East Notes: Cowboys, Prescott, Jets, Gase
Dak Prescott is obviously out for the season with his brutal ankle injury, and speculation immediately turned to his future with the Cowboys due to the fact that he’s set to be a free agent at the end of the year. Prescott and the front office have been in a stalemate over his contract for a while, and the injury only further complicates things. Despite the lack of commitment, team VP Stephen Jones emphatically shot down any talk of parting ways during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Monday, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
“Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. He’s our future. He’s special. If anyone can overcome anything, it would be Dak,” Jerry’s son said when asked if anything had changed in regard to Prescott being their quarterback of the future. Of course there’s not much else Jones could say the day after such a serious injury, but the strength of the assertion is still notable. The Cowboys certainly don’t seem like they have any intention of letting Prescott leave town, although of course a lot could change between now and next season. Meanwhile Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets that a source told him last night that Prescott’s surgery went “very well,” and was performed by the highly regarded foot and ankle doctor Gene Curry, who was brought in by the team’s orthopedist.
Here’s more from the league’s eastern divisions:
- While things may seem pretty bleak for the Cowboys right now with their mounting injuries, we do have a dash of good news to pass along. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who broke his collarbone in the team’s opening loss to the Rams, appears to be nearing a return, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Vander Esch has apparently been ramping up his activity, and returned to padded practice late last week. The initial timeframe on his injury was 6-8 weeks, and Hill writes that head coach Mike McCarthy says he’s ahead of schedule. It sounds like Vander Esch has a chance to return for Dallas’ upcoming Monday Night Football game against the Cardinals, and their struggling defense could certainly use him.
- The Jets are now 0-5 on the year, and after watching two of his fellow winless head coaches get canned, it looks like Adam Gase is considering major changes. At his presser Monday Gase said he has “toyed” with the idea of giving up play-calling responsibilities on offense, and that “everything is on the table at this point,” via Connor Hughes of The Athletic (Twitter link). Running backs coach Jim Bob Cooter, who was the Lions’ offensive coordinator recently, and OC Dowell Loggains would be the natural candidates to hand off to. Gase has always called the plays during his head coaching career, so this would be a huge change for him.
- Jets pass-catchers have been dropping like flies this season, and another one is about to hit the shelf. Gase revealed during the same presser that Chris Hogan suffered a high ankle sprain on Sunday and will be out for a while, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. The former Patriots deep threat is in his first season with New York and has been playing an increased role due to all the injuries. He’s had at least three catches in each of the past two weeks and had six for 75 yards back in Week 2. Fortunately for the Jets, they should be getting fellow receiver Breshad Perriman back soon from his own ankle injury.
Falcons Fire Dan Quinn, Thomas Dimitroff
The writing was on the wall, but it’s official now. The Falcons have fired both their head coach Dan Quinn as well as general manager Thomas Dimitroff, the team announced Sunday night.
It was clear to just about everyone that Quinn was going to be fired any week now, but the firing of Dimitroff was less widely speculated on. With the house cleaning, team president and CEO Rich McKay will takeover running the football operations for now, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeted. Quinn is now the second head coach to be shown the door after Bill O’Brien was let go by the Texans earlier this week.
It’s been a remarkable fall from grace for a head coach who was moments away from winning a Super Bowl less than four years ago. It’s been all downhill since then, and that NFC championship team fell apart rapidly. They managed to go 10-6 the following year but were 7-9 in each of the past two, and of course started this season 0-5.
Quinn’s seat was scorching hot last year, but he managed to save his job temporarily as the Falcons closed the season strong. The Falcons are now in a very interesting spot as a franchise, as Matt Ryan and Julio Jones aren’t getting any younger at 35 and 31 respectively. Those guys likely have a couple of high level years left, but a new regime may be interested in looking toward the future.
Quinn developed a reputation as a defensive guru during his time with the Seahawks, but during the Falcons’ most successful times it was always the offense carrying the team. Quinn’s defenses became progressively worse, making the situation untenable.
He coordinated Seattle’s legendary defenses in 2013 and 2014, winning Super Bowl XLVIII with the team. Dimitroff was the Patriots’ director of college scouting before owner Arthur Blank hired him to be Atlanta’s GM in 2008. His first draft pick was none other than Ryan, and his firing ends one of the longest recent front office tenures.
No interim coach has been announced, but at 0-5 there’s very little hope of a postseason berth. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, recently a head coach with the Bucs, would be a natural candidate. With Ryan, Jones, and Calvin Ridley there’s still plenty of talent at the skill positions, but the rest of the roster is in need of a major overhaul.
Quinn finished his run at a nearly even 43-42 through five-plus seasons as the Falcons’ head coach. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on all the fallout, and if you clink the link to the team’s announcement at the top you can read quotes from Blank and McKay on the firings.
Washington Sticking With Kyle Allen As Starter Despite Alex Smith’s Return
Perhaps the best story of the Week 5 slate was when Alex Smith made his improbable return to the field in relief of an injured Kyle Allen during Washington’s loss to the Rams. Unfortunately for Smith, it looks like he might have to head back to the bench for a bit.
Allen will remain the team’s starter for now if he’s healthy, head coach Ron Rivera said after the game. Allen was cleared by doctors to return on Sunday even though he never did, which would seemingly indicate he’ll be good to go for Week 6. Smith led the team to a field goal right before halftime, but was unable to get anything going in the second half as he was under heavy pressure.
Most importantly it was good to see Smith’s health hold up, especially when he took some big hits from Aaron Donald and co. His final stat line turned out pretty ugly though, as he finished 9/17 for 37 yards while taking six sacks. Despite Washington’s 1-4 start they’re very much in the thick of the abysmal NFC East, especially in the wake of Dak Prescott‘s brutal ankle injury.
Rivera clearly wants to compete for the division, it’s why he benched Dwayne Haskins in the first place, so it’d be somewhat surprising if we don’t see Smith again soon. Allen is a fighter, but his upside isn’t very high and the team’s ceiling is almost certainly higher with a pre-injury Smith if he’s able to return to that form.
Allen was 9/13 for 74 yards with a seven-yard rushing touchdown before a hit from Jalen Ramsey temporarily sidelined him. Washington’s upcoming schedule consists of the Giants, Cowboys, Giants, Lions, Bengals, and Cowboys, so they’ve definitely got some winnable games on the horizon. Meanwhile Haskins has been demoted to third string and is reportedly likely to get traded soon, and with all the drama in this quarterback room it’ll be a very interesting situation to monitor moving forward.
Cardinals’ Chandler Jones Likely Done For Year?
The Cardinals snapped a two-game skid to improve to 3-2, but they’ll be without a key piece of the defense moving forward. Defensive end Chandler Jones suffered a biceps injury during the win over the Jets, and head coach Kliff Kingsbury acknowledged after the game that it was “probably” season-ending.
That would indicate the team believes it’s a biceps tear. A first-round pick of the Patriots back in 2012, Jones has consistently been one of the league’s better pass-rushers in recent years. Arizona’s defense has been up and down, and the defensive front isn’t exactly overflowing with talent outside of Jones. Guys like Jordan Phillips, who has two sacks in four games, will be leaned on even more heavily to get pressure.
Jones came to the desert in a 2016 trade, and he hasn’t missed a game since. He started a perfect 69 games in a row for the Cardinals, but that streak will come to an end now. He’s had at least 11 sacks in each of his four seasons with Arizona, and he had 19 last year.
Arizona is above .500 and in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt, but skeptics would be inclined to point out two of their three wins have come against Washington and the Jets. They’ve looked bad in their two losses to the Lions and Panthers, and have been anything but steady. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has his work cut out for him now.
As for Jones’ financial situation, he’s under contract through the 2021 season. Interestingly we just heard a couple of weeks ago that there had been no extension talks between the two sides, to the surprise of some rival executives. Jones will turn 31 in February, and it’ll be interesting to see what effect this injury has on contract discussions this offseason.
Dak Prescott Carted Off With Ankle Injury
Well that was awful to see. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had to be carted off with an ankle injury in the third quarter of their game against the Giants. The team quickly announced that he had been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Prescott will undergo surgery on the ankle tonight, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The specific injury is a right ankle compound fracture with dislocation, Jane Slate of NFL Network tweets.
It looked gruesome, as Prescott’s ankle appeared to snap and his foot was temporarily pointed in the wrong direction. It’s obviously impossible to say for sure right now, but it certainly looked like Prescott’s season could be over. If that’s the case, needless to say it’s a brutal blow to a Dallas team that had Super Bowl aspirations entering the year. It would be even more devastating for Prescott personally, since he’s currently without any long-term financial security.
Prescott of course has been locked in a stalemate with Cowboys management, and is set to become a free agent at the end of the year. In line for a massive extension, hopefully this doesn’t end up hurting his market value too much. Andy Dalton came on in relief, and it looks like he’ll be leading the offense moving forward.
Things were already off to a bad start for the Mike McCarthy era as the Cowboys limped out to a 1-3 record, and Prescott’s heroics were the only things keeping them in games. The defense had been a dumpster fire, but Prescott had at least 450 yards in each of their past three games.
Dallas is lucky to have a competent backup in Dalton who has loads of starting experience, but it’s hard to understate the impact of this loss. Prescott had never missed a game due to injury since taking over for Tony Romo, a streak that will certainly be snapped now.
If Prescott is indeed forced to miss the rest of the year, what the Cowboys do this offseason will be fascinating to watch. Owner Jerry Jones had already seemed reluctant to back up the brinks truck for his young signal-caller, and who knows how he’ll feel about it now.
We heard just a few weeks ago that Prescott had been set to accept the team’s offer of $35MM annually, but negotiations broke down over a disputed provision about franchise tags. In that same report we heard Prescott was expecting to land north of $40MM this offseason. If Dallas elects to franchise Prescott for the second consecutive year this spring, they’ll have to pay him around $38MM.
Bengals Believe DT D.J. Reader Done For The Year
On the heels of their first win of the season the Bengals got crushed 27-3 by the Ravens, and the bad news doesn’t end there. The team believes defensive tackle D.J. Reader will miss the rest of the season with a quad injury, sources told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link).
It’s a brutal blow for a defense that has already been struggling mightily. One of the Bengals’ big offseason acquisitions, Reader signed a four-year, $53MM contract back in March. He had to be carted out of the team’s opener against the Chargers, but that turned out to be minor and he returned the following week. This time he wasn’t as lucky after getting carted off.
Fortunately for Cincy fellow defensive tackle Geno Atkins, an All-Pro, returned for his first action of the season against Baltimore. The Bengals have been getting gashed on the ground, and it looks like they won’t ever really get to see the Reader/Atkins combo they envisioned for 2020.
A fifth-round pick of the Texans back in 2016, Reader quickly broke out in Houston. He became a full-time starter in his second season, and started at least 14 games each of the past four years. Still only 26, Reader should be a big part of Cincinnati’s defense next year.
Saints Sitting Michael Thomas In Week 5 After Altercation With Teammate
This isn’t what the Saints needed ahead of their pivotal Monday Night Football date with the Chargers. Star receiver Michael Thomas won’t be playing, and it’s not because of his ankle injury.
Thomas had an altercation with a teammate at practice this weekend and the Saints are sitting him as discipline, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Thomas punched safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson during a fight, sources told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). Thomas apparently got into the altercation on Friday and was told to leave practice, according to a tweet from Josina Anderson of ESPN. Thomas then met with head coach Sean Payton on Sunday, where he was fined for conduct detrimental to the team and told he wouldn’t be playing Monday.
Anderson added that Thomas is expected to rejoin the team sometime next week. It’s been a frustrating campaign for the superstar, as he suffered a high ankle sprain in New Orleans’ Week 1 win over the Buccaneers. Drew Brees hasn’t looked his sharpest this season as the team has started 2-2, and this certainly isn’t what the offense needed to get back on track.
The Saints are favorites of about a touchdown against Los Angeles, so maybe they feel confident they can get by them even without their top receiver. Thomas had practiced this week and while it wasn’t certain, it was looking like he was set to make his return prior to these developments. Tre’Quan Smith and Emmanuel Sanders will continue holding down the fort. Hopefully for Saints fans this isn’t a sign of any further locker room issues.
Austin Ekeler Placed On IR
Oct. 9, 3:09pm: Ekeler has been placed on IR, the team announced.
Oct. 5, 2:12pm: Ekeler is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with the injury, Schefter tweets. He notes Ekeler is seeking a second opinion on the injury and the timetable, although it sounds like injured reserve is a near certainty at this point.
Oct. 5, 11:39am: The Chargers collapsed like only they (and maybe the Falcons) know how to do, blowing a 17-point lead against the Buccaneers. The bad news doesn’t stop there however, as it looks like they’ll be without running back Austin Ekeler for a while.
Ekeler suffered a hyperextended knee and hamstring injury that will cause him to miss multiple weeks, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The severity won’t be known until an MRI on Monday, but it sounds like a trip to injured reserve (minimum three games) is a possibility. Ekeler pulled up lame and looked to be in loads of pain, needing to be carted off. The Chargers are expected to place Ekeler on IR, but they’ll wait until a full analysis is completed before making the call (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).
It’s yet another brutal blow for a Chargers team that has yet again been besieged by injuries. They’re currently down multiple starters on the offensive line, receiver Mike Williams missed Sunday’s game, and a handful of starters on defense are hurt.
Los Angeles has come very close to winning every game, yet now sit at 1-3 through four weeks. Stop us if you’ve heard that one before. Ekeler was handling by far the biggest workload of his career this season after the Chargers moved on from Melvin Gordon. A dynamic pass-catcher as well as runner, he had 11 receptions in Week 3 against the Panthers.
The unheralded former undrafted free agent had 557 yards and three touchdowns on the ground last year, adding another 993 and eight through the air. The Western Colorado product signed a four-year, $24.5MM pact with the Chargers back in March, so thankfully he’s financially secure. Rookie fourth-rounder Joshua Kelley from UCLA and Justin Jackson will carry the load in his absence.
O.J. Howard Has Torn Achilles
The Buccaneers pulled off an impressive comeback to beat the Chargers on Sunday, but they didn’t escape unscathed. Tight end O.J. Howard suffered a torn achilles and will be done for the year, head coach Bruce Arians announced after the game. As expected, the Bucs will place Howard on season-ending injured reserve, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
It’s a brutal blow for a Bucs offense that is already banged up. Leonard Fournette and Chris Godwin both didn’t play Sunday, and Arians said he doesn’t expect Godwin to play in Week 5 either. Howard was starting to develop a real rapport for Brady, and he had 50 yards and a touchdown against Los Angeles before going down. The 19th overall pick of the 2017 draft, Howard had his fifth-year option exercised by the team back in April.
Fortunately for him that option year is guaranteed for injury and since he likely won’t be healthy by the start of next league year, he should be locked into that $6MM salary. The Alabama product has been solid through his first few years, but never really broke out with Jameis Winston.
His best year was in 2018 when he had 565 yards and five touchdowns in only ten games. Last year he took a bit of a step back, with 459 yards and only one score in 14 games. With Howard on the shelf Rob Gronkowski, who hasn’t had a huge role in the passing game, should see an increase in targets.
NFL Implements COVID-19 Policy Changes, Raiders Players Fined
In response to the growing number of positive COVID-19 tests around the league, the NFL is taking action. In a call with all 32 teams the league office laid out a slew of new policy changes, and sternly warned teams about the consequences of not following them.
In the memo recapping the call, which you can read courtesy of this tweet from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, they laid out some new protocols. The NFL and NFLPA jointly agreed to a “longer onboarding process” for free agent workouts, bans on gatherings outside the team facility, limits on the number of tryouts allowed per week, and the implementation of a “league-wide video monitoring system” to ensure teams are wearing masks and following protocols within their own buildings.
Details were sparse, but it sounds like Roger Goodell will now be watching what is going on within each facility. The line about gatherings outside the facility may have been directed toward the Raiders, who were just slapped with more fines after players were photographed mask-less at a fundraiser hosted by tight end Darren Waller. Waller was fined $30K for the incident, while Derek Carr, Derek Carrier, Zay Jones, Nevin Lawson, Erik Magnuson, Foster Moreau, Nathan Peterman, Hunter Renfrow, and Jason Witten were each fined $15K, according to a tweet from Dan Graziano of ESPN.com.
We just got word earlier that the Raiders had been fined $50K after an investigation into unauthorized locker room access, and the team and head coach Jon Gruden were fined hundreds of thousands for mask violations in Week 2.
Perhaps most significantly, the memo outlines potential extreme punishments for new violations. The memo says that any team that has a COVID-19 protocol violation which results in spreading of the virus that impacts scheduling or other teams may be subject to the loss of draft picks or potential forfeitures of games.
Forfeiting a game would be a truly nuclear option, and the fact that it was even broached shows how serious the league is taking threats to the rest of the season. That would seem to apply to a team like the Titans, which had a true outbreak which has caused the only actual postponement to date. The new free agent workout restrictions could make it harder for veterans on the market to find jobs. This surely isn’t the last we’ve heard on the subject, and we’ll keep you posted whenever anything new comes along.