NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/2/19
Today’s practice squad updates:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Tyron Johnson
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: S Josh Jones
Houston Texans
- Signed: TE Jerell Adams
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: OL Tyree St. Louis
New England Patriots
- Signed: WR Kelvin McKnight
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: QB Taryn Christion
- Released: TE Alize Mack
Washington Redskins
- Signed: WR Darvin Kidsy
Panthers Place Kawann Short On IR
Kawann Short‘s season is already over. On Tuesday, the Panthers placed the defensive lineman on injured reserve, per a club announcement. 
“KK has done everything he could possibly do to try to play these past two games,” general manager Marty Hurney said in a statement. “But, we have made the decision that it is in the best long-term interest of KK and the team that he undergo surgery to fix his shoulder and focus on his rehab and get ready for next season.”
Short has suffered a partially torn rotator cuff, and those injuries are notoriously tricky to recover from. The surgery, hopefully, will allow short to bounce back in 2020, without the risk of aggravating the injury this year.
Short has been absent for the Panthers’ last two games and wasn’t looking like his usual self in the club’s first two games. It’s a frustrating setback for obvious reasons, but Short has been fairly lucky so far throughout his career – he did not miss a single game through his first five campaigns and missed just two last year.
Thanks to the monster five-year extension he inked in 2017, Short is under contract through the 2023 season. The Panthers, in reality, are only truly locked in with him through 2021: releasing Short in the offseason would saddle them with $17.35MM in dead money and they’d be looking at an $11MM/$9.8MM dead/savings split prior to the 2021 season. After that, there are two low-cost seasons slated for 2022 and 2023.
To take his place on the roster, the Panthers have promoted fellow DL Bryan Cox, Jr. from the practice squad. Cox, the son of three-time Pro Bowler Bryan Cox (duh), has appeared in 18 games for the Panthers over the last two seasons.
The Panthers, meanwhile, are 2-2 with back-to-back wins under the guidance of quarterback Kyle Allen. There’s still no word on when Cam Newton might be able to return.
Cam Newton Discusses Foot Injury
In a video blog released on YouTube, Cam Newton provided some clarity on his foot ailment. The Panthers quarterback acknowledged that he’s recovering from a Lisfranc injury that he originally suffered during his team’s preseason loss to the Patriots. He later aggravated the injury during Carolina’s Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers. Newton said he should have been more transparent about his left foot following the season opener.
“This is when I got in my own way,” Newton said (via ESPN’s David Newton). “Because, automatically, I thought, ‘I’ve got to play Week 1. I can’t let my fans down. I’ve got to be there for my team.'”
The quarterback also acknowledged that he’s going to take as long as he needs to get back to full strength.
“I’ve decided I will take time away from the game,” Newton said. “This is me being the bigger person and being real with myself and saying, ‘Look, what’s the ultimate goal you’re trying to accomplish? Win the Super Bowl. OK, if you want to win the Super Bowl, this is the step you’ve got to take.’
“It could very well be a week. Or two weeks. It could be three weeks, it could be four weeks, it could be six weeks. But I have to understand and know if it takes that time, I trust in this team that they will — we will — still be in a great situation by the time I get back.”
In two games this season, the 30-year-old completed only 56.2-percent of his passes for 572 yards and one interception. Kyle Allen will continue to start in Newton’s place.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/24/19
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad decisions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: P Ryan Winslow
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: TE Carson Meier
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Nate Hall
- Released: LB Curtis Akins
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: T Matt Kaskey
- Released: G Rishard Cook
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: CB Greg Mabin
- Released: RB Jordan Ellis
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Trinity Benson
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR Chris Lacy
- Released: RB Nick Brossette
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Tyron Johnson
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Deante Burton
- Released: RB Darius Jackson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DB Alexander Myres
- Released: DB Trevon Mathis
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Ishmael Hyman
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/24/19
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: T John Wetzel
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted from practice squad: DT Kyle Peko
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: G Kofi Amichia
- Released from IR via injury settlement: DT Destiny Vaeao
Denver Broncos
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Fred Brown
- Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Dadi Nicolas
- Waived: WR River Cracraft
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: CB Marcus Sherels
- Waived: LB Devante Downs
New York Giants
- Signed: LB Nate Stupar
- Waived: TE Eric Tomlinson
Oakland Raiders
- Placed on IR: LB Marquel Lee
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted from practice squad: CB Craig James
- Waived: WR Greg Ward
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LS Garrison Sanborn
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted from practice squad: DL Patrick O’Connor
Washington Redskins
- Released from IR via injury settlement: C Casey Dunn
- Waived: DT T.Y. McGill
Latest On Panthers’ Cam Newton
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is believed to be dealing with a Lisfranc injury, Joe Person of The Athletic tweets. Newton is hoping to avoid surgery, but at minimum, he’ll probably be out for a while. 
For now, it will remain Kyle Allen‘s show under center. The young QB led the Panthers to victory over the Cardinals on Monday – so far, so good.
The 23-year-old Allen completed 19-of-26 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns against Arizona, which was a solid performance against an admittedly flawed team. The Cardinals’ issues aside, Allen looked a lot sharper than the banged-up Newton has as of late.
In his two games, Newton did score a single touchdown and completed only 49% of his passes in Week 2. According to Pro Football Focus, 34% of his passes were “uncatchable.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/23/19
Here are today’s minor transactions:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived: P Matt Wile
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: G Bryan Witzmann
- Placed on IR: OL Brandon Greene
Chicago Bears
- Promoted from practice squad: DL Abdullah Anderson
- Waived: TE Bradley Sowell
New York Jets
- Signed off Texans practice squad: WR Vyncint Smith
- Released: QB David Fales
Oakland Raiders
- Signed off Rams practice squad: LB Dakota Allen
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LS Garrison Sanborn
- Retired: LS Jon Condo (story)
Panthers’ Cam Newton Won’t Play Vs. Texans
Cam Newton‘s absence will continue. On Monday head coach Ron Rivera announced that Newton will not be on the field when the Panthers face the Texans on Sunday. 
“We want him at 100% when he’s ready, so there’s no exact timetable for his return,” Rivera said.
Newton was unable to join the Panthers for Week Three against the Cardinals, but backup Kyle Allen was still able to guide them to victory over the Cardinals. The no-Newton decision was made late in the week, so its perhaps telling that Newton has been ruled out days in advance of the club’s Week Four matchup.
The Cardinals aren’t world beaters, but Allen certainly held his own by completing 19-of-26 passes for 261 yards and four scores. In a perfect world, the Panthers would love to have a healthy Newton starting under center, but this is not a perfect world, and Newton has not appeared to be fully healthy in quite some time.
Rivera Says Panthers "Rolling" With Allen
The Panthers’ season got off to a disastrous start, as the team limped out to an 0-2 record and Cam Newton re-injured himself. It looked like they were quickly circling the drain, and then Kyle Allen happened. Allen was nearly perfect starting in place of Newton, averaging ten yards per attempt and tossing four touchdowns while leading Carolina to a road win over Arizona. Allen’s performance was so strong, that it sparked some talk of a potential quarterback controversy.
Speaking after the game Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said the starting job is still Newton’s when he’s healthy but that right now they’re “rolling” with Allen, per Joseph Person of The Athletic (Twitter link). Newton won’t be getting benched, but Rivera’s comments don’t exactly inspire confidence that he’ll be back soon. Newton aggravated a foot injury he suffered during the preseason, and his throwing shoulder which he underwent surgery on this offseason hasn’t looked 100 percent either. It’ll be very interesting too see what happens next, but with Allen’s emergence it appears Carolina’s quarterback situation isn’t as dire as it originally seemed.
Latest On Cam Newton
Despite reports that Cam Newton could miss several games as the Panthers try to avoid aggravating his foot sprain, there is a chance the former MVP could practice on Wednesday, paving the way for him to play next week against the Texans, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Newton has been dealing with a foot issue since the preseason and aggravated it in last week’s ugly loss to Tampa Bay. After two games, it is clear that Newton is well below 100% strength, as he has yet to score a touchdown, via the air or ground, and completed only 49% of his passes last week, with 34% of his passes being deemed “uncatchable”.
It would be wise for the Panthers coaching staff to wait until Newton is fully healed before having him return to the field and risk a re-injury to his foot.
In the interim, Kyle Allen will start for the Panthers for the foreseeable future, beginning with today’s matchup with the Cardinals. In his lone career start last year, a win against the Saints, Allen played well, completing 16 of 27 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns.