Manti Te’o Suffers Torn Achilles
Chargers linebacker Manti Te’o has suffered a torn Achilles, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes. Linebacker Manti Te’o went down with a non-contact injury on Sunday against the Colts and an MRI today confirmed the team’s worst fears. Te’o will be placed on season-ending IR. 
Te’o opened the season with a bang as he racked up ten tackles against the Chiefs. Things seemed to be pointing to a productive year for the 25-year-old, but his season has ended prematurely instead.
Te’o, the 38th overall pick in the 2013 draft, is no stanger to the injury bug. As a rookie in 2013, Te’o suffered a foot injury in the preseason which sidelined him for the first part of the regular season. In the following year, the linebacker missed six games due to a foot fracture. Last year, Te’o missed four games as the result of an ankle injury.
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Latest On Patriots’ QB Situation
The Patriots have not made plans to bring in T.J. Yates, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Rapoport calls Yates the Pats’ “free agent quarterback of choice” and by not signing him, it’s an indication that they are confident in the health of Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett. 
Brissett looked great as he made his NFL debut and first ever start against the Texans on Thursday night. During the course of the Pats’ 27-0 victory, however, the rookie suffered a thumb sprain. Meanwhile, Garoppolo is still dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing arm. Tom Brady returns soon, but the Patriots still have to get through their October 2nd contest against the Bills before welcoming him back on October 9th to face the Browns.
In the first two games of the seasons, Garoppolo completed 42-of-60 passes for 498 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions in wins over the Cardinals and Dolphins. The Pats are hoping to see the youngster do more of that against Buffalo, but if he can’t, it sounds like Brissett should be ready.
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Ameer Abdullah Placed On IR, Done For Season?
SUNDAY, 10:05am: Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted earlier this morning that the Lions were hopeful that Abdullah would return from IR shortly after the team’s Week 10 bye. However, a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter shortly thereafter indicated that the Lions believe Abdullah has a torn ligament in his left foot and will miss the remainder of the season.
WEDNESDAY, 08:38am: The Lions have placed running back Ameer Abdullah on injured reserve, as Justin Rogers of The Detroit News tweets. The Lions have confirmed the news via press release. 
Abdullah injured his foot on Sunday and it was initially believed to be a sprain. Yesterday, the tailback visited Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte and apparently received some bad news. It’s not necessarily known if Abdullah suffered a fracture, but – at minimum – his sprain was more severe than initially thought. Thanks to the league’s new IR rules, Abdullah is not necessarily done for the season, of course. In theory, Abdullah could come back in two months and suit up as soon as Week 11.
With Abdullah out, the Lions will give more carries to Theo Riddick. Of course, Riddick is more of a pass-catching specialist than a workhorse back, so we can expect to see additional work for rookie Dwayne Washington as well. Washington is a bit of an unknown, but coach Jim Caldwell has been talking him up all summer.
The Lions also announced that they have signed running back George Winn and linebacker Zaviar Gooden to the practice squad. To make room, guard Chase Farris and wide receiver Isaac Fruechte have been cut.
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Knee Surgery For Vikings DT Sharrif Floyd
FRIDAY: Floyd underwent a successful right knee arthroscopy on Thursday, the team announced. He’ll miss roughly six weeks, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).
THURSDAY: Vikings defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd is having a procedure done on his injured knee, according to coach Mike Zimmer (via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press on Twitter). Specifics of the procedure are not yet known, but it’s not a good sign after Floyd was pulled from Minnesota’s season opener with knee trouble. 
[RELATED: Latest On Adrian Peterson]
Floyd, 25, was a first-round pick in the 2013 draft. At the NFL level, he has appeared in 44 games with 24 starts, missing two games in 2014 and three games in 2015. Of course, the Vikings are already banged up and they can’t afford to lose another player of note. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is done for the year after a freaky leg injury and Adrian Peterson‘s season might be over after suffering a torn meniscus.
If Floyd has to miss time, the Vikings will continue to use Shamar Stephen as a starter on the interior line. They may look out of house for support as Tom Johnson is the last defensive tackle on the bench behind Stephen and Linval Joseph.
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Extra Points: Ingram, Saints, Cousins, Gruden
Chargers outside linebacker Melvin Ingram, who is in his contract year, has changed representation, Liz Mullen of SBJ tweets. Ingram has left Athletes First to join up with Ari Nissim, Kim Miale, and John Thornton of Roc Nation. Ingram, 27, is earning $7.751MM in 2016 under the terms of his fifth-year option. Last season, Ingram posted the best results of his career, racking up 10.5 sacks.
Here’s more from the NFL:
- The Saints auditioned defensive back Shak Randolph, a source tells Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter). Randolph, an SMU product, was signed by the Chiefs as an UDFA earlier this year, but Kansas City cut him from its practice squad earlier this month. New Orleans, which was already thin in the secondary, has experienced a rash of defensive back injuries lately. The club also worked out 2015 third-round cornerback D’Joun Smith today.
- Some anonymous Redskins players have reportedly voiced frustration with quarterback Kirk Cousins‘ 2016 performance, but defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois isn’t pleased with any such talk. “Like I’ve said before, and hopefully one of my teammates is listening to me right now, don’t be anonymous,” Francois told Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post. “Just step out and tell us how you really feel about Kirk. At the end of the day, that man is going to be our quarterback. At the end of the day, if you’re going to talk about that man, there’s no need for you to be in our damn locker room.”
- While they’ve been dealing with internal exasperation, the Redskins have also been fielding shots from former players, as now-Giants linebacker Keenan Robinson — who played for Washington last year — accused the club of “finger-pointing.” But head coach Jay Gruden disputes that notion, noting that the Redskins battled back from a 5-7 start to win the NFC East in 2015, as Tom Pelissero of USA Today writes.
Practice Squad Updates: 9/22/16
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Cleveland Browns
- Cut: P Michael Palardy
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: C Shane McDermott
- Cut: C Jake Brendel (Twitter link via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News)
Denver Broncos
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: WR Isaiah Burse
- Cut: WR Jonathan Krause (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego)
North Notes: Williams, Browns, Ansah, Bears
Cornerback K’Waun Williams has filed a grievance through the NFLPA asking the Browns to pay for his ankle surgery plus his full $600K salary for ’16, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes. During the offseason, Williams and the Browns were locked in a heated battle as he refused to play through painful bone spurs in his ankle. The Browns suspended the corner for two weeks and later waived him. He was claimed by Chicago, but later released when he failed the physical.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:
- Lions defensive end Ziggy Ansah is getting a second opinion on his high ankle sprain, a source tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Typically, that’s not a great sign. Lions running back Ameer Abdullah got a second opinion on his sprained foot earlier this week and wound up being ruled out for at least two months. With fellow defenders Devin Taylor and DeAndre Levy also nursing injuries, Detroit can’t afford to lose its star playmaker in Ansah.
- The Browns are bringing former BYU wide receiver Mitch Mathews in for a visit/workout on Friday, agent Brett Tessler tweets. Mathews spent this preseason with Kansas City. He auditioned for New England in early September but left without a deal.
- The Bears worked out free agent punter Cody Webster, according to Caplan (Twitter link). Per Caplan, Webster is the latest in a line of punters that has auditioned for Chicago. That could indicate that the club isn’t happy with incumbent specialist Pat O’Donnell, who ranks 26th in the league in net punt average.
Patriots To Activate Rob Gronkowski
The Patriots are set to activate tight end Rob Gronkowski for tonight’s game against the Texans, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Gronk has yet to take the field this season. 
Gronkowski has been dealing with a hamstring injury for much of the offseason but he’s coming back just in the nick of time for New England. Tonight, the Pats are without Tom Brady (suspended) and Jimmy Garoppolo (injured), leaving third-stringer Jacoby Brissett under center. Inexperienced quarterbacks often look to their tight ends as security blankets, and there is no better offensive tight end in the NFL than Gronkowski.
In 2015, Gronk caught 72 passes for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns across 15 regular season games. For yet another season, Gronkowski established himself as one of the most lethal tight ends in the game today. For his efforts, Gronk earned his third First-Team All-Pro selection and his fourth Pro Bowl nod.
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Saints Work Out CB D’Joun Smith
The Saints are in need of some cornerback help and they’re looking at out-of-house options. Today, the Saints auditioned D’Joun Smith, a 2015 third-round pick of the Colts, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. 
[RELATED: Saints Place CB P.J. Williams On IR]
A former Florida Atlantic defensive back, Smith was placed on IR-DTR by the Colts in his rookie season and wound up seeing time in only four games before being cut. He was in camp with Indianapolis again this offseason but he was waived with an injury designation prior to the 53-man deadline. Still only 23, the Saints are hoping he can help their ailing secondary. In 44 career games at Florida Atlantic, Smith totaled 120 tackles (78 solo), nine interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 1.0 sack and 29 passes defensed.
The Saints, of course, are without their top two cornerbacks. Delvin Breaux will be out for more than a month after suffering a broken fibula in the season opener. Then, this week, P.J. Williams was placed on IR after suffering a severe concussion.
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Packers Promote DT Brian Price
The Packers are promoting defensive tackle Brian Price from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets. In a related move, it appears that cornerback Robertson Daniel will be taking Price’s spot on the taxi squad. 
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 this year’s 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.”
Still, despite the incident, roughly two-thirds of the league reached out to Price’s reps after the draft to express interest. The defensive tackle ultimately chose Green Bay and it appears that he chose wisely as he has found his way to the varsity roster.
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