Emmanuel Sanders Undergoes Surgery
On Wednesday, Emmanuel Sanders‘ season was cut short when he torn his Achilles during practice. On Friday, the veteran receiver underwent successful surgery and is expected to miss six-to-eight months, the NFL Network’s James Palmer tweets. 
The loss was a huge blow to the suddenly resurgent Broncos’ playoff chances. Though the team has won three consecutive games, it will have to replace its top receiver with a collection of rookie pass catchers in Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton.
Sanders had posted 71 receptions and 868 yards before the injury and was on pace for one of his best seasons in the league. With four games remaining, the nine-year veteran was well on pace to post his fourth 1,000-yard season and was likely to record his second-most receptions in a single campaign.
The rehab time frame sets him up to return for the 2019 season, which will be the final one on his contract. Though expected to make $10.15MM in base salary next season, the Broncos can release him with just $2.687MM in dead money.
Melvin Gordon To Miss Week 14
The Chargers will be without the services of Melvin Gordon for at least another game, ESPN’s Field Yates tweets. 
The Pro Bowl running back has been sidelined since sustaining a grade 2 MCL sprain in Los Angeles’ Week 12 matchup with Arizona. There were hopes he could make a return in time for the team’s Sunday tilt with the Bengals, but the earliest he could now return is a pivotal Thursday-night showdown with the Chiefs.
The absence of the star running back didn’t slow down the Chargers in Week 13, as they pulled out a thrilling 33-30 victory over the Steelers on Sunday night thanks to the services of Austin Ekeler and rookie Justin Jackson. With Gordon out, those two will again share the carries against a Cincinnati team in a free fall, having lost each of its last four games.
At 9-3, the Chargers have all but locked up a playoff spot. They are, however, still battling with the Chiefs for the division crown. With Kansas City on the schedule just four days after their meeting with the Bengals, the Chargers could be taking a cautious approach to make sure the 2017 Pro Bowl selection is ready to go.
Chiefs Expect A Six-Game Suspension For Hunt
When the NFL’s investigation concludes, the Chiefs expect the team’s former Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt will receive a six-game suspension, The Athletic’s Nate Taylor writes. Taylor also notes the investigation is not expected to conclude until the offseason. 
On Friday, a video was released by TMZ Sports that showed Hunt shoving a woman to the ground and kicking her during an incident at a Cleveland hotel in February. After the security footage was made public, the Chiefs released the second-year back, who led the league in rushing yards in 2017.
Neither the NFL, nor the Chiefs, saw the footage before it was released, the league said in a statement Friday night. Following the release, the Chiefs said the events depicted in the video differed from what Hunt disclosed to them at the time of their investigation. According to Taylor, Hunt told the team, “I never left the (hotel) room. I didn’t do a thing.” Taylor adds that if Hunt would’ve been truthful, he more than likely would not have been released:
“Had Hunt told the truth in February, the Chiefs, according to team sources, would have pursued every option available to them through the league to ensure the possibility of him remaining on the team’s roster.”
One team source also told Taylor that Hunt probably cost himself $20 MM in the form of a multiyear extension with the Chiefs, which was expected to be discussed following the 2018 season.
The six-game suspension would be the same punishment that Ezekiel Elliott received following his incidents last year. One difference between that case and this one is that there is footage to document Hunt’s part. On Friday, Hunt was placed on the Commissioner Exempt list, prohibiting from partaking in practice or playing in games.
Extra Points: Patriots, Jaguars, Packers, Browns
In 2017, Browns defensive coordinator and now interim head coach Gregg Williams made a strong push for the team to take Texas A&M pass rusher Myles Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick rather than take a quarterback.
On Friday, he reiterated that stance, saying he would still take the standout defensive end over quarterbacks like Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes and Mitch Trubisky, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.
“Yes, I would,’’ said Williams. “I really like (Garrett). They had me evaluate the quarterbacks, too, and they had me evaluate a lot of the top players on the other side of the ball. You do good things like that in successful organizations. Get the opinion of a defensive guy on an offensive guy. Get the opinion of an offensive guy on a defensive guy. You are trying to find all of the little itty bitty things before you make the final decision, I think those are important.”
Regardless of what he would or wouldn’t do, it looks like the situation is going to work out well for the Browns. Instead of taking a quarterback a year ago, the team tabbed Baker Mayfield with the top spot and have recorded the same amount of wins this season as the previous three combined (four).
Here’s more from around the league:
- Though the Packers need to win out and get plenty of help to get to the playoffs, team CEO Mark Murphy wrote in a week Q&A on Packers.com that he is not ready to give up on the season. “Now, I realize that we are 4-6-1 (and as Bill Parcells famously said, “You are what your record says you are”) and that we haven’t played well. However, we still have almost a third of the season left to play. I know that the odds of making the playoffs are slim (I’ve seen odds range from 3 to 15 percent), but we still have a lot to play for.” Like the odds say, there isn’t much left on the line unless the team can get hot and get some help.
- Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone‘s firing of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett at this point of the season seems like a diversionary tactic to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “It feels like an effort by Marrone to alter the conversation that inevitably will happen when owner Shad Khan, who had a taste of life in the NFL’s penthouse in 2017 and has taken the Super Fun Happy Slide straight back to the outhouse, starts asking tough questions after Week 17.”
- The Patriots need to re-sign defensive end Trey Flowers, NESN’s Doug Kyed writes in a mailbag. “They either need to bring back Flowers, take a player high in the 2018 NFL Draft, sign a free agent (pass rushers are not cheap) or trade for a veteran edge defender. Isn’t the simplest option just to bring back Flowers?”
Jets Planning To Start Josh McCown In Week 13
The Jets are preparing to roll with veteran quarterback Josh McCown once again in Week 13 vs. the Titans, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets. 
Though rookie quarterback Sam Darnold is close to a return, Rapoport hears from sources the Jets want to make sure their signal-caller of the future is 100% when he returns to the field. He adds Darnold might work out pregame to try to convince them otherwise, but the 17-year veteran McCown is more than likely to get the nod.
The USC product has been out of action after suffering a significant sprain to his right foot in Week 9 vs. the Dolphins. In his stead, McCown has completed 54.4 percent of his passes for 411 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions in two starts against the Bills and Patriots, both New York losses.
Darnold started the season hot, leading the Jets to a 48-17 win over Detroit in Week 1 when he became the youngest quarterback in years to start a season opener. It has been downhill since then, and he had amassed a league-high 14 interceptions at the time of his injury.
At 3-8 and in last place in the AFC East, there is no reason for the Jets to rush back their franchise quarterback to the fold.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/1/18
Here are today’s practice squad moves:
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: QB Phillip Walker
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: CB Josh Hawkins
Latest On Kareem Hunt
A spokesperson for the Cleveland Police Department said that no one at the department watched the security footage that showed former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt kick a woman at an area hotel in February, USA Today’s A.J. Perez writes.
Jennifer Ciaccia, the spokesperson with the department, told USA Today in an email that detectives only follow up on felonies. This case was a misdemeanor. She added that no one at the department, including the attending officers, witnessed the footage.
On Friday, video surfaced of Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt pushing a woman to the ground and kicking her while on the floor from an incident at a Cleveland hotel in February 2018. Later that day, the team made a bold move when it decided to release the 2017 Pro Bowl back.
Hunt was officially placed on waivers on Saturday, according to Howard Balzer (Twitter link). The deadline to claim the running back in Monday at 4 p.m. ET. With the move, the Chiefs are responsible for paying the back this week since the move happened after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Joel Corry tweets. The Chiefs will not pay the final 4/17ths of his base salary of $575,250, or $153,353, and will have a cap charge of $387,976 in 2019. In terms of cap space, the Chiefs will save $135,353 in 2018, $484,762 in 2019 and $975,758 in 2020, Corry tweets.
Now the question is will anyone place a claim on him? On Tuesday, Reuben Foster was claimed by the Redskins following his release due to domestic violence issues. Washington immediately received a host of negative attention, which could keep some teams from doing the same with Hunt. While his actions deserve punishment, Hunt does not deserve banishment according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. That being said, Hunt will almost assuredly be back at some point, which could lead teams to jump at the chance to grab the services of a Pro Bowl back on a rookie contract.
Florio mentions specifically the Eagles, Browns and the Redskins as potential landing spots for Hunt, should he be claimed by the Monday deadline.
XFL Markets Leaked Ahead Of Impending Announcement
The XFL was expected to make an announcement next week about the locations of its inaugural eight teams, which will begin play in 2020. However, the league inadvertently released the information on its website on Saturday, which was captured in a screenshot by WrestleZone.com and posted on Instagram.
The cities captured in the screenshot are Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Tampa Bay and Washington D.C., and included phone numbers for each franchise. In addition to the markets, the sites for each team began trickling out shortly after the leak.
The Tampa Bay franchise was confirmed by Thomas Bassinger of The Tampa Bay Times, which called the number associated with the team and received a recorded message from XFL commissioner Oliver Luck stating:
“Hello, this XFL commissioner Oliver Luck. Thanks for calling XFL Tampa Bay. We’re excited to call Raymond James Stadium home when the league launches in 2020, and we appreciate your support.”
Raymond James Stadium, of course, is the current home of the Buccaneers, who declined to comment on the situation.
The Washington franchise will reportedly play its games at Audi Field, Rick Maese of the Washington Post writes. As the league is expected to kick off its 10-week schedule in February 2020, the field will serve both football and soccer for a time due to the stadium’s main tenants, MLS franchise D.C. United, beginning their schedule in March.
The Dallas franchise could potentially wind up playing its home games at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas Rangers beat reporter Evan Grant writes for the Dallas Morning News. The park will host its final game at the end of the 2019 season, leaving it vacant for a potential XFL team for the following February.
The league has declined comment since the leak.
The original XFL operated in 2001, when World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon partnered with NBC to form the league. The broadcast corporation pulled out after one season and the league folded soon after.
Chiefs Release Kareem Hunt
Less than an hour after learning the NFL placed Kareem Hunt on the Commissioner Exempt list, the Chiefs announced the release of the second-year back, The Kansas City Star’s Brooke Pryor tweets.
The Chiefs released a statement with the announcement of the news:
“Earlier this year, we were made aware of an incident involving running back Kareem Hunt. At that time, the National Football League and law enforcement initiated investigations into the issue. As part of our internal discussions with Kareem, several members of our management team spoke directly to him. Kareem was not truthful in those discussions. The video released today confirms that fact. We are releasing Kareem immediately.”
The move comes on the heels of a video released on Friday by TMZ that showed the Pro Bowl running back pushing a woman to the ground and kicking her while on the floor in an incident at a Cleveland hotel this past February. The woman claimed she was removed from Hunt’s apartment in the hotel for refusing to have intercourse with one of the player’s friends. She responded by striking Hunt, who broke free of his friends attempting to hold him back, knocked one of his buddies into the woman and then kicked her while she was on the ground.
When police came to the hotel, Hunt and the accuser had different accounts of what happened. While she says that she was kicked out of Hunt’s room for refusing to sleep with one of his buddies, Hunt claims that she was asked to leave and retaliated with a racial slur. No charges were filed from the incident but two police reports were created, one listing Hunt as the suspect and another listing the woman as a suspect, according to Pryor.
Regardless of which account is correct, the Chiefs made it clear that the version of the story Hunt told them was not backed up by the video. While the NFL conducted an investigation into the matter, it was reportedly denied the security footage by both the hotel and the Cleveland Police Department.
Hunt responded in a statement:
“I want to apologize for my actions. I deeply regret what I did. I hope to move on from this.”
The Chiefs wasted little time in removing the NFL’s sixth-leading rusher from their team once the video came to light. The team will now turn to Spencer Ware as it looks to wrap up a playoff spot in the coming weeks.
NFL Places Kareem Hunt On Commissioner Exempt List
As expected, the NFL announced Friday night that it was placing Chiefs starting running back Kareem Hunt on the Commissioner Exempt list, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. 
Hunt will not count against the Chiefs’ 53-man roster but will be paid. He cannot practice, play in or attend games with the team while on this list.
This outcome was a foregone conclusion after a video surfaced Friday of the second-year back pushing a 19-year-old woman and kicking her while she was on the floor in an incident at a Cleveland hotel this past February.
Hunt will stay on the list as the NFL investigates the recently surfaced video and decides on the repercussions. He will miss the week’s game against the Raiders and could miss the remainder of the season and playoffs, depending on the length of the investigation, which will include a review of the information that became public on Friday, Rapoport tweets.
According to Rapoport (Twitter link), neither the NFL, nor the Chiefs, had seen the video until today. The league reportedly made several attempts to acquire the footage but was denied by the hotel, which said corporate policy would only allow it to release the video to law enforcement. The Cleveland Police Department would then not provide it to the league.
The NFL’s statement was a brief one:
The NFL has placed Kareem Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs on the Commissioner Exempt list, and as a result, he may not practice, play or attend games. The NFL’s investigation, which began immediately following the incident in February, will include a review of the new information that was made public today.
Earlier this week, former 49ers linebacker and recent Redskins signing Reuben Foster was placed on the exempt list after he was arrested for alleged domestic violence, his third arrest in 2018, late last week. Other notable names to be placed on the list include Adrian Peterson in 2014 following child-abuse allegations and Greg Hardy for domestic violence. Peterson missed the rest of the season before returning to the field in 2015 and Hardy’s career was essentially ended.