Eagles Release G Jamon Brown
The Eagles have released guard Jamon Brown, per a team announcement. The news doesn’t come as a huge surprise following Brown’s rocky performance against the Ravens on Sunday. 
The Eagles plucked Brown off of the Browns’ practice squad in September following a string of offensive line injuries. To recap: They lost Pro Bowl guard Brandon Brooks to another Achilles tear, lost Andre Dillard for the season, and had Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson on the Week 1 inactive list due to injury. Brown joined the club just after Washington managed to sack Carson Wentz eight times.
On Sunday against the Ravens, Browns was a virtual turnstile, allowing defenders to get to Wentz with ease. He also appeared to adjust his own gloves in the middle of one play and later bumped into his own quarterback, leading to a sack.
Brown has bounced around a bit since 2018, when a suspension cost him his starting gig with the Rams. Last year, he suited up in ten games for the Falcons, including nine starts. All in all, Brown has 60 career games to his credit, 47 starts, and an enviable jersey collection.
Bills Release Quinton Spain
The Bills have released guard Quinton Spain, per a club announcement. Effectively a full-time starter for four straight seasons, Spain now finds himself on the open market in the middle of the season.
Spain, 29, was slated to be a free agent in March before he re-upped with Buffalo on a three-year, $15MM deal. Although he wasn’t a world-beater like fellow free agents like Brandon Scherff and Joe Thuney, the Bills wanted to lock him up for the long haul.
Buffalo made its offensive line a priority in 2019, adding free agents Mitch Morse, Ty Nsekhe, and Spencer Long and second-round draft pick Cody Ford, in addition to Spain. A former undrafted free agent, Spain spent the first four years and 48 starts of his career with the Titans. In ’19, Spain started all 16 games for the first time in his NFL tenure, grading as the league’s No. 59 guard among 80 qualifiers per Pro Football Focus. Spain and the other reinforcements helped the Bills’ running game, as Buffalo improved from 30th in Football Outsiders‘ 2018 run-blocking metrics to 16th last season.
This year, Spain lost his starting gig to Cody Ford. Then, he suffered a foot injury, costing him the last two games. The Bills will forge ahead with Ford at LG and Brian Winters at RG with support from Ike Boettger and Ryan Bates.
Cowboys DE Randy Gregory Placed On Active Roster
This weekend, Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory could see the field for the first time since the 2018 campaign. The team announced that the 27-year-old has been removed from the commissioner’s exempt list and placed on their active roster.
Gregory hasn’t played an NFL game since earning his fourth career suspension during the 2019 offseason. He was reinstated by the league back in September, and he’s been practicing with the team for the past few weeks.
Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News tweets that Gregory has an opportunity to play this weekend, although that’s not a huge surprise. After all, the team had already committed to Gregory by inking him to an extension back in September.
The pass rusher has only played in 28 of a possible 80 NFL games, compiling an underwhelming 45 tackles, seven sacks, and two forced fumbles. However, six of those sacks came during his 2018 campaign, so maybe things started to click for the former Nebraska standout. Both teammates and coaches recently lauded Gregory for his performance at practice.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/20/20
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Activated from practice squad IR: RB D.J. Foster, TE Justin Johnson
- Signed: T Rick Leonard
- Released: S Kentrell Brice, CB Jalen Davis, S T.J. Ward
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: S Shyheim Carter, LB Pita Taumoepenu
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: CB Josh Hawkins, DT Mike Panasiuk, DE Greg Roberts, RB Mike Warren
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: CB Prince Smith
Detroit Lions
- Cut: WR Joe Webb
Green Bay Packers
- Released: WR Kalija Lipscomb
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Damion Ratley
- Released: DT Ryan Glasgow
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: LB Emmanuel Smith
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LB Jonas Griffith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DB Mazzi Wilkins, DT Kobe Smith
- Released: S D’Cota Dixon
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Breon Borders
- Signed: TE Parker Hesse
- Released: CB Greg Mabin, DB Maurice Smith
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/20/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:
Atlanta Falcons
- Released: S J.J. Wilcox
Carolina Panthers
- Signed off Giants’ practice squad: S Sean Chandler
- Promoted: S Kenny Robinson, OL Sam Tecklenburg
- Placed on IR: S Juston Burris, WR Keith Kirkwood
Green Bay Packers
- Signed off Falcons’ practice squad: LB James Burgess
- Placed on IR: CB Parry Nickerson
New York Jets
- Placed on IR: LB Frankie Luvu
Philadelphia Eagles
- Released from IR: CB Trevor Williams
San Francisco 49ers
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Parnell Motley
- Placed on IR: C Ben Garland (story)
- Waived: TE Daniel Helm
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: WR John Hurst
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE MyCole Pruitt
Raiders Activate Marcus Mariota From IR
Marcus Mariota is back on the Raiders’ active roster. The Raiders activated the former Heisman Trophy winner from IR on Tuesday, and he will resume his backup role in Week 7.
Derek Carr is coming off one of his best games as a pro, when he led the Raiders to a 40-32 upset win over the Chiefs. While Mariota was given a lucrative QB2 deal in March, he no longer looks like a threat to take over for Carr. But this will certainly help Las Vegas’ depth.
The former No. 2 overall pick landed on the Raiders’ IR list prior to Week 1 because of a strained pectoral muscle. Mariota has battled injuries since his Christmas Eve 2016 leg break — the same day as Carr’s — and saw his starter status end when the Titans demoted him for Ryan Tannehill last year. But the longtime Tennessee starter will begin backing up Carr this weekend; the team hosts the Buccaneers on Sunday night.
The Raiders gave Mariota a two-year, $17.6MM deal to back up Carr and likely push the six-year incumbent. But Carr has made incremental strides under Jon Gruden, despite constant rumors of these parties separating. He ranked 10th in QBR last season, leads the NFL with a 73.1% completion rate and has an 11-1 TD-INT ratio. Carr threw for 347 yards and added three touchdown passes against the Chiefs.
Giants Sign Jabaal Sheard Off Jaguars’ Practice Squad
The Giants will bring in a big name through an unusual route. They signed Jabaal Sheard off the Jaguars’ practice squad.
Sheard has 135 games’ and 103 starts’ worth of experience and is a 10th-year veteran. The edge defender caught on with the Jaguars last week, but with the Jags opting not to keep him on their active roster, the Giants completed a poaching operation.
While Jacksonville added Sheard to its active roster and used him in 15 snaps against Detroit, the team promoted Sheard using a 2020-implemented transactional tool that allows for players to revert back to teams’ practice squads after games. Sheard is set to head to New York ahead of the Giants’ Thursday game, though COVID-19 protocols will prevent him from playing against the Eagles.
Sheard, 31, spent the past three seasons as a Colts starter. He racked up 15.5 sacks during those Indianapolis seasons. He has previously played for the Browns and Patriots, collecting a Super Bowl ring with the latter franchise. A plus run defender in the recent past, Sheard has 51.5 career sacks.
The Giants have run into injury trouble at outside linebacker. They have young rushers Oshane Ximines and Lorenzo Carter on IR. Sheard will join Markus Golden and Kyler Fackrell in a now-veteran-heavy edge-rushing corps. Sheard will take the place of linebacker Tae Crowder, whom the Giants placed on IR. The seventh-round rookie’s scoop-and-score sequence helped the Giants win their first game of the season Sunday, but a hamstring injury will shelve this year’s Mr. Irrelevant for at least three games.
Sheard’s move off Jacksonville’s practice squad comes at an interesting time. Because of practice squad offensive lineman K.C. McDermott‘s positive coronavirus test, the Jaguars placed 11 more P-squad players on their reserve/COVID-19 list. Sheard is now gone as well. With new NFL protocols forcing even asymptomatic players to be on the COVID list for at least five days, the Jaguars have a decimated practice squad at present.
Broncos To Release DT Timmy Jernigan
The Broncos are set to end Timmy Jernigan‘s brief Denver stay. They are planning to release the veteran defensive tackle, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
Down Jurrell Casey for the season and having placed Dre’Mont Jones on IR, the Broncos signed Jernigan late last month. He ended up playing a small role, working as a backup against the Jets and Patriots. The former Ravens and Eagles starter played just 11 defensive snaps for the Broncos, however.
Denver still has Jones on IR, but he is eligible to return to the active roster after missing the past three games. Vic Fangio said Jones and fourth-year defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker (also on IR) have a chance to play in Week 7. The Broncos used Shelby Harris, Mike Purcell and DeShawn Williams as their D-line starters against the Patriots. With Casey out, Jones would be in line for a bigger role than he had as a rookie.
This has been a complicated year for Jernigan, a full-time starter for the 2016 Ravens and 2017 Super Bowl champion Eagles. His one-year, $3.75MM Texans deal ended up being called off. The Jaguars signed him in mid-August but cut him in September. The 28-year-old defender will be back in free agency after another short stay with a team.
Raiders To Sign DL David Irving
David Irving is indeed headed to Las Vegas. The Raiders are signing the recently reinstated defensive lineman, a source told Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
This came together pretty quickly, so it wouldn’t be surprising if there had been some communication between these sides for a while as Irving waited for the go-ahead from the league office. The reinstatement from Roger Goodell came on October 16th, and on the 17th we heard the Raiders were hosting him on a visit. Irving’s young career has already seen him suspended four times, thrice for substance abuse policy violations and once for PEDs.
His most recent ban was an indefinite one that ended up lasting over 18 months. An UDFA out of Iowa State in 2015, Irving has only appeared in two games since the 2017 season, but he showed plenty of flashes early on with the Cowboys. In only eight games with Dallas in 2017, he racked up seven sacks and six passes defended.
After hist most recent suspension Irving originally announced he was retiring in March of 2019, in part due to the league’s marijuana policy. After sitting out last season he had a change of heart, and announced back in February that he was hoping for a return. It took about eight months for him to get approval from Goodell, and now he’ll join a Raiders team looking to make a push in the AFC.
Raiders defensive line coach Rod Marinelli was Irving’s defensive coordinator in Dallas, which helps explain the connection. It’s anyone’s guess as to what Irving will look like or how soon he’ll be in game shape, but it’s a nice low-risk flyer for a team in need of pass-rushing help.
Bears Sign Manti Te’o To Practice Squad
Manti Te’o is back. The Bears are signing the veteran linebacker to their practice squad, the team announced on Tuesday. Thanks to the NFL’s new COVID-19 rules, veterans are allowed on practice squads for the first time.
Te’o, an extremely accomplished college player who was a Heisman finalist at Notre Dame, was originally drafted by the Chargers in the second-round back in 2013. He was mostly a starter during his time with the team, but also struggled with numerous injuries. After his rookie contract expired, he signed a two-year deal with New Orleans.
He appeared in all 16 games with the Saints in 2017 and started ten, but took on a much smaller role in 2018, when he only started twice and was a healthy scratch at times down the stretch. He sat out most of last season before suddenly reemerging and signing with the Saints in December of last year. He played in the final few games, starting two.
We didn’t hear anything of him this offseason until the Bears decided to work him out last week. Clearly they liked what they saw. Still only 29 he should have something left in the tank physically, and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets called up to the active roster soon.