Seahawks C Jalen Sundell To Miss ‘Multiple Weeks,’ Could Go On IR

After serving as a backup during his rookie season in 2024, Seahawks center Jalen Sundell has emerged as their top option at the position this year. The former undrafted free agent from North Dakota State has started in every game for the 7-2 Seahawks. Sundell suffered a knee injury in a win over the Cardinals last week, though, and he’ll miss some time as a result.

Head coach Mike Macdonald announced (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times) that Sundell will sit out “multiple weeks.” While Macdonald said Sundell won’t require surgery (per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic), he acknowledged that an IR stint is a possibility. Sundell would miss at least four games in that case.

Although Pro Football Focus ranks Sundell’s performance an underwhelming 28th among 37 qualifying centers, he’s an important part of a successful line. The Seahawks have allowed the fewest sacks in the league (10). With top-tier protection, quarterback Sam Darnold has performed like an MVP candidate in his first season in Seattle.

Darnold will now have to work with a different center for a key Week 11 matchup with the NFC West rival Rams. That will likely be Olu Oluwatimi, who lost the starting competition to Sundell over the summer. Oluwatimi suffered a back injury during training camp, helping lead to a demotion after he started eight games last year. The 6-foot-6, 309-pounder stepped in at center after Connor Williams abrupt retirement in mid-November.

With Oluwatimi expected to fill in for Sundell, sixth-round rookie Bryce Cabeldue is in line to serve as the primary backup. However, Macdonald pointed out that guard Christian Haynes is capable of playing the position, per Condotta. Haynes has been on IR all season with a pectoral injury, but the Seahawks opened the 2024 third-rounder’s practice window on Oct. 29. Assuming the Seahawks activate him by next week, Haynes could function as depth while Sundell’s out.

Giants Name Tim Kelly Interim Offensive Coordinator; Mike Kafka Remains Play-Caller

After a promotion from offensive coordinator to interim head coach earlier this week, Mike Kafka will continue to call the plays for the Giants. Kafka named an interim offensive coordinator on Wednesday, though, announcing that tight ends coach Tim Kelly will take the reins (via Dan Duggan of The Athletic).

Kafka confirmed that he and Kelly will work with a new starting quarterback this week in Jameis Winston. With Jaxson Dart battling a concussion, Winston will face the Packers on Sunday.

Dart is “right on track and right on pace” in his recovery, Kafka said (via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post). The Giants haven’t ruled Dart out yet, but they’re understandably taking a cautious approach with the prized first-round rookie.

Kelly, who joined the Giants’ staff ahead of the 2024 campaign, is becoming an O-coordinator for the third time. The 39-year-old previously served in that role with the Texans from 2019-21 and the Titans in 2023.

Kelly was at the helm in Houston during quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s final two years of action with the club. Watson went to the Pro Bowl in both 2019 and 2020 under Kelly, who was in charge of offense that was a middle-of-the-pack unit in those seasons. The Texans were a playoff team in 2019, but they fired head coach Bill O’Brien after an 0-4 start the next year. Romeo Crennel finished the campaign as Houston’s interim HC.

After going 4-8 under Crennel, the Texans hired David Culley in 2021. He retained Kelly, but the OC no longer had Watson at his disposal. Watson spent the entire season inactive after sexual harassment allegations came to light. The Texans primarily turned to Davis Mills under center in Watson’s place. Houston’s offense was among the worst in the league that year, and the team moved on from Culley and his coaching staff after the season.

Kelly quickly landed on his feet on Mike Vrabels staff in Tennessee, working as the Titans’ passing game coordinator in 2022 before taking over the offense the next season. With a fading Ryan Tannehill and struggling rookie Will Levis as their QBs, the Titans finished a woeful 27th in points and 28th in yardage during a 6-11 showing in 2023. They didn’t retain Vrabel or his staff beyond then.

The Giants will look outside for a full-time replacement for Brian Daboll, whom they fired Monday, though Kafka will receive consideration for the job. He and Kelly will try to make their cases for promotions over the next several weeks.

Steelers Activate QB Will Howard From IR

After winning the national championship in his lone season at Ohio State in 2024, quarterback Will Howard entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Steelers last spring. Howard broke his hand early in training camp, though, forcing him to begin his career on injured reserve. After opening Howard’s 21-day practice window on Oct. 22, the Steelers activated the 24-year-old to their 53-man roster on Wednesday.

Taken 185th in the draft, Howard was always regarded as a developmental project for the Steelers. Even if he didn’t succumb to an injury over the summer, Howard was unlikely to see meaningful playing time this season.

Howard joined a team that brought in future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers as its new starter and the experienced Mason Rudolph as its primary backup during the offseason. Rodgers has stayed healthy during the Steelers’ 5-4 start, leaving just six snaps for Rudolph thus far.

The Steelers reportedly hope to retain Rodgers, who will turn 42 in December, next season. Rudolph is already under contract for 2026 after signing a two-year, $8MM deal. The Steelers will have plenty of time to figure out their QB setup for next year. In the meantime, they’ll get Howard back as an emergency third option.

As PFR’s IR tracker shows, Howard’s activation leaves the Steelers with five for the rest of the season. To make room for Howard, the Steelers waived running back Trey Sermon from their active roster. The former 49er, Eagle, and Colt signed a one-year pact with the Steelers last May. Sermon has appeared in four games this season, his fifth in the league, but 47 of his 48 snaps have come on special teams.

Commanders Designate S Will Harris For Return; Latest On Terry McLaurin

The Commanders have gone without safety Will Harris for most of 2025, an injury-ravaged season for the team. Harris is closing in on a return, though, as the Commanders opened his practice window on Wednesday. They’ll have 21 days to activate him from IR.

A former Lion and Saint, Harris signed a two-year, $8MM deal with the Commanders as a free agent last March. He started in Washington’s first three games and made 11 tackles before suffering a broken fibula in a Week 3 win over the Raiders. The Commanders were 2-1 at the time, but they’ve since fallen to 3-7 and drifted out of the NFC playoff race.

After Harris went down, the Commanders quickly added the experienced Darnell Savage to their secondary. Savage entered Washington with 82 career starts, and that number hasn’t changed. He has worked as a backup and played just under 22% of defensive snaps in seven games with the Commanders.

With Savage in a reserve role, Jeremy Reaves has gotten the lion’s share of playing time at safety alongside Quan Martin. Reaves is better known as a special teams contributor, but he has made six starts in 10 games and totaled 56 tackles and three passes defensed. Pro Football Focus ranks his performance a decent 41st among 91 qualifying safeties.

While it appears the Commanders’ defense will welcome Harris back in the coming weeks, wide receiver Terry McLaurin could rejoin their offense soon. McLaurin, who’s dealing with a quad injury, will not play when the Commanders face the Dolphins in Madrid on Sunday. However, head coach Dan Quinn said McLaurin will begin on-field rehab work this week (via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk).

Washington has a bye in Week 12, but McLaurin may be ready after that. After posting his fourth straight 17-game, 1,000-yard season and scoring a career-high 13 touchdowns in 2024, the two-time Pro Bowler has played in just four contests this year. That partially explains Washington’s precipitous drop in the standings after a 12-5 finish and a conference title game berth last season.

Eagles Place CB Jaire Alexander On Reserve/Retired List

Eagles cornerback Jaire Alexander stepped away from football on Tuesday to focus on his physical and mental health. It turns out that Alexander’s career may be over. The Eagles placed him on the reserve/retired list on Wednesday and activated cornerback Jakorian Bennett from IR in a corresponding move.

Now 28 years old, Alexander entered the NFL as a Packers first-rounder (No. 18 overall) in 2018. The former Louisville Cardinal quickly emerged as one of the league’s best corners. He earned two second-team All-Pro nods and a pair of Pro Bowl invitations during his first five seasons in the league. Alexander totaled 10 interceptions during that 62-game span.

The Packers signed Alexander to a four-year, $84MM extension before the 2022 season, which will go down as his most productive campaign. Alexander picked off a career-best five passes during a 16-start season, but he was unable to stay healthy after that.

After groin, back, shoulder, and knee injuries limited Alexander to 14 of a possible 34 regular-season games from 2023-24, the Packers released him last June. He quickly caught on with the Ravens on a one-year, $6MM deal, but the union didn’t work out for either side. Alexander dealt with a knee injury and appeared in just two games with Baltimore, which traded him and a 2027 seventh-round pick to Philadelphia for a 2026 sixth-rounder on Nov. 1.

Although Alexander expressed optimism about his health after the trade, he wasn’t active for the Eagles’ win over the Packers in Week 10. It now appears his career has come to an end.

While the Eagles are losing Alexander, Bennett is returning to bolster their corner depth. Acquired from the Raiders in August, Bennett played in three games and picked up 44 snaps (24 on defense, 20 on special teams) before the Eagles placed him on IR with a pectoral injury on Sept. 24.

Bennett will give the Eagles another option on the outside behind starters Quinyon Mitchell and Adoree’ Jackson. Slot standout Cooper DeJean, Michael Carter II, Kelee Ringo, and Mac McWilliams comprise the rest of the Eagles’ corners.

Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter Undergoes Season-Ending Knee Surgery

Travis Hunter remains on the Jaguars’ injured reserve at this time, and he will not return in 2025. The two-way rookie recently underwent season-ending knee surgery, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Rapoport specifies this was an LCL repair. No other ligaments were damaged in Hunter’s recent injury, he adds. As a result, a six-month timeline is in place for Hunter to receive full medical clearance. The Jaguars have since confirmed the expectation for Hunter to be ready for full football participation again in six months. In the meantime, Jacksonville will move forward without a key contributor on both sides of the ball.

Considering Hunter’s injury sequence — on a noncontact play at practice — and his importance to this Jaguars regime’s mission, this shutdown is not too surprising. The 2024 Heisman winner is under contract through 2028, and barring the two-way player entering full-on bust territory, the deal will run through 2029 once his fifth-year option is exercised. Jacksonville will take a big-picture approach at this stage of the former college phenom’s pro career.

The Jakobi Meyers trade hinted at this IR stay lasting longer than the four-game minimum, and the Jags also played without Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 10. Thomas is not on IR, and the team has seen promising work from Parker Washington. Though, this season has not brought the Trevor Lawrence turnaround the organization hoped. The former No. 1 overall pick has remained inconsistent, and the Jags’ loss Sunday hurt their chances of booking a wild-card berth. The team remains in playoff contention, but Lawrence will need to play better for the club to realize those aspirations.

With a lengthy rehab process ending Hunter’s rookie season, his NFL debut will go down as a disappointment. The Colorado product finishes the year with 28 receptions for 298 yards. He finishes Year 1 with a 67% snap share on offense and a 34% participation rate on defense.

The Jags steadily used Hunter more on defense, where many thought he should end up as a pro. Jacksonville, however, was among the franchises that viewed Hunter as a better receiver. GM James Gladstone declared that would be the 6-foot-1 prospect’s primary position, and coming out of the team’s bye week, buzz about Hunter seeing a bigger offensive role emerged. This injury nixed those plans.

A six-month recovery timetable would move Hunter on track for a minicamp cameo, though it would not surprise to see the Jags exercise caution and give him an onramp toward a training camp reemergence. It will be interesting to see if the team’s usage plans for Hunter change in 2026, given his struggles to make an impact this season. The team did not begin using Hunter on both sides of the ball in the same workouts until training camp last year, and his in-game cornerback participation spiked in Week 2.

Hunter’s best stat line came in a London loss to the Rams before the Jags’ bye, as he caught eight passes (on 14 targets) for 101 yards and his first career touchdown. But the Rams had set a blowout game script in place by the time the Lawrence-to-Hunter connection got going. Considerable work is ahead for that duo, but the Jags certainly remain high on a player that cost them their 2026 first-round pick to acquire. The duo’s next chance to work together on the field will come during OTAs — at the earliest.

Adam La Rose contributed to this post.

Eagles CB Jaire Alexander To Step Away From Football

Eagles cornerback Jaire Alexander is stepping away from football to focus on his physical and mental health, per FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer.

The eight-year veteran is evaluating his future and even considering retirement, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.

Alexander, 28, has been dealing with a knee injury since the start of the season. He joined the Ravens this offseason after a string of injuries limited him to just 34 games in his last four years with the Packers. His most recent was a PCL injury that required season-ending knee surgery, but it is unknown if that is related to his current issue.

Alexander only appeared in two games for the Ravens. A disastrous showing in Week 1 made it clear that he was not where he wanted to be physically, and he only played in Week 5 due to a slew of injuries to other cornerbacks. The Eagles, seeing that he was not in the Ravens’ plans, came calling with a Day 3 pick swap in a buy-low move that does not seem like it will pay off. Alexander did not travel with the Eagles in Week 11; his reason for being absent was listed as a knee injury and a coach’s decision.

Now, it appears that Alexander is a question mark, not just for the next few weeks, but for the rest of the season and beyond. When healthy, he has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. But he has not enjoyed an extended period of good health since 2022, and it’s fair to wonder if he will ever regain his Pro Bowl form.

Glazer’s mention of mental health suggests that Alexander is dealing with more than just his knee. He was expected to need some time to get up to speed physically and schematically in Philadelphia, making today’s news somewhat of a surprise based on his comments immediately after the trade, according to The Athletic’s Zach Berman.

Alexander is currently occupying a spot on the Eagles’ 53-man roster, but the team may consider placing him on the non-football illness list to free up a spot while he is away from the team.

Brian Daboll Fallout: Giants, Kafka, Schoen

The Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll on Monday after his team blew a double-digit fourth-quarter lead in Sunday’s loss to the Bears.

The move has major ramifications for the short- and long-term future of the franchise. The biggest immediate impact is the installment of offensive coordinator Mike Kafka as the interim head coach. He will retain play-calling duties, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, who noted that the Giants offense has been notably better with Kafka calling plays than with Daboll.

Kafka will likely be evaluated as a candidate for the permanent head coaching gig over the rest of the season. Rookie Jaxson Dart has looked like a potential franchise quarterback thus far, so Kafka’s ability to develop the first-round pick will be a crucial part of his audition.

Daboll was rumored to be on the hot seat for a while, so the Giants’ decision was not a complete surprise. Players were aware of the team’s frustration and knew it was possible, if not likely, that Daboll would be removed as a result of his squad’s latest collapse.

The close ties between Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen – who spent three years together in Buffalo before joining the Giants in the same offseason – have already stirred speculation that Schoen could also be on the way out. The Giants are retaining him for now, indicating that he and Daboll are not necessarily a package deal.

A separate decision on Schoen will likely come at the end of the season, according to The Athletic’s Ian O’Connor, partially because he will play a major role in organizing the search process for the Giants’ next head coach. He was heavily involved in the hiring process that brought Daboll to New York in 2022, along with the team’s principal owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, as well as senior personnel consultant (and John Mara’s brother), Chris Mara. John Mara is currently undergoing treatment for cancer; while he stated an intention to continue in his duties, moving on from Schoen would have doubled the team’s search for new leadership while eliminating a key part of that effort.

Schoen may also stick around because the Giants have already invested in his vision for their internal operations. He restructured their approach to the draft and incorporated data analytics into scouting, roster management, and week-to-week game-planning. Ownership was encouraged by this progress, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, so they may not want to move on from Schoen after already implementing many of his ideas.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/11/25

Tuesday’s minor moves from around the NFL…

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

The NFL issued Williams a six-game ban without pay for violating its policy on performance-enhancing substances, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Williams will be eligible for reinstatement after Week 16. The undrafted rookie from LSU has picked up four carries for 11 yards in three games this year. 

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/11/25

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves from around the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers 

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Released: LS Peter Bowden

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

The Panthers waived White from their practice squad on Nov. 8, but the team quickly brought the veteran signal-caller back. White will continue to provide experienced depth behind Bryce Young and Andy Dalton. He served as the Panthers’ emergency third QB in their Week 9 win over the Packers.