HEADLINES

Jason Verrett

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/10/24

January 10th, 2024 at 6:48pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s mid-week practice squad moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Los Angeles Rams

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Fracisco 49ers

After seeing two defensive backs in Hawkins and Verrett suffer injuries that won’t allow them to return for the playoffs, San Francisco made the move to add the veteran cornerback Mitchell. Mitchell had signed with the 49ers just prior to the preseason, but the team was forced to place him on injured reserve a week later. Since being released with an injury settlement, Mitchell has not signed with another team, failing to make an appearance in the 2023 regular season. Still, he provides San Francisco with some experienced depth in the secondary, should they call his number.

49ers CB Jason Verrett To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

January 5th, 2024 at 8:59pm CST by Ely Allen

Veteran 49ers cornerback Jason Verrett cannot catch a break, it seems. Playing in the 10th season of his NFL career, Verrett will undergo season-ending surgery for a heartbreaking eighth time. According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, Verrett suffered a shoulder injury in practice today that will require surgery on his rotator cuff.

Verrett’s career has been marred by injury. Since being drafted 25th overall in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Chargers, Verrett has been forced to miss two entire seasons and has seen eight total seasons cut short due to varying injuries from a foot injury to torn ACLs to torn Achilles tendons. This is the first upper body injury that will sideline Verrett since his rookie season, when three labrum tears and a rotator cuff tear caused him to miss 10 games.

The loss of Verrett is a tough one for San Francisco, despite the team having the 1-seed locked up in the NFC. Because their playoff seeding is already determined, the 49ers have plans to rest several starters in their regular season finale against the Rams this weekend. With key players likely to get some rest on Sunday, Verrett was expected to get extended playing time against Los Angeles. In his only game appearance of the year, Verrett only saw five snaps, so this would’ve been an opportunity for the team to get their veteran some time to possibly participate in the 49ers’ playoff run.

The injury reportedly occurred when Verrett jumped for a pass in practice and landed on his shoulder. Head coach Kyle Shanahan estimated that the timeline for Verrett’s possible return will include about four to six months of rehabilitation time. This would allow Verrett a small cushion of time to work his way back in time for the 2024 NFL season, if he’s interested in continuing to play at 33 years old and finds a team that will provide him another opportunity.

Besides Ambry Thomas, who is on the injury report with a hand injury, no other cornerbacks are set to rest for the entire game this weekend. The likely plan was for the starters to sit after a series or two, but with Verrett becoming unavailable, those players may have to play a little more than anticipated.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/25/23

December 25th, 2023 at 3:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Los Angeles Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

The Ravens designated Hamm for return on Dec. 4, making Christmas Day the linebacker’s activation deadline. Rather than activating Hamm to their active roster, the Ravens let his 21-day practice window close. A rookie UDFA out of Division I-FCS Lafayette, Hamm will end up missing his entire rookie season. The Ravens carried Hamm over to their 53-man roster after training camp, placing him on IR a day later.

49ers Add CB Jason Verrett To Practice Squad

December 11th, 2023 at 6:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Jason Verrett is back in San Francisco. The 49ers announced that they’ve added the veteran cornerback to their practice squad. Jordan Schultz was first with the news.

A torn Achilles ended Verrett’s first stint with the 49ers, and the former Pro Bowler waited until October to finally catch on with the Texans practice squad. He spent about a month in Houston before getting cut in mid-November.

Verrett’s first stint with the 49ers was plagued by injuries. He was limited to only one game during his debut season thanks to an ankle injury, and after starting 13 games in 2020, an ACL injury wiped out his 2021 campaign. He re-signed with the 49ers for the 2022 season but didn’t get into a game before suffering his Achilles injury.

The defensive back has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. The former first-round pick missed 55 games for the Chargers through his first five seasons in the NFL. His one healthy season was 2015, when he earned a Pro Bowl nod after compiling 47 tackles and three interceptions.

Verrett will have a chance to revive his career in San Francisco. According to Schultz, the player is still well regarded by coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers organization, so he might eventually earn a promotion to the active roster. Charvarius Ward suffered an injury during yesterday’s win over the Seahawks, so there’s a chance the 49ers may need some extra depth sooner than later.

49ers Work Out CB Jason Verrett

November 17th, 2023 at 8:28pm CST by Ely Allen

After 32-year-old cornerback Jason Verrett parted ways with DeMeco Ryans, who served as his defensive coordinator in San Francisco and his head coach in Houston, Verrett looked to return to his home of the past four years. The 49ers hosted Verrett for a workout this week, and according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN, the team is hoping to add the veteran to their practice squad.

Verrett, a former first-round pick for the Chargers back in 2014, has had a career defined by injury. Currently in his tenth season of NFL play, Verrett has never appeared in every game of a season. In fact, he’s only appeared in at least half of a team’s games in any given year twice. Not counting the time he’s spent on the Texans’ practice squad this season, Verrett has only made an appearance in 40 of a possible 146 career games.

In his rookie year, it was a shoulder injury as he would require surgery for three labrum tears and a tear to his rotator cuff, missing 10 contests due to the injuries. In a Pro Bowl sophomore campaign, Verrett missed one game with a foot injury before sitting out of the team’s season finale. In 2016, Verrett started the first four games of the season but is believed to have played through a partially torn ACL for the latter half of that time before being placed on season-ending injured reserve. After a Week 1 start in 2017, continued knee soreness forced Verrett towards another surgery that would hold him out for the remainder of that season. His 2018 season was over before it began after Verrett suffered a torn Achilles tendon on the first day of training camp.

In 2019, San Francisco took a flier on Verrett. Unfortunately, they would only get 14 snaps out of the defensive back before he was placed on season-ending IR with an ankle injury. 2020 finally saw a return to play for Verrett. He started 13 games for the 49ers, broke up seven passes, and intercepted two. His lucky streak would end there, unfortunately, as Verrett would tear his ACL once again in a Week 1 start of the 2021 season. He spent the first two months of the 2022 season on the physically unable to perform list as he continued to recover, but about two weeks after his activation, Verrett would once again tear his Achilles tendon, ending his season early for an appalling seventh time and marking the second season in his career in which he would fail to make a regular season appearance due to injury.

According to David Bonilla of 49ers Web Zone, head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted to keeping track of the updates to Verrett’s recovery from the Achilles injury during his time in Houston. “I heard they were good in Houston,” Shanahan said about the reports on his former player’s injury. “And they’ve been, when we worked him out, everyone said it was good…so it’s amazing that he’s even back and able to do that stuff. So, if we got a chance, we’d love to get him in here.”

It sounds like the team is optimistic about where Verrett’s health is at during this stretch of his career, but there may be a bit of homework left to do. Shanahan told reporters that while they “don’t have him signed yet,” they’ll “work through that over this weekend and see how it ends up for next week.”

Regardless of his injury history, Verrett’s perseverance made him a locker room favorite among 49ers players. His impression on the team over the years was so strong that there were reportedly seven or so of his former teammates watching and supporting him during his tryout. If he gets to rejoin them in the locker room, it sounds like we’ll find out about it sometime after the weekend.

Joining Verrett in a team tryout today was free agent quarterback Chris Streveler, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Streveler, who started a game for the Jets last season, also has in-game experience with the Cardinals. New York waived the 28-year-old during the preseason this year.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/15/23

November 15th, 2023 at 7:06pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s practice squad moves:

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Price was brought in to serve as center depth after an injury to starting center Tyler Biadasz. He ended up losing the backup center job to Brock Hoffman, who has played in nine games and started one of them for the Cowboys this year.

Verrett, a veteran cornerback, has been stuck on the Texans practice squad for just over a month now without making an appearance. Despite following former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans to Houston, he reportedly didn’t fit the plan for the team moving forward, mostly due to the fact that he doesn’t play on special teams. This extends Verrett’s NFL absence as he has still not seen regular season action since September of 2021.

Texans Sign CB Jason Verrett

October 11th, 2023 at 10:55am CST by Sam Robinson

Close to assembling an ex-49ers-only cafeteria table to start DeMeco Ryans‘ tenure, the Texans now have another defender who spent multiple seasons in San Francisco in the fold.

After working out Jason Verrett last week, the Texans signed the veteran cornerback to their practice squad. Verrett’s addition comes a day after Houston added ex-San Francisco defensive end Kerry Hyder on a P-squad deal. The Texans also have Jimmie Ward and Hassan Ridgeway, though the latter is currently on IR.

Coaches frequently bring in players familiar with their system, and Verrett has extensive knowledge of Ryans’ scheme. Texans defensive pass-game coordinator Cory Undlin was also with the 49ers during Verrett’s tenure. Though, the former first-round cornerback has a strong claim to be labeled the NFL’s most injury-prone player. Verrett, 32, is a former Pro Bowler but a player who has mostly seen maladies define his career. The 5-foot-10 corner spent the past four seasons with the 49ers, showing plus form when he was available, which was rarely the case.

During his eight-year career, Verrett has suffered two ACL tears and two Achilles tears. The former Chargers first-rounder has played more than six games in a season just twice — in 2015 and 2020. Those seasons produced a Pro Bowl (2015) and a top-15 Pro Football Focus ranking (2020). But injury absences have overshadowed those talent glimpses. Verrett ended last season with a 40-to-106 games-played to games-missed ratio.

Ryans was in San Francisco throughout Verrett’s stay, being in place as the team’s inside linebackers coach during Verrett’s 2020 run of mostly good health. Verrett’s game counts from 2017-22 are as follows: one, zero, one, 13, one, zero. In that 13-game sample in 2020, Verrett notched seven passes defensed and intercepted two passes. He held QBs to a collective 76.2 passer rating as the closest defender. This earned him a more lucrative contract in 2021 (one year, $5.5MM). The TCU alum suffered a torn ACL in Week 1 of the 2021 season, and after the 49ers re-signed him on a veteran-minimum deal, Verrett endured his second Achilles tear just before he was to make his 2022 debut.

The Verrett signing comes after Shaquill Griffin missed the Texans’ Week 5 game with a calf strain. Slot corner Tavierre Thomas has also missed the past three games, while top outside cover man Derek Stingley is on IR. Houston also worked out Anthony Averett, but the Lions added him to their practice squad Tuesday.

49ers CB Jason Verrett Tears Achilles

November 10th, 2022 at 2:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

In the final stages of rehabbing his 2021 injury — an ACL tear — Jason Verrett has run into another major health issue. The 49ers announced the veteran cornerback suffered an Achilles tear in practice Wednesday.

This marks the latest in a long line of Verrett injuries. The former first-round pick has shown considerable talent when available. Unfortunately, he has rarely been available over the course of his nine-year career.

The 49ers used one of their eight injury activations on Verrett, moving him off the PUP list and onto their 53-man roster earlier this season. Verrett had not made his 2022 debut for the team; that was set to come soon. Verrett’s latest injury brings more availability trouble to what has been an injury-prone defense; the 49ers already lost starting cornerback Emmanuel Moseley for the season.

Verrett, 31, has signed four one-year deals with the 49ers. While the TCU alum’s body has betrayed him as a pro, San Francisco continued to view the former San Diego investment as a fit. During a 2020 season in which many 49ers suffered serious injuries, Verrett stayed largely healthy and thrived amid a lost campaign for the team. That led to a nice payday — one year, $5.5MM — in 2021, but the ACL tear shut Verrett down in Week 1 of last season.

During his career, Verrett has suffered two ACL tears and two Achilles tears. His previous Achilles setback came during the Chargers’ 2018 training camp. These maladies have led to Verrett spending the bulk of his NFL career in rehab settings. He has played more than six games in a season just twice — in 2015 and 2020. Those seasons produced a Pro Bowl (2015) and a top-15 Pro Football Focus ranking (2020). But injury absences have overshadowed those talent glimpses. By the end of this season, Verrett’s games-played to games-missed ratio will be 40-to-106.

It is somewhat remarkable Verrett has managed to stick around this long, all things considered. The Chargers picked up the former No. 25 overall pick’s fifth-year option in 2018, and the 49ers have continued to hold out hope he could play a key role. They re-signed Verrett to a league-minimum accord this offseason and were slow-playing his return. San Francisco kept Verrett on its PUP list to start the season, but after Moseley went down, the prospect of Verrett re-entering the team’s starting lineup was on the table.

Without Verrett and Moseley, the 49ers will need to continue their injury-related adjustments. They have made them at defensive tackle (Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw), linebacker (Azeez Al-Shaair) and at safety (Jimmie Ward). San Francisco has used Deommodore Lenoir increasingly and has dabbled with Ward, whose early-career stretch featured switches between safety and corner, back in the slot. The team also has rookie Samuel Womack and 2021 third-rounder Ambry Thomas as options behind Lenoir and Charvarius Ward.

49ers Activate CB Jason Verrett From PUP List, Bring Back RB Tevin Coleman

October 26th, 2022 at 2:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Wednesday marked the final day the 49ers could keep Jason Verrett in designated-for-return limbo. As a result, the cornerback is back on San Francisco’s 53-man roster.

The 49ers activated the ninth-year vet from their reserve/PUP list, using the third of their injury activations to do so. Although Verrett is probably the NFL’s most injury-prone active player, he has been effective when available. Verrett’s 2020 season in San Francisco enticed the team to give the former first-rounder two additional one-year contracts. He is currently attached to a one-year deal worth just more than $1MM.

Verrett is in the final stages of recovering from his September 2021 ACL tear. Verrett’s activation seemed somewhat in doubt last week, when knee soreness, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch, held him out of multiple practices. Kyle Shanahan said the soreness was not related to a problem with Verrett’s fall 2021 surgery.

Considering Verrett’s past, the 49ers had planned to slow-play it with him this year. The former Chargers Pro Bowler has missed 88 games since coming into the league. This included a late-2010s span in which he played two games in three seasons. Verrett has suffered two ACL tears — one in each knee — and a torn Achilles since entering the NFL. But he made the Pro Bowl during a 14-game 2015 and excelled for the 49ers as a 13-game starter in 2020.

Emmanuel Moseley‘s season-ending ACL tear opens the door for Verrett to return to the 49ers’ lineup. That scenario is believed to be in play, despite the TCU product’s injury-marred career. It certainly cannot be assumed Verrett will stay healthy, but the 49ers’ defense has run into injury trouble at every position. Any boost the 31-year-old cover man can provide would be a bonus.

San Francisco also brought back Tevin Coleman, who was released Tuesday. Coleman is rejoining the 49ers on a practice squad deal. The 49ers changed their backfield situation last week, trading for Christian McCaffrey, but the team still has Elijah Mitchell on IR and has seen third-round rookie Tyrion Davis-Price miss time with an ankle injury.

Load More Posts