CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens Benched For First Series Of Week 11; Latest On Pickens’ Future
NOVEMBER 20: Lamb revealed on Thursday (via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News) that he and Pickens were disciplined for missing curfew the night before the game. The two were out late at Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
NOVEMBER 18: Dallas rolled to a 33-16 win in Las Vegas on Monday, but the game started oddly for the Cowboys. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer left the Cowboys’ top two wide receivers, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, on the bench for the team’s first offensive series. Both players ended up making major contributions in the Cowboys’ victory, but it was initially unclear why they didn’t start.
Owner Jerry Jones addressed the situation afterward (links via Jon Machota of The Athletic), saying Schottenheimer’s decision “had to do with meeting type discipline.” Jones added that Lamb and Pickens “had a late problem there.”
Lamb declined to discuss the matter on Monday, while Pickens said the brief benching had to do with “certain personnel” (via Machota).
Regardless of what exactly happened, it quickly became water under the bridge for Schottenheimer. The first-year HC was effusive when speaking about the receiving tandem after the game (via Todd Archer of ESPN).
Schottenheimer said that “[Lamb and Pickens] literally jump-started the offense when they got back in. They didn’t hang their heads, didn’t do any of that stuff. That’s why I love those guys, man.”
Lamb had a strong night, catching five passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. Pickens produced all-world numbers with nine grabs, 144 yards, and a score. They accounted for more than half of quarterback Dak Prescott‘s 25 completions and 210 of his 268 passing yards.
The Cowboys already have Lamb under wraps for the next few seasons, having signed the star WR1 to a four-year, $136MM extension in August 2024. Pickens’ future is up in the air, though, as he remains on track to reach free agency in the offseason.
Pickens had some behind-the-scenes issues, including with punctuality, in Pittsburgh. The Steelers then decided to move on from Pickens in the offseason, trading him and a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Cowboys for a 2026 third-rounder and a 2027 fifth-rounder.
Aside from Schottenheimer’s minor disciplinary measure on Monday, there hasn’t been any reported drama involving Pickens since he got to Dallas. On the field, the 24-year-old is easily on pace for the best season of his career. He ranks second in the NFL in receiving yards (908), tied for third in TDs (seven), and 11th in catches (58).
Pickens is playing his way into a sizable multiyear contract, especially if he hits the open market. However, the Cowboys could place the franchise tag on Pickens if they don’t reach an agreement before March. That would cost around $29MM, and it’s reportedly an avenue the Cowboys will strongly consider. Jones seems prepared to keep Pickens one way or other.
Asked if the Cowboys could build a balanced roster with Lamb, Pickens, and a $60MM defensive tackle trio (Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa, and Kenny Clark) eating up an enormous amount of cap space, Jones told 105.3 The Fan, “Yes. Yes.”
The Cowboys will enter the offseason needing to clear out roughly $47MM just to get back to even, per Over the Cap. While Jones seems unfazed, he’ll have work to do to open up spending room to retain Pickens and address other needs on the roster.
Browns’ Shedeur Sanders To Start In Week 12
With Dillon Gabriel in concussion protocol, the 2-8 Browns will turn to their third starting quarterback of the season in Week 12. Fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders will get the nod against the Raiders on Sunday, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced.
Gabriel suffered his injury in last Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, paving the way for Sanders’ NFL debut. He completed 4 of 16 passes for 47 yards and an interception in relief of Gabriel, a third-round rookie who has struggled mightily since taking over in Week 5.
The Browns named Gabriel their starter after trading Joe Flacco to the Bengals on Oct. 7. The left-hander has tossed seven touchdowns against two interceptions in eight games, but he has posted a subpar 59.2 completion percentage and an 80.8 passer rating. His 30.9 QBR ranks 32nd in the NFL.
Stefanski said Gabriel’s health is “improving,” but not quickly enough for him to play against another 2-8 team this weekend. Sanders will get all the first-team reps in practice this week, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. That should give Sanders a better chance to succeed than he had when he came off the bench in Week 11.
There may not have been a more polarizing prospect in last spring’s draft than Sanders. Many expected him to go in the first round, but the former Colorado standout fell all the way to pick 144. Even though the Browns took Gabriel two rounds earlier, they couldn’t pass on Sanders’ value in Round 5. They traded up for the 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, which came after some teams reportedly removed Sanders from their draft boards. Various clubs had concerns that Sanders didn’t take his pre-draft interviews seriously, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote in May.
While the Ravens were prepared to use the 141st pick on Sanders, he was reportedly uninterested in joining a team with an established QB. AFC North rival Cleveland presented a clearer path to playing time than Baltimore, which has two-time MVP Lamar Jackson entrenched as its signal-caller.
Sanders will now have at least one week to make his case to serve as the Browns’ starter for the rest of the season. Poised to finish near the bottom of the league standings for the second straight year, the Browns will enter the draft armed with two first-round selections (one acquired from Jacksonville). If the Browns aren’t convinced they have the answer in Gabriel, Sanders, or the injured Deshaun Watson when April rolls around, they could use a high pick on a QB.
Cardinals To Stick With GM Monti Ossenfort, HC Jonathan Gannon?
At 3-7, the Cardinals are headed for a last-place finish in the NFC West. Odds are they’ll miss the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. There may be questions about the job security of general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon in the coming weeks as a result.
The Cardinals hired Ossenfort, previously a Titans executive, in January 2023. He picked Gannon, formerly the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, a month later. Arizona has gone a woeful 15-29 in two-plus seasons under its current regime.
Considering the team’s lack of progress, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes that “opinions are split on whether Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill will take action.” ESPN colleague Dan Graziano expects Ossenfort and Gannon to remain in place, though.
Both Fowler and Graziano note that the Cardinals haven’t been in position to draft a franchise QB under Ossenfort and Gannon. Bidwill could give them the opportunity to do so in April.
The Cardinals’ present leadership inherited former No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray when they arrived in Arizona. However, Murray’s time in the desert could soon run out. Statistically, the seventh-year man has endured an up-and-down career with the Cardinals. From a team standpoint, the Cardinals’ lone playoff appearance under Murray yielded disastrous results in a wild-card round loss to the Rams in January 2022. The Cardinals have finished below .500 in every season since then.
A season after helping the Cardinals to the playoffs, Murray tore his ACL in Week 14 of the 2022 campaign. The recovery process limited him to eight games in 2023. Murray bounced back to play his first 17-game slate last season, but a mid-foot sprain has held him to five appearances this year. Murray has been on IR since Nov. 5. He won’t play again until Week 14 at the earliest.
With veteran backup Jacoby Brissett performing well in Murray’s place, it’s reportedly possible the latter has played his last snap with the Cardinals. Murray is still on the five-year, $230.5MM deal Arizona gave him in 2022, and he’s guaranteed $36.8MM in 2026. His $19.5MM salary for 2027 will vest on March 22, 2026. The Cardinals could trade or release Murray before then, which would enable them to escape that portion of the 28-year-old’s contract.
If the Cardinals move on from Murray ahead of next year’s draft, it would enable Ossenfort and Gannon to devote their attention to selecting his successor. Clayton Tune, a 2023 fifth-rounder who’s now with the Packers, is the only QB the Cardinals have drafted since they brought in Ossenfort and Gannon. Assuming those two stay in place, that figures to change next spring.
Bengals Designate Mike Gesicki For Return
The Bengals announced that they have designated tight end Mike Gesicki to return from IR. The team also opened safety Daijahn Anthony‘s practice window. The Bengals will have 21 days to activate both players.
There’s a chance Cincinnati will get Gesicki back as early as this Sunday against New England. Head coach Zac Taylor said Gesicki is “ready to hit the ground running” after missing four games with a pectoral injury (via Ben Baby of ESPN).
Gesicki began his career with the Dolphins and spent 2023 with the Patriots before joining the Bengals. They inked him to a one-year, $3.25MM deal heading into 2024. It proved to be a shrewd investment, as Gesicki caught 65 passes for 665 yards and two touchdowns during a 17-game season.
The Bengals were impressed enough with Gesicki’s 2024 output to give him a raise. They re-signed the 6-foot-6, 245-pounder to a three-year, $25.5MM pact last March.
Before going on IR, Gesicki was unable to approach last year’s production. He opened this season catching just eight of 16 targets for 61 yards in six games, though Gesicki barely worked with Joe Burrow during that stretch. The franchise quarterback suffered a toe injury in Week 2 and hasn’t returned yet, but he’s likely to come back in the next couple of weeks.
Gesicki has also barely played with the Bengals’ current starting QB, Joe Flacco, who debuted with the team the week the tight end sustained his injury. If Gesicki takes the field this week, he’ll provide Flacco another target with No. 1 wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase serving a one-game suspension.
The Bengals haven’t gotten what they expected from Gesicki this year, but fellow tight end Noah Fant has performed well. The late-July free agent signing has secured 30 of 34 targets for 256 yards and three TDs. Gesicki will rejoin Fant and blocking specialist Drew Sample as Cincinnati’s top three TEs when the team activates him.
Anthony, a seventh-round pick in 2024, appeared in 13 games as a rookie. Almost all of his snaps (168 of 179) came on special teams. The Bengals placed him on IR with a return designation when they made their final cuts on Aug. 26. Anthony’s hamstring injury wasn’t expected to shelve him for long, but the 25-year-old has missed all 10 of the Bengals’ games so far.
Rams Place Rob Havenstein, Tyler Higbee, Quentin Lake On IR
The Rams are losing a trio of key contributors for at least four games apiece. The team has placed right tackle Rob Havenstein, tight end Tyler Higbee, and safety Quentin Lake on IR, head coach Sean McVay announced (via Sarah Barshop of ESPN). McVay is hopeful all three will return this season.
Lake’s IR placement comes as no surprise after it was revealed Wednesday that he underwent elbow surgery. Havenstein played 100% of offensive snaps in a win over the Seahawks last Sunday, but McVay said he’s dealing with knee and ankle issues. Higbee suffered an ankle injury of his own against Seattle.
Havenstein’s ankle issue kept him out of three games earlier this season. When healthy enough to play in 2025, the 11th-year Ram has continued to serve as a full-time starter. Havenstein has started in all 148 regular-season games since the then-St. Louis Rams picked him in the second round of the 2015 draft.
Warren McClendon, who has made three starts this year, is likely to step in for Havenstein again. Meanwhile, the Rams will turn to tight ends Davis Allen, Colby Parkinson, and Terrance Ferguson to pick up the slack in Higbee’s absence.
Higbee, who has totaled 20 catches, 190 yards, and two touchdowns in nine games, leads Rams TEs with 318 offensive snaps. Allen (293) and Parkinson (248) aren’t far behind. Those two have combined for 28 receptions, 237 yards, and five scores. Ferguson was a second-round pick in last spring’s draft, but the rookie from Oregon hasn’t been a significant contributor so far. While Ferguson has averaged a whopping 27.6 yards per catch, he has only picked up five grabs through his first eight games.
Thanks in part to Havenstein, Higbee, and Lake, the Rams have gotten off to an 8-2 start. They’re right behind the Eagles, also 8-2, for the No.1 seed in the NFC. Aside from the NFC West rival Cardinals in Week 14, the Rams will face nothing but playoff contenders (the Buccaneers, Panthers, and Lions) during their four-game stretch without those three players.
Cardinals Open RB Trey Benson’s Practice Window, Sign P Matt Haack
A knee injury has kept Cardinals running back Trey Benson out for most of the season, but a return is on the horizon. The Cardinals opened his practice window on Wednesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. They’ll have 21 days to activate him from IR.
Benson totaled 29 carries and 160 yards (5.5 YPC) in four games before landing on the shelf on Oct. 1. The 2024 third-round pick went down the week after the Cardinals lost starting running back James Conner to a season-ending foot injury.
With Benson and Conner out of commission, the Cardinals have turned to Zonovan Knight, Emari Demercado, and Michael Carter as their top three backs. Knight and Carter have each averaged under 3.5 yards per carry on a combined 93 attempts.
Demercado has totaled just 31 carries, but he has managed an outstanding 7.8 yards per rush. However, he’ll miss this Sunday’s game against the Jaguars with an ankle injury. It’s unclear whether Benson will be available to help fill the void.
While Benson’s Week 12 status is up in the air, the Cardinals are guaranteed to debut a new punter. After cutting Pat O’Donnell on Tuesday, the team signed veteran Matt Haack to its active roster on Wednesday, according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN. Haack has played for five teams since his career began in 2017. His most recent action came over four games with the Giants last season. The 31-year-old owns a career average of 44.2 yards per punt with a net of 39.7.
Haack will be the third punter of 2025 for Arizona, which placed starter Blake Gillikin on IR with a back injury on Oct. 11. The Arizona State alumnus spent part of the 2023 offseason with the Cardinals. He tried out with the Cardinals when they were looking for Gillikin’s replacement, but they signed O’Donnell instead.
Falcons To Activate LB Divine Deablo From IR
The Falcons opened linebacker Divine Deablo‘s 21-day practice window on Monday, but he won’t need the full three weeks to return from IR. The team will activate Deablo on Wednesday, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Head coach Raheem Morris said he expects Deablo to play on Sunday against the Saints.
Deablo went down with a fractured left forearm in a loss to the 49ers in Week 7, the beginning of a ruinous skid for the Falcons. That was the first of five straight defeats for Atlanta, which has fallen to 3-7. It’s unlikely the team will rally into playoff contention, especially with starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. set to undergo season-ending ACL surgery.
The 2025 campaign has turned into a massive disappointment for the Falcons, who entered it hoping to push for an NFC South title. Deablo was an obvious bright spot before he suffered his injury, however.
A former Raider, the 27-year-old Deablo has started in each of his first six games as a Falcon and notched 24 tackles, four passes defensed, and 0.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus grades Deablo’s performance fourth among 81 qualifying linebackers. The Falcons couldn’t have asked for more when they signed Deablo to a two-year, $14MM contract last March.
Atlanta’s defense ranked second in the NFL in yards and eighth in scoring at the time of Deablo’s injury. The unit has fallen to 16th and 19th in those categories. Deablo’s absence obviously hasn’t been the sole reason for such a drastic decline, but it hasn’t helped. JD Bertrand and Ronnie Harrison have been defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich‘s main Deablo replacements over the past several weeks. Now that he’s returning, Deablo should slot back in alongside Kaden Elliss as the Falcons’ top two LBs.
Jets Bench QB Justin Fields; Tyrod Taylor To Start In Week 12
NOVEMBER 19: Glenn confirmed on Wednesday that Taylor, not Fields, would start in Baltimore on Sunday.
When asked why he made the call, Glenn responded, “Because I wanted to,” per ESPN’s Rich Cimini. While he may be continuing a somewhat adversarial relationship with the New York press corps, he may also be signaling that he, not notoriously meddlesome owner Woody Johnson, made the decision to bench Fields for Taylor.
NOVEMBER 17: The Jets are making a change at quarterback. Tyrod Taylor will start over Justin Fields in Week 12 against the Ravens, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports.
The Jets signed Fields, previously with the Bears and Steelers, to a two-year, $40MM contract last offseason. The former first-round pick got off to a solid start in a Week 1 loss to the Steelers, but his production has nosedived since then.
Owner Woody Johnson publicly criticized Fields’ performance after a Week 7 loss to the Panthers. Expectations were that Taylor would take over in the wake of Johnson’s scathing remarks, but a knee injury temporarily prevented that from happening.
At 0-7 when Johnson called out Fields, the Jets proceeded to win back-to-back games. Fields threw for 244 yards in a 39-38 victory over the Bengals. He managed just 54 in a 27-20 win over the Browns the next week, though a tremendous special teams showing helped make up for it.
Even though Fields finally strung together a couple of wins, last Thursday’s outing was enough to convince first-year head coach Aaron Glenn to go in another direction. In a 27-14 loss to the AFC East rival Patriots, Fields went 15 of 26 for 116 yards and a touchdown. As has typically been the case, the mobile Fields was more impressive on the ground, totaling 67 yards and a TD on 11 rushes.
Fields will head to the bench with a 62.7% completion rate, 1,259 yards (6.2 YPA), seven TDs, and an interception through nine games. He has added 383 more yards (5.4 per carry) and four TDs as a runner, but his 37.7 QBR ranks 30th in the NFL. The Jets are last in the league in passing and 25th in scoring.
Regardless of whether Fields plays again this year, the Jets will have to determine his future in the offseason. He’s owed a guaranteed $10MM in 2026, and releasing him would add $22MM in dead cap. They’re already on the hook for $35MM in dead money for next year after releasing Fields’ predecessor, Aaron Rodgers, last offseason.
Now that he’s taking over for Fields, Taylor will face the Ravens 14 years after he began his career with them as a 2011 sixth-round pick from Virginia Tech. The 36-year-old has appeared in games with six other teams since then. Taylor made one start earlier this year, a Week 3 loss to the Buccaneers, while filling in for an injured Fields. He has completed 62.3% of passes for 379 yards, three TDs, and three INTs in three appearances this season.
Colts Designate CB Charvarius Ward, LB Jaylon Carlies For Return
The AFC South-leading Colts are off to an 8-2 start and vying for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Their chances to secure the AFC’s top spot could increase if they welcome back corner Charvarius Ward and linebacker Jaylon Carlies in the coming weeks. The team announced that it has designated both players to return from IR.
The Colts will have 21 days to activate Ward and Carlies. Ward has been on the shelf with a concussion since Oct. 18, while Carlies hasn’t played at all this season as a result of an ankle injury. He landed on IR with a designation for return in August.
After spending three seasons in San Francisco, Ward joined the Colts on a three-year, $60MM contract last March. Two concussions have limited the former Pro Bowler to four games (all starts) this season, but he has thrived when healthy.
Pro Football Focus rated Ward as the league’s second-best cornerback at the time of his IR placement. The 29-year-old has recorded 13 tackles and three passes defensed this season.
Just under three weeks after they put Ward on IR, the Colts swung a blockbuster deal for Jets star corner Sauce Gardner at the Nov. 4 trade deadline. If Ward comes back this year, he will join Gardner and nickel corner Kenny Moore to comprise one of the league’s best trios on paper. Gardner led Colts CBs in snaps in his debut with the team in Week 10, a 31-25 win over the Falcons in Berlin. Mekhi Blackmon started opposite Gardner on the outside.
With the Colts coming off a bye, Ward could return as early as this Sunday for a highly anticipated matchup with the Chiefs – one of his former teams. Carlies may join him as a reinforcement.
A 2024 fifth-round pick from Missouri, where he played safety, Carlies started in six of 10 appearances and made 36 tackles as a rookie. Although Carlies missed seven games with a leg injury in 2024 and underwent offseason shoulder surgery, the Colts expected him to work as a full-time starter alongside Zaire Franklin this year. Carlies’ ankle issue has prevented him from factoring in, however.
Germaine Pratt, who signed with the Colts in October, has taken over as a starter next to Franklin. Even if Pratt continues to hold down that spot, Carlies’ comeback would give defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo another intriguing option.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/25
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the NFL:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed off Titans’ practice squad: CB Sam Webb
- Placed on IR: CB Dom Jones
- Waived: WR Kaden Davis
Dallas Cowboys
- Activated from IR: DT Perrion Winfrey
- Waived: LB Damone Clark
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived: S Chris Smith
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on IR: WR Calvin Ridley (story)
- Signed to active roster: WR James Proche
Washington Commanders
- Waived: WR Jacoby Jones
After winning the Senior Bowl MVP in 2022, Winfrey entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick of the Browns a few months later. He totaled 22 tackles and a half-sack in 13 games as a rookie. That proved to be Winfrey’s lone season in Cleveland, which waived him a few months after a misdemeanor assault charge in 2023.
Winfrey played in one game with the Jets in his second season before a stint with the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions last year. The 290-pounder earned All-UFL honors, leading the Cowboys to sign him in June, but a back injury forced him to IR in early September. Now that they’ve brought Winfrey back, the Cowboys have just three activations remaining.
Winfrey’s return comes at the expense of Clark, a Cowboy since they took him in the fifth round in 2022. The former LSU Tiger was a 17-game starter who racked up 109 tackles in 2023, but his playing time drastically fell off after that. While Clark appeared in eight of Dallas’ games this year and made two starts, 138 of his 217 snaps came on special teams.
The Cowboys swung a trade with the Bengals for linebacker Logan Wilson earlier this month and recently welcomed back fellow LB DeMarvion Overshown from injury. With those in-season reinforcements in the fold, the Cowboys deemed Clark expendable.
Nikhil Mehta contributed to this article.