Latest On Colts’ QBs
It’s not often that two sub-.500 teams square off in December with first place in their division at stake, but that will be the case Sunday when the Colts and Texans – both 6-7 – meet in Indianapolis in a crucial AFC South showdown. Making this matchup even more unusual is that each club could have a backup quarterback at the helm. Thanks to a concussion, the Texans will likely be without No. 1 man Brian Hoyer, meaning they’ll turn to T.J. Yates. On the other side, it’s currently unknown which of the three Colts QBs will be under center.
Andrew Luck – who has been out since early November with a lacerated spleen – is hoping to return this week, though Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star writes that his status is in doubt. Luck has multiple hurdles to jump before he can make his much-anticipated comeback, as Holder notes: Team doctors have to clear him twice – once to return to practice, again to actually suit up in a game. Given that Luck’s injury is internal, the Colts aren’t going to force him back into the lineup prematurely and put his health at greater risk. For his part, Luck acknowledges that his conditioning is in need of work after missing so much time.
“Throwing felt great,” he said Monday, according to Holder. “Conditioning-wise, it’s a process. When you take time off, it takes a little more time to get back into it.”
As if Luck’s injury situation isn’t frustrating enough for the Colts, reserve Matt Hasselbeck is also banged up. The 40-year-old’s left arm is in a sling thanks to a rib injury he suffered in Sunday’s 51-16 loss to Jacksonville, and head coach Chuck Pagano said Hasselbeck is dealing with spasms associated with the injury. Pagano added that Hasselbeck will try to return to practice on Thursday, and expressed optimism regarding his status for the Houston game.
“I fully anticipate him being available for us,” Pagano said.
If the worst happens for Indy and both Luck and Hasselbeck aren’t ready by Sunday, the Colts will turn to third-stringer Charlie Whitehurst with their season at stake.
Ravens’ Chris Canty Done For Season
Ravens defensive end Chris Canty will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle in the team’s 35-6 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun reports.
Canty, 32, is an 11-year veteran who has spent the past three seasons with the Ravens. He added 19 tackles and a sack in parts of nine games this year. The numbers aren’t gaudy, but Canty’s leadership has made him a favorite of head coach John Harbaugh.
“He’s been a standup guy,” Harbaugh said, per Meoli. “He’s led the way with a bunch of young guys on defense, especially the young front seven guys. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Chris Canty and what he’s done this year.”
Canty has one year left on the two-year pact he signed with the Ravens last offseason, but it’s possible he has played his last down in Baltimore. If the Ravens cut Canty before June 1, they’ll save $2.15MM on their 2016 salary cap.
Buccaneers’ Vincent Jackson Sprains MCL, Out Several Games
Buccaneers receiver Vincent Jackson missed most of the team’s 24-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday after leaving in the first half with a knee injury. It turns out his season could be over, as he suffered an MCL sprain and will miss several games, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. With just three games left, it stands to reason Jackson’s season is done if the 6-7 Bucs don’t rally and make the playoffs. If they do grab one of the NFC’s two wild-card spots, the three-time Pro Bowler could return, Rapoport notes.
Jackson, an 11th-year man, entered 2015 coming off three straight seasons of 70-plus catches and four in a row of 1,000-plus yards. He wasn’t as productive this season, however. Prior to leaving the Saints game, the 32-year-old added a single catch for 5 yards, giving him 33 receptions for 543 yards in parts of 10 contests. He’s currently third on the Bucs in receptions (33), second in yardage (543), first in YPC (16.5) and tied for first in touchdowns (three).
Dolphins Claim Damontre Moore
Less than a week after the Giants released him for conduct detrimental to the team, pass rusher Damontre Moore has a new home. The 23-year-old will join the Dolphins, who claimed him off waivers, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media (Twitter link). The Giants and Dolphins play each other tonight, but Moore won’t be an official member of Miami’s roster until Tuesday, per Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (via Twitter).
Moore was a third-round pick in the 2013 draft. The Texas A&M product has been a part-time contributor since then, recording 32 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 2014, with 17 tackles and three sacks so far this season. Moore is under contract through the 2016 season, with salaries and cap hits under $1MM this year and next. The Dolphins’ hope is that he’ll aid a pass rush that has produced only 26 sacks this year, tied for 21st in the NFL.
Luke Adams contributed to this report.
Browns Place Joe Haden On Season-Ending IR, Add Two
Browns standout cornerback Joe Haden hasn’t appeared in a game since Nov. 1 because of concussion issues. With just three weeks left and the 3-10 Browns near the bottom of the NFL, the team decided Monday to place Haden on season-ending injured reserve, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Haden, who made back-to-back Pro Bowls prior to this season, appeared in five games this year and made 22 tackles. He and the Browns’ secondary were supposed to be a fierce group after the defense finished 2014 eighth in aerial yards allowed and first in passer rating against. However, thanks in part to the 26-year-old Haden’s injury troubles, the Browns are currently 22nd and 28th in those categories.
After putting Haden on IR, the Browns claimed rookie offensive lineman Kaleb Johnson – whom the Ravens cut Saturday – according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland.com (on Twitter). They also plucked receiver Rannell Hall off Tampa’s practice squad, Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk reports.
Jets’ Devin Smith Out For Season With Torn ACL
Jets receiver Devin Smith will miss the rest of the season with a torn right ACL, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets. Head coach Todd Bowles said surgery has not been scheduled, but the team will place Smith on injured reserve (Twitter link via Mehta).
Smith’s season-ending injury is the culmination of a disappointing rookie campaign for the second-round pick from Ohio State. Smith’s woes started when he broke his ribs early in training camp, an injury that kept him from making his Jets debut until Week 3. Prior to hurting his knee in the team’s 30-8 win over the Titans on Sunday, Smith went without a catch. He ends the 2015 season with just nine receptions in 10 games.
With Smith’s year over and fellow wideout Jeremy Kerley dealing with a bruised calf, Bowles said the Jets could look to add a receiver in time for Saturday’s showdown in Dallas (Twitter link via ESPN’s Rich Cimini).
Extra Points: Washington, Cutler, Cowboys, Fins, Bolts, Jags
Washington will head to Chicago on Sunday to face the Jay Cutler-led Bears as it looks to stay atop the NFC East heap. Besides the matchup’s playoff implications, adding further intrigue is that Cutler – whom the Bears acquired in a trade with Denver in 2009 – was minutes from being Washington’s quarterback, as ESPN’s John Keim writes.
“You know how much time I put into that? A lot. Months. Dan [Snyder] put in a lot, too,” said Vinny Cerrato, who was Washington’s executive vice president at the time. “It was disappointing because at times we thought we had a deal then they called and said, no. Then they called back and said, ‘Hold on. If the deal falls through, we’ll trade him to you.’ Then it was like, ‘No, it didn’t work.'”
Cutler hasn’t exactly been a franchise quarterback for the Bears, but he has fared better than the slew of passers Washington has used since failing to acquire him. Washington has started Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman, John Beck, Robert Griffin III, Colt McCoy and current No. 1 Kirk Cousins throughout Cutler’s time in Chicago, Keim notes. Among that group, the club invested a fair amount in an ineffective McNabb and a boatload in RGIII, who hasn’t taken a snap this year and is all but guaranteed to be with another franchise next season.
Landing Cutler would’ve cost Washington plenty – a first-round pick, a fourth-rounder and QB Jason Campbell – but Cerrato believes Mike Shanahan’s presence would’ve helped make it worthwhile. Shanahan coached Cutler with the Broncos from 2006-08 and went on to hold the same position in Washington from 2010-13. Cutler threw 54 touchdowns against 37 interceptions in 37 games under Shanahan and amassed a career-best 4,526 passing yards in 2008.
“Mike knew him and what made him tick,” Cerrato said. “It would have given the organization a shot in the arm. Some like him and some don’t, but he’d have played his best football because of the way he is with Mike … It was like a punch in the gut.”
We’ll never know how another helping of Cutler-Shanahan would’ve gone, but one thing’s obvious: Had it happened, it would’ve changed both franchises dramatically – not necessarily for the better in either case, of course.
More from around the NFL as we draw closer to Washington-Chicago and the rest of Sunday’s Week 14 action:
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones criticized the team’s coaching staff earlier this week. On Friday, he laid some of the blame for Dallas’ 4-8 record on himself – specifically for his handling of the backup quarterback position last offseason. “On the other hand, if you want to look at any aspect of this team you can say well, if we would have been in better shape had you had Matt Cassel in the spring, rather than (Brandon) Weeden, and I’m not trying to knock Weeden, but if we would have had a guy like Cassel in here than we might have made a difference there, so put that one ultimately on my shoulders for sure,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan, per Josh Clark of CBS DFW.
- Dolphins rookie receiver DeVante Parker – whom the team chose 14th overall in this year’s draft – started quietly but has come on strong over the last two weeks, combining for seven catches, 143 yards and two touchdowns. With Parker seemingly emerging as a playmaker and Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills also part of the Dolphins’ long-term receiving corps, the end of Rishard Matthews‘ tenure in Miami could come this offseason, according to the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero. Matthews, a fourth-year man who’s in the top two among Dolphins in receptions (43), targets (60), yards (662), yards per catch (15.4) and touchdowns (four) this year, is scheduled to hit free agency in a few months.
- Chargers running back Melvin Gordon was impressive on 12 carries against Denver last Sunday, rushing for 55 yards, but head coach Mike McCoy benched the first-round rookie because of fumbling issues. Gordon coughed the ball up twice in a 17-3 loss, giving him five fumbles on the season. McCoy’s decision to sit Gordon was wrong, Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune offers. In Canepa’s opinion, with the season effectively over for the 3-9 Bolts, McCoy and his staff should be coaching Gordon through his struggles and letting him play – not relegating him to the sideline.
- The final quarter of the season will provide some important answers for the Jaguars, writes Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. Among them: the future statuses of receiver Marqise Lee, center Stefen Wisniewski, defenders Ryan Davis and Chris Smith, and kicker Jason Myers.
East Notes: Giants, Tannehill, Jets
While Giants brass was fed up enough with pass rusher Damontre Moore to cut him Friday after he got in a fight over headphones with then-teammate Cullen Jenkins, ESPN’s Dan Graziano writes that most of the club’s players aren’t happy the 23-year-old is gone. One Giant told Graziano that Moore’s gameday encouragement of both offensive and defensive players will be missed, and another said the third-year man could always be counted on to attend teammates’ charity events without asking for anything in return.
The atmosphere in the locker room was quiet after Moore’s release, per Graziano, who believes his ex-Giants teammates want things to go better for him in his next stop. There’s a chance the Giants and Moore could meet as foes this year, Graziano notes, as one of their remaining opponents – the Dolphins, Panthers, Vikings or Eagles – might land him.
More on Big Blue and a couple of AFC East teams:
- While the Giants’ Tom Coughlin may be past his prime, the recent work of general manager Jerry Reese hasn’t helped the head coach’s cause, submits Newsday’s Bob Glauder. The release of Moore, a third-round pick in 2013, is the latest check mark against Reese – whom Glauber believes has too often underwhelmed in the early and middle rounds of drafts over the last few years. Reese’s failure to hit on those picks has caught up to the Giants, which is a big reason why they’re 5-7.
- Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has gotten plenty of blame for the team’s disappointing season, but offensive coordinator Zac Taylor says the fourth-year man hasn’t “regressed in any way, shape, or form,” per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
- The Jets have two key defensive linemen scheduled to become free agents at year’s end. One is Muhammad Wilkerson, who’s among the best, most well-known defenders in the league. The other, Damon Harrison, doesn’t have Wilkerson’s name recognition, but he has performed brilliantly. That will make it difficult for the Jets to let Harrison go, opines Brian Costello of the New York Post. The 27-year-old currently grades out as the fifth-best run-stuffing interior D-lineman in the league this season, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
- Backup Dolphins tight end Brandon Williams broke a bone in his left foot and is likely to miss the rest of the season, head coach Dan Campbell said (Twitter link via ESPN’s James Walker).
NFC Notes: Gabbert, Draughn, Tulloch
A look at the latest from a couple of NFC teams:
- Most wrote 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert off after the former 10th overall pick’s failed tenure in Jacksonville from 2011-13, but he’s making the most of his current stint in San Francisco. The 26-year-old implies his struggles with the Jaguars were a blessing in disguise. “I would say I’m a better leader now for the experiences I’ve had in the last five years,” Gabbert stated, per Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group. As McDonald notes, Gabbert faced difficult circumstances with the Jags – including taking over as the starter before he was truly ready. This year is the first time Gabbert has garnered significant playing time since joining the 49ers last season, and he has put up solid numbers (63 percent completion rate, five touchdowns and three interceptions in four games). One prominent teammate – receiver Anquan Boldin – sees clear progress. “You’ve seen him the last couple of weeks. He’s been playing lights out,” Boldin said. “We’re happy to have him here, we enjoy playing with him and everybody on the team has confidence in him.”
- Linebacker Stephen Tulloch and the Lions’ defense have fared well since coordinator Teryl Austin decreased Tulloch’s role earlier in the season and started using him mostly as a run stopper. Despite the uptick in Tulloch’s play, his future beyond this season is uncertain. Because linebackers who have difficulty against the pass aren’t that valuable, the Lions could opt to cut the 10-year veteran after the season and save roughly $6MM on their cap, writes Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. Two of Tulloch’s biggest advocates – Austin and head coach Jim Caldwell – might be elsewhere in 2016, which would increase the likelihood of his days in Detroit ending.
- The 49ers plan to re-sign running back Shaun Draughn and let him compete for a roster spot next year, reports Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Injuries to Carlos Hyde, Reggie Bush and Mike Davis have enabled Draughn to take over the starting role over the last several games. Draughn hasn’t exactly dazzled as a ball carrier (3.3 yards per rush) during his four weeks as the team’s primary back, but he has averaged a respectable 85.5 total yards per game. Maiocco cites Draughn’s well-rounded game – including his ability on special teams – as the reason to keep him in the fold.
Raiders Sign Jamize Olawale To Three-Year Extension
WEDNESDAY, 10:52am: Having avoided restricted free agency this offseason, Olawale got a signing bonus of $760K on his new deal, with a $1.14MM roster bonus in 2016, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. According to Rapoport, the extension is worth $6MM in total.
TUESDAY, 4:51pm: The Raiders signed fullback/running back Jamize Olawale to a three-year contract extension Tuesday, according to the team’s website. Financial terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
Olawale, who went undrafted out of North Texas, joined the Raiders as a rookie in 2012 after they plucked him from the Cowboys’ practice squad. Olawale has since emerged as a key special teamer for the Raiders and has figured more into their offense this season, racking up career highs in touches (32) and total yards (180). He has also added a touchdown, giving him three for his career.