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NFC North Notes: Packers, Lions, Hockenson

September 7th, 2023 at 4:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Rashan Gary is all set to debut in Week 1, completing his recovery from the ACL tear that ended his 2022 season in November. But the Packers will begin their top pass rusher on a pitch count to start the season, Matt LaFleur confirmed (via Packers Wire’s Zach Kruse). This could open the door for early-season Lukas Van Ness development. The Packers still roster Preston Smith, who is going into his fifth season with the team, and Van Ness contributed as an inside and outside rusher at Iowa. The team has versatile linebacker Justin Hollins and 2022 fifth-rounder Kingsley Enagbare, who became a primary starter after Gary went down last season, as options while Gary ramps up to a full workload.

Additionally on the Green Bay injury front, David Bakhtiari, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs are viewed as game-time decisions for Sunday’s opener against the Bears. Bakhtiari, who has seen knee trouble sidetrack his career to a degree over the past two-plus years, is listed on the injury report with more knee trouble. He expects to play, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein tweets. Both starting receivers are battling hamstring maladies and have not practiced this week. Here is the latest from the NFC North:

  • As for tonight’s game, the Lions ruled out cornerback Emmanuel Moseley. Although Detroit activated Moseley off its active/PUP list before roster-cutdown day, the free agency addition underwent a second knee procedure this summer and was viewed as a long shot to start the year on time. Moseley is finishing up a recovery from an October 2022 ACL tear.
  • Isaiah Buggs started 13 games at nose tackle for last season’s Lions edition, but the veteran was informed in advance he would be a healthy scratch tonight, the Detroit News’ Justin Rogers notes. The Lions gave Buggs a two-year, $4.5MM deal in March but gave more snaps to rookie Brodric Martin and Benito Jones during camp. Buggs believes his lack of offseason attendance affected the team’s decision, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The former Steelers contributor said his wife giving birth led to him staying away during OTAs. Jones and Alim McNeill are expected to start in Kansas City, Birkett adds.
  • Going into free agency, the Bears did extensive work on Dre’Mont Jones, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune notes. Although the Bears carried plenty of cap space into free agency, they chose to stand down on Jones and spend for the likes of Tremaine Edmunds, Nate Davis, T.J. Edwards and DeMarcus Walker. The team later addressed its D-tackle needs in the draft, choosing three — Zacch Pickens (Round 2), Gervon Dexter (Round 3) and Travis Bell (Round 7) — on Day 2. This duo should be expected to play bigger roles down the line, but in Week 1, Justin Jones and Andrew Billings are slated to start. A four-year Broncos regular, Jones ended up with the Seahawks on a three-year, $51MM deal.
  • T.J. Hockenson‘s four-year, $66MM Vikings extension comes with $29.29MM fully guaranteed, according to OverTheCap. That number checks in fourth among tight ends — behind Kyle Pitts‘ rookie deal and the extensions for Mark Andrews and George Kittle. Hockenson’s 2024 base salary is fully guaranteed. His $10.9MM 2025 base salary is guaranteed for injury at signing, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who notes that number shifts to a full guarantee a year early (March 2024). The Vikings did not use the year-out guarantee structure for Hockenson’s 2026 setup, giving them more flexibility. Hockenson has $2.3MM of his 2026 base ($15.4MM) guaranteed for injury; it does not shift to a full guarantee until March 2026, giving the Vikings additional flexibility. Hockenson’s cap number will climb from $5MM this year to $14.1MM in 2024, Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets.

Bears Nix Larry Ogunjobi Deal

March 18th, 2022 at 11:02am CST by Zachary Links

The Bears announced that they have called off their agreement with defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi. Per the club’s press release, Ogunjobi failed his physical. 

“As I said before, Larry Ogunjobi embodies everything we are looking for in a Bear,” GM Ryan Poles said in a statement. “He is a special person and player. During the league’s negotiating window earlier this week, we agreed to terms with him, subject to him passing a physical here. After a standard and thorough physical and medical review with Larry yesterday afternoon, our medical team deemed him to have failed his physical and, therefore, unfortunately, we are not signing him today. This is difficult and it is emotional for everyone involved, but ultimately is what is in the best interest of protecting the Chicago Bears.”

The contract was set to be worth $40.5MM over three years, with $26.35MM guaranteed. It was to be a huge pay bump for the 27-year-old (28 in June), but he’ll now have to find his next contract elsewhere.

Ogunjobi spent his first four seasons with the Browns before moving on to the Bengals last year. In 2021, he notched 49 tackles and seven sacks in 16 games. The investment in Ogunjobi – along with the likes of Trey Hendrickson and Chidobe Awuzie – paid off as the Bengals won the AFC North for the first time since 2015.

Unfortunately, his season was brought to a halt with a right foot injury before the divisional round. That same foot injury seems to have cost him his contract with Chicago.

With the ex-Bengal ruled out, the Bears have agreed to sign former Chargers defensive tackle Justin Jones (Twitter link via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com). Jones, who graded out as a top-40 interior defensive lineman in 2020 per Pro Football Focus, will join the Bears on a two-year deal.

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/24/21

December 24th, 2021 at 6:14pm CST by Ely Allen

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed on or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list today. In some instances, players activated from the list remain on IR:

Baltimore Ravens

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: S Chuck Clark, C Trystan Colon
  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: RB Nate McCrary
  • Placed on practice squad/COVID-19 list: QB Chris Streveler

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: DB Jordan Fuller, TE Tyler Higbee
  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Cole Williamson

Miami Dolphins

  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: RB Gerrid Doaks

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: RB Travis Homer
  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: OL Pier-Olivier Lestage

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Chargers Activate DL Justin Jones From IR

October 30th, 2021 at 3:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers will have one of their starting defensive linemen back for their Week 8 matchup against the Patriots. They moved Justin Jones from their IR list to the active roster Saturday. To make roster space, the team waived defensive lineman Forrest Merrill.

A two-year starter at defensive tackle, Jones has played in just one game this season. The interior D-lineman stands to provide a boost for a Bolts team that is aiming to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

A calf injury sidelined Jones in September, though the Chargers appeared to expect him back sooner. They did not place the fourth-year defender on IR until early October. The additional rest, however, proved beneficial. The Chargers will now have their combo of Jones, Linval Joseph and former first-rounder Jerry Tillery healthy as they attempt to shake off a blowout loss to the Ravens.

Pro Football Focus graded Jones as a top-40 interior D-lineman last season. The former third-round pick is in a contract year. Although the Bolts have Kenneth Murray on IR, only four players appear on their Week 8 injury report. That is certainly a good sign at this point in the season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/21

October 25th, 2021 at 10:07am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Claimed off waivers: QB Reid Sinnett (from Dolphins)
  • Waived: LS Rick Lovato

San Francisco 49ers

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/4/21

October 4th, 2021 at 11:20am CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Football Team

Chargers Activate Melvin Ingram, Justin Jones From IR

October 24th, 2020 at 3:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

As they attempt to snap a four-game losing skid, the Chargers will have some reinforcements back. They activated defensive linemen Melvin Ingram and Justin Jones off IR on Saturday.

Ingram has been out since Week 2 with a knee injury. This year’s tweaked IR policy allows teams to shelve players for just three weeks, and the longtime Bolts defensive end will miss the minimum number of contests before returning to team with Joey Bosa on the edge.

This stretch of games will be key for Ingram, who lobbied for a new contract but failed to secure it during a brief training camp hold-in. The Bolts extended Ingram in 2017, and his contract expires at season’s end. Bosa signed an NFL-high (for defenders) $27MM-per-year deal in August, topping Ingram’s $16MM-AAV deal as the top Chargers contract.

It will be difficult for the Bolts to give Ingram a major raise ahead of his age-32 season in 2021, though Justin Herbert‘s rookie contract will make that easier than it would have been with Philip Rivers‘ deal on L.A.’s books. But Ingram showing good form in his team’s final 11 games would strengthen his bargaining position in free agency.

A third-year defensive tackle, Jones will also miss the minimum number of games. He went down with a shoulder injury. The Chargers have used the 2018 third-round pick as a starting defensive tackle over the past two seasons.

The Chargers also promoted running back Troymaine Pope from their practice squad and waived wide receiver Jason Moore and defensive end Jessie Lemonier.

Chargers Designate DE Melvin Ingram, DT Justin Jones To Return

October 19th, 2020 at 5:39pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Chargers have once again been one of the most banged up teams in the league, but it looks like reinforcements are on the way. Los Angeles has designated defensive end Melvin Ingram and defensive tackle Justin Jones to return from injured reserve, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets.

Each can now return to practice. The team now has a three-week window to activate either player. If they are not activated in that span, they’ll be ineligible to return for the remainder of the year. Ingram usually forms one of the league’s best pass-rushing duos with Joey Bosa when healthy, and he’s made the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons. Jones, a 2018 third-round pick, is a starter and key run-stuffer.

With guys like Derwin James and Chris Harris sidelined, the Chargers could really use this boost on defense. They’re 1-4 on the year and have blown 17-point leads in back to back weeks. Despite the record the Chargers still have a legit chance, as Justin Herbert has looked like a star in the making and the schedule coming up is extremely soft. Their next five games are against the Jaguars, Broncos, Raiders, Dolphins, and Jets, so if the defense can heal up they’ve got a shot to make some noise.

Ingram has only played in the first two games of the season, and he had a crucial interception in a Week 1 win over the Bengals. The South Carolina product has at least seven sacks in each of the past five seasons. He’s dealing with a knee issue, while Jones has a shoulder injury.

Chargers Place Melvin Ingram On IR

September 26th, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

On the heels of a fairly strong defensive performance against the Chiefs, the Chargers will see one half of their top-end pass-rushing tandem miss time.

The Bolts placed Melvin Ingram on IR Saturday. This will knock the veteran defensive end out for at least three games. Ingram is battling a knee injury.

Also placing defensive tackle Justin Jones and linebacker Asmar Bilal on IR, the Chargers will promote safety Jahleel Addae to their active roster. The former longtime Chargers safety starter, Addae agreed to a practice squad deal recently. The Bolts will also promote running back Darius Bradwell from their practice squad.

Ingram, though, certainly represents the biggest piece of news from the team’s Saturday transactions. He and Joey Bosa have seen some interruptions in their run as an edge-rushing pair during an era featuring rampant Bolts injury trouble. Though, Ingram has only missed three games over the past five-plus seasons. The three-time Pro Bowler has 43 sacks over the past five seasons.

Ingram’s return from this injury will begin a critical stretch, with the 31-year-old defender in a contract year. Ingram waged a brief hold-in during training camp but returned to practice when the Bolts guaranteed his 2020 salary.

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