Giants Fear RB Saquon Barkley Has Torn ACL
Absolutely devastating news for the Giants, as it appears Saquon Barkley will be done for the year. New York fears their young running back has torn his ACL, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Schefter adds that official confirmation won’t come until Monday, but since field tests for ACLs are extremely accurate, it’s all but certain. Barkley was completely bottled up in the Giants’ Week 1 loss to the Steelers, and went down early in their game against the Bears. The Penn State product hasn’t always had a ton of room to run behind New York’s patchwork offensive line, but he’s still managed to be electric during his first couple of years in the league.
The second overall pick of the 2018 draft, Barkley quickly became one of the most recognizable faces in the NFL, and this is a huge loss. Dion Lewis and Wayne Gallman are next up at running back for the G-Men, although it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if they went out and added a veteran in the wake of this injury.
Barkley was hampered by an ankle issue last year that limited him to only 13 games and had him hobbled in several others. In his only 16-game season as a rookie he had 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, adding another 721 and four through the air while averaging 5.0 yards per carry.
The Giants are now 0-2 on the year, and will be missing the heart of their offense moving forward. It certainly won’t help Jason Garrett’s first year as offensive coordinator, and Daniel Jones will now be without his safety blanket. Here’s to hoping Barkley makes a full recovery in plenty of time for the 2021 season.
Cowboys Fear TE Blake Jarwin Has Torn ACL
There have already been a few season-ending injuries on this first Sunday of NFL football, and now it looks like we’ve got another one. The Cowboys fear tight end Blake Jarwin has a torn ACL, a source told Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
Teams’ field tests for ACL injuries are extremely accurate, so if that’s the initial impression then it’s almost certainly the case. Jarwin was the subject of seemingly endless hype this offseason, as the team envisioned a breakout year for him on the heels of Jason Witten‘s departure.
He signed a three-year extension worth $24.25MM back in March, and ended up making it just one game into that pact before likely being lost for the year. An undrafted success story in 2017, Jarwin had 365 yards and three touchdowns on 31 catches last year.
With Witten now in Las Vegas and Jarwin on the shelf for the foreseeable future, the Cowboys are now suddenly thin at tight end. Blake Bell, a blocking tight end who signed a cheap deal back in March, and 2018 fourth-rounder Dalton Schultz are the next two guys up. Neither has topped 186 yards in their respective pro careers. It’s a tough blow for an offense that was widely expected to be one of the best in the league.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/20
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Expected to sign: CB Josh Nurse
This move won’t process until early this week, but Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets that it’s expected to happen. Nurse is a rookie UDFA who was in camp with the Ravens. He was only a one-year starter with the Utes. The Jags have completely remade their secondary after trading away Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, and Ronnie Harrison and it’s now one of the youngest units in the league, so it makes sense that they’re taking all possible flyers.
Chargers LB Drue Tranquill Likely Has Broken Ankle
The Chargers escaped with a narrow victory over the Bengals in Week 1, but they didn’t make it out unscathed. Linebacker Drue Tranquill was carted off with an ankle injury, and the initial belief is he broke his ankle, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Assuming that’s the case, then his season is likely over. It’s a tough break for the young Notre Dame product, who was drafted in the fourth-round last year. He started three games while appearing in 15 and playing around 40 percent of the defensive snaps. He was ticketed for an even bigger role this time around, which makes this a devastating blow.
The Chargers’ defense is loaded with talent on the defensive line and in the secondary, but linebacking is the one question mark. Guys like Kyzir White and first-round rookie Kenneth Murray will be even more important now.
The unit played well and mostly held Joe Burrow in check Sunday, but this isn’t the first significant injury to the defense. All-Pro safety Derwin James, of course, was just lost for the season with a knee injury. Another year, another crop of health issues for the Chargers…
Saints Sign LB Demario Davis To Three-Year Extension
Alvin Kamara isn’t the only Saint with a big new deal. New Orleans has signed linebacker Demario Davis to a three-year extension, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. (FOX’s Erin Andrews was first to report the news).
Rapoport notes that the deal has a base value of $27MM, with $18.35MM of that being guaranteed. He’ll also have Pro Bowl incentives of $500K in each of the three seasons. Davis signed in New Orleans on a three-year, $24MM deal back in March of 2018, and had been scheduled to become a free agent after the year.
As Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets the Saints recently tweaked defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins’ deal to clear up $4MM in cap space, perhaps helping to facilitate this deal. A third-round pick of the Jets in 2012, Davis spent the first four years of his career in New York, then spent a year with the Browns, then went back to the Jets.
A first-team All-Pro selection last season, Davis has never missed a game in his eight-year career. In 16 starts last year he had 111 tackles, four sacks, an interception, and 12 passes defended. New Orleans’ defense looked pretty good against Tom Brady in Week 1, and Davis will be a big part of that unit moving forward.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/20
We’ll post today’s practice squad moves here:
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB Daren Bates
Tennessee is adding some veteran insurance to their defense. An UDFA back in 2013, he’s bounced around the league the last handful of years. He spent 2017-19 with the Titans, playing mostly on special teams, so there’s plenty of familiarity here.
Colts Fear RB Marlon Mack Has Torn Achilles
The Colts were upset by the Jaguars in embarrassing fashion on Sunday, but that might not even be the worst of it. Indianapolis appears to have lost their starting running back for the season, as the team fears Marlon Mack tore his Achilles during the loss to Jacksonville, sources told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
While it’s a brutal blow this early in the season, the Colts at least have a deep backfield. Rookie second-round pick Jonathan Taylor will now be counted on for an even bigger role, and Nyheim Hines should see his snaps increase as well.
It’s devastating for Mack personally, as he’s set to become a free agent at the end of the season and will now likely see his market severely deflated. A fourth-round pick out of South Florida in 2017, Mack was the Colts’ starter the past two seasons.
He had 1,091 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground in 14 games last year. He averaged a solid 4.4 yards per carry, but the drafting of Taylor indicated they weren’t sold on him as the longterm starter anyway. The Philip Rivers era hasn’t gotten off to a great start in Indianapolis.
Bucs Sign Josh Rosen To Practice Squad
Josh Rosen has found a new home. The highly drafted quarterback will be signing with the Buccaneers’ practice squad, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Rosen will now get to learn from Tom Brady in the quarterbacks room. The UCLA product has had a tough time in the pros, and was just recently cut by the Dolphins after Miami failed to find a trade partner. Heavily hyped coming out of college, Rosen was drafted 10th overall by the Cardinals in 2018. His rookie season was a disaster, as Arizona went 3-13 and head coach Steve Wilks was fired after just one year.
The Cards elected to start fresh the following offseason, drafting Kyler Murray with the first pick and making Rosen expendable. He was quickly dealt to the Dolphins in exchange for a second-round pick. He started three games in Miami but didn’t play well and failed to beat out Ryan Fitzpatrick for playing time.
Obviously Rosen’s circumstances have been far from ideal, and he’s had to deal with things that are extremely rare for such a highly drafted quarterback. Now he’ll be not just learning from Brady, but reuniting with Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich as well. Leftwich was quarterbacks coach and interim offensive coordinator during Rosen’s season in Arizona, when he started 13 games.
This seems like an ideal situation for Rosen to land, and a chance to jumpstart his career. For the Bucs it’s a nice low-risk signing, as they don’t currently have anyone waiting in the wings for whenever the 43-year-old Brady decides to hang up his cleats. Through 16 career NFL starts Rosen has averaged 5.7 yards per attempt with 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
Here is the Buccaneers full practice squad:
- G Zack Bailey
- RB Ray Calais
- S D’Cota Dixon
- WR Cyril Grayson
- S Javon Hagan
- TE Tanner Hudson
- DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
- G Nick Leverett
- CB Herb Miller
- WR Josh Pearson
- DL Benning Potoa’e
- ILB Chapelle Russell
- C Zach Shackelford
- QB Reid Sinnett
- CB Mazzi Wilkins
Eagles Sign Josh McCown To Practice Squad
Well this is an unusual arrangement we didn’t see coming. The Eagles are signing veteran quarterback Josh McCown to their practice squad, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Thanks to a new COVID-19 exception veterans will be able to serve on practice squads, making this possible. As Schefter notes, he’ll easily be the oldest practice squad player in NFL history. Making the situation even more unique, McCown won’t even be reporting to the team. Instead McCown will continue to live in Texas, earn a $12K weekly salary, and serve as Philly’s emergency quarterback remotely.
McCown’s lovable journeyman career has taken him all over the football world, so it feels right for him to blaze this unheard of trail. We had heard back in January the Eagles were talking about adding him to the coaching staff, and this is the next best thing.
After originally announcing his retirement in June of last year, he signed with Philly last August after they had a couple of injuries. After serving as Carson Wentz‘s backup and not starting a game he was suddenly thrown into the spotlight when Wentz went down in the Eagles’ first round playoff game against Seattle.
McCown came into the game cold off the bench and nearly led them to a miracle victory, tearing his hamstring in the process and playing through the injury.
The Eagles have Nate Sudfeld and Jalen Hurts behind Wentz now, but in these uncertain times it can’t hurt to have too much insurance. McCown has turned into a fan favorite over the course of his career that started in 2002 with the Cardinals, and this is a nice feather in his cap.
Here is Philly’s full practice squad:
- DB Grayland Arnold
- WR Deontay Burnett
- WR Travis Fulgham
- RB Elijah Holyfield
- C Luke Juriga
- DE Matt Leo*
- QB Josh McCown
- C Sua Opeta
- DE Joe Ostman
- DB Elijah Riley
- T Prince Tega Wanogho
- RB Michael Warren
- DT Raequan Williams
- DB Trevor Williams
- TE Caleb Wilson
* = international player
Lions Set Initial Practice Squad
The Lions have announced their initial practice squad in a release, with Detroit adding 16 players to the unit:
- G Beau Benzschawel
- QB David Blough
- WR Victor Bolden
- S Jalen Elliott
- DT Frank Herron
- WR Tom Kennedy
- TE Isaac Nauta
- LB Anthony Pittman
- S Bobby Price
- P Arryn Siposs
- DT Kevin Strong
- CB Dee Virgin
- G Kenny Wiggins
- RB Jonathan Williams
- LS Steve Wirtel
- DE Jonathan Wynn
Blough was an undrafted rookie from Purdue last year who ended up starting five games after injuries to Matthew Stafford and Jeff Driskel. The offseason addition of Chase Daniel made Blough expendable, but he’ll serve as the third quarterback.
Wiggins has been in the league since 2012, and he has extensive starting experience. He’s started 13 games for Detroit over the past two years, and will probably be the first guy getting called up if there are offensive line injuries. Williams carried the ball 49 times for Indy last year, but he’ll have a tough time getting any snaps now that the Lions have also added Adrian Peterson.