AFC Notes: McCown, Cutler, Brissett, Ochi
Regardless of what head coach Todd Bowles says, the Jets‘ QB battle is not an open competition, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post. Costello writes that Josh McCown has taken about 99% of the first-team reps in training camp, while Christian Hackenberg has worked almost exclusively with the second unit. Unless Hackenberg excels during New York’s first two preseason games, Costello expects McCown to be under center come Week 1, which is what we expected all along.
Now let’s take a look at a few more notes from the AFC:
- Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald says Dolphins brass hopes to resolve the Jay Cutler question soon, and that resolution could come as early as today (Twitter link).
- Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola accepted a pay cut to remain in New England for the third consecutive season, but as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, the 31-year-old Amendola (32 in November) never considered retirement, nor did he consider suiting up for anyone other than the Patriots. He again projects as the team’s fourth or fifth option at wide receiver, but he has grown comfortable with his limited role and at this point in his career he appears content to get a little burn while playing in a winning environment.
- Jacoby Brissett, the Patriots No. 3 signal-caller who got two starts last season in the wake of Tom Brady‘s suspension and Jimmy Garoppolo‘s injury, is in danger of being cut, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes. Brissett did not have a strong spring, and with Brady showing no signs of slowing down and Garoppolo back as the No. 2 QB, New England could look to use Brissett’s roster spot on a linebacker, receiver, or defensive back.
- Titans LB Victor Ochi tore his ACL in Friday night’s practice, per Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com (via Twitter). Ochi is a small school (Stony Brook) product who has spent time with the Ravens, Jets, Chiefs, and Titans in his brief career, appearing in two games with the Jets last season. He has a great deal of raw pass-rushing ability, but it seems he will have to wait until 2018 to put that ability back on display.
- Dan Graziano of ESPN.com says Tyler Ervin, whom the Texans selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, could fill in for Will Fuller while Fuller recovers from a broken collarbone. Ervin is a running back by trade, but he has tremendous speed and the club was already planning to use him in multiple roles to utilize his athleticism (he returned 27 punts and 14 kickoffs last season). With Fuller out for awhile, Houston could give receiver reps to Ervin with an eye towards making him a full-time slot receiver.
Latest On Jimmy Garoppolo
Few NFLers have been involved in more trade rumors over the past several months than Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, but “there’s a persistent belief within league circles” that the team wants to retain Tom Brady‘s backup, a high-level employee of an AFC team told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
While Garoppolo would likely fetch a haul in a trade, perhaps from the draft-pick rich Browns, the Patriots are cognizant of the fact that Brady isn’t immortal, notes Florio. As excellent as the five-time Super Bowl champion still is, 2017 will be his age-40 season, so there’s some question as to how much longer he’ll play. By keeping the 25-year-old Garoppolo, the Pats would protect themselves against a sudden retirement or decline from Brady.
Garoppolo will only take up $1.1MM-plus of New England’s spending space next season, his fourth in the league, meaning his presence wouldn’t be onerous to the club’s cap in 2017. Then, if Brady’s still in the fold next winter, the Pats could attempt to re-sign Garoppolo – it seems unlikely they’d succeed, granted, given that he’d be able to find a starting job and more money elsewhere – or even place the franchise tag on him.
In the opinion of head coach Bill Belichick, Patriots third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett isn’t the long-term answer, suggests Florio, making it all the more realistic that Garoppolo will stay in their plans. Like Brissett, Garoppolo has limited NFL experience, but the latter made good on his first two career starts last year. Garoppolo began the season as New England’s starter because of Brady’s four-game Deflategate ban, and he completed 42 of 59 passes for 496 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over the Cardinals and Dolphins. The second game was Garoppolo’s final start of the year – and perhaps his last for a while, if the Pats keep him – as he suffered a sprained AC joint on a hit from Miami linebacker Kiko Alonso and sat out for the remainder of Brady’s suspension.
Patriots Activate Jacoby Brissett
After something of a false start, the Patriots activated quarterback Jacoby Brissett from injured reserve Wednesday. To make room, they waived rookie defensive tackle Woodrow Hamilton (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com). Brissett returned to practice at the tail end of November, opening a three-week window during which New England had to place Brissett on the active roster or keep him on IR for the remainder of the season.
[RELATED: Patriots Claim WR Michael Floyd]
Brissett, of course, started two games for the Patriots while Tom Brady was on suspension and backup Jimmy Garoppolo was injured. While posting a record of 1-1, Brissett completed 28 of 46 passes for more than 300 yards, and while he didn’t throw any touchdowns, he did score on the ground against the Texans in the midst of a 27-0 shutout in Week 3. The 24-year-old Brissett suffered a thumb injury during that contest, however, and while he started in Week 4, he was thereafter placed on IR after undergoing surgery.
Garoppolo has been the subject of recent trade speculation, and given that he’s only signed through the 2017 campaign, it’s certainly fair to wonder if the Patriots will ship him to the highest bidder during the offseason. Such a move would allow Brissett, a third-round pick earlier this year, to become Brady’s understudy as the club’s new backup QB.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
AFC Notes: Colts, Patriots, Petty
There are plenty of pundits who expect the Colts to part ways with at least one of head coach Chuck Pagano and GM Ryan Grigson at season’s end, but owner Jim Irsay has downplayed the notion of major changes, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Irsay said, “I would say it would be unlikely for any changes to occur, honestly. It’s unlikely, but look, we’ll see when we sit down and thoroughly vet the season.” One reason for Irsay’s hesitation is the fact that the first five year’s of the Pagano/Andrew Luck regime has gone better than the first five years of Peyton Manning‘s career in Indianapolis.
Now for more from the AFC:
- DT Darius Kilgo may be on the Patriots‘ practice squad, but the Pats are not paying him that way. According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe in a series of Twitter links, New England is paying Kilgo $30,882 per week, which gives him the same compensation he would have received under his original contract (the practice squad minimum is $6,900 per week). The team also guaranteed him $92,647, the equivalent of three weeks pay. As Volin observes, the team is attempting to “do right” by Kilgo, who was claimed off waivers from the Broncos when it looked like Alan Branch would be suspended, but who was cut and re-signed to the practice squad when Branch won his appeal.
- The Patriots have until Wednesday to activate quarterback Jacoby Brissett to their active roster, or he will revert to injured reserve and be lost for the season. Mike Reiss of ESPN.com believes the Patriots do plan to activate Brissett but that they are waiting until the last possible moment to do so because they do not have an obvious corresponding roster move to make. We had previously heard that the team was expected to activate Brissett on Friday.
- Cyrus Jones has had a disappointing rookie year for the Patriots, but the second-round selection out of Alabama is not going anywhere, as Volin writes in a separate piece. Jones, who was coveted for his return skills, has been a disaster as a return man this season, and he hasn’t fared much better as a corner. But even if he does not get much playing time the rest of the season, Jones will get the chance to right the ship in 2017.
- Jets quarterback Bryce Petty was knocked out of last night’s loss to Miami, and initial reports suggested that he had the wind knocked out him. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports that Petty will have a CT scan on Monday to determine if he has a punctured lung.
- The injury that landed Jaguars TE Julius Thomas on IR was a fractured tailbone, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter). The Jags could save $4.7MM against the cap if they were to cut Thomas, who has disappointed since Jacksonville made him the highest-paid tight end in the game last March.
- One reason for the Raiders‘ success this season is the fact that they have done such a good job at getting contributions from undrafted free agents. As Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com observes, Oakland started the season with four undrafted free agents on the 53-man roster, and now have seven on the active roster. That list includes players like Jalen Richard, Johnny Holton, and Marquette King.
Patriots Designate QB Jacoby Brissett For Return
Jacoby Brissett is returning to practice today, meaning that he will be the Patriots’ player to be designated for return from the injured reserve list (Twitter link via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe). The Patriots now have 21 days until they have to put him on the 53-man roster or shut him down for the year. 
When Tom Brady accepted his four-game suspension for his role in the Deflategate scandal, the Pats were forced to turn to youngster Jimmy Garoppolo. When Garoppolo was taken out by a big hit from Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso, New England elevated Brissett to the starting role. Despite concerns that he was too green for the job – and that included ally Bill Parcells – Brissett was a solid fill-in. Unfortunately, he was slowed by a thumb injury and had surgery for it in early October.
The prevailing thought at the time was that Brissett would be stashed on IR with an eye on 2017. However, the Pats did not have a better candidate for return. Notables like tackle Sebastian Vollmer and Jonathan Freeny technically could have been brought back, but their respective maladies made that impossible.
This offseason, the Patriots could hypothetically trade Garoppolo to a QB-needy team and bump Brissett up to the No. 2 job behind Brady.
AFC Notes: Murray, Colts, RGIII
Let’s take a quick swing around the AFC:
- Titans RB DeMarco Murray had an MRI on his toe after Thursday night’s victory over Jacksonville, and the prognosis is good, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Rapoport’s source indicated that Murray will be fine.
- Kevin Bowen of Colts.com believes that Colts TE Jack Doyle has established himself as a starting-caliber tight end, and that his free agent platform year has come at a perfect time for him. Bowen says Doyle will be one of Indianapolis’ most important free agents this offseason and that he could pull down a contract with a $5MM average annual value.
- Colts DE Kendall Langford, who has the the longest active games-played streak among all NFL defensive linemen (135), will see that streak come to an end, according to Andrew Walker of Colts.com. Langford continues to deal with a right knee issue that required minor surgery during training camp, and he will sit out an indeterminate amount of time to give that knee a chance to fully heal.
- Neema Hodjat of OverTheCap.com examines what a potential extension for Raiders QB Derek Carr might look like. This is Carr’s third year in the league, so he will be eligible to receive an extension at the end of this season. Assuming he continues to play at a high level, Carr should command a five-year deal worth upwards of $110MM, according to Hodjat. And the Raiders, who have done a terrific job managing the salary cap in recent years, will be able to shell out that kind of money without much hesitation.
- Browns QB Robert Griffin III does not need surgery at this time, so he could possibly return somewhere between the November 20 game against the Steelers and the Dececmber 11 matchup against the Bengals after the bye week, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cabot believes the Browns should get RGIII some action this year if possible, as they have to decide if they need to draft a quarterback in April.
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe opines that the Patriots‘ recent trades for Kyle Van Noy and Eric Rowe indicate that the team is preparing for significant free agent losses this offseason. Both players are under club control through at least 2017, and they are playing on fairly inexpensive deals. Van Noy will serve as insurance should one or both of Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower depart in free agency, and Rowe will offset the potential losses of Malcolm Butler and/or Logan Ryan.
- Volin tweets that Jacoby Brissett could be the Patriots‘ one player to return from IR this season.
Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett To Have Surgery
Jacoby Brissett will have surgery on his injured thumb, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. With Tom Brady returning this week, the Pats can afford to have Brissett sidelined as he recovers. The quarterback will be placed on IR.
Jimmy Garoppolo got the call when Brady was suspended to start the season and Brissett was tasked with the job once Kiko Alonso‘s big hit left Garoppolo with a shoulder injury. Brissett was steady for the rest of that game against the Dolphins and also led the Patriots to victory against the Texans in the following game. Unfortunately, he was not as sharp in Week 4 when the Patriots were shut out by the Bills 16-0.
Now, the Patriots have their star QB back and Garoppolo should be back in the lineup before long. Brissett will be stashed on IR with an eye on 2017.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jacoby Brissett May Have Surgery
Jacoby Brissett got the start for the Patriots today after the club determined that Jimmy Garoppolo wouldn’t be able to go against the Bills. But once Tom Brady returns for Week 5, Brissett may undergo surgery to repair his ongoing thumb injury, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Jacoby Brissett To Start For Patriots]
After Garoppolo was taken out by Kiko Alonso‘s hit during a win over the Dolphins, Brissett was put into a game for the first time in his NFL career. The third-round rookie got the job done, completing 6-of-9 passes as he guided New England the rest of the way, and then led the Patriots to a 27-0 victory over the Texans in Week 3. Brissett, however, suffered a thumb injury in the rout and was listed as questionable for today’s contest.
If Garoppolo is able to return in the near future, New England would be set at backup quarterback, allowing Brissett to take all the time he needs to recover. Whether or not the Patriots would place the third-round rookie on injured reserve to free up a roster spot is unclear, but if the club does look to sign an outside option, former Texan/Falcon T.J. Yates has been called New England’s “free agent of choice.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jacoby Brissett To Start For Patriots
Rookie Jacoby Brissett will start at quarterback for the Patriots today, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Brissett and New England will face the Bills as the club seeks to jump out to a 4-0 start.
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Jimmy Garoppolo, meanwhile, will be inactive today as he continues to deal with an AC joint injury, tweets Schefter. The third-year pro required a shot to practice last week, and was limited to roughly 100 throws per day (as opposed to the typical gameday total of 200 or so), per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). Pain management and strength had been the two obstacles to a Garopppolo start, reports Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link), and it’s the latter that will keep Garoppolo on the sidelines.
After Garoppolo was taken out by Kiko Alonso‘s hit during a win over the Dolphins, Brissett was put into a game for the first time in his NFL career. The third-round rookie got the job done, completing 6-of-9 passes as he guided New England the rest of the way, and then led the Patriots to a 27-0 victory over the Texans in Week 3. Brissett, however, suffered a thumb injury in the rout and was listed as questionable for today’s contest.
Given that New England doesn’t have another quarterback on its roster, wide receiver Julian Edelman will presumably serve as the backup signal-caller once again. Tom Brady, of course, will return from suspension and start against the Browns in Week 5.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Patriots Unsure Which QB Will Start Vs. Bills
The Patriots are still uncertain as to which quarterback — Jimmy Garoppolo or Jacoby Brissett — will start Sunday’s game against the Bills tomorrow, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. New England will likely wait to see how each signal-caller fares in pre-game warmups before making a final decision.
[RELATED: Patriots Tried To Trade For Terrelle Pryor In 2015]
Garoppolo suffered a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder in the Patriots’ 31-24 win over Miami in Week 2. After Garoppolo was taken out by Kiko Alonso‘s hit, Brissett was put into game for the first time in his NFL career. The third-round rookie got the job done, completing 6-of-9 passes as he guided New England the rest of the way, and then led the Patriots to a 27-0 victory over the Texans in Week 3. Brissett, however, suffered a thumb injury in the rout and is questionable for tomorrow’s AFC East matchup.
Before succumbing to his injury, the 24-year-old Garoppolo had been excellent, completing 42-of-60 passes for 498 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over the Cardinals and Dolphins. At least one report suggested that the Patriots were pressuring Garoppolo to quickly return to the field — despite the fact that he reportedly couldn’t lift his arm — and he’d presumably get the start against Buffalo if healthy. Tom Brady, of course, will return in Week 5 to start against the Browns.
New England has not made any plans to sign a free agent quarterback, suggesting that the club is confident that at least one of Garoppolo or Brissett will be able to go Sunday. T.J. Yates, formerly of the Texans and Falcons, has been called the Patriots’ “free agent of choice” if they had decided to bring in an outside option.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.