Bengals Designate CB Darius Phillips For Return
The Bengals have designated CB Darius Phillips to return from injured reserve, the club announced. Phillips was placed on IR at the end of September with a knee injury.
A fifth-round pick in the 2018 draft, Phillips has played in 18 games (one start) for Cincinnati in his brief career. The Western Michigan product has one interception to his name, which he notched in the team’s Week 3 loss to the Bills. He was also used on kickoff returns before going on IR, and he returned six kicks for an average of 22.8 yards per return.
The Bengals rank near the bottom of the league in pass defense, and as the only winless team in football, they might as well see what a young DB like Phillips has to offer, so he could get a fair amount of playing time if he ultimately returns to the field. He will be able to start practicing with the team today, and then Cincinnati will have a 21-day window to determine if it wants to activate him or shut him down for the rest of the season.
Cincinnati recently used its other IR return slot on WR John Ross.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/19/19
Here are today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Waived: LB James Vaughters
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed off Giants’ practice squad: LB Tuzar Skipper
- Placed on IR: DE L.T. Walton
NFL Workout Updates: 11/19/19
Today’s updates from the workout circuit:
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
- RBs Matthew Dayes
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
- S Corrion Ballard, DT Daryle Banfield, DE Tashawn Bower, LB Tre’ Crawford, CB Davante Davis, DL Willie Henry, S P.J. Locke, S Tray Matthews, DB Picasso Nelson, LB Gimel President, DE Wyatt Ray, S Tyree Robinson, S Kahani Smith, LB Pita Taumoepenu, NT Jay-Tee Tiuli, S Isaiah Wharton
Dallas Cowboys
- OLs Marcus Henry, Storm Norton
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
- DE Terrence Fede, DE/OLB Nate Orchard
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
- LBs Curtis Akins, Devante Bond, Andrew Dowell, LB Alvin Jones
Washington Redskins
- LB Obum Gwacham, DE Eli Harold
Browns Place Morgan Burnett On IR
07:56pm: Burnett underwent successful surgery today, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). He is expected to make a full recovery.
09:35am: Morgan Burnett‘s season is over. As feared, the Browns’ veteran safety tore his Achilles in Cleveland’s win over the Steelers on Thursday, and the club announced that it has placed Burnett on IR.
It’s an especially difficult blow for Burnett, who missed some time due to injury earlier in the season as well. But he played all of the Browns’ defensive snaps in Weeks 8 through 10, and he was having a great night against Pittsburgh in Week 11, piling up five tackles — including one tackle for loss — and a big interception before suffering the Achilles tear. Burnett had been relegated to a part-time role as a member of the Steelers in 2018, but he had returned to a starter’s workload with Cleveland.
The 4-6 Browns were already going to have an uphill climb to make the playoffs, but that task will be even more difficult without Burnett on the back end of the defense and without the suspended Myles Garrett in the trenches. The Browns already cut safety Jermaine Whitehead earlier this year after he went on a Twitter tirade, so they could look outside the organization for a replacement for Burnett (they did work out several safeties yesterday). If not, Eric Murray, Juston Burris, or rookie Sheldrick Redwine are the current internal candidates on the 53-man roster.
Cleveland has Burnett under club control through the 2020 season after signing him to a two-year, $7.5MM deal in April. He ends his first Browns season with 41 tackles, one interception, and two sacks.
Gary Kubiak Not Interested In HC Jobs
Vikings assistant head coach/offensive advisor Gary Kubiak has no interest in returning to the head coaching ranks, as Chad Graff of The Athletic tweets. “That’s not for me anymore,” Kubiak said.
That doesn’t come as a major surprise, given that Kubiak stepped down from his last head coaching job with the Broncos due to health concerns, and his health was also an issue during the latter stages of his tenure as the Texans’ HC. However, he is on the sidelines for the first time since the 2016 campaign — he served as a senior personnel advisor for the Broncos during the 2017-18 seasons — and it was fair to wonder if he was getting the head coaching itch again.
On the other hand, Kubiak could return to an offensive coordinator role at some point. He was mentioned as a viable OC candidate following the 2017 season, and he was expected to accept the OC job with the Broncos after they hired Vic Fangio as head coach this year. But Kubiak and the Broncos couldn’t see eye-to-eye on staffing and offensive philosophies, which led him to take his current post in Minnesota.
And while he is obviously not solely responsible for the Vikings’ offensive output his year, the club’s performance is not hurting his reputation as an offensive guru. Minnesota currently ranks ninth in the league in yards-per-game and eighth in points-per-game, and quarterback Kirk Cousins is having a career year. So if Kubiak still wants an OC job, he may just get it.
Brandin Cooks Expected To Play Week 12
The Rams will be getting a jolt to their playoff push this week, as head coach Sean McVay said wide receiver Brandin Cooks is expected to play against the Ravens next Monday (via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com on Twitter). Cooks has been sidelined since suffering a concussion during LA’s Week 8 victory over Cincinnati.
The concussion was especially troubling given that it was Cooks’ second of the season and his fourth in less than two years. The Rams visited the Steelers in Week 10, and in advance of that matchup, Cooks traveled to Pittsburgh multiple times to meet with doctors. It’s clearly a situation to monitor moving forward, but Cooks recently indicated that he is not considering stepping away from the game.
Cooks is in his second season with the Rams, and he signed a five-year, $80MM contract with the club in July 2018. Los Angeles could not feasibly get out from under the contract until after the 2020 season at the earliest, but assuming Cooks can stay healthy, there is no reason for the team to cut ties. Cooks has topped 1,000 yards in each of the past four years, and his career 14.3 yards-per-catch mark is emblematic of his big-play ability. And while correlation does not equal causation, and while quarterback Jared Goff has been mediocre most of the season, Goff has looked especially bad with Cooks out of the lineup over the last two games.
The status of Cooks’ fellow starting wideout, Robert Woods, remains uncertain. Woods missed Sunday’s win over the Bears due to undisclosed personal reasons, and McVay indicated that Woods is still dealing with that personal matter. So while Cooks will be a major help against Baltimore’s tough secondary, Goff may not have his full arsenal at his disposal.
NFL Workout Updates: 11/18/19
Today’s updates from the workout circuit:
Cleveland Browns
- LB B.J. Blunt, Tank Carradine, WR Jawill Davis, S A.J. Howard, WR Damion Jeanpiere, WR Tyron Johnson, WR J’Mon Moore, S Jacob Thieneman, RB Roc Thomas, OL Leonard Wester
Houston Texans
- OL John Wetzel
Jacksonville Jaguars
- FB George Aston, TE Drew Belcher, TE Matt Flanagan, FB Ryan Yurachek
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
- LB Malik Jefferson, RB Rod Smith, RB Mark Thompson
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/18/19
Today’s practice squad updates:
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: WR Amara Darboh, WR Quadree Henderson, RB Ralph Webb
- Released: LB Sutton Smith, WR Terry Wright
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: TE Matt Sokol
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released: DT Terry Beckner
Eagles Notes: Johnson, Ajayi, Mills
Let’s take a quick look at a few items from the City of Brotherly Love:
- Eagles starting RT Lane Johnson is in the concussion protocol, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Johnson suffered a head injury during Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, and while he tried to play through it, the injury worsened and he was ultimately forced to exit (Twitter link via McLane).
- The Eagles can ill afford to lose Johnson, arguably the best right tackle in football, as they fight for the NFC East title. But if they are without Johnson for any period of time, they could turn to rookie Andre Dillard rather than veteran Halapoulivaati Vaitai, as McLane tweets.
- Jay Ajayi finally found an NFL home for 2019 when he signed with the Eagles on Friday. Interestingly, the deal includes a right of first refusal for 2020, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. So if it wants, Philadelphia can match any offer Ajayi receives on the open market, which could be significant if the team lets Jordan Howard walk in free agency.
- Cornerback Jalen Mills is eligible for free agency this offseason, and while he is not perfect, he has been very good since returning from injury in Week 7, and McLane says Mills may be playing his way into a second contract with the Eagles (Twitter link).
- Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com believes the Eagles need to completely overhaul their WR corps this offseason, and he offers a few names the club could target in free agency and the draft. He also says the Eagles could find a trade partner for Alshon Jeffery and/or DeSean Jackson, though obviously the returns on either player would be minimal.
NFC West Notes: Kendricks, Williams, 49ers
Mychal Kendricks‘ sentencing date keeps getting postponed, and the Seahawks keep reaping the rewards. Per Brady Henderson of ESPN.com, Kendricks is now due to be sentenced for insider trading — which he pleaded guilty to in September 2018 — in February 2020 (Twitter link). The date has been pushed back five times now, and instead of losing Kendricks on November 21 (the most recent date), Seattle will have their starting weakside ‘backer for its playoff run.
Now for more from the NFC West:
- The Cardinals signed tight end Maxx Williams to a modest one-year, $805K pact this offseason, but they have been impressed enough with his performance — especially as a pass blocker — to sign him to an extension several days ago. And he will get a sizable raise, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the two-year pact, which keeps Williams in the desert through 2021, is worth $7MM (Twitter link).
- 49ers CB Jason Verrett and DL Kentavius Street are both getting healthier and are candidates to come off of IR at some point this season, as Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (citing head coach Kyle Shanahan) tweets. Both players have had difficult injury luck in their careers, so this is encouraging news, and San Francisco would surely love to have Verrett and Street as depth for the stretch run.
- The news is not as good for 49ers rookie WR Jalen Hurd, as Shanahan says it’s unlikely Hurd will be ready to come off of IR this year (Twitter link via Maiocco).
- The 49ers are also planning on being without DE Dee Ford for a couple of weeks, per Maiocco (via Twitter). Injuries have limited Ford during his first year in San Francisco, though he has managed to post 6.5 sacks. Ford is currently dealing with a hamstring injury.