Seahawks LB Bruce Irvin Has Torn ACL, Will Miss Rest Of Season
5:00pm: NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport has confirmed the news (via Twitter). Irvin has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
1:20pm: Unfortunately it looks like Bruce Irvin‘s 2020 return to Seattle will last only two games. The Seahawks fear the veteran outside linebacker has a torn ACL, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
More tests are needed to confirm but since field tests for ACLs are extremely accurate, it’s all but certain. It’s a tough blow for a Seahawks team that has looked great with a pair of victories through the first two weeks. The pass-rush was already one of the few question marks remaining with this team, so this is the last thing they needed.
Irvin came back to Seattle on a one-year deal worth $5.5 million back in March. He spent last year in Carolina, where he racked up 8.5 sacks in 13 games. A first-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2012, Irvin spent the first four years of his career with the team.
He was a huge part of some of their legendary defenses, winning Super Bowl XLVIII with them. Despite producing at a fairly high level the Seahawks declined his fifth-year option, and he signed a four-year $37MM deal with the Raiders.
Cut after 2.5 seasons, he landed with the Falcons for the second half of 2018 before signing with the Panthers. He’ll turn 33 in November and will be coming off an ACL tear when he hits free agency, so he’ll likely struggle to find much guaranteed money next spring.
49ers Agree To Deal With DE Ziggy Ansah
We heard earlier this morning that Ziggy Ansah was flying to meet with the 49ers with a signing likely in the cards, and now it appears official. San Francisco is finalizing a one-year deal with the veteran pass-rusher, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Kyle Shanahan later confirmed the agreement at his Monday press conference. The pact will be worth $3MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
This is the culmination of a couple rounds of flirting between the two sides, as Ansah has already met with the team multiple times recently. Fowler notes that the signing will take place as soon as Ansah clears the COVID-19 protocols. It’s a nice low-risk upside flyer for a team suddenly in need of edge help in the wake of Nick Bosa‘s injury.
Bosa, of course, went down with an ACL tear on Sunday, leaving a gaping hole along the 49ers’ defensive line. The defensive front was the engine behind last year’s Super Bowl run, and after Bosa’s injury and the trade of DeForest Buckner, the unit has now been severely depleted.
The fifth overall pick of the 2013 draft by the Lions, Ansah initially had a lot of success in Detroit. In 2015 he had 14.5 sacks, earning a second-team All-Pro selection. He had 12 more sacks in 2017 which caused the Lions to franchise-tag him, but injuries derailed his last couple of seasons.
He had a shoulder issue he could seemingly never quite get over, and had only 2.5 sacks in 11 games with Seattle last year. 31 now, Ansah is reportedly fully healthy and should have something left in the tank physically. It’ll be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Robert Saleh uses him moving forward.
Vikings LB Anthony Barr Done For The Season
More tough news for the Vikings, as head coach Mike Zimmer announced Monday the team will be placing veteran linebacker Anthony Barr on injured reserve. He’s got a torn pec.
It’s the last thing this Minnesota team, which has looked awful through two games, needed. Since it’s a torn pec, Barr will be done for the season. The ninth overall pick of the 2014 draft, Barr has been with the Vikings his whole career. He’s one of the leaders of the defense, and made the Pro Bowl four straight seasons from 2015-18. In his absence, rookie fourth-round pick from Oregon Troy Dye will be counted on to play a more prominent role.
Luckily for Barr, he just locked himself into a huge contract last offseason. In March of 2019 it was reported he was leaving to sign a deal with the Jets, only for the UCLA product to change his mind at the last second and return to Minnesota on a five-year, $67.5MM contract.
Last season he had 79 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four passes defended, and an interception in 14 games. Minnesota’s usually stout defense has struggled mightily so far, and it’s not hard to see why with all the departures. Star pass-rusher Danielle Hunter is on injured reserve, and key defensive contributors like defensive tackle Linval Joseph, defensive end Everson Griffen, and cornerback Trae Waynes all left in free agency.
It’s looking like it could be a long year for Zimmer’s unit, and they’ll be significantly shorthanded for their pivotal Week 3 meeting with the Titans. Barr, who will turn 29 in March, is signed through the 2023 season.
OT Jared Veldheer Retires
Jared Veldheer has decided to hang up his cleats. The veteran offensive tackle has chosen to retire after previously looking like he was about to sign with the Cowboys, a source told Todd Archer of ESPN.com.
Veldheer worked out for the team in Dallas last week, had begun their COVID-19 protocols, and Archer writes that he was expected to sign. The Cowboys had a $2.5MM contract prepared that was just awaiting Veldheer’s signature when he called it off, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
Veldheer changing his mind isn’t exactly anything new, as he originally retired shortly after signing with the Patriots last year. He then asked to be released from the reserve/retired list last November, and ended up getting claimed by the Packers.He announced in March that he intended to keep playing 2020, but didn’t draw much reported interest until this Cowboys meeting.
Dallas is dealing with injuries to Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, and Cameron Erving, so they were looking for some veteran tackle help.A third-round pick of the Raiders back in 2010, Veldheer carved out a nice career for himself.
Assuming he’s done for good this time, the Michigan product will finish with 113 starts under his belt. Most recently he started 12 games for Denver at right tackle in 2018, and 13 for Arizona the year before.
Injury Updates: Colts, McCaffrey, Broncos, 49ers
It’s been a tough day for the NFL, with a slew of high profile players going down with serious injuries. We’ve brought you all the season-ending ones already, and now we’ve got some updates on some hopefully less long-term but still significant injuries. Colts receiver Parris Campbell had to be carted off with a knee injury, but fortunately Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that he did not tear his ACL.
Campbell’s 2019 rookie season was plagued by injuries as he dealt with a sports hernia, a broken hand, and a broken foot, so this was especially tough to see. He was supposed to play a big role in this Colts offense, and showed a nice connection with new quarterback Philip Rivers in Week 1. The Ohio State product and former second-round pick will have an MRI on Monday, and it seems like an MCL injury could be likely.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Panthers superstar Christian McCaffrey sprained his ankle and will have an MRI on Monday to determine the severity, Rapoport tweets. Fortunately, Rapsheet reports that the “initial hope” is it’s not too serious. Needless to say, it would be a massive loss for Carolina’s offense if he’s forced to miss any time.
- We heard earlier today that Drew Lock would miss multiple games with an AC joint injury in his throwing shoulder. While he agrees with the prognosis of multiple weeks missed, multiple sources told Mike Klis of Denver 9 News that the injury is not in fact to the AC joint (Twitter link). The bad news is that Klis also reports there is “concern” within the organization about Courtland Sutton‘s knee, but that nothing more will be known until tomorrow morning. The Broncos have been besieged by injuries, and can’t seem to catch a break in that regard.
- The Falcons blew a huge lead late for an absolutely gutting loss to the Cowboys, and the bad news doesn’t end there. The team fears starting right tackle Kaleb McGary has sprained his MCL, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The MRI Monday will confirm how long he’ll be out, but this sounds like a multi-week absence. McGary has started every game since the team drafted him in the first-round last year, and this is the last thing this 0-2 Atlanta team needed.
- Nick Bosa is done for the year with a torn ACL, and two other 49ers players are dealing with knee injuries. Running back Raheem Mostert is believed to have a mild MCL sprain and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas is believed to have a “serious” knee injury, according to tweets from Schefter. It sounds like both are going to miss time, although Mostert’s shouldn’t be too long-term and Schefter notes that Thomas’ didn’t have the initial grim clarity of Bosa’s, which could be a good sign. San Francisco has been another team bit hard by the injury bug.
Ravens CB Tavon Young Done For The Year
The Ravens picked up a big win over the Texans to move to 2-0 Sunday, but they’ll be without a big piece of their defense moving forward. Cornerback Tavon Young will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, head coach John Harbaugh announced after the game. 
This will be the second year in a row that Young is on the shelf, as the Temple product missed all of last season with a neck injury. He also missed the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL, so his injury history is now pretty extensive. He started 11 games as a rookie in 2016, then played a big role in 2018 again while making six starts.
His contributions as the team’s slot corner earned him a three-year, $25.8MM extension in February of 2019. He’ll now have played just two games since that deal, which runs through the 2022 season.
Young played a big role in Baltimore’s opener, playing around half of the defensive snaps against Houston. Depending on the severity of the latest injury, it’s fair to wonder whether the Ravens will count on him to be in their plans in 2021 and beyond.
Colts Fear S Malik Hooker Has Torn Achilles
The hits keep on coming, as we’ve got word of another devastating injury to pass along. The Colts fear safety Malik Hooker has a torn Achilles, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Hooker is an every down player, so this is a big loss for Indianapolis’ defense. A first-round pick out of Ohio State in 2017, Hooker’s pro career has been plagued by injuries. As a rookie he tore his ACL after seven games, and he missed a handful of contests over the past couple years with other minor ailments.
Still only 24, it’s tough to see for the youngster. Colts rookie safety Julian Blackmon, who made his pro debut Sunday after tearing his ACL last December, will be asked to step up. The 2020 third-rounder from Utah played well against the Vikings, and will be a crucial piece of Matt Eberflus’ unit moving forward.
The news is especially brutal for Hooker, since the Colts declined the fifth-year option on his contract back in May. That means he’ll be a free agent after this season, and he won’t be fully healthy by the time the market opens. He’s obviously still quite young, but he might have to settle for a cheap prove-it deal due to his now extensive injury history.
Broncos QB Drew Lock Out 2-6 Weeks
Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t the only starting quarterback who won’t be out there next week. Broncos passer Drew Lock has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder and is expected to be out 2-6 weeks, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Schefter adds that Lock will have an MRI on Monday to determine more specifics, but it sounds like Denver is going to be without him for at least a couple of games. Jeff Driskel came on in relief, and will now be the starter moving forward. It’s a brutal blow to the Broncos after they’ve suffered two narrow down to the wire losses through the first two weeks.
They’ve had some bad injury luck, with star pass-rusher Von Miller likely to miss the season due to ankle surgery and top receiver Courtland Sutton banged up. It’s also tough for Lock’s development, since the Missouri product only started five games as a rookie and could use all the reps he can get.
There was a lot of optimism internally with this Broncos team entering the year, but that has mostly been dashed now. Driskel performed admirably against the Steelers and nearly led a comeback in the second half, but he’s shown during previous stints with the Bengals and Lions he isn’t going to be an above average starter.
Justin Herbert Starts At QB For Chargers
The NFL debut of Justin Herbert is coming in unexpected fashion. Just moments before kickoff, the Chargers announced the rookie first-rounder would be making his first career start.
In an unusual situation, normal starter Tyrod Taylor apparently injured his chest during pregame warmups and needed to be pulled. That meant the sixth overall pick of April’s draft was suddenly thrust into his first real action without being prepped for it against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
He certainly didn’t look overwhelmed initially, scoring a touchdown on his first pro drive. There’s no word yet on how serious the injury to Taylor is, but we’ll be sure to pass on word to you shortly. Taylor entered the season as the starter, but it was likely only a matter of time before the Oregon product took over anyway.
Los Angeles escaped with a narrow victory over the Bengals in Week 1, but Taylor didn’t play too well and failed to move the offense consistently. If Herbert plays well today against Kansas City he probably won’t be relinquishing the job regardless of Taylor’s health.
49ers Believe DE Nick Bosa Has Torn ACL, Jimmy Garoppolo To Miss Week 3
Just minutes after it was reported the Giants believe Saquon Barkley is done for the year, another star player appears to have suffered a season-ending knee injury. The 49ers believe pass-rusher Nick Bosa has a torn ACL, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced at his post-game press conference.
It wasn’t the only significant injury the 49ers suffered, as quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo also went down with an ankle injury. Shanahan announced after their win over the Jets that it was a high ankle sprain and that backup Nick Mullens would likely start their Week 3 game against the Giants.
It’s an absolutely massive blow to this 49ers defense, which was the engine behind their Super Bowl run last year. The defensive front already took a hit with the trade of All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner this offseason, and now there’s a huge hole on the outside.
The second overall pick of last year’s draft, Bosa was sensational as a rookie. He had nine sacks, making the Pro Bowl and winning the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award. The 49ers beat the lowly Jets, but they lost as big favorites to the Cardinals in Week 1, and are now at a significant disadvantage.
Bosa should be able to make a full recovery in time for Week 1 of next year. Ankle injuries don’t tend to keep quarterbacks out too long, so it would be a surprise if Garoppolo isn’t back under center for San Fran’s Week 4 date with the Eagles.