Titans Place Malcolm Butler On IR
The Titans are losing a key piece of their secondary, as the team is placing cornerback Malcolm Butler on injured reserve today, they announced in a release. To replace him on the roster they’re re-signing cornerback Tye Smith, who was waived over the weekend.
Butler was an every down player for the Titans, so this is a big loss. He broke his wrist during Sunday’s loss to the Panthers, and will now miss the rest of the season unless Tennessee is making a playoff run and he’s able to come back in eight weeks. Butler, the hero of Super Bowl XLIX, signed a massive five-year $61MM contract with the Titans last offseason. His first year with Tennessee was a bit of a disappointment, but he had been better so far this season.
Through nine games, Butler had 32 tackles, nine passes defended, and a pair of interceptions. The Titans had been rejuvenated by the insertion of Ryan Tannehill under center, but their momentum has now been blunted by the loss to Carolina, and losing Butler certainly won’t help an inconsistent defense. Smith was drafted by the Seahawks in the fifth-round back in 2015, and has been with the Titans for the past three seasons.
Colts Workout CBs Kayvon Webster, E.J. Gaines
The Colts are apparently thinking about bringing in an experienced cornerback. Indianapolis worked out veteran corners E.J. Gaines and Kayvon Webster, according to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM (Twitter link).
Starting cornerback Pierre Desir has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, so perhaps that is why they’re looking for reinforcements. Wesbter entered the league as a third-round pick of the Broncos back in 2013, and he won Super Bowl 50 with the team. He signed with the Rams in 2017 and was a starter for them before tearing his Achilles late in the season. After recovering he signed with the Texans last year, but barely played due to more injuries.
Webster latched on with the Saints earlier this year but was released at final cuts, as all the injuries appear to have sapped some of the 28-year-old’s effectiveness. He’s received a little bit of interest, and just worked out for New Orleans again a couple of weeks ago. Gaines is another player who used to be highly thought of before injuries derailed his career. Gaines was traded from the Rams to the Bills in the Sammy Watkins trade, and ended up starting all 11 games that he appeared in for Buffalo in 2017.
After multiple concussions landed him on injured reserve during his time with the Browns last year, he re-signed with the Bills this past offseason. He was cut in camp after going down with a core muscle injury. He’s been making the workout rounds recently, and we just heard a couple of weeks ago that he was now fully healthy after meeting with the Texans.
Injury Updates: Brissett, Conner, Thielen
The Colts have been having a surprisingly strong season after Andrew Luck retired, but everyone in Indy was left holding their breath when Jacoby Brissett went down with a knee injury. After the game, head coach Frank Reich said it was a sprain that was “MCL-ish.” Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like Brissett tore anything. Quarterbacks can usually play through MCL sprains, so it doesn’t sound like Brissett will be on the shelf too long. Brian Hoyer filled in and had the Colts in position to win the game late, but Adam Vinatieri missed a 43-yard kick with a minute to go.
Here are more injury updates from around the league:
- Steelers rookie running back Benny Snell had surgery to trim his meniscus recently and will be sidelined for 2-3 weeks, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Snell was a fourth-round pick back in April. Speaking of Pittsburgh’s backfield, starter James Conner didn’t suit up against the Colts today, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets that he’s in danger of missing next week’s game against the Rams. For now, Jaylen Samuels will continue to gobble up most of the snaps.
- Standout rookie UDFA Preston Williams suffered a knee injury, casting a damper on the Dolphins’ first win of the season. Despite going undrafted Williams has become a key player for Miami, starting all of their games thus far. The injury is a “sprained knee and the hope is that it’s not more serious,” tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. We should know more about the severity soon. Williams had five catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Jets before going down.
- Vikings receiver Adam Thielen returned after a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury, and quickly re-aggravated it. He didn’t return to Minnesota’s loss to Kansas City, and while there’s no word yet on the severity, hamstring issues can linger. They’ll likely be more cautious about rushing their star receiver back this time.
Extra Points: Coaches, Bears, Bell, Tomlin
About halfway through the 2019 NFL season, one head coach has already been fired (Jay Gruden), and several more are on the hot seat. With that in mind people’s attentions are starting to turn to the next crop of head coaches, and it should be a pretty busy carousel this offseason. The league has begun their annual process of internally identifying top head coach and general manager candidates, and a committee will meet again in Week 11 to come up with a list, sources told Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. La Canfora notes that Stanford coach David Shaw has been “receiving ringing endorsements and has very strong support within the league,” although he has rebuffed NFL advances in the past.
La Canfora also highlights several current NFL assistant coaches who have already talked about heavily. Interestingly, he identifies some potential new general manager candidates who we haven’t heard as much about. La Canfora writes that there is “heavy support” for fired Giants GM Jerry Reese to receive another job. “Former Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland, former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie and former Lions GM Martin Mayhew are also generating support from the committee,” La Canfora writes. He also throws out ESPN analyst Louis Riddick as someone who is highly regarded, and we’ve heard those same rumblings before.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Miles Sanders has played a big role for the Eagles this season, and he racked up 73 yards in their win over the Bears on Sunday. Apparently, as the rookie revealed to the media earlier this week, he almost ended up in Chicago. “I thought I was going to end up there,” Sanders said of the Bears, who didn’t have a pick in April’s draft until the third round, via Zach Berman of The Athletic. “They knew I was probably going to be gone before the third round, but they were also talking about trading up to get me,” he said. The Penn State product was the second running back taken in the draft, and the Bears ended up nabbing David Montgomery in the third round. Sanders has been a part of a timeshare backfield with Jordan Howard so far.
- Jets running back Le’Veon Bell surprised everybody by saying the Steelers called about trading for him at the deadline, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed they did. Not so fast says Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin, who replied “not to my knowledge, no,” when asked if the Steelers tried to acquire Bell, per Mark Kaboly of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s possible the truth lies somewhere in between, and the most likely scenario is that the Steelers made an exploratory phone call but never got at all serious about it. Bell coming back to the city he started his career in would’ve at least made a dull trade deadline a lot more interesting.
- In case you missed it, the Seahawks apparently thought about adding Antonio Brown before claiming Josh Gordon off waivers.
Marrone Tightlipped On Jags’ QB Situation
The Jaguars suffered an ugly 26-3 loss to the Texans during the London game Sunday, but head coach Doug Marrone didn’t tip his hand when speaking to reporters after the game. It was widely believed that rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew could hang onto the starting job with a strong performance against Houston, but obviously that didn’t materialize.
Marrone certainly didn’t hint that he was going to go back to Nick Foles, which suggests he’s at least strongly considering sticking with Minshew even after the rough outing. Interestingly, Marrone said “it’s not one game, it’ll be a body of work” that he looks at when making the decision, according to Grant Gordon of NFL.com, which would seem to indicate Minshew’s poor game won’t necessarily be the nail in his coffin. Marrone also added that he’ll likely make the decision sometime right before the team gets back together from their bye week, around next Sunday.
Minshew brought an initial jolt of excitement to the franchise, but he has been inconsistent recently. The Jaguars gave Foles a rich contract this offseason, and he hasn’t even played a full game for them yet. The Jags are now 4-5 after the loss, although they’re still very much alive in a muddled AFC wild card race. Against the Texans, Minshew finished with 309 yards, but it took him 47 attempts and he also threw two interceptions.
It sounds like we won’t know for about another week if Minshew Mania is indeed coming to an end. Foles has the contract working in his favor, as well as his longstanding relationship with offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, who helped coax a Super Bowl run out of him two seasons ago. The decision could ultimately come down to input from leaders in the locker room, like defensive lineman Calais Campbell. Whoever Marrone decides to go with, they’ll probably be on a pretty short leash and at risk of getting yanked for the other at any time.
Extra Points: Eagles, Gordon, Mahomes
Running back Jordan Howard had somewhat of a breakout game last week during the Eagles’ win over the Bills, and now he’ll have a chance at revenge when he takes on the Bears on Sunday. Chicago, of course, shipped him off to Philly back in March. Howard got less and less productive toward the end of his time in Chicago, and he’s clearly enjoyed the change of scenery. Speaking to the media recently, the fourth-year back and impending free agent said he knows exactly where he wants to sign in the offseason. “I would love to be back,” Howard said, per Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports. “I’m loving Philly. So I would definitely love to be back. I’m loving my teammates and the city. I would definitely love to be back.” Howard turned 25 today (happy birthday Jordan), and has formed a solid one-two punch with rookie Miles Sanders. The Eagles’ running game has been a weakness the past couple of years, but it seems like things could finally be turning a corner.
Here’s more from around the league as we await kickoff:
- The Seahawks were awarded Josh Gordon off waivers earlier this week, and some were surprised he lasted that long. Seattle was the only team willing to take the plunge though, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network passed along in a tweet that the Seahawks were the only team to submit a claim. They were 28th in the order, so that isn’t too shocking. Gordon won’t play this weekend, but with Tyler Lockett and promising rookie D.K. Metcalf also in the fold, the Seahawks quietly have one of the league’s more talented receiving corps.
- While the Seahawks were the only team to try and claim Gordon off waivers, they would’ve faced significant competition had he hit the open market. Nine teams wanted to bring Gordon in for a workout and a physical, his agent told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Florio points out that teams might’ve thought they could get Gordon for cheaper than his $2MM salary if they waited until after he cleared waivers. The fact that so many teams wanted to see him workout before adding him also suggests there might be some lingering concern about his knee injury that cause him to go on injured reserve in the first place.
- For a while it’s been assumed that the Chiefs aren’t going to rush Patrick Mahomes back and play him on Sunday against the Vikings, but that’s apparently not set in stone. There is still a chance Mahomes will suit up, sources told Ed Werder of ESPN (Twitter link). It would still be pretty surprising, and for now it’s safe to assume Matt Moore will be under center for the second consecutive week. In other Kansas City news, Werder writes that stud defensive tackle Chris Jones is expected to be active, and that the team is “hopeful” on star pass-rusher Frank Clark. Obviously Mahomes is the biggest name, but those would be two huge get-backs for their defense for this suddenly pivotal game. The Chiefs have lost three of their last four and now sit at just 5-3.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/2/19
Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Promoted from practice squad: LB James Vaughters
- Waived: TE Bradley Sowell
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted from practice squad: S Shalom Luani
- Waived: CB Tevaughn Campbell
Lions Give LB Christian Jones Two-Year Extension
The Lions are locking up one of their own. Detroit is giving linebacker Christian Jones a two-year contract extension, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Jones’ contract will now run through the 2021 season. Financial terms were not immediately disclosed, but we’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear those. Jones originally entered the league as an undrafted free agent back in 2014, and spent his first four years with the Bears. He jumped to the NFC North rival Lions before last season, and ended up starting all 16 games in Matt Patricia’s first year as coach. So far this season he has started all seven games for Detroit, racking up 28 tackles, two sacks, and four passes defended.
Jones signed a two-year, $6.35MM deal last offseason, and will presumably be getting a raise now. The Florida State product has been a solid inside linebacker this year while also contributing on special teams. The Lions are 3-3-1 and struggling to stay afloat in a highly competitive NFC North. They have a pivotal game against the Raiders coming on Sunday.
Vikings Activate Holton Hill, Cut Cameron Smith
Holton Hill is finally back. The Vikings activated the young cornerback after he finished serving his suspensions and waived linebacker Cameron Smith in a corresponding roster move, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune (Twitter link).
Back in April, Hill was slapped with a four-game ban for a PED violation. A few months later he was suspended again, this time for a substance abuse violation, which earned him another four games. Hill made the team as an undrafted rookie last year and ended up playing a key role, appearing in all 16 games and starting three. A Texas product, Hill had been slated for a lot of playing time in 2019. Still only 22, Hill could provide a huge boost to a Vikings defense that quietly hasn’t been as good as in years past.
Goessling writes that Hill could make his season-debut Sunday against the Chiefs, but that doesn’t sound definite. Smith is a rookie who was released at final cuts and then signed to the practice squad before being promoted a couple weeks ago. A USC product, he was a fifth-round pick in April’s draft.
Latest On Redskins, Trent Williams
The NFL trade deadline is just a few hours away, and one of the biggest name players on the block is Redskins tackle Trent Williams. Williams hasn’t played or practiced this season as he continues to hold out due to his unhappiness with Washington’s management, and the ‘Skins just recently became open to trading him.
Washington got the trade ball rolling very late in the process, and it could end up ruining their chances of getting a deal done. The Redskins haven’t budged off their asking price of a first-round pick, according to John Keim of ESPN.com. Williams is 31 with a somewhat significant injury history, so it’s unclear if anyone will meet that asking price. Additionally, we have another report that suggests Washington’s front office isn’t taking a realistic approach here.
The Redskins “aren’t just asking for draft picks,” and are “big-game hunting” while asking for players like Browns cornerback Denzel Ward in a potential trade, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). As Rapsheet points out, that’s a “non-starter.” Cleveland just drafted Ward fourth overall last year, and he’s shown a ton of promise.
The Browns have been the team most heavily linked to Williams for a while now, as they continue to search for offensive tackle help. They’re still in the mix but the Browns have expressed concern about including a first-round pick due to a potential Williams injury, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN.com.