Seahawks Place Ethan Pocic On IR
The Seahawks have placed offensive lineman Ethan Pocic on injured reserve, according to a team announcement. In related moves, the club also waived safety Adrian Colbert and promoted tight end Jacob Hollister and guard Jordan Roos from the practice squad.
Pocic started in the team’s season opener against the Bengals and played on every possible snap. He also saw time in the Week 2 contest against the Steelers, but he’s been out for the last three games with a back injury. Now, he’ll miss at least eight more weeks of action, and possibly the rest of the season.
Roos, 26, appeared in seven games after joining the club as a UDFA. He’ll provide some much needed offensive line depth as right guard D.J. Fluker and left tackle Duane Brown deal with injuries. In the meantime, George Fant is expected to start at left tackle when the Seahawks face the Browns on Sunday.
The Seahawks are 4-1 through five weeks. After the Cleveland game, they’ll round out the month with games against the Ravens and Falcons.
Falcons To Sign P Kasey Redfern
The Falcons will sign punter/kickoff specialist Kasey Redfern, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Redfern will join the practice squad on Friday but will be added to the active roster for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. 
[RELATED: Teams Identifying Falcons Trade Targets]
Redfern, it seems, will take the place of Matt Wile, who was signed after Matt Bosher landed on injured reserve. The Falcons, just a couple of days ago, also inked former University of Arkansas punter Sam Irwin-Hill to the practice squad, so there’s still some punter shuffling to be sorted out.
Wile struggled against the Texans and launched multiple kickoffs out of bounds. The Falcons lost 53-32, dropping them to 1-4 on the season.
XFL Projects $55K Salary For Players
Outside of the NFL, professional football doesn’t necessarily equal millions. In the XFL, players will earn about $55K per year, on average, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. 
In a memo to agents of prospective players, the XFL disclosed that players will be paid $2,080, bi-weekly. There will also be game checks during the season of $1,685 and win bonuses of $2,222. Including in-season bonuses, the league projects an average salary of $55K for each player.
The players who join Vince McMahon‘s league will be considered full-time employees. After the XFL championship game on April 25, they’ll be free to sign NFL contracts, giving them an opportunity join rosters before the 2020 draft.
The XFL’s own draft is slated to will take place on Tuesday Oct. 15 and Wednesday Oct. 16 with roughly 1,000 players up for grabs.
Latest On Packers’ Davante Adams
Packers wide receiver Davante Adams is listed as day-to-day, but his turf toe issue may require many, many days of recovery. When asked about his timetable for return, Adams didn’t have much in the way of definitive answers, as Jim Owczarski of the Journal Sentinel writes. 
“We’re just really trying to pace it at this point,” Adams said. “I can’t really tell you when I’m going to play. It doesn’t feel how I want it to feel at the moment, but we definitely have time, so we’ll just kind of play this thing (out), and I know Mr. (Matt) LaFleur will definitely be able to take care of any other questions regarding that.”
Adams called it a “major injury,” which raises major question marks about when he’ll be able to get back on the field for the Packers. On the plus side, he does not believe he’ll need surgery before the end of the season.
“There’s things I can do, but we’ll keep a lot of that in house right now,” he said. “I can move around on it, but me moving around on it and feeling like it’s feeling better that day or not in pain just sitting there is a lot different than having to break tackles and cut and release and things like that.”
In 2018, Adams posted 111 catches and 1,386 yards. It was a major payoff for the Packers, who gambled by giving him nearly $15MM per year before he ever cracked four digits in receiving yards.
Jets’ Chris Herndon To Miss More Time
The Jets could use all the help they can get. But, for this week, and probably next week, they won’t be getting any aid from tight end Chris Herndon, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
Herndon suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain while running routes late last week, ruling him out for Sunday’s game against the Cowboys and, in all likelihood, the Week 7 Monday night game against the Patriots. It’s the latest setback in a frustrating season for both the Jets and the NFL sophomore. Herndon missed the first four games of the season thanks to a suspension and the Jets are 0-4.
Last year, Herndon finished out with 39 receptions for 502 yards and four touchdowns. Unless he goes on a tear in a rocky Jets offense across the final ten games of the year, he probably won’t top those totals this year.
On the plus side: quarterback Sam Darnold is ready to rock and roll and running back Le’Veon Bell says he has no reservations about his workload.
Latest On Bengals’ A.J. Green
As A.J. Green awaits to make his season debut, trade speculation continues to swirl. However, the wide receiver says that he hasn’t gotten word on any possibility of a trade from Bengals brass. 
“I tell everybody I haven’t heard anything,” Green told the team’s website. “I don’t fantasize about anything like that. I’m just trying to get healthy and go from there. I’m prepared for anything. A trade’s not going to change who I am. I’m still going to play. I’m still going to be A.J.”
Earlier this week, Green was ruled out for this Sunday’s contest against the Ravens, marking six missed games for the multiple-time Pro Bowler. No one knows when Green will be ready to play, but the club’s Week 9 bye should help. That is, if he’s still on the team.
The league’s trade deadline is days away and while it’s hard to imagine the Bengals without A.J. Green, we’ve been surprised before.
Jaguars Expect Jalen Ramsey To Play
Jalen Ramsey will return to play for the Jaguars on Sunday. At least, that’s the impression owner Shad Khan has after a “heart to heart” chat with the cornerback. 
“Well, I think he’s going to be playing this week,” Khan said (via Katherine Ross of The Street). “It’s something, you have to balance what’s good for the team with what the individual maybe wishes it might be. And I think we’ll be able to kind of formalize it here.”
Ramsey was limited in practice on Wednesday, but his participation was, possibly, a sign of a major breakthrough. For weeks, Ramsey has been steadfast in his demand for a trade. Now, things might be turning a corner.
Khan has expressed a willingness to make Ramsey one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL – or perhaps the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL – and that could be enough to mollify Ramsey’s concerns. It’s still worth noting that Ramsey has had flare-ups with head coach Doug Marrone, specifically over the way he has been deployed in zone coverage rather than man-to-man coverage.
The Jaguars clearly don’t want to trade Ramsey between now and the Oct. 31 deadline, but even Khan admits there’s a price tag for every player. When asked about a recent report that the Jaguars wouldn’t trade Ramsey for five first-round picks, Khan answered with a rhetorical question:
“Do you understand value? Then I think you already know the answer.”
Injury Updates: Saints, Brees, Giants
Saints quarterback Drew Brees wants to return sometime before the team’s Week 9 bye, but the team wants to exercise caution and push that off until Week 10, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Saints’ position makes sense, given Brees’ importance and Teddy Bridgewater‘s recent performance.
The Saints are 4-1 following Sunday’s win over the Bucs and they’ll look to make it four straight with a win over the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s more on some notable injuries around the NFL:
- The Giants officially ruled out running back Saquon Barkley (ankle), tight end Evan Engram (knee), and running back Wayne Gallman (concussion) for Thursday night’s game against the Pats. The Giants showed some new signs of life following Daniel Jones‘ takeover of the offense, but they fell to the Vikings over the weekend and the odds may be stacked against them in New England.
- Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians says edge rusher Jason Pierre-Paul will be able to resume practicing with the team next week. JPP has not missed a game over the last two seasons, but he has yet to make his 2019 debut thanks to a fractured vertebra in his neck. Recently, he restructured his deal with the Bucs, allowing him to reach free agency after the ’19 season.
Chargers Place C Mike Pouncey On IR
That’s a wrap on Mike Pouncey‘s season. On Wednesday, the Bolts placed the center on injured reserve, per a club announcement. 
Pouncey, a four-time Pro Bowler, exited the Chargers’ loss early on Sunday with a neck injury that required surgery. That will rule him out for the year and, potentially, could impact his ability to play beyond 2019.
The Chargers moved Dan Feeney from left guard to center to replace Pouncey, and plugged Forrest Lamp into Feeney’s spot. That’ll likely be the game plan going forward, but the club has yet to announce anything on that front.
To help fill the void, the Chargers signed center/guard Ryan Groy. Groy spent the last four seasons with the Bills and spent this past offseason with the Saints. He has 55 career appearances, including 17 starts, to his credit, with most of his time spent at center.
It’s another bad blow for the Bolts, who have already placed safeties Derwin James and Adrian Phillips on IR this year. On the offensive line, they’ve been without left tackle Russell Okung.
Pouncey‘s recent one-year, $9MM extension with the Chargers takes him through the 2020 season and guarantees him $5MM in new money.
Vikings’ Stefon Diggs On Trade Talk
Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs is generating trade interest, but he doesn’t necessarily want to be shipped out. On Wednesday, Diggs clarified his earlier comments regarding his dissatisfaction with the club. 
[RELATED: Stefon Diggs Drawing Trade Interest]
“I never said I was unhappy or uncomfortable with my role. I said I wanted to win, that was what my frustrations were and that’s where it kind of got misconstrued last week,” Diggs said (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press).
Diggs skipped multiple practices in Minnesota and has been fined upwards of $200K. In the midst of a five-year, $72MM extension, Diggs can take the hit, but he might not be happy about it.
Either way, Diggs seems to have calmed down, perhaps because the Vikings topped the Giants 28-10 last Sunday. Next up – a big matchup against the Eagles.