We will keep track of all of today’s minor moves here:
Tennessee Titans
Released: QB Kevin Hogan. After the Titans selected Liberty QB Malik Willis in the third round of the 2022 draft, the writing was on the wall for Hogan, who has not thrown a regular season pass since 2017. In addition to Willis and presumptive starter Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee is also rostering Logan Woodside, whom the club re-signed in March.
The Titans are down another skill player. The team announced that they’ve placed wideout A.J. Brown on injured reserve.
Having suffered a chest injury, Brown did not practice all week and had already been ruled out for tomorrow’s showdown against the Patriots. Fortunately, the Titans and Ryan Tannehill should have their top receiver back before the end of the season. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter), the injury isn’t a season-ender and Brown is expected to be back in December. The earliest that Brown could come back is Week 16 against the 49ers, although that TNF game comes on a short week.
The offense the Titans deploy in Week 12 will not look especially similar to the one it hopes to trot out come January. Tennessee already has Derrick Henry and Julio Jones on IR. The team also lost fill-in wideout Marcus Johnson for the season last week. Wideout Golden Tate could have been one candidate to fill one of those roster spots, but the veteran wasn’t elevated for tomorrow’s contest.
The Ravens–Steelers rematch is no longer a guarantee to follow the customary Lions and Cowboys contests on Thanksgiving. With the Ravens having five coronavirus positives among players and the Steelers at four, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com notes that more cases will result in the NFL moving the game off the Thanksgiving schedule (Twitter link). It is not known how many more positive tests between these franchises would cause the NFL to move the game, but given its time slot and the fact the league has resisted postponing games since Week 7 would make this a game difficult to move. However, this situation may be close to producing a postponement. In addition to five Ravens players having tested positive, Mark Maske of the Washington Post notes five Ravens staffers also have in recent days (Twitterlinks). Both the Ravens and Steelers encountered virus issues earlier this month but played their respective games as scheduled.
Here is the latest from the AFC North:
The Ravens are working to determine if these are connected or isolated incidents part of a spread in the Baltimore community, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The team remains on track to leave for Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
More COVID-19 issues have hit the Bengals‘ coaching staff. Defensive line coach Nick Eason tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the team to go through contact tracing, Pelissero notes (on Twitter). This followed multiple games of Cincinnati coaches being sidelined. Cornerbacks coach Steve Jackson, wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell and safeties coach Robert Livingston missed the Bengals’ Week 11 game due to COVID protocols; linebackers coach Al Golden and senior defensive assistant Mark Duffner did not coach during the team’s Week 10 game. Considering the volume here, this is a situation to monitor ahead of Week 12.
As of now, the Bengals’ Joe Burrow-less quarterback plan consists of Ryan Finley as the starter and recent practice squad cog Brandon Allenbacking him up. But the team is scrambling for depth. The Bengals worked out ex-Browns QB Kevin Hogan and Alex McGough on Tuesday. Hogan was last with the Broncos from 2018-19. He failed to make Denver’s 53-man roster in ’19, when the team used Allen as its backup. The Bengals should be expected to sign a quarterback to their practice squad.
August 31st, 2019 at 8:43pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg
The Denver Broncos made a slew of moves today to get down to 53 players. Notably, the team will place rookie second-round quarterback Drew Lock on injured reserve, meaning he’ll have to miss at least the first eight games of the season as he recovers from his thumb injury. The team cut journeyman Kevin Hogan and UDFA Brett Rypien, leaving them without a quarterback behind Joe Flacco. GM John Elway has said they’ll sign a veteran to backup Flacco for now, and we’ve already heard they’re interested in Brian Hoyer.
There weren’t too many surprises that we didn’t already know of. Brendan Langley, a 2017 third-round pick, failed to make the team. He was drafted as a cornerback, but switched to receiver earlier this offseason after he didn’t pan out on defense.
The Broncos will go with a young contingent behind Joe Flacco. Incumbent quarterback Kevin Hogan will not make their 53-man roster, with Mike Klis of 9News reporting (via Twitter) the fourth-year veteran will be cut.
Hogan served as Case Keenum‘s backup for most of last season, catching on with the Broncos via waiver claim. He ascended to the QB2 spot after Chad Kelly‘s release. This year, the Broncos drafted Drew Lock and added Brett Rypien as a UDFA.
Lock is set to miss several weeks due to an injury to his throwing hand, and it looks like Rypien will either become Flacco’s backup or the Broncos will look elsewhere for their top signal-caller reserve. Brian Hoyer did not make the Patriots’ roster. He spent time in new Denver OC Rich Scangarello‘s system in 2017, beginning that season as the 49ers’ starter. The Patriots released Hoyer earlier today.
Hogan is not yet a vested veteran and will head to waivers. He last attempted a regular-season pass for the 2017 Browns.