Washington Places Geron Christian On IR
The Washington Football Team has placed tackle Geron Christian on injured reserve, per a club announcement. Christian, who has been out for the past three weeks with a knee injury, will miss at least another three weeks, per the league’s new modified IR rules. 
[RELATED: Giants, Washington Have COVID-19 Positives]
Up until the injury, Christian started all six of his games and played on every snap. Unfortunately, this isn’t his first trip to the IR. Two years and one week ago today, Christian was shut down with a torn MCL. At that time, the 2018 [Washington Football Team] had a record of 6-3. This time around, they’re 2-7, so they might take some extra caution before clearing Christian to retake the field.
Without Christian, Washington has installed Cornelius Lucas as the starting left tackle. However, his status is murky for this week after an ankle injury forced him to the sidelines against the Lions. With that, Morgan Moses may start on the left side against the Bengals with David Sharpe serving as the starting right tackle.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/17/20
Today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on IR: TE Nick Boyle, CB Terrell Bonds
- Signed from practice squad: S Geno Stone
Denver Broncos
- Released: CB Davontae Harris
Green Bay Packers
- Activated off IR: WR Allen Lazard
Houston Texans
- Activated off reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Jacob Martin
Indianapolis Colts
- Released: DT Sheldon Day
- Activated off PUP: DE Kemoko Turay
Las Vegas Raiders
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DE Clelin Ferrell, S Lamarcus Joyner
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed from practice squad: OL Brett Jones
New York Giants
- Signed: P Ryan Santoso
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted from practice squad: Michael Jacquet
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: SS Johnathan Cyprien, RB JaMycal Hasty
Tennessee Titans
- Released: P Ryan Allen
Washington Football Team
- Released off IR: OL Michael Liedtke
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DL Matt Ioannidis
Giants, Washington Have COVID-19 Positives
We continue to see a steady uptick in COVID-19 cases around the league, although fortunately they have been mostly isolated incidents with no full-blown outbreaks. Tuesday morning we got word of two more teams with players testing positive, both in the NFC East. The Giants and the Washington Football Team are the latest to be hit with the virus.
The Giants’ player is kicker Graham Gano, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweets. Thankfully New York is on bye this week, so Gano should be able to kick by the next time the Giants play a game in Week 12 against Cincinnati assuming there are no complications, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. The Giants are finally starting to pick up a little steam, so hopefully this remains an isolated incident that has minimal implications because of the bye.
Washington also had a player test positive, and also thankfully it sounds like somewhat of a best-case scenario. The unidentified player hasn’t been in the facility in the past few days and didn’t travel with the team for their game in Detroit last week, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. That’s because the player is currently on injured reserve, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets.
Washington is going into the intensive protocol, but since he didn’t play in the game the Lions won’t have to and hopefully no other Washington players caught it. Interestingly, as Pelissero noted in a follow-up tweet, Washington was one of only three teams who hadn’t placed a player on the reserve/COVID-19 list during the regular season before now. The only two remaining are the Rams and Seahawks.
Jets Beat Dolphins, Ravens, Others For Pat Elflein
The Jets, at least, have achieved something this year. On Monday, the Jets beat out five other NFL teams on the waiver wire when they picked up former Vikings offensive lineman Pat Elflein, a source tells Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Jaguars, Bears, Dolphins, Ravens, and the Washington Football Team all tried to claim the veteran, but the Jets’ 0-9 record gave them the upper hand. 
Elflein started 15 games at guard in 2019, and he started the 2020 season opener before suffering a torn thumb ligament. That injury forced him to the injured reserve list. And, after returning to practice three weeks ago, his IR-DTR window had recently come to an end. Therefore, the Vikings had no other choice than to activate Elflein. One day later, they released the 26-year-old lineman.
The former third-rounder earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team in 2017 after starting 14 games at center for the Vikings. He played the same role in 2018, but he was switched to guard in 2019 after Minnesota drafted Garrett Bradbury in the first round of that year’s draft.
Elflein’s injury has hindered him, but he now says that he’s fully healthy. And, although his rookie contract will expire at the end of the year, the Jets will have the opportunity to evaluate him and potentially lock him up before he can reach the open market in March. The advanced metrics have never been fond of Elflein’s work, but quality linemen are in short supply, and plenty of teams were eager to take the low-cost risk before the Jets won out.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/16/20
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: LBs Terrance Smith, Stephone Anthony
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: QB Tommy Stevens
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Jordan Leggett
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: WR John Hurst, RB Derrick Gore
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: LS Rex Sunahara
New England Patriots
- Signed: QB Jake Dolegala
- Released: TE David Wells
New York Giants
- Signed: CB Quincy Wilson, OL Kenny Wiggins, RB Taquan Mizzell
Washington Football Team
- Signed: DE Jalen Jelks
The Panthers were going to land Stevens as an UDFA back in April before the Saints snagged him in the seventh-round. He was recently cut from New Orleans’ practice squad last week. Stevens is a diverse athlete who played a Taysom Hill-esque role at Penn State before transferring to Mississippi State for the 2019 college season. His signing could be an indication the Panthers are worried about Teddy Bridgewater‘s status for Sunday, but since they had previous reported interest in Stevens it could be completely unrelated.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/10/20
We’ve got a long list of all the minor transactions from the last day or so:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: CB De’Vante Bausby
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: LB Edmond Robinson
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DT Anthony Rush
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: Deon Bush, Lachavious Simmons
Cincinnati Bengals
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DL Margus Hunt
Denver Broncos
- Claimed off waivers from Cardinals: CB De’Vante Bausby
Detroit Lions
- Placed on IR: CB Tony McRae
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Jarrad Davis
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: QB Jordan Love, LB Kamal Martin, RB Jamaal Williams
Houston Texans
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Dylan Cole, LB Whitney Mercilus, G Max Scharping
- Placed on IR: LB Kyle Emanuel, LB Brennan Scarlett
- Claimed off waivers from Washington: DE Nate Orchard
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: DL Ron’Dell Carter
- Promoted: WR DeMichael Harris
Kansas City Chiefs
- Activated from reserve/PUP list: T Martinas Rankin
- Waived: DE Demone Harris
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: LB Natrez Patrick
Minnesota Vikings
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Todd Davis
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LS Austin Cutting
- Waived/failed-physical: LB Ben Gedeon
- Placed on IR: DB Holton Hill
New England Patriots
- Claimed off waivers from Cardinals: TE Jordan Thomas
- Waived: LB Cassh Maluia
- Placed on IR: TE Dalton Keene
New York Giants
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: G Will Hernandez
- Waived: CB Corey Ballentine
New York Jets
- Activated off NFI list: CB Bryce Hall
- Waived: QB Mike White
- Placed on IR: TE Trevon Wesco
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: WR Kendrick Bourne
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: WR Jeff Badet
- Waived: WR Tony Brown
Kyle Allen Likely Done For The Year
Alex Smith is back as Washington’s starting quarterback. Kyle Allen went down with an ankle injury that looked gruesome initially but thankfully turned out to be not quite as serious as it appeared.
Allen has a dislocated ankle with only a small fracture, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). The injury will “likely” sideline him for the rest of the year, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets, although he does have a shot to return. Head coach Ron Rivera confirmed after the game that Smith will be the starter next week, with 2019 first-rounder Dwayne Haskins being bumped up to number two.
Smith lit it up to start the second half and get Washington back into their game against the Giants, but back to back interception on the final two drives sealed their 23-20 loss. Next week against the Lions will be Smith’s first start since his own devastating lower leg injury that he suffered midway through the 2018 season. No matter how he fares moving forward, it’s been a truly remarkable comeback and we’re all rooting for him.
It’s a tough blow for Allen assuming he’s done for the year, as he isn’t likely to get handed a starting opportunity like this again next year. The 2018 UDFA was brought in specifically by Rivera after they spent time together with the Panthers, and he was coming off a great game against the Cowboys when we went down.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/2/20
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: S Darron Lee
- Released: LB Ahmad Gooden
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Shelton Gibson
- Released: K Taylor Bertolet
Detroit Lions
- Signed: RB Dalyn Dawkins
- Released: DT Albert Huggins
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: C Evan Boehm
- Suspended: FB Bruce Miller (six games, PED violation)
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: TE Matt Sokol
Miami Dolphins
- Released: CB Cordrea Tankersley
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: TE Hakeem Butler, LB Rashad Smith
- Released: WR Marcus Green, LB Dante Olson
Washington Football Team
- Signed: CB Jordan Brown
Washington Open To Trading Dwayne Haskins
The Washington Football Team is willing to listen on offers for Dwayne Haskins, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (on Twitter). Of course, that doesn’t come as a huge surprise following Haskins’ benching. 
Haskins, the No. 15 overall pick of the 2019 draft, was demoted from franchise quarterback to the team’s QB3, behind Kyle Allen and Alex Smith. The relationship between Haskins and head coach Ron Rivera has reportedly turned toxic and a fresh start would probably please both sides.
“What they’ll tell you in that building is that [Haskins] is a project who was drafted by the owner and his son,” according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking. “That’s the bottom line there. Allen is their guy. They think he fits their system. They didn’t really want anything to do with Haskins from the beginning.”
Haskins completed just 61% of his passes with four touchdowns against three INTs before he was benched. He had a similarly trying rookie year, with a 58.6% completion rate, seven TDs, and seven INTs across nine games (seven starts).
In Haskins’ defense, Washington’s O-Line didn’t do him any favors in 2020. He also has an affordable contract — he’s owed just $5MM for the remainder of his rookie deal. According to one report, Haskins could be had for anything above a sixth-round pick. If the asking price is really that low, Washington should be able to find a taker for the QB between now and the deadline.
Ryan Kerrigan Has Requested Trade
Washington edge defender Ryan Kerrigan has requested a trade, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com writes. However, WFT has said that it will not deal its 32-year-old stalwart.
Of course, that could just be a negotiating ploy. Although the 2-5 Washington outfit is somehow in second place in the NFC East, it hardly profiles as a championship contender, and Kerrigan is on the last year of his current contract. Plus, his playing time has gone down considerably, as he has appeared in just 36% of the club’s defensive snaps this season.
As John Keim of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter), Kerrigan requested the trade some time ago (though he did say back in June that he would like to finish his career in Washington). The bigger issue is that teams just might not be all that interested in Kerrigan. Keim indicated that rival clubs have not been calling WFT about the 2011 first-rounder.
Kerrigan is Washington’s all-time leader in sacks with 94, including four this season. And Pro Football Focus still considers him an above-average pass rusher, giving him a 69.6 rating in that metric, good for 32nd among the league’s qualified edge defenders. It seems that a team in need of a boost to its pass rushing rotation could certainly use Kerrigan, but for now, it looks like he’ll stay put.
As we heard last week, however, the less-accomplished (but considerably younger) Ryan Anderson could be on the move.