COVID-19 Notes: Bubble, Tiebreakers, Bengals
The Titans and Patriots are once again in limbo as a result of a new positive test for a Titans staffer and for Patriots DT Byron Cowart. Meanwhile, the Broncos will have their bye this week since their game against New England has been pushed to next Sunday, but because Denver practiced all this week in preparation for a game, it has effectively lost the benefit of a bye.
As the NFL tries to push through the season, let’s take a look at a few COVID-related items:
- Luckily, aside from the positive tests mentioned above, there were no other new positives this morning, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter).
- Nonetheless, pundits around the league seem convinced that the NFL will be forced to insert a Week 18 for rescheduled games. The Broncos–Dolphins contest originally slated for next week will need to be rescheduled since the Broncos will now be taking on the Patriots at that time, so Denver-Miami could be the first game set for a Week 18 matchup.
- There is also the possibility, of course, that some games will just need to be cancelled. If that happens, the league would need to use winning percentage as a tiebreaker, as Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv reminds us (Twitter link). That’s hardly ideal, but it may be a reality.
- In the event of a cancelled game, players would lose game checks. Although the union is not yet amenable to a home-market bubble for the remainder of the season, it may change its tune if players starting losing money, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes.
- During the NFL’s mandatory conference call with players, coaches, and GMs last week, the Bengals reportedly drew the ire of the league, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes. The call included data that showed which teams were doing the best job in terms of social distancing and contact tracing, and Cincinnati was at the bottom of the heap. Luckily, the Bengals have avoided any major COVID-19 scares thus far.
Washington To Trade Dwayne Haskins?
Although Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins turned in a decent performance against the Ravens last week, head coach Ron Rivera elected to bench the 2019 first-rounder in favor of Kyle Allen. Not only that, Haskins is now the No. 3 QB on the team’s depth chart behind Allen and Alex Smith.
As one might expect, the relationship between Haskins and the WFT coaching staff has turned toxic, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes. The staff did not have a hand in drafting the Ohio State product, who was selected by the prior Washington regime, and as the QB3, Haskins will not get much practice time and will be a healthy scratch most weeks.
One of La Canfora’s sources, who has talked with numerous WFT staffers, said, “[w]hat they’ll tell you in that building is that [Haskins] is a project who was drafted by the owner and his son. That’s the bottom line there. Allen is their guy. They think he fits their system. They didn’t really want anything to do with Haskins from the beginning.”
Multiple sources within the organization believe that Haskins will be traded before the November 3 deadline, and those close to the second-year pro have told him that a trade would be the best outcome for him. At this point, it’s hard to argue with that, though it’s unclear who might be interested and what the trade compensation might be.
Because it plays in such a weak division, Washington believes it has a real chance to be a playoff contender this year. As such, Rivera would like to hand the reins to Smith sooner rather than later, as La Canfora details in a separate piece. The fact that Smith is on a football field at all is nothing short of a miracle, but the staff believes that with another couple of weeks of practice, the 36-year-old will be ready to start once again.
Smith has not played since November 18, 2018, the day he suffered the brutal leg injury that nearly cost him his life.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/9/20
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: K Jon Brown
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Kalen Ballage
Minnesota Vikings
- Released: DT Albert Huggins
Washington Football Team
- Signed: K/P Kaare Vedvik
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/9/20
Here are today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed to active roster: CB Khalil Dorsey
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted: WR Tyron Johnson
Washington Football Team
- Placed on IR: WR Steven Sims Jr.
- Signed to active roster: G Joshua Garnett
Dolphins Place LT Austin Jackson On IR
The Dolphins have placed left tackle Austin Jackson on IR due to a foot injury he suffered during Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports (via Twitter). Although the rookie LT would be eligible to return after three weeks under the modified rules for 2020, Barry Jackson says in a full-length piece that head coach Brian Flores was non-committal when asked if Austin Jackson would be back this season.
Indeed, Flores said the team is looking for a “long-term replacement” for Austin Jackson, so it sounds as if the USC product very well may miss the rest of the year. Though Miami has several options, Barry Jackson suggests that Julie’n Davenport — who filled in for Austin Jackson during the Seattle game and played well — might have the first crack at the LT job.
Austin Jackson was the second of three first-round choices that the Dolphins had in this year’s draft. He was thrown into the fire right away, and he acquitted himself reasonably well. He had not allowed a sack this season, and he recently earned praise from his position coach.
“Austin has had a great start to this season,” offensive line coach Steve Marshall said earlier this week. “He’s learning every time he’s going out there. I’m very excited for his future. He can be a heck of a pro offensive left tackle.”
Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics considered Austin Jackson to be a below-average performer in terms of both run-blocking and pass-blocking, but he has certainly shown enough flashes to justify Marshall’s enthusiasm. One wonders if Austin Jackson’s absence will have any bearing on Flores’ decision as to when to insert rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa into the starting lineup.
To take Austin Jackson’s place on the roster, the Dolphins have promoted rookie running back Salvon Ahmed from the practice squad. As Barry Jackson observes (via Twitter), the team has liked what it has seen from the UDFA, though he will be joining a crowded RB depth chart.
Bears G James Daniels Out For Season
1:10pm: Daniels did indeed suffer a torn pec last night, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets. He will miss the rest of the season.
10:07am: The Bears improved to 4-1 by defeating the Buccaneers last night, but they may have lost a starting offensive lineman in the process. As Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reported after the game, Chicago fears that left guard James Daniels suffered a season-ending pectoral injury (Twitter link).
As of this morning, head coach Matt Nagy did not have an update on Daniels’ condition (Twitter link via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com). Daniels is scheduled to have an MRI today, so we will pass along those results as soon as we have them.
Although the Bears are near the bottom of the league in terms of total offense and points-per-game, their offensive front is actually performing pretty well as far as the advanced metrics are concerned. Football Outsiders pegs Chicago’s O-line as a top-10 unit in both run-blocking and pass protection, and any disruption to the group’s continuity will be unwelcome. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus thinks highly of Daniels’ personal run-blocking effort through the first few weeks of the season, though it’s less fond of his pass-blocking.
Daniels has become a fixture in the Bears’ starting lineup, having started the last 31 games for the club. He has also demonstrated some versatility, playing eight games at center in 2019 before switching back to guard.
The 2018 second-round pick is currently backed up by former UDFA Alex Bars, who has yet to record a start in his pro career.
Jarrett Stidham To Start For Pats If Cam Newton Is Unavailable
The Patriots are currently scheduled to play the Broncos on Monday, and if starting QB Cam Newton is unable to take the field, New England will turn to second-year passer Jarrett Stidham, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter). Newton has been taking part in Zoom meetings with the team, and there is still hope that he will be able to suit up.
Of course, Newton’s positive COVID-19 test sidelined him for last week’s matchup against the Chiefs, and though New England’s defense generally held its own against Patrick Mahomes & Co., the club was clearly missing the 2015 league MVP. The Pats turned to veteran Brian Hoyer to start the game, but Hoyer lost track of his team’s timeouts at the end of the first half, and he lost a fumble late in the third quarter. Both mistakes likely cost New England points.
Hoyer was benched in favor of Stidham, and the Auburn product kept the Pats in the game on a nice TD pass to N’Keal Harry, but he ultimately threw two interceptions in just 13 pass attempts (though to be fair, one of them was really receiver Julian Edelman‘s fault, and the other came on something of a desperation heave that Stidham might not have tried but for the score of the game at that point). Given that Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round selection, clearly offers more upside than Hoyer, it makes sense that the Pats would look his way.
Of course, Stidham appeared to be the leading candidate to open the 2020 season as the Patriots’ starting signal-caller until Newton fell into their laps at the end of June. Then, a disappointing training camp that included some injury concerns forced the team to slide Stidham behind Hoyer on the depth chart. Stidham will surely welcome the opportunity to rebuild his stock if Newton has to sit.
Bucs’ DT Vita Vea Out For Season
The Buccaneers suffered a difficult loss at the hands of the Bears last night, and Tampa will now have to forge ahead without one of its defensive stalwarts. Head coach Bruce Arians announced this morning that defensive tackle Vita Vea suffered a broken leg in the defeat and is done for the year (Twitter link via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times).
The 2018 first-round selection missed three games due to injury during his rookie campaign, but he rebounded to play in (and start) all 16 of the Bucs’ contests last year. Tampa has fielded one of the strongest run defenses in the league in 2020, and Vea is a big reason for the club’s success in that regard. He also showed improved chops at getting to the quarterback, as he posted two sacks in his 4+ games this season (including one last night before the ankle injury).
Contractually, it’s an especially unfortunate blow. Vea will be eligible for an extension after the season, and if he had played a full slate at the level he had displayed through the first month, he might have been able to land a lucrative re-up. Instead, the Bucs will likely wait for him to prove himself again in 2021 before considering a new deal.
In Vea’s absence, Will Gholston and Rakeem Nunez-Roaches will likely take on larger roles. Greg Auman of The Athletic says that sixth-round rookie Khalil Davis should also see himself activated on game days (Twitter link).
Jets Player Has “Presumptive Positive” COVID-19 Test
Not long after we received some good news on the COVID-19 front with respect to the Patriots and Titans, we learned that there is some cause for concern on the Jets. According to ProFootballTalk, a New York player has a “presumptive positive” test result (Twitter link).
The player with the presumptive positive has been re-tested, and all Jets players and coaches have been sent home out of an abundance of caution. As Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets, the results of the retest are expected back at some point today.
Gang Green is set to play host to the Cardinals this week, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com points out that Arizona was supposed to make its cross-country flight today (Twitter link). Obviously, those travel plans are in flux at the moment.
We will keep you posted as we learn more. But as NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills has stated, there were always going to be positive tests this year. The key will be avoiding outbreaks like the one that has plagued the Titans.
No New Positive Tests For Titans, Patriots
Yesterday’s round of COVID-19 testing yielded no new positive results for either the Patriots or Titans, according to multiple sources, including Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). As such, the Broncos-Patriots contest, which has been moved to Monday night, is on track to be played, as is the Bills-Titans matchup, currently scheduled for Tuesday night.
Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports that contact tracing identified multiple Patriots players as close/high-risk contacts with CB Stephon Gilmore, who tested positive for the coronavirus, and there are multiple Titans players who are close/high-risk contacts with their COVID-infected teammates (Twitter link). That is not at all surprising, of course, but it stands to reason that there may be more positive tests on both clubs in the coming days. That does not mean, however, that their games would necessarily be nixed.
Pelissero goes into more detail on that point in an interview on the NFL Network this morning (video link). He adds that while the Patriots’ and Titans’ facilities remain closed today, both clubs could be back on the practice field tomorrow if all goes well.
As the NFL already postponed Tennessee’s Week 4 game, it obviously does not want to postpone another one and deal with all of the logistical and competitiveness questions that such a decision would create. Presumably, that’s why additional positive tests would not necessarily impact the club’s Tuesday night affair with Buffalo.
There is also good news for the Chiefs in all of this. Although they tangled with Gilmore and the Pats on Monday night, Pelissero says all of KC’s tests have come back negative this week.