Extra Points: Patriots, Jaguars, Packers, Browns
In 2017, Browns defensive coordinator and now interim head coach Gregg Williams made a strong push for the team to take Texas A&M pass rusher Myles Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick rather than take a quarterback.
On Friday, he reiterated that stance, saying he would still take the standout defensive end over quarterbacks like Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes and Mitch Trubisky, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.
“Yes, I would,’’ said Williams. “I really like (Garrett). They had me evaluate the quarterbacks, too, and they had me evaluate a lot of the top players on the other side of the ball. You do good things like that in successful organizations. Get the opinion of a defensive guy on an offensive guy. Get the opinion of an offensive guy on a defensive guy. You are trying to find all of the little itty bitty things before you make the final decision, I think those are important.”
Regardless of what he would or wouldn’t do, it looks like the situation is going to work out well for the Browns. Instead of taking a quarterback a year ago, the team tabbed Baker Mayfield with the top spot and have recorded the same amount of wins this season as the previous three combined (four).
Here’s more from around the league:
- Though the Packers need to win out and get plenty of help to get to the playoffs, team CEO Mark Murphy wrote in a week Q&A on Packers.com that he is not ready to give up on the season. “Now, I realize that we are 4-6-1 (and as Bill Parcells famously said, “You are what your record says you are”) and that we haven’t played well. However, we still have almost a third of the season left to play. I know that the odds of making the playoffs are slim (I’ve seen odds range from 3 to 15 percent), but we still have a lot to play for.” Like the odds say, there isn’t much left on the line unless the team can get hot and get some help.
- Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone‘s firing of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett at this point of the season seems like a diversionary tactic to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “It feels like an effort by Marrone to alter the conversation that inevitably will happen when owner Shad Khan, who had a taste of life in the NFL’s penthouse in 2017 and has taken the Super Fun Happy Slide straight back to the outhouse, starts asking tough questions after Week 17.”
- The Patriots need to re-sign defensive end Trey Flowers, NESN’s Doug Kyed writes in a mailbag. “They either need to bring back Flowers, take a player high in the 2018 NFL Draft, sign a free agent (pass rushers are not cheap) or trade for a veteran edge defender. Isn’t the simplest option just to bring back Flowers?”
Bucs’ Winston, Uber Driver Reach Settlement
Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston has reached a settlement with an Uber driver who accused him of groping her in 2016, the Tampa Bay Times’ Matt Baker writes.
A sexual battery lawsuit was filed against Winston after the woman alleged the fourth-year quarterback grabbed her crotch in the drive-thru of a Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz. She made the incident known last fall, leading to an NFL investigation which deemed her claim as “consistent and credible.” The incident led to a three-game suspension in 2018 for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy. The woman, identified as Kate P., filed the civil suit in September seeking $75,000 in damages.
Though he denied the allegations and disagreed with the suspension, Winston released a statement in June on the incident:
“Although I am disappointed in the NFL’s decision, I understand the NFL’s process, and I embrace this as an opportunity to take advantage of the resources available to help me achieve the goals that I have for myself.”
Since returning from the suspension, Winston reassumed his role as the Buccaneers’ starting quarterback and has thrown for 1,692 yards and 10 touchdowns in six games.
A.J. Green Expected Back For Week 12
Though the Bengals fell to the Ravens on Sunday, 24-21, the team did get one bit of good news. Seven-time Pro Bowl wideout A.J. Green is expected to be ready for the team’s upcoming matchup against the Browns, ESPN’s Josina Anderson hears (Twitter link). 
Green has been sidelined since he suffered a toe injury on the last series vs. Tampa Bay in Week 8. With the injury coming just before Cincinnati’s bye week, the star receiver has only missed two games, defeats to New Orleans and Baltimore. The Bengals sputtered in both affairs, amassing just 174 yards through the air vs. the Saints, and following it up with 211 vs. the Ravens. Before he went down, Green was leading the Bengals in receiving yards (687) and touchdowns (six).
There was a remote possibility he could’ve suited up in today’s loss, but was ruled out after testing out his injured toe in warmups. With the team at 5-5 heading into Week 12, the Bengals are in a must-win game vs. the division-rival Browns to keep pace in the hunt for a wild-card berth. They are currently tied for the final spot with the Ravens, Titans, Colts and Dolphins.
PFR Commenting Policy
Comments of this nature are not allowed at Pro Football Rumors:
- Attacks or insults towards other commenters, the post author, journalists, teams, players, or agents.
- Inappropriate language, including swearing and related censor bypass attempts, lewdness, insults, and crude terms for body parts, bodily functions, and physical acts. Overall, we don’t want any language that a parent would not want their kid to see.
- Juvenile comments or extensive use of text message-type spelling.
- Writing comments in all or mostly caps.
- Spam-type links or self-promotion.
- Comments about how you’re sick of this topic or it’s not newsworthy.
- No inappropriate avatars or images are allowed.
- Anything else we deem bad for business.
If you see comments that fit the above criteria, please flag them and/or contact us. Bans may be handed out liberally by our moderators, without second chances. Remaining civil is not that difficult though, and most commenters have no problems doing so, as well as helping rein each other in. We are grateful for all of our longtime commenters and readers, though this policy applies equally regardless of tenure. This policy is always available at the bottom of the site, and will be re-posted monthly.
Following Specific NFL Players On PFR
As we’ve outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Pro Football Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you don’t want to follow all the site’s updates, you can subscribe to team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don’t have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, it’s easy to follow all our updates on your favorite player as well.
If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell as he prepares for free agency next spring, you can visit this page. If you’re interested in keeping tabs on the latest rumors involving Joey Bosa as he nears his return from injury, you can find his page right here.
In addition to dedicating pages to players, we also maintain archives for certain specific non-NFL topics. For example, all our posts relating to the XFL can be found here, while our updates on the Alliance of American Football (AAF) are here.
Every player we’ve written about has his own rumors page, and each of those players also has his own RSS feed, making it even easier to follow the latest updates. Links to RSS feeds for specific players are all located on this page. You can also find links to RSS feeds for various miscellaneous categories there. For instance, if you only want to receive one update every Sunday recapping the week’s notable headlines, you can subscribe to our Week in Review RSS feed, right here.
NFL Workout Updates: 11/12/18
Here are today’s tryouts:
Buffalo Bills:
- CBs Ashton Lampkin, Denzel Rice
Carolina Panthers:
Cleveland Browns:
- T Chris Durant; DB John Franklin III, CB Josh Thornton
Green Bay Packers:
- WRs K.J. Brent, DeAndrew White
Houston Texans:
- WR Hunter Sharp
Indianapolis Colts:
- G David Bright; LB Kennan Gilchrist; S Terrell Williams
New York Jets:
Extra Points: Bucs, Koetter, Bears, Parkey, Bengals, Kirkpatrick
After a promising start, the Buccaneers have spiraled downward. The team is now 3-6, they’ve shuffled between Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick multiple times, and the offense is completely in the tank. The defense has been historically bad, and coach Dirk Koetter is firmly on the hot seat.
In a move seemingly made out of desperation, Koetter took back play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Todd Monken for the team’s loss to the Redskins, according to Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. Monken had been calling plays all season, and had been widely praised for the Bucs’ initial offensive success. Whatever Koetter was trying to accomplish clearly didn’t work, as the Buccaneers scored just three points today. A move might not be made until the end of the season, but it seems pretty clear Koetter’s time with the organization is coming to an end.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed two field goals and two extra points today against Detroit, but Chicago coach Matt Nagy ruled out replacing him after the game, according to ESPN.com. Parkey has now missed five field goals this season, but Nagy flat-out rejected the notion the team would look for a new kicker. Parkey missed a potential game-winner in overtime against the Dolphins a few weeks back.
- The Bengals were demolished by the Saints at home today, and their already injury depleted defense got even more bad news. Starting cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was ruled out for the game with a concussion and is currently in the concussion protocol, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Bengals are already down multiple starters on defense, so they can’t afford to be without Kirkpatrick.
- In case you missed it, the Steelers are expected to place the transition tag on Le’Veon Bell this offseason.
AFC East Notes: Jets, Bowles, Patriots
Jets coach Todd Bowles was already on the hot seat entering today. Then the Jets were demolished at home by the Bills, and Bowles’ seat got even hotter. Seemingly everyone is assuming Bowles will get fired, and it appears to be just a matter of time before there’s an opening in New York. With that in mind, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY took a look at possible candidates to be his replacement.
The list includes some of the most frequently mentioned candidates like Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, but also includes some under-the-radar names. Washington University coach Chris Peterson is listed, as is Stanford coach David Shaw. One intriguing name he brings up is Michigan and ex-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, although Vacchiano notes “he’d only be a candidate in New York if GM Mike Maccagnan goes too”, due to Harbaugh’s desire for decision-making power.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- Speaking of Bowles, the embattled coach will meet with Jets CEO Christopher Johnson Monday morning, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Cimini noted that a “lack of energy on the Jets’ bench” was noted by the team’s higher-ups, which doesn’t “bode well” for Bowles. Nothing is certain, but it’s definitely possible Bowles is relieved of his duties this week as the team enters its bye.
- Patriots receiver Josh Gordon is set to be a restricted free agent after the season, and New England will have several options about what to do. “Giving Gordon a first-round tender makes the most sense for the Patriots”, according to Doug Kyed of NESN.com. If the Patriots place a first round tender on him, any team that signed him to an offer sheet would have to give the Patriots their first round pick if New England let him walk. The Patriots could save some money by attaching a lower tender to him, but then they’d risk having him poached.
- Speaking of the Patriots, they’ll have a different decision to make in the coming weeks. The team has until Wednesday to activate second round pick Duke Dawson from injured reserve, notes Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Reiss notes that Dawson, a rookie cornerback, has been practicing with the team for a couple of weeks but it’s unclear whether or not New England plans on activating him.
Trade Rumors App For iOS/Android
If you enjoy PFR on your smartphone or tablet then you’ve got to download the free Trade Rumors app!
Trade Rumors, available for iOS and Android, is the best way to consume our content on a mobile device. Here’s what it delivers, all for free:
- All the articles from Pro Football Rumors, MLB Trade Rumors, Hoops Rumors, and Pro Hockey Rumors in an easy-to-navigate, eye-catching format. Swipe through stories to quickly consume all the news and rumors from our four sites. Not into all four sports? No problem – any sport can be easily removed.
- Customize what you see. You can create feeds for any team or player across any of our sites.
- Notifications! For any team or player, you can set up push notifications to ensure you always get breaking news instantly. Notifications can also be set up at the sport level.
- Commenting! You can now read and contribute comments on the app.
- Customer service! If you find a bug, we’ll fix it. If you have a feature request, we’ll consider it. The app is continually evolving and improving.
- Did we mention Trade Rumors is a free app? What do you have to lose? Download now!
Download The Trade Rumors App Today!
If you enjoy PFR on your smartphone or tablet then you’ve got to download the free Trade Rumors app!
Trade Rumors, available for iOS and Android, is the best way to consume our content on a mobile device. Here’s what it delivers, all for free:
- All the articles from Pro Football Rumors, MLB Trade Rumors, Hoops Rumors, and Pro Hockey Rumors in an easy-to-navigate, eye-catching format. Swipe through stories to quickly consume all the news and rumors from our four sites. Not into all four sports? No problem – any sport can be easily removed.
- Customize what you see. You can create feeds for any team or player across any of our sites.
- Notifications! For any team or player, you can set up push notifications to ensure you always get breaking news instantly. Notifications can also be set up at the sport level.
- Commenting! You can now read and contribute comments on the app.
- Customer service! If you find a bug, we’ll fix it. If you have a feature request, we’ll consider it. The app is continually evolving and improving.
- Did we mention Trade Rumors is a free app? What do you have to lose? Download now!