Eagles RB Ryan Mathews Done For Season
Ryan Mathews‘ season is over, Eagles coach Doug Pederson tells reporters (Twitter link via Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer). He will need surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck. 
The injury happened on a third down goal line play and, remarkably, Mathews stayed in for fourth down and carried the ball.
With a $5MM cap hit next year, Mathews may have played his final game for the Eagles. Philly can save $4MM by releasing him.
Mathews also missed time this year with an MCL sprain. In total, his season ends with 13 games played and 661 yards off of 155 carries for an average of 4.3 yards per attempt. He also had eight rushing touchdowns plus 13 catches for 115 yards.
Of course, with a 6-9 record, the Eagles will not be playing for much in the season finale against the Cowboys. And, by virtue of their win over the Giants on Thursday, the game is effectively meaningless for Dallas as well. The Cowboys have secured the NFC East crown and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Without Mathews, the Eagles are left with Darren Sproles and Byron Marshall. The Eagles don’t have any running backs on the p-squad, so they’ll have to go out-of-house if they want a third running back for this game.
Vikings Promote C.J. Ham
The Vikings promoted running back C.J. Ham off of the practice squad in advance of Saturday’s game against the Packers. To make room, the Vikings placed cornerback Mackensie Alexander on injured reserve. 
This may not be a great sign for Adrian Peterson, who hasn’t practiced in recent days. Peterson returned from meniscus surgery to help the Vikings make a playoff push. Now that the Vikings are 7-7 with a 3% chance of qualifying for the postseason, the veteran doesn’t have much incentive to press his luck and take the field. We should know more about Peterson’s availability later on today.
A product of Division II Augustana College in South Dakota, Ham helped his team reach the postseason in his final year and led the Northern Sun Conference in rushing yards and touchdowns. In May of 2016, he signed with the Vikings as a free agent after competing in the rookie camp on a tryout basis. He did not make the team’s final 53-man cut in September, but he was brought on to the practice squad. After months of waiting, he may finally be making his NFL debut.
Bills GM Declines To Back Rex Ryan
Rumor has it that the Bills are preparing to move on from Rex Ryan and the team is doing nothing to refute such talk. In an interview on WGR 550, Doug Whaley refused to put his support behind Ryan. 
“Let’s put it this way: None of us know our future,” Whaley said (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com). “Look where we are. We owe it to our fans and our owners to keep it focused on Miami, because we’re still in this.”
Meanwhile, owners Terry and Kim Pegula are keeping quiet and, aside from his scheduled radio appearances, Whaley has not been made available to reporters since Nov. 1. The silence speaks volumes and lends additional credence to word that Ryan is a goner after the season.
Recently, people within the Bills front office opined to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report that it’s unfair for Ryan to be on the hot seat while Whaley is reportedly safe this offseason. Personally, I would go a step further and say that it is Whaley who should be out while Ryan should be given a third year to try and turn things around. The Bills are .500 under Ryan’s watch and that’s actually impressive given the major holes in the team’s roster and the rash of injuries they’ve dealt with this season. Those holes, including the team’s lack of a franchise quarterback, are the result of Whaley’s spotty roster construction.
Browns’ Josh McCown Considering Retirement
Browns quarterback Josh McCown admits that he is pondering retirement, as ESPN.com’s Tony Grossi writes. 
“It’s a matter of getting away with my family and talking to them,” the 37-year-old said. “Every year since my [oldest] daughter’s been in high school, we’ve always discussed it. It hasn’t been a very long conversation, necessarily, but we’ve always discussed it because [family] is my priority. She’s a senior, will be going to college next year. We’ll do what we always do — think about it, pray about it, and try to make the best decision we can.”
McCown is signed through 2017 and he says his plan is to “honor” the contract, but he admits that he is thinking about spending more time with his family and the Browns might him loose before March 11 when he is due a $750K roster bonus. The rebuilding Browns could drop McCown to clear a spot for a younger quarterback on the depth chart, though it may also behoove them to keep him as a backup. After all, his salary of $3.625MM is pretty reasonable and he does offer experience at a paper thin position.
After suffering two broken collarbones and going through two trying years with the Browns, no one would blame McCown for calling it a career.
Bengals WR A.J. Green To Return Saturday
A.J. Green tells reporters that he will return from injury on Saturday. Green has missed multiple games with a hamstring injury. 
“I want to get back,” he said earlier this month. “No matter what type of season we have, I’m not the type of guy to cash it in. So, whenever it’s ready, I’ll be ready to go. But, I’m not going to rush it because I’m not going to have this be a continuing issue.”
The Bengals are not in the playoff mix this year, but Green is a competitor and has been pushing to come back this season. Initially, few thought that a 2016 comeback would be possible. The first reports on Green indicated that he had suffered a complete hamstring tear but further tests showed that it was not quite as severe.
The 5-8-1 Bengals face the Texans on Saturday. They wrap up the season on Jan. 1 at home against the Ravens. If the season ended today, the Bengals would own the No. 10 overall pick in the draft.
With 36 more yards, Green can hit 1,000 yards on the season. That would be his sixth-straight season with 1,000+.
Latest On Cowboys’ Randy Gregory
The slow wheels of the NFL disciplinary system may favor the Cowboys. Randy Gregory’s appeal of his year-long suspension won’t be until January, at the earliest, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. That means he’ll almost certainly be on the field for at least the start of the playoffs. 
Initially suspended for the bulk of the 2016 season, his latest slip-up threatened to keep him out of the game for the rest of this campaign and the majority of the 2017 season. However, he’ll be permitted to play while the appeals process plays out.
Of course, not every player benefits from the current system that is in place. Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith is still in limbo although he has been eligible for reinstatement for some time now. Smith, understandably, is frustrated with how things have played out, though it is possible that he has not satisfied all of the parameters of the league’s substance abuse program requirements.
Next up for the Cowboys is a Monday night showdown against the Lions. If they win, they’ll clinch the division and a first-round bye.
Colts Tried To Sign Brian Price
Brian Price is a wanted man and the Packers are unwilling to lose him. Green Bay has raised the defensive tackle’s practice squad salary to $26,470/week, well above the league required minimum salary of $6,900/week, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets. Price’s pay now comes out to an annual salary of $449,900, whereas the minimum comes out to $117,300 per year. 
[RELATED: Packers Promote QB Joe Callahan]
The pay bump was precipitated by the Colts trying to sign Price this week (Twitter link). Although that would have given him an opportunity to make the 53-man roster straight away, Price opted to stay with the Packers. A “few” teams have tried to sign him this year, Demovsky says.
Price, a product of University of Texas-San Antonio, made headlines for the wrong reasons in college. In the second-to-last game of the 2014 season, Price shoved an official to the ground in a fit of rage. In May, Price admitted to Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel that the incident probably cost him an opportunity to hear his name called in the 2016 draft.
“I think it was definitely a red flag,” Price said. “You know, in football, tempers flare, emotions run high. It was the heat of the moment. I didn’t know it was a ref beside me, I kind of side-swiped him and it happened to be a ref and I was like, oh, I knew I messed up. I definitely feel NFL teams took note of that.”
Now that two years have passed without further incident, teams are eager to give Price a chance on the main roster.
Rooney Rule Extends To Coordinator Jobs
For years, the “Rooney Rule” has stipulated that NFL teams must interview a minority candidate for head coaching and GM jobs. Now, Roger Goodell tells the Fritz Pollard Alliance that rule will informally extend to coordinator vacancies, Mark Maske of The Washington Post writes. The practice will apply to any team seeking to hire a coordinator with a head coach already in place. It will not apply to a team with an incoming head coach. 
“That wouldn’t be fair,” Pollard Alliance chairman John Wooten said. “I tell guys all the time that when you go in and interview [for a head coaching job], you should have your staff already together. But if there’s a situation where the head coach is already there, that’s when it would apply as a best practice.”
This has been installed as a best practice largely because coordinator jobs are often an entrée to head coaching positions. The Rooney Rule insures that a minority candidate has a chance at every head coaching gig and this new recommendation should help expand the pool of qualified candidates. As Maske notes, five of last year’s seven head coaching vacancies were filled by offensive coordinators.
Of course, there have been instances where minority candidates may have been interviewed only to satisfy the rule. Last year, Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin hinted that he felt two of his interviews were not “legitimate.”
Draft Notes: Mixon, Trubisky, Fournette
Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon was/is thinking about entering the 2017 draft, but since the video of him striking a woman has been released, GMs around the league have told people close to him that he won’t get drafted, Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com writes. Beyond that, they say there’s even a chance he won’t be signed as a free agent and he may not even get a combine invite if he declares. At this point, Pauline says he should return to OU – if that’s even an option for him.
Just two weeks ago, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report heard that teams were “softening” on Mixon and the first round was still in reach for him. Apparently, teams are changing their tune after viewing the video.
Here’s a look at the latest draft news:
- In a weak quarterback class, UNC’s Mitch Trubisky is the only first round lock, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (video link) hears. That means other QBs like Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer could slide to Day 2. Some scouts are saying that this is the worst crop of quarterbacks since the 2013 draft.
- Running back Leonard Fournette announced (Twitter link) that he has signed on with Roc Nation for representation. The Jay-Z branded agency has been steadily gaining ground in the NFL and the LSU star is their latest big get. Fournette declared for the draft earlier this month and started a minor controversy when he announced that he will be skipping LSU’s bowl game in order to protect his injured ankle. Fournette is widely projected to be a top ten pick this year and two anonymous evaluators recently opined that he is a better talent than Todd Gurley.
- Antonio Garcia of Troy and Martinas Rankin of Mississippi State are two offensive tackles to watch in this year’s draft, Pauline writes. Several teams grade Garcia as one of the top three tackles in this year’s class, with one team believing he’s the best tackle from the senior group. Rankin, meanwhile, still has a year of eligibility, but teams feel that he’ll be a Top 75 pick if he declares. So far this year, he has lined up against seven potential top 75 prospects and he allowed only 1.5 sacks.
AFC Notes: Bills, McCoy, Browns, Pryor, RG3
Bills running back LeSean McCoy turns 29 in July, but he believes that he can continue to play at a high level, as The Associated Press writes. The veteran is under contract for three more years at a reasonable rate and it sounds like he has every intention of playing out that deal. “I feel young,” McCoy said. “I feel good. I’m not like other backs that only take a pounding. So I’m not really concerned about time.” In 13 games this year, McCoy has rushed for 1,129 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Shady’s hamstring has bothered him a bit this year, but all in all, he hasn’t really shown signs of slowing down. Here’s more from the AFC:
- Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor has a torn ligament in his finger but he’ll try to play through it, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). He plans to instead have a procedure done after the season. The Browns have until March 9 to either extend Pryor or use the franchise tag on him.
- Robert Griffin III will remain the Browns‘ starter – for now. When addressing reporters on Monday, coach Hue Jackson said that RG3 will start against San Diego on Saturday, but he’ll be on a short leash. “I do have that card to where I could put Cody (Kessler) in the game. Won’t hesitate,” Jackson said (Twitter link via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com).
- Despite his struggles, Dolphins defensive end Mario Williams says he’s not thinking about retirement.