Commanders DE Efe Obada Out For Season
The Commanders used one of their IR activations on Efe Obada this season, but the veteran defensive end will not make it through the campaign. Obada suffered two leg fractures during the team’s loss to the Giants on Sunday.
Undergoing surgery Sunday night to repair the two lower-leg breaks (via The Athletic’s Ben Standig), Obada will not return this season. Ron Rivera confirmed Obada is headed back to IR and is not in line to come back.
When Washington initially activated Obada in October, the team had a much stronger defensive end situation. Since trading Montez Sweat and Chase Young, however, the Commanders’ edge-rushing corps is depleted. Obada, who has been with the team for two seasons, was carted off in the first quarter of the team’s upset defeat in Week 11. A patella tendon injury sidelined Obada to start the season.
Despite the trades of Young and Sweat, Obada did not move into Washington’s starting lineup. He worked as a backup over the past five games. Washington re-signed him to a one-year, $2MM deal this offseason. A former Panthers and Bills contributor, Obada totaled 13 sacks from 2019-21. He will finish this season without one.
The trades prompted the Commanders to use Casey Toohill and James Smith-Williams as their starting defensive ends. A Smith-Williams hamstring injury brought seventh-round rookie Andre Jones into the lineup for his first start. Toohill recorded one of the eight sacks Washington registered Sunday and has five this season. Smith-Williams has collected one QB drop this year.
Jets Will Give Aaron Rodgers Green Light To Return
NOVEMBER 19: Rodgers told Jay Glazer of FOX Sports that he wants to return to practice on December 2, which is the day he will turn 40 (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). If Rodgers can realize that goal, then he would obviously be on track to make the mid-December return to game action that he alluded to previously.
As CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reports, the four-time MVP is aiming for New York’s’ Christmas Eve contest against Washington as his first game since Week 1. That would line up sensibly with a practice return in mid-December, though plenty will be determined by the timing of his 21-day practice window being opened. Anderson confirms, however, that Rodgers still has a long way to go to receive clearance in the first place.
Of course, if the Jets lose their next two games, they will be an extreme longshot to make the postseason before Rodgers even gets back on the practice field, which would seemingly render a 2023 comeback needlessly risky.
NOVEMBER 16: As unrealistic as it sounded near the beginning of this journey, Aaron Rodgers is still beating the drum of a late-season return from the Achilles tear he suffered four plays into his Jets career. Reinjury risk obviously introduces a complication, but the Jets would not stand in the future Hall of Famer’s way.
The Jets are banking on Rodgers coming back for the 2024 season, after the parties reached an agreement in which the 19th-year QB gave back money. Now attached to a two-year, $75MM deal, Rodgers remains attached to a fully guaranteed 2024 sum. Rather than ensuring the most expensive QB investment in team history will be 100% for the offseason program, the Jets would give Rodgers the final say about returning late this season.
“Aaron’s a big boy, a grown man, and no one’s going to know Aaron’s body like Aaron knows his body,” Robert Saleh said, via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. “And if he feels after all the doctors clear him — I’m sure there’s a million of them, I have no idea — but if Aaron says he wants to play, he’s going to play.”
Jets GM Joe Douglas previously said the team expects to have the soon-to-be 40-year-old passer back late this season, adding more fuel to this plot Rodgers unveiled in September. Rodgers’ weekly Pat McAfee Show appearances have kept him in the public eye more often compared to just about every other player who has suffered a major early-season injury, extending this as a regular talking point. The four-time MVP said this week mid-December is a realistic goal. Though, Rodgers has stopped short of revealing a precise timetable.
The Jets’ record will naturally play into this unlikely comeback coming to fruition, with Rodgers confirming the Jets have to be in the playoff mix for him to turn this comeback effort into a return. New York has dropped to 4-5, seeing Zach Wilson‘s struggles continue to the point the team has not scored a touchdown in 36 drives. The Jets face the Bills and Dolphins over the next two weeks. After the back-to-back losses, ESPN’s FPI gives the Jets just a 4.1% chance of qualifying for the playoffs. Their performance in these two upcoming AFC East tilts may well determine how much longer this Rodgers-driven plot will last.
Rodgers has a history of a late-season comebacks, with mixed results. He has twice returned after sustaining a broken collarbone, re-emerging in the Packers’ 2013 regular-season finale — to help them hold off the Bears for the NFC North title — and resurfacing in December 2017. The latter return led to a one-off in which the Packers held out an IR-return spot — back when teams only had two such activations available — for Rodgers, who played in Week 15. A narrow loss to the Panthers led to the Packers placing Rodgers back on IR, as the organization exercised caution against the risk of reinjury.
Collarbone injuries and Achilles ruptures are obviously different matters, and Rodgers returning would be a landmark development in terms of injury rehab efforts. While the more realistic scenario is the Jets see Rodgers on the field again next season, Wilson — whom Saleh confirmed remains New York’s starter — is now in charge of this storyline.
Panthers HC Frank Reich, GM Scott Fitterer On Hot Seat
Last year, the Panthers fired Matt Rhule after a 1-4 start. Interim HC Steve Wilks then led the team to a 6-6 finish that left it still in the NFC South race until Week 17. Despite many of the same cornerstone players in place, Carolina’s 2023 edition has the NFL’s worst record.
Trading up significant assets to secure Bryce Young at No. 1 overall, the Panthers were never viewed as a team that would truly contend this season. But their disappointing first half has many around the league wondering if David Tepper will bail on the power structure he signed off on in January. One member of Carolina’s power duo may be on a hotter seat than the other, but both Frank Reich and GM Scott Fitterer do not appear certain to retain their jobs beyond this season.
Many around the NFL are eyeing this situation, with the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora noting there is a strong sense Reich will become a one-and-done. Even within the Panthers’ building, La Canfora adds the belief is jobs are on the line going into the season’s second half. This would be a stunning flip-flop from ownership — especially after Rhule went from receiving a seven-year contract to being canned after Week 5 of his third season — but Tepper has not exactly gained a reputation for stability during his early years running the NFC South team. Indeed, Tepper’s reputation is driving the speculation Reich will be canned after just one season, Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline adds.
Tepper is believed to be irked by Young’s performance thus far, an NFL personnel exec informed La Canfora while adding the sixth-year owner drove the bus for the Alabama prospect. When the Panthers obtained the No. 1 overall pick, rumors of Reich preferring C.J. Stroud surfaced. Those steadily faded, as Young won the organization over despite his slight frame. The Panthers have seen Stroud hit the ground running with the Texans, and despite Carolina’s only win coming over Houston, the team has taken significant steps back compared to how it finished in 2022.
Among qualified passers, Young ranks only ahead of Ryan Tannehill in QBR this season. The former Heisman winner sits last in yards per attempt — at just 5.4 — and has thrown eight touchdown passes compared to seven interceptions. Young’s struggles should probably have been expected, given Carolina’s skill-position deficiencies. The team gave Miles Sanders the top RB contract in free agency; Chuba Hubbard has since leapfrogged the ex-Eagle for the starting role. Adam Thielen has gone from Vikings cap casualty to the Panthers’ No. 1 target, in his age-33 season. Thielen has been productive in Carolina; no one else in this skill group has. Neither DJ Chark nor Hayden Hurst — the latter receiving the top tight end deal this offseason — has topped 230 receiving yards this year.
After pointing to Thomas Brown being in consideration to call plays this offseason, Reich handed the duties off during the team’s bye week. Three games in, Reich took back the reins from the young OC. The Panthers did not top 15 points in a game during Brown’s short run calling the shots, and while the veteran HC said this about-face is not indicative of Brown’s long-term future, the quick change was certainly notable.
Reich beat out Wilks for the Panthers’ top job, with Tepper preferring an offense-oriented HC. The five-year Colts leader is the Panthers’ first offense-geared sideline boss. Well respected, Reich being fired from two HC jobs in two years would undoubtedly drop him back to the coordinator tier moving forward. Reich, 61, did pull back the curtain a bit on Tepper’s style earlier this season by pointing to the owner being heavily involved in football operations via the two’s weekly meetings. After the experience Reich had with Jim Irsay in Indianapolis, this is familiar territory.
But Reich may also not be the likeliest Panthers power broker to go. Fitterer should not be expected to weather this storm, according to Pauline. Fitterer arrived in 2021 to work with Rhule, following a successful tenure as a Seahawks exec, and was left in power ahead of the 2022 trade deadline. The veteran staffer pulled the trigger on a Christian McCaffrey trade, giving the Panthers four draft choices, but did not accept a Rams offer of two first-rounders for Brian Burns. The young defensive end was not believed to have drawn similar interest at this year’s deadline, which came after the Panthers could not extend him this offseason. A franchise tag is now expected for Burns, but it is far from certain Tepper will have Fitterer making that call.
Some members of the Panthers’ organization do not believe this is a well-assembled roster, and the team’s 1-8 record supports that. Despite being in a seller’s position, the Panthers pursued wide receivers — months after trading longtime No. 1 target D.J. Moore — at the deadline. Fitterer, who took a backseat to Rhule, has final say over Carolina’s 53-man roster. The Panthers lost to a Bears team missing Justin Fields; Carolina being in position to potentially hand over the 2024 No. 1 pick to Chicago would present difficult optics for Fitterer, who received a vote of confidence from Tepper after the Rhule firing.
Tepper firing Reich after one season would not make this a particularly attractive job, though the owner’s past authorizing big contracts for HCs and paying top dollar for assistants will help. This will be a situation to monitor during the season’s second half.
Steelers To Activate TE Pat Freiermuth, Place S Keanu Neal On IR
NOVEMBER 18, 2:58pm: The Steelers officially announced Freiermuth’s activation this afternoon, along with a number of other Saturday transactions. Joining Freiermuth on the active roster will be practice squad linebacker Mykal Walker, whom the team was hoping to involve more with Kwon Alexander on injured reserve.
In order to make room on the roster, Pittsburgh has placed starting safety Keanu Neal on injured reserve. Neal joined his fourth team in as many years this offseason and has made the most of it, becoming a starter for the Steelers. He hasn’t had the strongest season, grading out as the league’s 62nd-best safety, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Neal’s absence will likely mean a bigger role for fellow safety Damontae Kazee, who was teammates with Neal from 2017-2021 during stints in Atlanta and Dallas.
Lastly, the Steelers announced their standard gameday practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s game in Cleveland. The team will promote LB Tariq Carpenter and safety Trenton Thompson for the matchup. Thompson’s callup fills out the depth chart a bit with Neal gone. Carpenter will team up with Walker to provide some reinforcements at linebacker with Alexander hurt.
NOVEMBER 18, 8:45am: The quick ramp-up period will be sufficient for the Steelers, who will activate Freiermuth at the earliest opportunity. Freiermuth will end up spending the minimum four games on IR, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero indicating he will move back onto Pittsburgh’s active roster before this afternoon’s deadline. While the former second-round pick has not played since Week 4, a hamstring aggravation is responsible for the extended absence. This transaction will leave the Steelers with four IR activations remaining.
NOVEMBER 15: Pat Freiermuth‘s third NFL season has not gone as hoped, but the Steelers are moving closer to having their tight end ready for the stretch run. The team designated the young pass catcher for return Wednesday.
This will start Feiermuth’s 21-day activation clock. The Steelers placed Freiermuth on IR due to a hamstring injury last month. While Freiermuth did not initially land on IR due to the injury, an aggravation led to the Steelers moving him off their 53-man roster.
The Steelers have moved to 6-3 despite persistent struggles on offense, but the team has missed Freiermuth and Diontae Johnson for extended chunks of the season. Johnson returned from his hamstring injury weeks ago, and it appears another activation will soon commence after a hamstring malady. This will be good news for Kenny Pickett, who targeted the 2021 second-round pick frequently in his first season as Pittsburgh’s starter.
Last year, Freiermuth finished with 63 receptions for 732 yards and two touchdowns. While his yards-per-reception and touchdown numbers were down compared to his rookie year, the Penn State product’s yardage total dwarfed his rookie-year number (497). Pickett and Mitch Trubisky targeted the talented tight end regularly, and the Steelers came into this season expecting another steady showing from the 6-foot-5 weapon.
Freiermuth has not played since Week 4, and he struggled to find his footing in the latest Matt Canada-run Pittsburgh offense. Freiermuth finished three games with fewer than 10 receiving yards, and although Week 4 involved an early exit, Weeks 1 and 2 brought sluggish outings. Freiermuth has eight receptions for 53 yards and two TDs this season. In his absence, the Steelers have seen Connor Heyward work as their top receiving tight end. The second-year option has 17 catches for 137 yards. Third-round rookie Darnell Washington has not factored in prominently, exiting Week 10 with three grabs for 23 yards.
Jaguars Place WR Jamal Agnew On IR, Activate WR Parker Washington
The Jaguars will be without their return man for an extended stretch. A returner and backup wide receiver, Jamal Agnew is moving to IR. This will sideline the veteran weapon for at least four games.
To replace Agnew on their active roster, the Jaguars activated wide receiver Parker Washington on Saturday. A sixth-round rookie out of Penn State, the 21-year-old backup has played in one game this season. Washington worked as a punt returner in that lone outing; the Jags drafted the 5-foot-10 wideout 185th overall this year.
Rib and shoulder injuries will send Agnew to IR; he will not be eligible to return until Week 15. Having made the rare conversion from defensive back to wide receiver after entering the NFL, Agnew has been with the Jaguars since 2021. The former Lions cornerback has operated as the Jags’ return man since signing with the team in 2021. While Agnew landed on IR to cut short his 2021 season, he has been a key part of Jacksonville’s special teams since arriving. An All-Pro in Detroit back in his 2017 rookie year, the former fifth-round pick earned a Pro Bowl nod last season.
Agnew, 28, has worked as both the Jags’ kick returner and their punt-return specialist. While all four of Agnew’s punt-return scores came during his four-year run in Detroit, he added a kick-return TD with Jacksonville in 2021. After scoring three receiving TDs last year, Agnew has nine receptions for 90 yards this year. Although an Agnew fumble wounded the Jaguars’ comeback effort in last year’s divisional round, he has been a key performer for the AFC South team.
This is the final season of Agnew’s three-year, $14.25MM deal. Barring this being a season-ending injury, the seventh-year veteran should be expected to re-emerge as a factor for the division-leading team down the stretch. Washington’s activation leaves the Jags with five such transactions remaining.
Latest On Giants, Saquon Barkley
After venturing to the divisional round last season, the Giants franchise-tagged Saquon Barkley while authorizing big-ticket contracts for Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence and Andrew Thomas. With designs on keeping Barkley for another playoff run, the Giants have instead seen injuries drive a major step back this season. As a result, Barkley faces some difficult circumstances over this season’s second half.
The Giants are again turning to rookie UDFA Tommy DeVito at quarterback. While Tyrod Taylor is expected to return at some point from his rib injury — though, it will be interesting to see how the Giants navigate that matter if they move closer to a top 2024 draft pick — Barkley is now tasked with operating as a workhorse back for a 2-8 team.
Barkley has rebounded from the high ankle sprain he suffered earlier this season, but he has also admitted the injury is still an issue. The ankle malady could be an excuse for Barkley to help conserve his body for free agency — or for a 2024 season on a second franchise tag — by taking time off and limiting his touches, but the sixth-year back said (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) he has not considered shutting himself down to rest.
At just about any other position, playing out the string for a bad team would not introduce the consequences Barkley is potentially facing. The Giants placed Darren Waller on IR and, despite midlevel efforts to staff their wide receiver posts this offseason, do not have much of note there, either. DeVito’s presence also stands to restrict New York’s pass catchers, casting Barkley as the team’s lone reliable weapon in a lost season. This could certainly work against the two-time Pro Bowler when he becomes eligible to discuss a contract again.
The Giants also do not have much in the way of complementary RBs. As a result, they have given Barkley three 20-plus-carry games — despite the former No. 2 overall pick missing three contests — this season. Higher mileage will factor into Barkley’s 2024 contract talks, and he took a grimmer stance about his future compared to his recent assessments of his situation.
“Loyalty means nothing,” Barkley said, via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan. “Loyalty, that doesn’t mean anything. No matter how loyal, no matter how committed you are, it’s a business at the end of the day. That’s something that I’ve learned. For me, the way I try to handle that, I try not to focus on that. I try my best not to think about it.”
Earlier this season, Barkley both said he did not want to be traded and that he still wanted to finish his career with the Giants. The New Jersey native said this despite occasionally contentious extension talks that did not produce a deal. The July 17 finish line for Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard became a tipping point for the RB market this offseason, leading to a state-of-the-union-type Zoom call among veteran backs. Barkley reported to the Giants soon after that call, while Jacobs took his time coming back to the Raiders. But the former Offensive Rookie of the Year faces a cloudy post-2023 outlook with the team.
As it stands now, Barkley’s 1,093 career carries are 13th among active backs. That number figures to balloon past 1,200 by season’s end. Barkley (568 rushing yards) is averaging 81.1 yards per game, a figure in line with both his Pro Bowl slates. With teams having shown hesitancy to pay veteran backs this year, Barkley’s market could take a hit even if he continues to produce this season. His injuries in 2019, 2020, 2021 and this season will also work against him. The prospect of sustaining another injury while playing in ultimately meaningless games looms as well.
“It’s really crazy when you break it down like that,” Barkley said, via Dunleavy, of his 2023 workload being used against him in contract talks. “Just the way the business is when you’re a premier back in this league — not to talk about myself — they feed you the ball because it helps you and gives you an opportunity to win games more times than not. When it comes to contract or a certain time, you’re a running back, you’re having so much miles on you. It’s a crazy thought process.”
The Giants are still interested in keeping Barkley beyond this season, leading to the team hanging onto him at the trade deadline. But this upcoming stretch with DeVito could be dicey for the top Giants weapon’s long-term future.
Eagles Expect Dallas Goedert To Avoid IR
Seeing a shoulder injury produce an IR stint last season, Dallas Goedert became one of several Eagles starters to sustain a short-term malady that required him to be moved off the 53-man roster for at least four games. While Goedert underwent surgery to repair a fractured forearm, he remains on the Eagles’ active roster a week later.
Placing the veteran tight end on IR nearly two weeks after arm surgery would be unusual, but it would not result in any additional missed games. Since the Eagles’ bye came in Week 10, the team still has the option of placing Goedert on IR and seeing him eligible to return by Week 15. Nick Sirianni, however, said (via the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane) he expects the sixth-year vet to remain on the active roster during his rehab effort.
Goedert’s surgery took place Nov. 6. A one-month timetable surfaced initially, and with the injury occurring just before Philadelphia’s bye, the team is planning a week-to-week strategy. Goedert remaining on the 53-man roster (and then being scratched on gamedays) will give the Eagles the chance to see if the former second-round pick can return earlier than expected. Parking him on IR would also mandate missed time during a key schedule sector.
Goedert will not play against the Chiefs on Monday night, and a return against the Bills in Week 12 appears unlikely as well. But the Eagles holding off on an IR move should put a return over the ensuing two weeks — against the 49ers and then the Cowboys rematch — in play. Given the strength of the Eagles’ schedule in this span, it is understandable they want to keep all options open with Goedert.
Trading Zach Ertz in 2021, the Eagles committed to Goedert — via a four-year, $57MM extension — soon after. He has since solidified himself as one of the league’s best all-around tight ends. This season, Goedert has dominated Philly TE production. Jack Stoll is the only other tight end to have caught a pass for the team this season; the former UDFA has two catches. The Eagles also have August trade acquisition Albert Okwuegbunam rostered, though the ex-Bronco has only played in one game this season. Grant Calcaterra, a 2022 sixth-rounder, practiced fully after missing Week 9 with a concussion. Goedert’s absence may point to the Eagles leaning more on their wide receivers, with Julio Jones now joining Olamide Zaccheaus as auxiliary Jalen Hurts weaponry with Quez Watkins still on IR.
The Eagles are attempting to match the Seahawks (2013-14) and Packers (2020-21) as recent NFC teams to repeat in securing home-field advantage. The No. 1 seed is more critical under the NFL’s current playoff format, which has forced No. 2-seeded teams to play in the first round since the 2020 postseason expansion. At 8-1, the Eagles sit a game ahead of the Lions in this race. Although the Eagles must navigate a difficult upcoming stretch, they still have two Giants games and a Cardinals matchup remaining. Tankathon lists the Lions as having the 26th-most difficult schedule remaining; Philly’s ranks 24th.
Browns To Work Out Joe Flacco
4:04pm: Flacco’s visit will not produce an agreement at least at this time, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. As he notes, the update may be a simple matter of the veteran not being able to suit up for Week 11 so soon after the workout and thus not being needed on the roster. In any case, both team and player will assess where they stand at this point with the potential to work out a deal down the road.
8:42am: Browns GM Andrew Berry indicated the Browns’ QB plan will hinge on Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker, but the team will add a third passer in the wake of Deshaun Watson‘s upcoming surgery. A workout will determine how Cleveland proceeds.
Joe Flacco will audition for the team today, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. While a multi-QB workout has been rumored, ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter notes Flacco is the only passer the Browns are bringing in today. The former Super Bowl-winning Ravens QB expressed interest in playing this season, and he later reached out to the Jets following Aaron Rodgers‘ Achilles tear. Nothing came of that, and Flacco has remained in free agency since his latest Jets contract expired in March.
Now 38, Flacco is far removed from his prime. He spent time at all three positions on the Jets’ QB depth chart last season. The two-stint Jet began last season as a starter, however, due to a Zach Wilson injury. The Jets later pivoted to Mike White as their starter upon benching Wilson, though Flacco factored into the AFC East team’s past three QB plans.
The Browns are likely looking to add a practice squad QB, Rapoport notes. Options are obviously limited, especially with the Rams signing Carson Wentz last week. This addition is not certain to occur today, but cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot adds the Browns will have a third QB on their roster before their Week 12 game against the Broncos.
Cleveland will turn back to Thompson-Robinson this week, doing so after the fifth-round rookie’s previous start led to a quick demotion. Walker has completed only 49% of his passes this season, and with the Browns showing enough confidence in Thompson-Robinson they traded Josh Dobbs to the Cardinals in August, they will see how the UCLA product fares after a full week of practice reps.
The Ravens traded Flacco to the Broncos in 2019, doing so after moving to Lamar Jackson on a full-time basis. Following that Denver one-off, the former Super Bowl MVP has been with the Eagles and Jets during the 2020s. Not seeing any game action with Philly, Flacco received nine Jets starts from 2020-22. He went 1-8 in those outings; the win came in Cleveland. Flacco directed a come-from-behind victory in Week 2 of last season, carving up a then-suspect Browns defense during a 307-yard, four-touchdown passing day. The 15-year veteran did not sustain that form, with the Jets giving White and then Chris Streveler work later in 2022.
It appears the Browns are only planning to turn to other QBs if they are unsatisfied with Flacco’s current form. Flacco signing with Cleveland would make him the NFL’s second-oldest active passer, behind only Rodgers. Flacco has made 160 career starts. While Berry had become the Browns’ GM by the time Flacco signed with the Eagles in 2021, assistant GM Catherine Raiche was in Philly during Flacco’s months-long stay. The Eagles traded Flacco back to the Jets in October 2021.
Ravens Not Expecting Mark Andrews To Return This Season
2:48pm: An MRI has revealed a cracked fibula in addition to the ankle ligament damage, Rapoport tweets. With a slightly clearer picture, Andrews is still unlikely to play again in 2023, though further information will be gathered soon. Rapoport adds the Ravens will meet with Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte next week to devise a firm course of action. More will likely be known then regarding a recovery timeline.
8:21am: The early-game injury Mark Andrews sustained Thursday night is expected to result in the Pro Bowl tight end missing the rest of the season, according to John Harbaugh.
Andrews is believed to have suffered a high ankle sprain and more damage, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (video link). This will be new territory for the Ravens, who have relied on Andrews throughout the Lamar Jackson era. The former third-round pick has never previously missed more than two games in a season.
A hip-drop tackle from Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson left Andrews in pain after a first-quarter reception. The Ravens quickly ruled Andrews out during a game that featured high-profile injuries. The extent of Joe Burrow‘s wrist injury is not fully known, while Jackson returned to action after a Wilson tackle led him into the medical tent. Despite the Ravens pulling away against a Jake Browning-dependent Bengals outfit, they came out of the Week 11 divisional matchup worse off.
Andrews is set for an MRI on Friday morning. This purely being a high ankle sprain would not stand to end Andrews’ season, but the potential ligament damage here resides as the chief concern. Andrews is not currently leading the Ravens in receiving yards, which marks a change from the norm. Zay Flowers exited Week 11 with 588, but Andrews (544, six TDs) has proven indispensable during Jackson’s tenure. As the team has struggled to identify steady receiving talent in recent years, Andrews morphing from a No. 86 overall pick into one of the NFL’s best tight ends has been pivotal for Jackson’s growth as a passer.
The Ravens have Isaiah Likely and fellow 2022 fourth-rounder Charlie Kolar as Andrews backups. Andrews, 28, is attached to a four-year, $56MM extension he signed during his dominant 2021 season. That deal runs through 2025. Flashing immediate potential, Likely finished with 36 receptions for 373 receiving yards and three touchdowns as a rookie. The Coastal Carolina alum is poised to step in as the Ravens’ lead receiving tight end moving forward.
Choosing Andrews two rounds after picking Hayden Hurst in 2018, the Ravens quickly determined the Oklahoma product had considerable potential. The Ravens later traded Hurst to the Falcons, but Andrews had already taken off as the team’s top option by that point. Breaking through with a 10-touchdown campaign during Jackson’s superstar turn in 2019, Andrews has three Pro Bowls on his resume. He led all tight ends with 1,361 yards in 2021, doing so despite Jackson missing a chunk of that season.
Andrews has not always led the Ravens in receiving yardage during his career, with Marquise Brown doing so twice, but there has not been any doubt as to the team’s most important pass catcher. The Ravens have chosen three first-round wideouts since drafting Andrews while throwing free agency resources at the position. Jackson has shown a steady rapport with Andrews, with the standout QB’s immediate dejection upon seeing the sixth-year tight end go down an ominous sign of the ensuing fallout. Baltimore’s wide receivers will now become a bigger part of the division-leading team’s equation.
The Ravens have assembled a deeper receiving corps compared to recent years, signing both Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor and then using their first-round pick on Flowers. The Boston College product appears to be a hit, and the team still has 2021 first-rounder Rashod Bateman available. Bateman has battled injuries throughout his career and was on the shelf with a season-ending foot injury at this time last year. All four of Baltimore’s top wideouts are healthy at this point; that will be critical in the Ravens’ quest to win their first division title since 2019.
Tyrod Taylor Likely To Return This Season
While Daniel Jones‘ injury placed the Giants in the unexpected position to target a high-end replacement in the 2024 draft, the team only moved into realistic range for such an aspiration due to Tyrod Taylor‘s absence. Taylor’s rib injury left Tommy DeVito as the last man standing for the Giants, who have sunk to 2-8 during the rookie UDFA’s time at the controls.
DeVito will make another start in Week 11, but the Giants are not closing the book on Taylor. The veteran backup said he does not expect this rib ailment to end his season, and ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan notes the second-year Giants QB2 appears likely to return following the team’s Week 13 bye.
The Giants placed Taylor on IR before their Week 9 game, meaning Week 14 will be the earliest he can return. The injury led to the 13th-year veteran being hospitalized, and it brought back memories of the injection snafu in Los Angeles, which ushered in Justin Herbert in September 2020. Taylor resurfaced with the Texans in 2021, opening the season as the rebuilding team’s starter while Deshaun Watson began a full season as a healthy scratch. Taylor, 34, has settled onto the backup tier. And his Giants contract expires at season’s end. But he could suddenly be an X-factor in the race for the 2024 top picks.
NFL teams do not make a habit of framing stretch runs around tanking for draft positioning, a process that impacts NBA lottery teams’ plans annually. But clubs do rest veterans at points. The Jaguars sat rookie-year dynamo James Robinson late in the 2020 season, and the Bears rested Justin Fields in Week 18 of last season. Both teams ended up securing the No. 1 overall pick the following year.
The most memorable tanking act in recent NFL history affected the Giants, as the Eagles pulled Jalen Hurts during a competitive Week 17 game against Washington. Doug Pederson inserting Nate Sudfeld effectively ended Philly’s effort to win, thus handing Washington the NFC East title. With a 6-10 Giants team in the strange position of being on the cusp of the playoffs with a Washington loss, Raanan adds team brass was understandably not happy with how the Eagles proceeded that night. Philly ended up with the No. 6 overall pick, which it traded to Miami for a 2022 first-rounder.
The difference in the Giants’ offensive capabilities with Taylor (56 career starts) at the helm vs. DeVito certainly stands to be impactful enough it will be a storyline to monitor over the season’s final five weeks. If the season ended today, the Giants would hold the No. 2 overall pick. GM Joe Schoen was recently spotted at a USC-Washington game earlier this month.
Although the guarantees in the Giants’ Jones four-year, $160MM Jones extension will leave the team no choice but to keep him in 2024, the club is not expected to pass on drafting Caleb Williams or Drake Maye if the opportunity presents itself in April. That will leave the Giants with a big-picture decision: keep playing DeVito (or one of their other bottom-end QBs) or activate Taylor off IR despite the latter not being in the team’s long-term plans.
As Jones will be back in 2024, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan adds Taylor is likely to be too pricey for the Giants next year (subscription required). Taylor signed a two-year, $11MM deal in 2022, helping the Giants rectify the mistake they made in replacing 2020 QB2 Colt McCoy with Mike Glennon. It would seem the Giants will have a call to make following their bye week, but as of now, Taylor is on track to be back on the 53-man roster in December.