Minor NFL Transactions: 11/11/19
Here are Monday’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed: T/TE Bradley Sowell
Houston Texans
- Signed: DE Joel Heath
- Waived: OL Dan Skipper
Kansas City Chiefs
- Placed on IR: T Martinas Rankin
- Signed off Colts’ practice squad: T Jackson Barton
New York Giants
- Signed off Panthers’ practice squad: CB Corn Elder
- Waived: OL Evan Brown
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Claimed off waivers from Titans: OL Aaron Stinnie
- Waived: C Nate Trewyn
Colts Leave Door Open To Replacing Vinatieri?
Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri has struggled mightily this season, and those struggles continued on Sunday. Vinatieri missed a crucial extra point, and the team ended up losing to the Dolphins by four points. Indy ended the game on Miami’s 16-yard line, and would’ve been able to attempt a game-tying field goal if not for Vinatieri’s miss. The organization has stuck by him throughout, but there were signs after the game that their patience might be wearing thin. “We’d been committed to him, but like everybody. … we’re going to always evaluate. Everyone gets measured, everyone’s held accountable. From top to bottom, that’s always the case. Nothing meant to read into that, that’s just the reality,” head coach Frank Reich said, per Joel A. Erickson of The Athletic (Twitter link).
On extra points, Reich said “there is an expectation there. Whatever percent it is to make an extra point, 97 percent, or 96.whatever it is to make that, we need to make those,” Erickson noted in a separate tweet. Vinatieri has now missed six extra points and five field goals on the year. It’s certainly not for sure, but the Colts appear to be inching closer to a divorce with the legendary 46-year-old kicker.
Latest On Jacoby Brissett
- Le’Veon Bell did not suffer any structural damage to his knee in the fourth quarter of a Week 9 loss to the Dolphins, reports Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. While Bell didn’t practice on Wednesday, he is expected to be ready when the Jets face the Colts on Sunday. Gang Green did promote running back Josh Adams from its practice squad earlier this week, but that move was likely executed as a fail-safe against a possible Bell absence.
- Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett left Week 9 after incurring a left MCL strain, but he was able to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday, according to Mike Wells of ESPN.com. That news should at least give Brissett a chance to play against the Dolphins on Sunday, although head coach Frank Reich noted it’s not a “slam dunk” that Brissett is available. Indianapolis would turn to veteran backup Brian Hoyer in Brissett’s absence.
Latest On Colts, Adam Vinatieri
Adam Vinatieri is in the midst of his worst NFL season, but the Colts aren’t planning on making a change. After the kicker shanked a potential game-winner during yesterday’s loss to the Steelers, coach Frank Reich told reporters that the Colts would be sticking with the 46-year-old.
“A lot of confidence, no plans to do anything different,” Reich said (via ESPN’s Mike Wells).
Reich even offered an explanation for the 43-yard kick that ended up sailing far left, noting that Vinatieri had to kick the ball with the laces facing him. While part of the blame could be placed on holder Rigoberto Sanchez, the veteran kicker noted that it was his job to convert the field goal attempt.
“I just missed it,” Vinatieri said. “I got to do better than that, just pulled it left.”
The future Hall-of-Famer has converted a career-low 70.6-percent of his field goal attempts (12-for-17) and 73.7-percent of his extra point attempts (14-for-19). There was some thought that Vinatieri could hang up his cleats following his early-season struggles, and the Colts ended up auditioning a number of free agent kickers. Considering we’re now in early November, there’s little chance the organization would look to make a change now.
While the Colts are struggling on special teams, the defense also took a hit today. Joel A. Erickson of the Indy Star tweets that rookie wideout Parris Campbell broke his hand. The second-rounder underwent a procedure, and the team won’t place him on the injured reserve right now.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/4/19
Here are today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted from practice squad: DT Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
Buffalo Bills
- Waived: LB Tyrel Dodson
Chicago Bears
- Signed: TE Bradley Sowell
- Waived: OLB James Vaughters
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed off waivers (from Bills): DT Kyle Peko
- Waived: DT Carl Davis
NFL Workout Updates: 11/4/19
Today’s notes from around the workout circuit:
Buffalo Bills
- DT Corey Liuget
Cleveland Browns
- WR Victor Bolden, WR Malik Henry, WR Alex Wesley
Indianapolis Colts
- DE Ade Aruna, CB E.J. Gaines, CB Kayvon Webster
Oakland Raiders
Colts Workout CBs Kayvon Webster, E.J. Gaines
The Colts are apparently thinking about bringing in an experienced cornerback. Indianapolis worked out veteran corners E.J. Gaines and Kayvon Webster, according to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM (Twitter link).
Starting cornerback Pierre Desir has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, so perhaps that is why they’re looking for reinforcements. Wesbter entered the league as a third-round pick of the Broncos back in 2013, and he won Super Bowl 50 with the team. He signed with the Rams in 2017 and was a starter for them before tearing his Achilles late in the season. After recovering he signed with the Texans last year, but barely played due to more injuries.
Webster latched on with the Saints earlier this year but was released at final cuts, as all the injuries appear to have sapped some of the 28-year-old’s effectiveness. He’s received a little bit of interest, and just worked out for New Orleans again a couple of weeks ago. Gaines is another player who used to be highly thought of before injuries derailed his career. Gaines was traded from the Rams to the Bills in the Sammy Watkins trade, and ended up starting all 11 games that he appeared in for Buffalo in 2017.
After multiple concussions landed him on injured reserve during his time with the Browns last year, he re-signed with the Bills this past offseason. He was cut in camp after going down with a core muscle injury. He’s been making the workout rounds recently, and we just heard a couple of weeks ago that he was now fully healthy after meeting with the Texans.
Latest On Colts’ Jacoby Brissett
The Colts received good news on their starting quarterback. Jacoby Brissett‘s MRI revealed a left MCL strain, per Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Brissett left Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh in the first half, and an “MCL-ish” hypothesis surfaced Sunday night. Frank Reich confirmed that Monday. The second-year starter has a chance to play in Week 10 against the Dolphins, Reich said (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter), though it would not be surprising to see the Colts exercise caution on this front.
Following Andrew Luck‘s retirement, the Colts signed Brian Hoyer to a three-year deal. He put the Colts in position to beat the Steelers, but an Adam Vinatieri miss dashed those hopes. Hoyer represents better insurance than most teams possess behind their starters, so envisioning the 34-year-old returning to a first-string role against the rebuilding Dolphins would not be difficult. Hoyer has made 37 starts, though none have come since the first half of the 2017 season.
Brissett piloted the Colts to a 5-2 record, performing better than he did in Luck’s stead in 2017. Brissett entered Week 9 with a 14-to-3 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio. He threw 13 TD passes in 16 games two years ago. T.Y. Hilton is expected to miss this week’s Dolphins game, and probably next week’s against the Jaguars as well. The Colts are 0-3 without their top wide receiver over the past two seasons, but the Dolphins certainly represent the best chance for a victory under these circumstances in that span.
Injury Updates: Brissett, Conner, Thielen
The Colts have been having a surprisingly strong season after Andrew Luck retired, but everyone in Indy was left holding their breath when Jacoby Brissett went down with a knee injury. After the game, head coach Frank Reich said it was a sprain that was “MCL-ish.” Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like Brissett tore anything. Quarterbacks can usually play through MCL sprains, so it doesn’t sound like Brissett will be on the shelf too long. Brian Hoyer filled in and had the Colts in position to win the game late, but Adam Vinatieri missed a 43-yard kick with a minute to go.
Here are more injury updates from around the league:
- Steelers rookie running back Benny Snell had surgery to trim his meniscus recently and will be sidelined for 2-3 weeks, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Snell was a fourth-round pick back in April. Speaking of Pittsburgh’s backfield, starter James Conner didn’t suit up against the Colts today, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets that he’s in danger of missing next week’s game against the Rams. For now, Jaylen Samuels will continue to gobble up most of the snaps.
- Standout rookie UDFA Preston Williams suffered a knee injury, casting a damper on the Dolphins’ first win of the season. Despite going undrafted Williams has become a key player for Miami, starting all of their games thus far. The injury is a “sprained knee and the hope is that it’s not more serious,” tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. We should know more about the severity soon. Williams had five catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Jets before going down.
- Vikings receiver Adam Thielen returned after a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury, and quickly re-aggravated it. He didn’t return to Minnesota’s loss to Kansas City, and while there’s no word yet on the severity, hamstring issues can linger. They’ll likely be more cautious about rushing their star receiver back this time.
Colts’ T.Y. Hilton To Miss 3-4 Weeks?
Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton will likely miss 3-4 weeks of action, head coach Frank Reich announced. With that, Hilton has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Steelers. 
It’s a bad blow for the Colts, who are 5-2 and aiming to build off of a three-game winning streak. Hilton has been playing through pain for most of the season. He’s already missed two games this year due to a quadriceps injury and other trouble. Now, he has a new issue to deal with – a calf injury, suffered in practice on Wednesday. The team has yet to nail down Hilton’s timetable, but Reich noted that Hilton’s injury “generally” calls for 3-4 weeks of rest and rehab.
Hilton, 30 in November, has 32 catches for 360 yards and five touchdowns in his six games this year. That’s a far cry from his best work, including a 2018 season in which he had 76 grabs for 1,270 yards and six scores. Worth noting: Hilton missed two regular season games last year and the Colts lost both contests.
The timing of the injury is especially unfortunate since the trade deadline was on Tuesday. The Colts’ options to replace Hilton, at this juncture, are somewhat limited. It seems likely that they’ll put in a waiver claim for Josh Gordon, but their 5-2 record means they’re unlikely to snag him.
Hilton, a former third-round pick, is under contract through 2020 thanks to the five-year, $65MM extension he signed with the club in 2015. He’s due $14.5MM in base salary next year, but the Colts would not be left with any dead money if they choose to release him.