Jaguars Release K Stephen Hauschka, Promote K Jon Brown
The Jaguars are changing kickers yet again. Jacksonville is releasing veteran Stephen Hauschka and replacing him by promoting Jon Brown from the practice squad, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Incredibly, this will now be the Jag’s fifth kicker of the season after regular placekicker Josh Lambo went down with a hip injury that landed him on injured reserve. Fortunately head coach Doug Marrone said the team is hoping Lambo will be ready for the team’s Week 7 game against the Chargers, so Brown might only end up filling in for one week.
Hauschka, the former Seahawks and Bills kicker, was signed back on September 28th. Despite a great deal of past experience and success Hauschka didn’t pan out in Jacksonville, and he had a disastrous game against the Texans yesterday.
He missed both of his field goal attempts, including shanking a 24-yarder and coming up short on a 49-yarder. Former Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas filled in for an injured Hauschka in Week 4 against the Bengals and played well, before landing back on the practice squad injured list with an injury of his own. Brandon Wright was briefly the kicker before he was waived after coming down with a groin injury.
Brown is a 2016 UDFA who originally played soccer at Kentucky before switching to football at Louisville. Brown has spent offseason time with the Bengals and 49ers, but has never kicked in a regular season NFL game. We don’t know what the heck is going on with Jacksonville’s special teams units right now, but hopefully Brown is able to avoid injury.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/9/20
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: K Jon Brown
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Kalen Ballage
Minnesota Vikings
- Released: DT Albert Huggins
Washington Football Team
- Signed: K/P Kaare Vedvik
Jaguars Sign 18 UDFAs; Cut 5 Players
The Jaguars made a slew of UDFA signings on Monday and released five players to make room for them. Here’s the full rundown, per the club’s press release.
Signed:
- Luq Barcoo, CB (San Diego State)
- Doug Cotsin, DL (Miami of Ohio)
- Nathan Cottrell, RB (Georgia Tech)
- Ben Ellefson, TE (North Dakota State)
- Nate Evans, LB (Central Florida)
- Josh Hammond, WR (Florida)
- Amari Henderson, CB (Wake Forest)
- Tavien Feaster, RB (South Carolina)
- Ross Matiscik, LS (Baylor)
- Steven Nielson, OL (Eastern Michigan)
- Austen Pleasants, OL (Ohio)
- J.R. Reed, S (Georgia)
- James Robinson, RB (Illinois State)
- Marvelle Ross, WR (Notre Dame College of Ohio)
- Connor Slomka, FB (Army)
- Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms, OL (Missouri)
- Kobe Williams, CB (Arizona State)
- Brandon Wright, K (Georgia State)
Feaster, who spent most of his collegiate career with Clemson before transferring to South Carolina, is one of the more notable names on their UDFA list. Last year, he led the Gamecocks in rushing with 672 yards and scored five touchdowns via the ground. Meanwhile, Barcoo scored a whopping $160K guarantee (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle), which may be the highest ever for an undrafted free agent in the NFL. Barcoo was one of four undrafted Aztecs to score deals this week. He’ll look to bulk up on his thin 175-pound frame as he pursues his lifelong dream.
Released:
- K Jonathan Brown
- LB Austin Calitro
- OL Donnell Greene
- WR Charone Peake
- DB Jayson Stanley
Peake showed promise as a seventh-round rookie in 2016, catching 19 passes with Gang Green. After that, he wasn’t able to keep his footing with the Jets and he’ll have to find a new NFL home now that the Jaguars have dropped him.
NFL Workout Updates: 11/1/19
The latest from the workout circuit around the league:
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
- RB Jay Ajayi, TE Nick O’Leary, TE Richard Rodgers, RB Bo Scarbrough
Jacksonville Jaguars
- K Elliott Brown, K Jon Brown, K Chase McLaughlin, K Giorgio Tavecchio
New York Jets
- LB Vincent Rey, LB Paul Worrilow
Oakland Raiders
- RB Spencer Ware
NFL Workout Updates: 1/13/19
Today’s workout updates, all courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter):
Jacksonville Jaguars
- TE Keith Towbridge; CB D.J. Killings
Los Angeles Chargers
- Ks Jon Brown, Marshall Koehn, Blair Walsh
Los Angeles Rams
Pittsburgh Steelers
- T Ryker Mathews; DL Jon Cunningham, Quincy Redmon; LBs Zaire Anderson, Cory James, Matthew Oplinger, Robert Spillane; CB Sojourn Shelton; S Marcelis Branch
NFL Workout Updates: 12/19/18
Today’s practice squad updates, all courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter):
Arizona Cardinals
- WR Bryant Mitchell; T Ryker Mathews; LBs Tobi Antigha, Sam Eguavoen, Pete Robertson, Alex Singleton, Jameer Thurman; K Ty Long
Buffalo Bills
- QB Bo Levi Mitchell; WRs Diontae Spencer, D’haquille Williams; TE Evan Baylis; LB Cory James
Chicago Bears
- QB Bo Levi Mitchell; WRs Marken Michel, Jordan Williams-Lambert; TE Clive Walford
Cincinnati Bengals
- G Avery Gennesy
Cleveland Browns
- RB Jarvion Franklin; TE Kevin Rader; G Ian Park; DT Lance McDowell; S Jack Tocho
Green Bay Packers
- WRs Chris Brown, Ka’Raun Williams; CB Trevon Mathis
Houston Texans
- LB Dominique Alexander; DB Tevaughn Campbell; CB Craig Mager; S Tyvis Powell
Indianapolis Colts
- LB Greer Martini; Ss Isaiah Johnson, Afolabi Laguda; K Ty Long
Los Angeles Chargers
- LB Jameer Thurman; DEs Tobi Antigha, Kwaku Boateng; S Chris Edwards
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers
- G Marcus Oliver; T Blaine Clausell; DL Kapron Lewis-Moore
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- G Chris Schleuger; T Dakoda Shepley; DB Tevaughn Campbell; Ks Jon Brown, Trevor Moore; Ps Hayden Hunt, Ryan Winslow; LS Zach Triner
Washington Redskins
- RB Akrum Wadley; CBs Doran Grant, Dexter McDougle, Sojourn Shelton; Ss Dexter McCoil, Stephen Roberts
Redskins Work Out 5 Kickers
Dustin Hopkins‘ availability for Week 11 appears to be in question, so the Redskins are getting an early start on examining replacement help.
With Hopkins “a bit banged up,” per Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter links), Washington brought in several kickers for a Tuesday workout.
Blair Walsh, Roberto Aguayo, Kai Forbath, Sam Ficken and Jon Brown participated, Yates reports. Of the quintet, only Ficken has kicked in a 2018 game. Walsh and Forbath had gigs last season, with the Seahawks and Vikings, respectively, while Aguayo has not kicked in a game since his rough 2016 season.
Forbath has a history with Washington, having been Hopkins’ predecessor. The UCLA product served as the Redskins’ kicker from 2012-14 before moving on to roles with the Saints and Vikings. The latter cut him this year, giving the job to rookie Daniel Carlson, whose grip on it lasted two games.
The Redskins went through this with Hopkins last season. He missed eight games in 2017, and Washington used Nick Rose as its kicker during that time. Rose is not believed to have been among today’s tryout contingent. Also perhaps soon to be available is Chandler Catanzaro, whom the Buccaneers sent to waivers on Monday. But his two misses Sunday helped the Redskins pick up a road win.
NFL Workout Updates: 11/5/18
Here’s the latest from the workout circuit. All links go to Sirius XM Radio’s Adam Caplan Twitter account, unless otherwise noted.
Cleveland Browns
- T Isaiah Battle, K Jon Brown, RB Josh Ferguson, K Sam Ficken, CB Dontae Johnson, K Marshall Koehn, K Younghoe Koo, K Tyler Rausa, LS Zach Triner, P Ryan Winslow (Twitter links via Caplan and NFL reporter Howard Balzer
Cincinnati Bengals
- QB Connor Cook, WR Chad Hansen, WR Korey Robertson, TE Andrew Vollert (Twitter link via Balzer)
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
- WR Aaron Burbridge, WR Brice Butler (link)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- LB Marquis Flowers (link)
Oakland Raiders
- RB Travaris Cadet, DE Kony Ealy, DE Terrence Fede, RB Jeremy Langford, DE Ryan Russell, RB Fitzgerald Toussaint (link)
Philadelphia Eagles
- DT T.Y. McGill (link)
Extra Points: Harbaugh, Browns, Packers, Chiefs
Earlier today, it was reported that Ravens coach John Harbaugh was on the hot seat. It was reported Harbaugh was under “mounting pressure” to turn his team’s season around, and things didn’t get any better today. The team lost to the Steelers and slipped below .500, but despite the loss Harbaugh wasn’t sweating the media reports after the game.
Harbaugh “certainly didn’t act worried” during his post-game press conference, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. Harbaugh didn’t sound like he was worried about his job security even though the team dropped its third straight game today. Harbaugh has had a ton of success during his tenure in Baltimore, but things have been rocky the past couple of years and the Ravens reportedly considered parting ways after last season. Despite his defiant tone today, it certainly seems like the 11-year Harbaugh era in Baltimore could be coming to a close. The Ravens are heading into their bye week, so it’s possible we hear news of a switch as early as this week.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Browns haven’t been able to get any consistency in the kicking game all season, and worked out a slew of specialists Saturday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link). Schefter notes that the team worked out kickers “Sam Ficken, Marshall Koehn, Younghoe Koo, Jon Brown and Tyler Rausa.” It wouldn’t be surprising if the team moved on from current kicker Greg Joseph soon.
- Speaking of specialists, the Packers made the unusual move of adding a second punter earlier this week, and nobody really knew why. There’s more clarity on the situation now, as they only signed Drew Kaser because incumbent punter J.K. Scott’s wife was due to have a baby tonight, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. It sounds like the team isn’t planning on making a change, and Kaser’s stay on the roster should be short-lived.
- The Chiefs are clearly a Super Bowl contender and are in win-now mode, so plenty of people were surprised when they didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline to boost their defense. The team had reportedly been interested in trading for Earl Thomas earlier this year, but stood pat at the deadline, and now we know why. The Chiefs did try to trade for Landon Collins close to the deadline but weren’t able to strike a deal, according to Albert Breer of SI.com, who also writes that Kansas City’s coaching staff “has faith” that the team’s group of young defenders will continue to “improve as they go along.”
Raiders To Add K Matt McCrane
After 17 seasons featuring the same kicker, the Raiders are pivoting to a third in the past two years.
While Mike Nugent battles a hip injury, the Raiders are adding another leg in rookie UDFA Matt McCrane, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. McCrane went to camp with the Cardinals this year.
Nugent was only added after Oakland opted to cut Giorgio Tavecchio, its 2017 kicker. Tavecchio was also on the list of specialists the Raiders auditioned on Tuesday, with Sirius XM Radio’s Adam Caplan reporting (via Twitter) Tavecchio joined McCrane, Michael Badgley, Jon Brown and Trevor Moore.
Nugent suffered a hip malady in the Raiders’ loss to the Dolphins on Sunday. He remains on the Raiders’ roster, giving them a two-kicker setup going into Week 4. The Raiders used Tavecchio last season and Nugent for the first three games of this one, after Nugent beat out rookie UDFA Joel Pineiro for the job. Prior to that, Sebastian Janikowski served as the Raiders’ kicker from 2000-16.
A Kansas State product, McCrane spent four seasons as the primary kicker for the Big 12 program. He made 57 of his 66 career kicks — by the end of his sophomore season he’d made 25 of 26 kicks — and earned an invitation to the East-West Shrine Game. He could not beat out Phil Dawson for the Cardinals’ kicking job in camp.