AFC Notes: Colts, Decker, Raiders, McCown
Prior to the season, we heard some reports about potential tension and unease between Colts general manager Ryan Grigson and head coach Chuck Pagano, and rumors of that possible rift have only intensified with the team off to a disappointing 0-2 start.
As Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk observes, a comment made by Pagano about the team’s offensive line struggles was viewed as the head coach coming down hard on Andrew Luck, but it could also interpreted as a shot at Grigson. Mike Wells of ESPN.com notes that it was Grigson who decided not to completely address the offensive line in the offseason, leaving the unit as one of the biggest question marks on the team heading into the regular season.
Meanwhile, Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link) hears from several sources that the Grigson/Pagano rift is a result of the two men having different agendas, with the GM focused on player development and the head coach looking to win now.
As we wait to see if the Colts can bounce back from their slow start, let’s check in on a few other teams from across the AFC….
- Jets wide receiver Eric Decker suffered a knee injury in last night’s game vs. the Colts, but he was told that he won’t require surgery on it, and that it may be a PCL issue, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). Decker, who is having an MRI today, said he’ll be smart about it and won’t rush back, so the Jets could add another receiver if they expect the veteran to miss some time. The club auditioned wideout Corey Washington today, per Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (Twitter link), but Washington said he isn’t saying with the Jets at this time (Twitter link).
- Former Rams draft pick Daryl Richardson will try out for the Raiders, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets.
- The Jaguars have a workout on their schedule for ex-Bengals linebacker Jayson DiManche this week, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Since being waived off Cincinnati’s injured reserve list earlier in the month, DiManche has also tried out for the Browns.
- Speaking of those Browns, their veteran quarterback, Josh McCown, remains in the concussion protocol for now, but he could be as cleared as soon as Wednesday. If he is, he’ll receive strong consideration for the club’s starting role, writes Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
- Even if new acquisition Will Davis doesn’t help Baltimore immediately, the move sends a message to the Ravens‘ cornerbacks that Sunday’s performance was unacceptable, Clifton Brown of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. On Monday, Baltimore sent a seventh-round pick to the Dolphins for the former third-round choice. As Brown notes, Jimmy Smith, Lardarius Webb, and Kyle Arrington all had bad moments Sunday despite playing very well Week 1 against the Broncos.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Jags Re-Sign Walters, Put Greene On IR-DTR
The Jaguars have made a pair of related roster moves today, re-signing wide receiver Bryan Walters to their 53-man roster and placing WR/KR Rashad Greene on injured reserve with the designation to return, according to the team (Twitter link).
Greene, who had been dealing with a back issue earlier in the season, sustained a thumb injury in Sunday’s win over the Dolphins, and the banged-up rookie will now be sidelined for six weeks from practice and eight weeks from game action. The former Florida State wideout was the Jaguars’ fifth-round pick this past May, coming off the board 139th overall.
As for Walters, he initially signed with Jacksonville back in March, but was cut last week by the team. Having served as the Seahawks’ primary punt returner in 2014, Walters figures to contribute in the return game for the Jaguars as long as he remains on the roster. He also may fill in as a slot receiver on offense.
Jacksonville becomes the 15th NFL team to use its IR-DTR slot this season, as our complete list shows.
Extra Points: Cowboys, Brees, Pryor, Hampton
Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, former NFL receiver Terrell Owens said he and his agent had contacted the Cowboys to let them know that the former Pro Bowler would be an option if the team was interested in his services. Of course, at age 41, Owens knows he probably won’t get a call from Jerry Jones, but the former Cowboy says he’d love the chance to play for the team again, after things didn’t go totally smoothly the last time.
“We all know what happened when I was there, and there were some things said where it kind of maybe fractured the relationship between myself and [Jason] Witten and [Tony] Romo,” Owens said, per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “Time has passed, and hopefully, they know that I’ve moved on beyond that. Maybe, hopefully, they have. But for me, it’s all about giving myself an opportunity. That’s all I ever really wanted.”
As Owens waits on that opportunity that almost certainly isn’t coming, let’s round up some more odds and ends from around the NFL…
- Dr. James Andrews confirmed today that Saints quarterback Drew Brees doesn’t have a tear in the rotator cuff of his throwing shoulder, a source tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Brees’ official status is still up in the air, but he’ll make a push to try to play in Week 3 for New Orleans.
- Last night, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweeted that quarterback-turned-wide-receiver Terrelle Pryor was set to visit the Seahawks on Tuesday. However, Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post says (via Twitter) that the Jets are working out the former Brown today. While Pryor’s schedule isn’t exactly clear, it appears he’ll audition for both the Seahawks and Jets this week.
- Free agent cornerback Victor Hampton, who last played for the Ravens, has been suspended for two weeks by the NFL, stemming from a DUI arrest, tweets Wilson. Hampton, who also spent time with the Giants last year, has yet to play in a regular season game, and likely won’t do so anytime soon now that he has run into off-field trouble.
- Wilson also passes along updates on a couple workouts, reporting (via Twitter) that the Jets are auditioning former Ravens quarterback Bryn Renner, while the Broncos are taking a look at ex-Falcons tackle Matt Huffer.
- After playing without representation for some time, Washington running back Alfred Morris, who is in a contract year, has hired agent Sean Stellato of SES Sports, tweets Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal.
- Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap takes a look at a few players who improved their stocks with their performances over the weekend, as well as those whose play had a negative impact on their value. Unsurprisingly, Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford is among the players who saw his stock drop a little in Week 2, according to Fitzgerald.
Josh Freeman To Play In FXFL
After being let go by the Dolphins during the team’s end-of-preseason cutdown to 53 players, Josh Freeman will throw his next professional pass in a non-NFL league. The Fall Experimental Football League, a professional football minor league, announced today (via Twitter) that Freeman will suit up for the FXFL’s Brooklyn Bolts this season.
Freeman, 27, was Tampa Bay’s full-time starting quarterback from 2009 to 2012, but saw the wheels come off in 2013 and was cut by the Buccaneers. In his first four seasons, the former 17th overall pick completed 58.8% of his passes and tossed 78 touchdowns to go with 63 interceptions, as well as throwing for more than 4,000 yards in 2012. Over the last couple years, he has bounced around from team to team, unable to find a permanent NFL home.
With Ryan Tannehill and Matt Moore ahead of him on the depth chart in Miami this summer, Freeman was never considered a good bet to make the Dolphins’ regular season roster, barring an injury to one of the top guys, or an unexpectedly productive preseason by Freeman. The former Bucs starter completed 13 of 22 passes against his former team in Miami’s preseason finale, throwing no touchdowns and two interceptions, sealing his fate.
The Bolts’ season gets underway on October 2, so Freeman will be back in action soon. The terms of his FXFL contract aren’t known, but I expect he’ll have the freedom to work out for NFL clubs later this season, if there are any teams interested.
Cowboys To Place Tony Romo On IR-DTR
TUESDAY, 11:08am: The Cowboys will place Romo on IR with the designation to return today, according to Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. Romo will miss at least seven games, plus Dallas’ bye, and would be eligible to return on November 22 against the Dolphins.
MONDAY, 8:48am: After fracturing his clavicle yesterday, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is expected to miss a good chunk of the 2015 season, with many reports estimating his recovery timetable at about eight weeks. As Adam Schefter tweets, ESPN’s Dr. Mark Adickes is the latest to indicate that he expects Romo to undergo surgery and to be sidelined for about eight weeks.
Given that projected timeline, the Cowboys will likely place Romo on injured reserve with the designation to return, assuming a CT scan confirms the team’s initial diagnosis, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.com. Using the IR-DTR spot on the Pro Bowl quarterback would mean he’d be unable to practice for six weeks and unable to play in a game for eight weeks.
Nearly half the teams in the NFL have already used their IR-DTR slot for the season, as each club only gets to use it on a single player. However, it remains unused for the Cowboys, as the team has opted not to put Dez Bryant on IR-DTR, despite indications that he could be out for at least eight weeks himself.
With Romo out, Brandon Weeden appears likely to start for the Cowboys over the next month or two, but the team will have to add at least one more signal-caller to the mix. Dallas is currently carrying two QBs – Kellen Moore and Jameill Showers – on its practice squad, and one of them could be promoted. However, the club may also want to look for outside help, perhaps targeting a more established veteran in case Weeden struggles or is injured himself.
NFC Notes: Cutler, Brees, Cowboys, Eagles
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will miss at least two weeks with a hamstring injury, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Backup Jimmy Clausen will now start in Cutler’s absence, but one has to wonder if Chicago might look out-of-house for veteran reinforcements if Cutler is out for an extended period of time. At the very least, David Fales could be in line for a promotion from the practice squad.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- Saints quarterback Drew Brees believes there’s a reasonable possibility he overcomes his rotator cuff injury enough to play in Week 3, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter links). It will require an aggressive rehab process, and Brees and the Saints will have to see how the injury responds to that rehab and treatment.
- The Cowboys are still mulling whether or not to use their IR-DTR slot on Tony Romo, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network. In the meantime, Dallas is auditioning several signal-callers. In addition to the names we heard reported yesterday, McLeod Bethel-Thompson will also work out for the club, per Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan (Twitter link).
- The Eagles plan on bringing quarterback Stephen Morris, who was just released from the 53-man roster, back to their practice squad, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Morris will have to clear waivers today first.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Giants Sign Kenrick Ellis, Cut Preston Parker
9:54am: The team has now officially confirmed the pair of transactions.
9:50am: The team has yet to make an official announcement, but it appears the corresponding move for the Giants’ addition of Ellis will be to cut wide receiver Preston Parker — Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that Parker is being let go.
After catching 36 balls for the Giants a year ago, Parker has five receptions through the club’s first two games of 2015, but has racked up just as many dropped passes, many of them costly. The wideout doesn’t have any bonus money on his contract, so his release won’t leave New York with any additional dead money on the cap.
9:43am: After surviving the initial cutdown to 53 players, defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis was a surprise roster casualty for the Giants earlier this month, when the team needed to clear room for a pair of waiver claims. Two and a half weeks later, however, Ellis is returning to the Giants, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com, who reports that the team is re-signing the ex-Jet to the 53-man roster.
Ellis, 27, signed a one-year deal with the Giants earlier this year that included $500K in guarantees, so the club has already absorbed that same total in dead money for the upcoming season. His new pact will presumably be non-guaranteed. As a reserve for the Jets during the first four years of his career, Ellis appeared in 47 games, starting five.
As Raanan points out, Giants defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins (hamstring), Jay Bromley (knee) and Markus Kuhn (knee) all showed up on the club’s initial injury report this week, so with a Thursday night game against Washington right around the corner, it makes sense that New York would bring in some veteran depth at the position.
Eagles Re-Sign Najee Goode
After seeing a pair of inside linebackers go down with injuries on Sunday against the Cowboys, the Eagles have brought back one who was with them in the past, announcing today that they’ve re-signed Najee Goode. The club cut offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde to create room on the roster for Goode.
Goode, 25, was originally a fifth-round pick by the Buccaneers in 2012, but he has seen most of his NFL action for the Eagles, appearing in 14 games for the club in 2013. The West Virginia product was among the last players let go by Philadelphia before the 2015 season began, as he was waived during the team’s cutdown to 53 players.
While Mychal Kendricks‘ injury isn’t believed to be serious, it appears Kiko Alonso could be sidelined for a significant period after suffering a partial tear of his left ACL on Sunday. Alonso is getting a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews today and the Eagles figure to determine a course of action and a recovery timetable for him after that.
In the meantime, Goode should help provide depth on the inside for Philadelphia’s linebacking corps.
Injury Updates: Cutler, Lacy, Boyd, Adams
While we don’t cover every NFL injury at Pro Football Rumors, we keep a close eye on them nonetheless, and we’ll often pass along injury news if it pertains to a key player, or if a team may have to make a roster move due to an injury. Here are some of the latest noteworthy updates on injuries sustained by players during this weekend’s games:
NFC:
- Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has a strained hamstring, according to head coach John Fox, who added that the Bears haven’t decided whether or not to add another QB to the roster this week (Twitter links via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune).
- Packers running back Eddie Lacy sprained his ankle against the Seahawks last night, but the injury is minor and he could play in Week 3, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
- While the initial diagnosis on Packers defensive tackle Josh Boyd suggested that his ankle injury may not be too significant, an MRI revealed torn ankle ligaments, and his season is now in jeopardy, tweets Rapoport.
- Falcons running back Tevin Coleman fractured a rib yesterday, and will likely be sidelined for a couple weeks, depending on his pain threshold, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Despite the injury, head coach Dan Quinn said he doesn’t anticipating adding another running back to the roster, according to ESPN’s Vaughn McClure (Twitter link).
- Panthers wideout Jerricho Cotchery has a high ankle sprain, which is often a multi-week injury, but the team hopes he’ll be ready for Week 3, says Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
- Cardinals receiver J.J. Nelson is expected to miss two to four weeks with a shoulder injury, according to head coach Bruce Arians (Twitter link via Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic).
AFC:
- Texans offensive lineman Jeff Adams suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee, sources tell Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). It’s a season-ending injury for Adams, who figures to land on the team’s injured reserve list this week.
- Bills defensive back Aaron Williams sustained what appeared to be one of the more serious injuries of Week 2, but head coach Rex Ryan passed along some positive news today, indicating that Williams was back at the team’s facility and is “doing OK.” As Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News details, Ryan said it’s probably a stretch to think Williams will be back for this Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, but it sounds like he avoided a significant injury.
- Jaguars running back Denard Robinson‘s knee injury is a sprained MCL, and he’s considered week to week, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter links).
NFC East Notes: Romo, Cowboys, JPP, RGIII
No NFL division looks more in flux through two weeks than the NFC East, where the Eagles and Giants have yet to win a game, and the Cowboys will be without Tony Romo and Dez Bryant for the next several weeks. Earlier today, we asked you to weigh in with your thoughts on how the East race will play out over the next 15 weeks. Now, we’ll round up a few more Monday items from out of the division…
- Speaking of Romo, he won’t have to undergo surgery on his fractured left clavicle, a source tells Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk. That doesn’t significantly alter the projected recovery timetable for the Cowboys quarterback, who still figures to miss about eight weeks. He’s a candidate for Dallas’ IR-DTR slot.
- With Romo out, the Cowboys are evaluating whether or not to sign a veteran signal-caller to back up Brandon Weeden, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), who says the team considered Kyle Orton. Orton is still finished with football, however.
- According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), there’s some concern in Jason Pierre-Paul‘s camp that if the Giants defensive end reports to the team, New York will place him on the NFI list and be able to franchise him again next year at the same price. The CBA isn’t 100% clear on how this situation would work, but if the two sides disagree on JPP’s ability to play this season, it could create some contract issues.
- In another video for Bleacher Report, Cole suggests that Washington quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins aren’t communicating much at all these days. Per Cole, that doesn’t reflect particularly well on RGIII, who reportedly has a history of not being on the same page as everyone in the locker room.
- Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said after yesterday’s loss that everyone will be evaluated, hinting that roster changes could be coming. But it doesn’t sound like the team will make any major moves. “The guys we have are the guys we’re playing with for the remainder of the season,” Kelly said today, referring in part to the offensive line’s struggles (Twitter link). “It’s not a change thing.”