AFC Notes: Chiefs, Ridley, Ravens, Yanda
In spite of the Chiefs‘ slow start to the 2015 season, which has included some offensive struggles, head coach Andy Reid isn’t considering giving up play-calling duties on offense, writes Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. As Paylor observes, there would be precedent for such a decision, since Reid ceded the Eagles’ offensive play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg in 2006, and the move led to a five-game winning streak.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- Jets running back Stevan Ridley, who is eligible to begin practicing this week, is nearing a return, writes Newsday’s Kimberley A. Martin. Coming off a major knee injury, Ridley started the year on the PUP list, which means he can play as early as Week 7, though he’ll have to be moved to the 53-man roster before he can be active.
- Back in August, Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith announced that he’ll retire at the end of the 2015 season. However, given how poorly the year is playing out for Smith and his team, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com wonders if the veteran wideout will reconsider that stance, adding that Baltimore would “certainly welcome him back.”
- Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post has the breakdown on Marshal Yanda‘s new contract with the Ravens, which features a $9MM signing bonus and about $15.8MM in fully guaranteed money (plus another $2MM guaranteed for injury only).
- The fact that the Colts‘ botched fake punt on Sunday night made Indianapolis a national punchline likely won’t help Chuck Pagano‘s job security going forward, says Mike Wells of ESPN.com.
Bills Sign Jordan Mills; Marquise Goodwin To IR
The Bills have officially signed offensive tackle Jordan Mills from off the Lions’ practice squad, the team announced today in a press release. The signing, which was first reported yesterday, required a corresponding roster move, so the Bills have placed wide receiver Marquise Goodwin on injured reserve.
Mills, 24, started 29 games at right tackle for the Bears during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, but was cut by the team last month and has bounced around a little since then, spending time with the Cowboys and Lions. He figures to play a backup role in Buffalo, providing depth on the offensive line.
As for Goodwin, 2015 was another injury-plagued season for the young wideout, who has failed to make much of an impact since joining the Bills as a third-round pick in 2013. Before a hip injury landed him on IR, Goodwin caught just two balls for 24 yards this season, and returned a pair of kickoffs.
Lions To Place Zach Zenner On IR
4:39pm: The Lions will promote running back George Winn from the taxi squad to take Zenner’s place, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets.
11:46am: The Lions will be placing running back Zach Zenner on the injured reserve list at some point in the near future, head coach Jim Caldwell confirmed today. As ESPN’s Michael Rothstein details, Zenner suffered multiple cracked ribs and a partially collapsed lung on Sunday, and remains hospitalized for now.
Zenner, a promising rookie out of South Dakota State, earned a spot on the Lions’ roster out of camp, and saw some action behind Joique Bell, Ameer Abdullah, and Theo Riddick during the early going. For the season, Zenner has 60 rushing yards on 17 attempts, along with a pair of receptions.
Once Zenner officially lands on IR, the Lions will have an extra roster spot to either use on a running back or another position.
Extra Points: Relocation, Mariota, Hartley
With the race to Los Angeles heating up, the NFL announced today that the league will conduct public hearings later this month in St. Louis, San Diego, and Oakland to discuss possible relocation (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). The town hall meetings are meant to provide fans and community members in those cities an opportunity to ask questions and express views directly to the NFL before any decisions on relocation are made, according to the league’s press release.
As we wait to see how those meetings play out, let’s round up a few Monday odds and ends from across the NFL….
- Speaking to reporters, Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt confirmed today that quarterback Marcus Mariota suffered a sprained MCL on Sunday. However, Whisenhunt said that Mariota is walking fine, and the team will determine later this week whether or not he’ll have to miss any games (Twitter links via Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com).
- Former Saints and Steelers kicker Garrett Hartley is fully recovered from his hamstring injury and is receiving some interest, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. New Orleans made a kicking change, but the team opted for another free agent – Kai Forbath – rather than Hartley.
- If Colts owner Jim Irsay decides he wants to replace head coach Chuck Pagano, Peter King of TheMMQB.com expects Irsay to have interest in Sean Payton in the offseason, and adds that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get in touch with Jim Harbaugh as well. King doesn’t expect Harbaugh to leave Michigan, but thinks it would be worth seeing what his price would be.
- Per ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Browns cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu received $3MM today from his loss-of-value insurance policy. It’s the largest amount of money that a player has ever been paid on such a policy, which the former Oregon defensive back was able to collect because his draft stock was significantly hurt by an ACL injury he suffered in college.
Jermichael Finley Officially Retires
Former Packers tight end Jermichael Finley has officially retired from the NFL, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). As Schefter observes, the news doesn’t come as a surprise, given Finley’s injury history and the fact that there had been no word on his comeback attempt since 2014.
Finley, 28, was selected in the third round of the 2008 draft by the Packers, and spent the next six seasons with the team. During that stretch, Finley was frequently targeted by Aaron Rodgers, racking up 223 receptions for 2,785 yards and 20 touchdowns. Finley’s best year came in 2011, when he established career highs with 767 yards and eight TDs.
However, a 2013 neck injury derailed Finley’s career, and forced him into early retirement. About a year ago, we heard that the tight end had working out for five hours a day in the hopes of signing with an NFL team at some point. At that time though, despite showing progress through a series of MRIs and CAT scans, Finley wasn’t considered likely to return to the field.
Instead, the ex-Packer was moving forward to collect a $10MM insurance policy that he had filed in case of a career-ending injury. As Rand Getlin detailed in August 2014, it wasn’t as simple as Finley filing the claim and being handed $10MM, since at least one doctor medically cleared the tight end to return to action — that meant that the insurance company could argue the injury sustained by Finley wasn’t career-ending.
It’s not clear whether Finley has collected some or all of that insurance policy in the past year, but assuming the process is still ongoing, the fact that he has officially retired from the NFL should help move things forward.
Jets’ Quincy Enunwa Suspended Four Games
Jets wide receiver Quincy Enunwa has been suspended for the team’s next four games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, the NFL announced today (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). It’s not clear whether or not Enunwa appealed the suspension, but the league doesn’t announce penalties until after the appeal process is complete, so the wideout won’t have his ban reduced or dropped.
Enunwa, 23, joined the Jets in 2014 as a sixth-round pick out of Nebraska. He didn’t see any real regular-season action in his rookie year, but he has earned a few looks in the first few weeks of the 2015 season. Through five games, Enunwa has been targeted 17 times, catching eight balls for 94 yards. More than half of those targets – and receptions – came in Week 3, when he racked up 50 yards on five catches against the Eagles.
Enunwa was arrested following an alleged domestic violence incident right around the start of the 2014 NFL season. The wideout later had the charges against him dismissed, but the NFL still decided to hand out discipline after completing its own investigation.
By sitting out the next four games, Enunwa will miss a handful of intra-conference games, including a pair of divisional matchups — he’ll be sidelined for the Jets’ games against the Patriots, Raiders, Jaguars, and Bills.
South Notes: Mariota, Texans, Bucs, Titans
After taking a low hit to his knee on Sunday, Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota continued to play, so the Tennessee coaching staff is “cautiously optimistic” about the status of that knee, says Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. According to Florio, Mariota is undergoing an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury, and the club is hoping that it’s just an MCL issue, which can heal with rest.
Here’s more from out of the NFL’s South divisions:
- Texans safety Lonnie Ballentine will undergo surgery after dislocating his left knee and suffering significant ligament damage, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Ballentine’s 2015 season will be over, and he figures to land on injured reserve within the next few days.
- Two free agent fullbacks are auditioning for the Buccaneers today, according to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports, who tweets that ex-Giant Henry Hynoski and Emil Igwenagu are in town for the tryout.
- After being traded by the Titans prior to the season, Falcons guard Andy Levitre is hoping to show his old team that it “made a bad decision” in getting rid of him, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com writes. A source tells McClure that Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt was never really a fan of Levitre in Tennessee, but Falcons head coach says the veteran guard has been a “great addition” for Atlanta.
- Don’t expect the Titans to make a change at head coach or general manager during the season, says Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com.
- After head coach Gus Bradley said that his Jaguars need to “learn how to finish” games when they have a lead, one player tells Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union that “a lot of people will be looking for a job” if the club can’t figure that out. Jacksonville lost its fourth straight game on Sunday, falling to 1-5 on the season.
Saints To Cut Zach Hocker, Sign Kai Forbath
10:57am: The Saints will be signing Forbath to replace Hocker, according to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (Twitter link).
Forbath, 28, made 94.4% of his field goals (17 of 18) in his first season with Washington back in 2012, and while he never matched that accuracy mark in subsequent years, his career percentage remains a solid 87.0%.
Forbath was cut after Week 1 this season by Washington, but has worked out for several teams since then. He was said to be the second choice for both the Eagles, who signed Caleb Sturgis, and the Texans, who signed Nick Novak, so it seemed like it would just be a matter of time before he found a new home.
10:51am: The Saints are cutting ties with Zach Hocker, and will seemingly have a new kicker in place for their next game, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Because he’s a rookie, Hocker will have to clear waivers before he officially becomes a free agent.
Hocker, a seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft, earned his first starting job this year in New Orleans. However, he was a little shaky during his first six games as the team’s kicker. Hocker missed four of his 13 field goal tries, including three from less than 50 yards, and failed to convert one of his extra-point attempts as well. The 24-year-old’s two field goal misses during last Thursday’s win over the Falcons appear to have sealed his fate.
Earlier this month, New Orleans auditioned a handful of free agent kickers, though the team elected to stick with Hocker at that point. Randy Bullock, Kai Forbath, and Kyle Brindza all got looks from the Saints at that time, and all three remain free agents, so I’d expect them to be among the first players considered by the club now that Hocker is no longer in the mix.
PUP, NFI Players Soon Eligible To Practice
Week 6 of the NFL season will come to an end after Monday night’s game between the Giants and Eagles, and when teams begin preparing for Week 7, many clubs could be welcoming injured players back to practice. Six weeks into the NFL season, players who were placed on the physically unable to perform list or the non-football injury list prior to Week 1’s games will be eligible to return to the practice field.
Of course, just because those players are able to return to practice doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be healthy enough to do so. Players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player currently on the PUP list could return to the field for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest.
The rules for NFI players are similar to those for PUP players. If a player on either reserve list doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, his 2015 season will officially be over.
Here are the players currently on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list who can begin practicing as soon as this Tuesday:
- Atlanta Falcons: T Lamar Holmes
- Baltimore Ravens: TE Dennis Pitta
- Buffalo Bills: CB Cam Thomas
- Chicago Bears: WR Kevin White
- Cincinnati Bengals: LB Vontaze Burfict, LB Sean Porter
- Dallas Cowboys: OL Chaz Green
- Minnesota Vikings: CB Josh Robinson
- New England Patriots: LB Dane Fletcher, DT Chris Jones, WR Brandon LaFell
- New York Giants: T Will Beatty
- New York Jets: RB Stevan Ridley
- Pittsburgh Steelers: T Mike Adams
- San Francisco 49ers: C/G Daniel Kilgore
- Seattle Seahawks: CB Jeremy Lane, WR Paul Richardson
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: DT Akeem Spence
And here are the players currently on their teams’ non-football injury or illness lists, who are also eligible to begin practicing this Tuesday:
- Arizona Cardinals: WR Damond Powell
- Buffalo Bills: CB Leodis McKelvin
- Cincinnati Bengals: T Cedric Ogbuehi
- Cleveland Browns: DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, TE Randall Telfer, RB Glenn Winston
- Dallas Cowboys: LB Mark Nzeocha
- Houston Texans: T David Quessenberry
- Kansas City Chiefs: QB Tyler Bray
- San Francisco 49ers: WR DeAndre Smelter
- Seattle Seahawks: DT Jesse Williams
In addition to monitoring players on the PUP and NFI lists, it’s worth keeping an eye on players who have been placed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Teams can use this IR-DTR spot on one player per season, placing him on the injured reserve list without necessarily ruling him out for the season. As we explained in an earlier post, players given this designation can begin practicing after six weeks and can return after eight weeks.
That means that a player who was placed on IR-DTR prior to Week 1 can begin practicing on Tuesday, though he won’t be eligible to return to game action until Week 9. A player who was placed on IR-DTR after Week 1 will have to wait until next Tuesday – October 27 – to return to practice, while other IR-DTR players will have to wait until November to practice.
Here’s the list of players currently on IR-DTR who can begin practicing as soon as Tuesday:
- Baltimore Ravens: DE Brent Urban
- Cleveland Browns: CB Charles Gaines
- Detroit Lions: CB Alex Carter
- Miami Dolphins: RB Jay Ajayi
- Minnesota Vikings: C John Sullivan
- New England Patriots: C Bryan Stork
- New York Jets: CB Dee Milliner
- Pittsburgh Steelers: C Maurkice Pouncey
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: T Demar Dotson
- Tennessee Titans: RB David Cobb
Bills Notes: Harvin, Kromer, Defense
Coming off yet another loss at Ralph Wilson Stadium, where they’re now 1-3 this season, the Bills will aim to get back on track overseas in Week 7. However, it doesn’t appear Percy Harvin will be able to play in the team’s game in London, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
As Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets, there are several Bills players whose status for that London game against the Jaguars is uncertain, so we’ll have to see how the team addresses its roster — typically, last-minute roster changes on the week of a London game are tricky, so the Bills figure to make a roster change or two sooner rather than later, if necessary.
Here are a few more Bills-related items:
- Buffalo offensive line coach Aaron Kromer is scheduled to return from his suspension this week, tweets Schefter. Kromer had been banned six games by the team for an alleged offseason altercation.
- Mario Williams said after Sunday’s loss to the Bengals that he “probably set a [personal] record on dropping [into coverage],” and the results weren’t particularly great. With some Bills defenders hinting at confusion over the scheme, John Kryk of the Toronto Sun suggests Rex Ryan risks losing the locker room if he doesn’t start getting more aggressive with his defensive playcalling.
- General manager Doug Whaley has yet to discuss his quarterback situation with the media, and Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News is looking forward to hearing why the GM traded away Matt Cassel and “forced [EJ] Manuel on his coaches as the No. 2.”