bowler. But, if talks do not progress in the coming weeks, he could be a potential trade candidate before the deadline.

Jones, winding down his five-year, $82.5MM deal, averaged 15 sacks per season across his first four years (2016-2019) in Arizona.

Jaguars’ Urban Meyer Denies USC Interest

September 15th, 2021 at 11:16am CST by Zachary Links

After the firing of Clay Helton, USC is on the lookout for a new head coach. It won’t be Urban Meyer, according the recently-minted Jaguars head coach.

“There’s no chance. I’m here and committed to trying to build an organization,” Meyer said (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).

Meyer made the long-anticipated jump to the pros in January, inking a lucrative long-term deal with the Jaguars. The news was met with mixed reactions and a few raised eyebrows, chiefly from those who wondered if he’d go back to college like other well-known NCAA coaches before him.

“Zero chance at that happening,” Meyer said in March. “What coach [Nick] Saban went through, I don’t know. That’s Coach Saban’s business. I’m not quite sure. At some point, I might talk to him about it…he’s a friend of mine and I got great respect for him.

“It is different. It’s completely different. My mind is set. There’s gonna be some losses. That’s gonna be miserable. I hate losing. We all do. But the reality is that you’re gonna lose. Hopefully you win more than you lose. But that’s something that’s gonna be new to me. I have to get my mind right and I’m working on that.”

The Jaguars did in fact start their season with a loss, falling 37-21 to the Texans. Meyer & Co. will look to get to .500 on Sunday when they take on the Broncos in Jacksonville.

Raiders’ Gerald McCoy Done For Year

September 15th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Zachary Links

Raiders defensive tackle Gerald McCoy suffered a season-ending injury on Monday night (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). This was the expected news after the veteran was carted off the field on Monday night.

The Raiders haven’t formally announced McCoy’s injury, but they did say it was a knee injury during the Monday Night Football telecast. It’s yet another season cut short for the former multiple-time Pro Bowler. Last year, a torn quad prevented him from taking the field for the Cowboys.

Before all of that that, McCoy earned six Pro Bowl nods with the Buccaneers and performed as one of the NFL’s best defensive lineman in the 2010s. He spent 2019 with the Panthers, appeared in all 16 games, and registered five sacks, giving him 59.5 for his career.

McCoy was set to serve as a rotational defensive tackle behind Johnathan Hankins. To keep the run defense in tact, the team will call on Solomon Thomas, Darius Philon, and new addition Damion Square.

Titans Promote K Randy Bullock

September 14th, 2021 at 10:28pm CST by Ben Levine

After bailing on kicker Michael Badgley yesterday, the Titans are turning to their expected contingency plan. The team has promoted kicker Randy Bullock from the practice squad.

Badgley got the first shot to replace Sam Ficken, but he struggled during Tennessee’s loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. The 26-year-old finished the game missing his lone field goal attempt and converting only one of his two extra point tries. As a result, the team decided to waive the former Chargers kicker.

So, in comes Bullock, who recently joined the organization’s practice squad. The veteran kicker spent the past four seasons with the Bengals, where he converted 84.9-percent of his field goal attempts and 95.4-percent of his extra point attempts. The 31-year-old has also had stops with the Texans, Jets, Giants, and Steelers. Bullock signed a one-year deal with the Lions this offseason, but he was cut by the team at the end of the preseason.

The team made another move on Tuesday, placing safety Amani Hooker on injured reserve. The defensive back suffered a foot injury during Sunday’s loss. The 23-year-old got into all 16 games for the Titans last season, collecting 51 tackles and four interceptions. He started Sunday’s game against Arizona, compiling five tackles and a surprise six-yard reception (on a fake punt).

Dolphins Place DL Raekwon Davis On IR

September 14th, 2021 at 7:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Raekwon Davis‘ knee injury will keep him off the field until at least October. The Dolphins placed the defensive tackle on injured reserve today, reports NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe (via Twitter).

Fortunately, the injury won’t knock Davis out for the season. The defensive lineman will be required to sit on IR for three weeks before he’s eligible to return.

The Alabama product was a second-round pick by the Dolphins in 2020, and the defensive lineman earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors following a standout rookie campaign. Davis ultimately saw time in 16 games last season (12 starts), collecting 40 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one QB hit. He started Sunday’s win over the Patriots, but he only saw time in five snaps before suffering his injury.

With Davis sidelined, the Dolphins could turn to John Jenkins to pick up the slack. The 32-year-old signed with the Dolphins this past offseason.

NFLPA Recommends Reinstatement For WR Josh Gordon

September 14th, 2021 at 7:09pm CST by Ben Levine

Josh Gordon‘s quest to return to the NFL took a positive turn today. The NFLPA determined that the embattled wideout “successfully completed his NFL-monitored treatment program,” tweets ESPN’s Adam Schefter. As a result, the NFLPA has recommended to the NFL that Gordon be reinstated.

We heard back in July that Gordon had officially submitted his reinstatement letter to the league office and commissioner Roger Goodell, and the receiver was hoping to be in training camp with a new squad. Gordon still needs Goodell to sign off on that reinstatement letter, but that’d be one of the final steps to Gordon returning to the league. Per Schefter, the receiver is “ready to play and vaccinated,” so all he’d need after reinstatement is a contract offer.

Gordon was a first-team All-Pro in 2013 when he led the league in receiving yards with 1,646 in only 14 games, but things quickly unraveled after that. He’s been suspended numerous times, and last played in 2019 when he appeared in six games with New England and five with Seattle. Gordon’s most recent reinstatement was rescinded in February, making him once again suspended indefinitely. He was then released by the Seahawks in early March.

The NFL was reportedly giving the 30-year-old random drug tests for the past three months, and Gordon was “said to have passed all tests.” The NFLPA has corroborated that report, and now the league’s commissioner controls the fate of Gordon’s NFL future.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/14/21

September 14th, 2021 at 6:26pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

  • Released: OL Mike Hortond

Dallas Cowboysmia

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

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