Colts Place Parris Campbell On IR
Parris Campbell has been placed on season-ending injured reserve with a broken foot, per a club announcement. This marks an early end to the wide receiver’s underwhelming rookie campaign. 
[RELATED: Adam Vinatieri To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery]
Campbell, a speedy receiver out Ohio State, broke his foot early on in Sunday’s loss to the Bucs. The second-round pick finishes out the year with just 18 receptions for 121 yards in seven games. To his credit, he continued to play against Tampa Bay even after suffering the fracture.
Campbell led Ohio State in receiving yards (1,063) as a senior, becoming Dwayne Haskins‘ top target during the first-round pick’s lone season as the Buckeyes’ starter. Campbell also led Ohio State with 12 touchdown catches, slotting him ahead of fellow Day 2 pick Terry McLaurin. McLaurin, selected 17 spots later, has 46 catches for 703 yards and six touchdowns through 12 games for the Redskins.
At 6-7, the Colts are still technically alive in the playoff picture. They’ll fight for their paper thin chances this week against the 10-3 Saints, in New Orleans.
49ers’ Dee Ford To Miss Time
Dee Ford can’t seem to stay healthy. On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that that edge rusher will miss at least three weeks with a hamstring strain.
[RELATED: Weston Richburg Done For Year]
Ford has been dealing with the hamstring issue, plus other injuries, throughout the year. He returned from a two-game absence on Sunday, only to exit early from the Niners’ high-scoring win over the Saints. This time around, the Niners will be forced to shut him down for the remainder of the regular season, at minimum. The hope is that Ford will be ready to go for the second round of the playoffs.
Ford signed a massive five-year, $85MM deal with his new team after coming over via trade with the Chiefs. Through eleven games this year, he has 6.5 sacks.
Without Ford, the Niners are expected to lean more on Solomon Thomas and Jeremiah Valoaga. They’ll wrap the regular season against the Falcons, Rams, and Seahawks as they look to secure a first-round bye.
49ers’ Weston Richburg Done For Year
Bad news for the Niners. Center Weston Richburg is done for the year thanks to a torn patella tendon, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced. 
Richburg will be placed on injured reserve, leaving one of the league’s best teams without its anchor on the offensive line. He’s been a rock for the 49ers since joining the club on a five-year, $47.5MM deal prior to the 2018 season. In 2018, he played in 15 games despite an ongoing knee issue, which was addressed by surgery in January. Unfortunately, this knee injury will require another surgery and ample time to heal, ruling him out for the rest of the regular season and playoffs.
Last year, Pro Football Focus gave Richburg the lowest grade (51.9) of his five-year career. This year, he fared slightly better with a 59.8 score, but those numbers don’t quite reflect his importance to the Niners’ line. He’s allowed just one sack this year and the Niners rank No. 4 in total offense league-wide.
Without Richburg, the Niners will likely install Ben Garland as their starting center, starting this week. They’re also likely to look into some interior line reinforcements, starting with practice squad guard Ross Reynolds.
Raiders’ Foster Moreau Done For Year
Foster Moreau‘s season is over. On Monday, head coach Jon Gruden announced that the fourth-round tight end will not play again in 2019.
Moreau exited Sunday’s game against the Titans with a knee injury, and it’s serious enough to rule him out for the rest of the slate. Before the injury, Moreau hauled in three passes for 14 yards, including his fifth touchdown reception of the year. In total, he finishes out with those five TDs, plus 21 catches for 174 hard-fought yards.
Moreau didn’t have a gaudy stat line as a rookie, but he did develop a strong rapport with Derek Carr, who gave him more and more red zone looks as the year went on. He’ll look to build off of that in 2020, when it really counts – the Raiders are, for all intents and purposes, out of playoff consideration. Their 6-7 record means that they’ll need more than just one Christmas miracle to qualify, even if they run the table.
The Raiders – sans Moreau – will face the Chargers in Week 16. On the plus side, they might have rookie receiver Hunter Renfrow back in action.
Bears’ Roquan Smith Done For Season
DEC. 9: It is indeed a torn pec for Smith, head coach Matt Nagy confirmed. Smith will head to IR, and his season is over. Nagy hopes to have Smith back in time for April’s offseason program.
DEC. 6: The Bears fear that linebacker Roquan Smith tore his pec in Thursday night’s win over the Cowboys, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter) hears. If the MRI confirms, it would likely knock Smith out for the remainder of the season.
Smith has been playing some of his best football as of late, including a Week 13 performance against the Lions that included 16 tackles and two sacks. If the season is over for Smith, he’ll finish out 2019 with 100 total tackles, the aforementioned two sacks (as an off-ball linebacker), and 701 snaps (85% to date).
As the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 draft, Smith has two full years left on his rookie deal. After that, the Bears will have the option of keeping Smith for 2022, his fifth NFL season.
After last night’s win over Dallas, the Bears are 7-6 with a puncher’s chance at the playoffs. Their next game against the Packers will be hugely important – a win keeps their slim NFC North chances (currently 5%) alive. A loss, on the other hand, would more or less seal the division for Green Bay and end Chicago’s season. From the sound of it, they’ll be without Smith for the pivotal Week 15 matchup.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/6/19
Today’s super long list of NFL practice squad updates:
- Signed: CB Brian Allen
- Cut: DB Linden Stephens
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/6/19
Today’s minor moves:
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: OL Michael Ola
- Placed on IR: TE Jason Vander Laan
Seattle Seahawks
- Placed on IR: CB Neiko Thorpe
NFL Suspends Chiefs’ Breeland Speaks
The NFL has suspended Chiefs defensive lineman Breeland Speaks, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. It’s a four-game ban for Speaks, though he’s on injured reserve and done for the year anyway. 
Speaks landed on IR after injuring his knee in a preseason game against the Texans. He’ll spend the offseason healing up, with an eye on bouncing back in 2020.
The former second-round pick played in every game last year for the Chiefs. He finished out with 24 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.
Speaks still has two full years to go on his rookie deal, tying him to KC through the 2021 season.
Patriots To Re-Sign Nick Folk
Nick Folk is back. On Friday, the Patriots worked out the veteran kicker after one week away from the team and agreed to re-sign him (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The deal will be formally signed on Saturday. 
Folk missed last week due to an appendectomy, but he’s all healed up from the minor surgery and ready to retake the field. Kai Forbath was signed as a one-game replacement for Folk against the Texans, but received his pink slip earlier this week.
With the Pats, Folk has connected on 7-of-9 field goal tries and all three of his extra point attempts across three games. Two of those misses came last month against the Cowboys, but the Pats still came away with the 13-9 win, with Folk’s 42-yard connection in the fourth quarter helping to seal the deal.
In total, the Pats have used four kickers this season: Stephen Gostkowski, Mike Nugent, Folk, and Forbath. Even after Sunday’s loss to the Texans, they’re 10-2 on the year with yet another AFC East title all but sealed.
Cowboys Making Kicker Change?
Brett Maher could be out of a job, head coach Jason Garrett said in an interview on 105.3 The Fan (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News). His comments came hours after Maher missed yet another field goal in Thursday night’s loss to the Bears. 
“Obviously, we have to do a close evaluation of it,” Garrett said. “We brought three kickers in earlier in the week. We decided to give Brett an opportunity this week. It didn’t work out. So we have to take a real close, hard look at that.”
The Cowboys’ previous tryout featured former Chargers and Redskin kicker Nick Rose, Austin MacGinnis, and Tristan Vizcaino. From the sound of it, the Cowboys will look into other options if they bump Maher.
The Cowboys’ season is now on the brink and while there’s plenty of blame to go around, Maher’s struggles haven’t helped matters. He’s connected on just 66.7% of his attempts this year, well below his 80.6% success rate in 2018.