93% Of Players Vaccinated
93% of the NFL’s players have been vaccinated, as the league’s chief medical officer, Allen Sills, recently stated (Twitter link via Mark Maske of the Washington Post). That is a sizable increase from the last update we received back in July, when 68% of players were said to have been vaccinated.
Although teams cannot officially punish or cut players for failing to get the vaccine, the NFL has done everything in its power to convince its workforce to do so. For instance, vaccinated players have only been required to get a COVID test once every two weeks, while unvaccinated players have to get tested every day. Also, vaccinated players are only forced to miss time if they test positive, and even then, they can return after two negative tests taken 24 hours part. Unvaccinated players, meanwhile, are required to stay away for at least 10 days if they test positive, five days if they are a close contact of someone who tested positive, and five days if they miss a test.
The Delta variant has caused some problems among a few clubs, but the high vaccination rate has helped limit those issues to “clusters” as opposed to true outbreaks (Twitter link via Maske). Still, the league will continue to see positive tests in vaccinated players, just as society as a whole is experiencing. In light of that, the NFL is willing to test vaccinated players every week instead of every two weeks, as Judy Battista of NFL.com tweets. The union is continuing to push for daily testing, which the NFL eventually conceded to in 2020.
The NFLPA has thus far resisted the league’s attempts to compel players to get the vaccine, and though union president J.C. Tretter claimed that the NFL never requested such a mandate, the league adamantly refutes that claim, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. While we wait to see if the league and union ultimately come together on that issue, the league has dangled yet another carrot for the vaccine holdouts.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, regardless of whether the league increases testing frequency for vaccinated players to once a week, only unvaccinated players will be required to submit to game-day testing. So if an unvaccinated player tests positive on game day, they will miss at least that game — probably more, as they will be forced to sit out for 10 days — and any unvaccinated close contacts will miss the game as well.
With teams required to slash their roster sizes from 80 to 53 players by 4pm ET on Tuesday, you can be sure that any unvaccinated bubble players will be at a greater risk of being cut.
Colts WR T.Y. Hilton To Miss Time; OT Sam Tevi Suffers Torn ACL
Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton is expected to miss multiple weeks due to an injury sustained in practice on Wednesday, as Stephen Holder of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Adam Schefter of ESPN.com says Hilton is dealing with an upper back/neck malady, and it is unclear exactly how long he will be sidelined (Twitter link).
Hilton, of course, is a team icon who currently ranks third on the Colts’ all-time receiving yards list. He has spent his entire career in Indianapolis since being selected in the third round of the 2012 draft, though it appeared this offseason that a divorce may be in the cards. The team let Hilton hit the open market, and he received a strong offer from the Ravens. He was on the verge of signing with Baltimore — who offered him considerably more money — before an 11th-hour call from Colts owner Jim Irsay convinced him to change his mind.
Indianapolis was looking forward to fielding an intriguing collection of WR talent with Hilton, Michael Pittman, Parris Campbell, and Zach Pascal. Campbell, a 2019 second-rounder, has played in just nine games in his pro career due to injuries of his own, and Pittman is entering his second professional season. So Hilton’s experience will be beneficial to this group, and Holder notes in a separate tweet that he and QB Carson Wentz — whose Week 1 availability is also up in the air — were starting to build real chemistry in practice.
If Hilton is indeed forced to miss regular season action, another roster spot for players like Dezmon Patmon, Ashton Dulin, and Mike Strachan could be there for the taking. The Colts could also peruse the cuts that will soon be coming en masse for other options.
In other unwelcome news, Colts offensive tackle Sam Tevi has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entire 2021 season, as Mike Wells of ESPN.com tweets. In Wells’ estimation, Tevi was on the roster bubble anyway. Eric Fisher, who will ultimately step in as the club’s starting left tackle, may not be ready for the start of the season, but Julie’n Davenport has taken the bulk of first-team reps at LT recently, and it sounds as if Indy prefers to deploy Davenport as the swing tackle once Fisher returns.
J.K. Dobbins Believed To Have Suffered Season-Ending Injury
It is believed that Ravens second-year running back J.K. Dobbins suffered a season-ending knee injury during last night’s preseason matchup against Washington, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds that an ACL tear is the expected diagnosis. Dobbins is presently undergoing an MRI to confirm (Twitter link).
This is, of course, a devastating blow to Baltimore’s offense. Although the Ravens made several high-profile additions to their WR corps this offseason, their attack was still going to be predicated on a fearsome ground game spearheaded by Dobbins, fellow RB Gus Edwards, and quarterback Lamar Jackson. Now, Edwards suddenly finds himself atop the depth chart, with third-year scat-back Justice Hill and 2020 UDFA Ty’Son Williams — who has played well this preseason — behind him.
Dobbins, a first-round talent whom the Ravens snapped up with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2020 draft, was gradually eased into professional action. He did not receive double-digit rushing attempts in a game until Week 8 last year, but once he became a featured piece of the team’s offense, he was tremendous. He finished the season with 134 carries for 805 yards, good for an excellent 6.0 yards-per-carry average, and he added nine rushing TDs.
It will be next to impossible to replace the production that the Ravens expected to get out of Dobbins this year. Edwards has been a strong performer in his own right, as he boasts a 5.2 YPC average over three years in Baltimore. However, he is not the receiving threat that Dobbins was projected to be, and his success has generally come as a complementary piece, not as a feature back. He is a former UDFA himself, so maybe the Ravens can spin more hay into gold with Williams or 2021 college free agent Nate McCrary.
If the organization looks for external options, Todd Gurley could be a target. Gurley visited the Ravens back in June, and he remains unsigned. Knee injuries have derailed his career, and though he managed to play 15 games in each of the past two seasons, he could not reach the 4.0 YPC threshold in either year. Still, if he were to be deployed as part of a timeshare with Edwards and Hill/Williams/McCrary, he may be more effective.
Speculatively, a player like the Colts’ Marlon Mack could also be an option. Mack suffered a torn Achilles in Week 1 of the 2020 season, but he eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in 2019 and came close to doing so in 2018, despite playing in only 12 games that year. The injury depressed his market this offseason, and he re-upped with Indy on a one-year, $2MM pact. The Colts, however, have Jonathan Taylor entrenched as their RB1, and they are also rostering Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins. If GM Chris Ballard feels he has enough depth there, perhaps he and Ravens GM Eric DeCosta could swing a deal.
Texans Shift Tytus Howard To LG
The Texans selected Tytus Howard in the first round of the 2019 draft, doing so with the thought that he might be the club’s long-term solution at left tackle. The pick was seen as something of a reach, and perhaps a panic move after the Eagles leapfrogged Houston to select Andre Dillard, who was the superior prospect. A few months later, the Texans swung a trade for LT Laremy Tunsil, and Howard opened his rookie season as the starting RT.
A torn meniscus ended Howard’s rookie campaign after just eight games, and last offseason was a difficult one for him, as he was recovering from the meniscus surgery along with a procedure to repair a broken finger. The lack of practices due to the pandemic also hurt; although he was entering his second season as a pro, he is an FCS (Alabama State) product who was always going to need a little extra time to reach his potential at the NFL level.
He still wound up starting 14 games at RT in 2020, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 61st-best tackle out of 79 qualifiers. Aaron Wilson of Sports Talk 790 attributes that less-than-impressive ranking to a slow start engendered by the offseason problems and the fact that Howard had to consistently bail out former right guard Zach Fulton, who yielded 11 sacks last year. Nonetheless, the team is now moving Howard to the interior and will line him up at left guard, per Wilson.
Howard played one game at LG in 2019, and the team tried him out at several different positions during training camp this year. But he was deployed at left guard during last week’s preseason game against the Cowboys, and that’s where he will open the 2021 season. He has the size, strength, and mean streak to thrive on the inside, and being sandwiched between Tunsil on the left and new center Justin Britt on the right will certainly help.
2020 fourth-rounder Charlie Heck is expected to start the season at RT, but Howard is perfectly amenable to a move back to the outside. It sounds like Houston is keeping him on his toes in case that should be necessary.
“Oh, yeah, I think I can just go back out and [play RT] again,” Howard said. “I practice it every day, so they prepare me for something like that.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/22/21
Here are today’s minor moves. All teams must reduce their roster size to 80 players by 4pm ET on Tuesday, August 24.
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Isaiah Coulter
Cincinnati Bengals
- Cut: DE Freedom Akinmoladun, QB Eric Dungey, S Kavon Frazier, C Lamont Gaillard, TE Cheyenne O’Grady
Minnesota Vikings
- Cut: WR Warren Jackson, CB Dylan Mabin
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: TE Cary Angeline
- Placed on IR: TE Jason Croom
- Cut: Blake Countess
Seattle Seahawks
- Cut: TE Dominick Wood-Anderson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Cut: OLB Quinton Bell, CB Nate Brooks, RB Troymaine Pope, WR T.J. Simmons, S Lawrence White
Falcons QB A.J. McCarron Suffers Torn ACL
4:29pm: The veteran quarterback has indeed suffered a torn ACL, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who adds the Falcons will be on the hunt for a new backup quarterback. The team has since announced the unfortunate results of McCarron’s MRI. McCarron has seven years’ experience as a QB2, leaving the Falcons with work to do at an unideal time. However, Ryan’s durability (three missed starts in 13 seasons) will help the franchise on this front.
9:10am: Falcons quarterback A.J. McCarron suffered a serious knee injury during last night’s preseason matchup against the Dolphins. After handing the ball off to running back Qadree Ollison in the second quarter, McCarron grabbed his right knee and tried to walk off the field, though he was initially unable to do so. He ultimately walked gingerly to the locker room, and neither McCarron nor head coach Arthur Smith were encouraged by the prognosis.
“I really feel for [McCarron],” Smith said (via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com). “Any time something like that happens and it’s non-contact, it’s tough when you know what these guys put into it. I feel for A.J. We’ll obviously get the MRI to confirm but he’s heartbroken.”
Smith did not want to speculate on the specifics until after McCarron gets an MRI, but it certainly sounds as if it will be a season-ender for the former Alabama star. Which means that the Falcons, who signed McCarron to a one-year deal this offseason to serve as Matt Ryan‘s backup, could be in the market for a veteran passer.
The only other QB on the roster, undrafted rookie Feleipe Franks, took over for McCarron and completed four of his nine passes for 46 yards. He also threw an interception and took four sacks, adding three carries for 32 yards.
As one might expect, the current free agent quarterback list is uninspiring and includes the likes of Blake Bortles and Josh Rosen, though new ESPN talent Robert Griffin III could be an option. Paul Kuharsky of PaulKuharsky.com also speculates that, if the Titans were to cut Logan Woodside, he might become a target for Atlanta (Twitter link). Smith, Tennessee’s former offensive coordinator, is high on Woodside’s talent, and the McCarron situation might compel the Titans to keep Woodside on their roster to avoid having him poached.
Jets Exploring Trade For Pass Rush Help
In the wake of Carl Lawson‘s season-ending Achilles tear, the Jets are on the lookout for pass rushing help, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The club will surely scour the free agent market, which will continue to grow as cuts are made throughout the league, and New York is also exploring trade possibilities.
The loss of Lawson is a significant one for the Jets. The former Bengal inked a three-year, $45MM deal ($30MM guaranteed) in March, and he had performed well in training camp. He notched a modest 5.5 sacks in 2020, but his 32 QB hits were bested only by T.J. Watt, and he appeared primed for a big season in head coach Robert Saleh‘s 4-3 scheme.
Veterans Vinny Curry and Ronald Blair could help fill the void, but Blair has not played since Week 9 of the 2019 season due to an ACL tear and subsequent complications. He is now dealing with a hamstring ailment, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets, while Curry is entering his age-33 season and has been primarily utilized as a rotational piece throughout his career.
Behind Curry and Blair, there is very little by way of proven edge talent, and the Jets failed to generate much pass rush against the Packers’ backup O-line in last night’s preseason victory. So it’s little wonder that the team is taking a look at outside options.
In terms of free agents, players like Everson Griffen and Olivier Vernon are still available, though Vernon’s own health is very much up in the air. The Jets and Eagles will hold joint practices this week, and Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com suggests that two Philadelphia edge defenders, Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat — both of whom are entering their walk years — could be targets for Jets GM and former Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas.
Giants K Ryan Santoso Generating Trade Interest
The Giants might be able to finagle a draft pick out of a kicker who has not attempted a field goal or extra point in a regular season NFL game. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, teams have called the Giants to discuss a trade for Ryan Santoso, who is blocked by Graham Gano in New York but whom other clubs believe is an NFL-caliber kicker (Twitter link).
Santoso signed with the Lions as a UDFA in 2018, and he has also spent time with the Titans and the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. He appeared in three games for Tennessee in 2019 and was deployed as a kickoff specialist during that stretch. He handled 17 kickoffs, nine of which went for touchbacks, before being waived.
Last year, he bounced on and off the Giants’ practice squad and active roster, and he signed a reserve/futures deal in January. During his first two years as a collegian at Minnesota, he served as the Golden Gophers’ primary placekicker. He switched to punter for the final two years of his college career, and while his versatility could be an asset, it appears that his primary focus at this time is on his placekicking abilities. Though he had just one XP attempt (which was successful) in New York’s preseason opener last week, he has reportedly performed well in training camp.
The Patriots’ Nick Folk is dealing with an injury, and UDFA rookie Quinn Nordin struggled mightily in the team’s second preseason game on Thursday. As such, New England might be one of the clubs inquiring on Santoso, and the Joe Judge-Pats connection could obviously help facilitate a deal. The Giants’ Meadowlands rivals, the Jets, are currently rostering just one PK, Matt Ammendola, who went undrafted in 2020 and who signed with the Panthers in May of this year before being waived and hooking on with Gang Green. The Jets, therefore, profile as another possible landing spot.
Carolina could also have interest. Joey Slye, who has operated as the team’s placekicker over the past two years, missed his third kick of the preseason in last night’s loss to Baltimore, and head coach Matt Rhule did not mince words after the game.
“You have to produce and so far, Joey has not produced at the level we need him to,” Rhule said (via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk). “I think he would be the first guy to say that. We have to find a way to get over that hump with him.”
Ravens LB L.J. Fort Out For Season
11:25am: Fort did indeed tear his ACL, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (via Twitter). It is, of course, a season-ending injury, but as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, it was a clean tear and Fort sustained no other damage. As such, he should be ready to go come Week 1 of the 2022 season.
08:57am: The Ravens fear that linebacker L.J. Fort suffered a torn ACL in last night’s preseason contest against the Panthers, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets. Fort, who was signed early in the 2019 season to stabilize an LB corps that had struggled over the first few weeks of that campaign, had become a key piece of Baltimore’s defense and a valuable ST contributor.
In fact, the Ravens were so impressed with his performance that they handed him a two-year, $5.5MM extension a little over a month after they first plucked him off the street. In his 26 games (16 starts) in Baltimore, the 31-year-old has compiled 53 tackles (six TFL), two sacks, two fumble recoveries, and one defensive TD. His versatility and IQ are particularly valuable on defensive coordinator Wink Martindale‘s varied and complex attack.
Fort will undergo an MRI in short order, but head coach John Harbaugh offered a bleak assessment of the situation. “It does not look good,” Harbaugh said (Twitter link via Ryan Mink of the team’s official website).
The injury could open the door to more playing time for Kristian Welch, a 2020 UDFA who played almost exclusively on special teams last season. 2020 third-rounder Malik Harrison, who has played well this summer, was already expected to have a significant role alongside fellow second-year pro Patrick Queen, but his snap count could increase as well.
Baltimore could also be on the lookout for more experienced depth in the coming weeks.
Bengals To Sign DE Noah Spence
The Bengals are signing free agent defensive end Noah Spence, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter). Cincinnati brought Spence in for a workout several days ago in the wake of injuries to DLs Khalid Kareem and Joseph Ossai, and as Pelissero notes in a separate tweet, Ossai is likely to miss the entire 2021 campaign. The third-round rookie sustained a meniscus injury that will require surgery.
The loss of Ossai will be an especially difficult pill for the Bengals to swallow. The club mustered a league-worst 17 sacks in 2020, and while the free agent addition of Trey Hendrickson was supposed to help offset Carl Lawson‘s defection to the Jets, Cincy was also relying on Ossai to play a significant role in its pass rush. The Texas product did not disappoint in his preseason debut against the Bucs last week, piling up five pressures and sacking Tom Brady in an absolutely dominant showing.
Unfortunately, Ossai suffered a wrist injury during that game, and as he was being examined for that ailment the following day, he also noted that he was feeling some knee pain. Further examination of the knee revealed the depth of the problem (Twitter link via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic).
Spence, meanwhile, has not done much since a promising 5.5-sack performance in his rookie season with Tampa Bay in 2016. The former second-round pick did not make it to the final year of his rookie contract with the Bucs, as he was waived as part of final cutdowns in August 2019. He hooked on with Washington several weeks later, but after seven games with WFT yielded just one sack and three tackles, he was waived again.
The 27-year-old signed with the Saints later that year. He did not get into a game with New Orleans, but the club saw enough from him in practice to re-sign him to a one-year contract for 2020. Unfortunately, a torn ACL suffered in May of that year knocked him out for the season, and after he signed another one-year pact this March, Spence was unable to carve out a spot on the Saints’ roster. He was cut one week ago.
The Bengals hope that Spence can finally start to unlock some of his potential in the Queen City. They are going to need it.