Cam Robinson Injured, Expected Back for Playoffs
The Jaguars suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of the 49ers on Sunday, but it looks like the AFC South champs avoided what would be a critical blow to their offensive line. Rookie offensive tackle Cam Robinson was forced to leave the game with an abdominal injury, but it will likely not keep him out for the team’s first postseason appearance in ten years, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Rapoport further describes the injury as more of a “nuisance”, so it is something the young offensive lineman can play through in January. Jacksonville will be locked into the three seed in the AFC should the Steelers win one of their final two games. If Pittsburgh were to win today vs. Houston, the Jags could rest Robinson to make sure that he is as healthy as possible heading into the Wild Card round.
Robinson, 22, has not been graded kindly by the likes of Pro Football Focus, as he ranks as the 79th best tackle in football, according to the website. Although, Robinson has only given up two sacks on the season as the blindside protector of quarterback Blake Bortles.
The Jaguars invested highly in the former Alabama lineman when they selected him in the second round of last year’s draft. The team has veteran Josh Wells available as the immediate backup should Robinson miss time. He would join what’s been a productive offensive that includes Patrick Omameh, Brandon Linder, A.J. Cann and Jermey Parnell.
Jaguars Promote WR Jaelen Strong
Jaelen Strong is back. The Jaguars have promoted the wideout to the active roster, reports John Oehser of Jaguars.com (via Twitter). To make room on the roster, the team has waived/injured receiver Larry Pinkard.
Strong has bounced around a bit in 2017, spending time with both the Jaguars and Texans. The former third-round pick started the season in Houston, but he was released by the team after serving a one-game suspension. He later caught on with Jacksonville, but he was released by the team without having played a game. He subsequently signed with the team’s practice squad.
The 23-year-old has only appeared in a single game this season without compiling a catch. During his first two years in the league, Strong hauled in 28 catches for 292 yards and three touchdowns in 18 games (three starts). He’ll presumably slide behind Keelan Cole and Jaydon Mickens at the bottom of the receiver depth chart.
Pinkard had been recovering from a concussion in recent weeks. The former undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion was promoted to the Jagaurs active roster in mid-November. He ultimately played in four games, compiling a single five-yard catch.
Fournette Ruled Out For Week 15
Jaguars rookie running back Leonard Fournette will not suit up for the team’s Week 15 matchup with division rival Houston, reports ESPN’s Chris Mortensen and Michael DiRocco. 
This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise after the burgeoning star did not practice all week due to a quad injury. In addition to that injury, DiRocco also notes Fournette is still suffering from a lingering ankle injury. In November, Fournette claimed the ankle could bother him the rest of the season.
At 9-4 entering the tilt with Houston, the Jaguars can clinch their first postseason appearance since 2007 with a win or a tie/loss and some help from a handful of teams. It isn’t ideal for the team that Fournette will miss the chance to clinch, but it has to make sure the star running back is close to 100 percent when they do enter the playoffs.
This will be the third game the LSU product has missed this season. He missed Week 7 with an injury and was inactive in Week 9 for violating a team rule. Chris Ivory and T.J. Yeldon will shoulder the load.
Chiefs, Jaguars Had Interest In Kenny Britt
Before Kenny Britt signed with the Patriots, both the Chiefs and Jaguars had interest in the veteran wide receiver, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Details Of Kenny Britt’s Patriots Contract]
Kansas City has been searching for a secondary wideout to step up ever since Chris Conley suffered a ruptured Achilles in mid-October. Both Demarcus Robinson and Albert Wilson have seen more playing time, but neither has been a focal point of the Chiefs’ offense. Of course, there are only so many balls to go around on a roster that includes Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Kareem Hunt, but Robinson and Wilson have managed only 25 combined receptions since Conley went down.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, have recently seen the emergence of Dede Westbrook and Keelan Cole behind Marqise Lee, but they could have used another weapon for an offense which ranks 15th in passing DVOA. Jacksonville is currently without Allen Robinson (who tore his ACL in the first game of the season) and Allen Hurns, who’s been sidelined by an ankle injury since Week 10.
Both the Chiefs and Jaguars (and Patriots, for that matter) had the option of claiming Britt off waivers from the Browns, as every player — vested veterans included — must go through the waiver process once the NFL’s trade deadline passes. As Miguel Benzan of the Boston Sports Journal notes (Twitter link), Kansas City and New England are both tight on cap space, which could have made taking on the rest of Britt’s salary (roughly $940K) difficult.
Jacksonville, however, has more than $30MM in reserves, so it clearly could have claimed Britt’s cost without worrying about cap space. All of Britt’s guarantees will expire after the 2017 campaign, so the Jaguars could have released him before next season with no further cost. Instead, Jacksonville allowed Britt to pass through waivers and sign with a direct AFC competitor.
Former Giants RB Rashad Jennings Retires
Rashad Jennings is calling it a career. The running back took to Twitter on Friday morning to announce his retirement. 
“If good things don’t come to an end, then how can better things begin? I’m truly humbled. I’m truly excited.. More to come on this. But for now, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone!,” Jennings wrote.
That next step could be a move to broadcasting. Earlier this year, Jennings participated in “Dancing With The Stars” and wound up winning the competition. Now that he has tons of TV experience and is known to an audience outside of football, he could have some big paychecks ahead of him that don’t require getting tackled.
Jennings, 32, didn’t draw a lot of NFL interest this offseason and that could be because of his moonlighting as a network TV ballroom dancer. His age and injury history didn’t help much either. In 2016, he played through several nagging injuries and averaged just 3.3 yards per carry. However, he was healthy in 2015 and it showed – he averaged 4.4 yards per carry and started in all 16 regular season games.
Jennings first entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Jaguars. After spending the first three years of his career with Jacksonville, he joined up with the Raiders in 2013. In Oakland, Jennings showed that he could produce with a big workload as he ran for 733 yards off of 163 carries (4.5 yards per attempt). He used that season as a platform for free agency, where he landed a four-year deal with the Giants.
Whether it’s broadcasting or ballet, we here at Pro Football Rumors wish Jennings the best in his future endeavors.
NFL Workout Updates: 12/5/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Buffalo Bills
- RB Roy Finch; S Duke Ihenacho (link via Adam Caplan of SiriusXM); DB William Likely (link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)
Denver Broncos
- QB Mitch Leidner (link via Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN); G Tre’ Jackson (link via Caplan); P Brock Miller (link)
Detroit Lions
- TE Ryan O’Malley (link via Caplan)
Green Bay Packers
- DT Stefan Charles; LB Max Valles (link via Caplan)
Indianapolis Colts
- TE Jevoni Robinson; CBs Randall Evans, Demontre Hurst, Dexter McDougle, David Rivers (Twitter links)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- WR Matt Hazel; CBs Dexter McDougle, Cody Riggs (Twitter links)
New Orleans Saints
- LB Davis Tull (link via Nick Underhill of the Advocate)
Washington Redskins
- QB Stephen Morris; WRs Josh Huff, Daniel Williams; TEs Chris Bazile, Kent Taylor; Ts Josh James, Jeremiah Poutasi; DL Montori Hughes; LBs Carl Bradford, Cassanova McKinzy; CBs Senquez Golson, Jarnor Jones; S Rickey Jefferson, Jadar Johnson, Dean Marlowe; LSs Andrew East, Jeff Overbaugh (all Twitter links)
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/5/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: RB Terrence Magee
- Waived: DB Jeremy Boykins
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Robertson Daniel
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: P Cory Carter, S Dean Marlowe
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: LB Richie Brown
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Will Pericak, TE Colin Thompson
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: S Justin Currie
- Waived: WR Rannell Hall
Detroit Lions
- Signed: C Leo Koloamatangi
- Waived: S Stefan McClure
Denver Broncos
- Signed: OL Jeremiah Poutasi
- Waived: OL Gabe Ikard
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: TE Robert Tonyan
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Devin Lucien, CB Josh Thornton
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: T Andreas Knappe
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: CB Sammy Seamster
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: TE Braedon Bowman
New England Patriots
- Signed: OL Jason King
Oakland Raiders
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: T Isaiah Battle, WR Cyril Grayson, DT Garrison Smith
- Waived: TE Steve Donatell
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DE Sterling Bailey
Washington Redskins
- Signed: LB Pete Robertson
- Waived: S Orion Stewart
Latest On Eli Manning
The Giants’ decision to bench Eli Manning has created plenty of drama in the football world over the last week, and the way head coach Ben McAdoo handled the benching might have cost him his job. It is now difficult to envision Manning returning to Big Blue next season — although team owner John Mara did not foreclose that possibility — but there are any number of quarterback-needy clubs who would love to have Manning under center for a couple of years.
Manning himself has said that he is not planning to retire, so there has already been a great deal of speculation as to which teams could be in play for his services this offseason. But Manning’s father, Archie Manning, has suggested that his son could indeed hang up the cleats.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Archie said that Eli was heartbroken over the benching, which was perhaps exacerbated by the way McAdoo handled it (Manning was apparently made to feel like a scapegoat when New York brass simply wanted to evaluate the rest of its roster in a lost season). Archie said, “Eli’s passion for the Giants goes deeper than most and I’ve mentioned it through the years. Eli loves playing for the New York Giants. He just does. He just loves it, I think more than most. So therefore, it broke his heart.”
Archie went on to say that Eli could simply call it a career and stay home with his wife and three daughters. After all, he has two Super Bowl trophies — to go along with two Super Bowl MVP awards — a young family, and more money than he could ever hope to spend. He has nothing left to prove, and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network tweets that all options, including retirement, are on the table.
But it would still be hard to imagine Manning not playing in 2018. The Jaguars have been mentioned as a logical landing spot for him, which Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reiterated today (per La Canfora, who also indicated that Manning has absolutely no intention of retiring, several GMs say Manning-to-Jacksonville makes too much sense to not happen). The Broncos also make some sense, though Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post suggests a second Manning-Denver marriage is unlikely.
In any event, Manning will not suit up for the Giants again (at least in 2017) barring injury to one of the team’s other QBs. Per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk (citing ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio), McAdoo has vowed that he will not bench Geno Smith today, and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com says the team legitimately like Smith and wants to take a real look at him.
Jaguars Release S Calvin Pryor
Calvin Pryor‘s brief tenure with the Jaguars has come to an end. John Oehser of Jaguars.com reports (via Twitter) that the team has released the veteran safety. The team has promoted defensive end Carroll Phillips from the practice squad to take the open roster spot.
Pryor was claimed off waivers from the Browns in September, although he was placed on the injured reserve shortly thereafter. The 25-year-old was activated in mid-November, and he proceeded to play in two games for the Jaguars, compiling a single tackle. It was always going to be an uphill battle for Pryor to carve out anything more than a reserve role in Jacksonville, as both Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson are listed in the top-20 of Pro Football Focus‘ rankings of the NFL’s 91 eligible safeties. On the flip side there’s reason to believe that Pryor still has something left in the tank, as he finished the 2016 campaign with 62 tackles and six passes defended in 15 games for the Jets. With Pryor now out of the picture, Peyton Thompson and Jarrod Wilson will resume their roles as the first safeties off the bench.
Phillips, an undrafted rookie out of Illinois, joined the Jaguars during the offseason, and he caught on with the practice squad after being waived in early September. The defensive end showed plenty of pass-rushing ability during his collegiate career, as he finished the 2016 campaign with nine sacks and 19 tackles for loss.
NFL Workout Updates: 11/29/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Arizona Cardinals
Chicago Bears
- C Anthony Fabiano; T Justin Murray; LB Max Valles; CBs Dejuan Butler, Nick Marshall; P Jeff Locke (Twitter links)
Cleveland Browns
- P Brock Miller (link)
Detroit Lions
- S Duke Ihenacho (link)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- K Andrew Franks (link)
New York Giants
- CBs Taveze Calhoun, Daquan Holmes, Jeremiah McKinnon, Josh Thornton (link)
San Francisco 49ers
- OL Adam Gettis (link)
Washington Redskins