NFL - NEWS & NOTES

The NFL's interception leader will miss time, but isn't expected to be sidelined for the rest of the 2022 campaign.

Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson suffered a lacerated kidney in Sunday's win over the Green Bay Packers, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Monday, per sources informed of the situation.

Pelissero added that it's a non-surgical injury, and there is no timetable as testing continues, but it's not expected to be season-ending for C.J.G.J.

Gardner-Johnson went down late in the first quarter Sunday night and looked in significant pain as he was carted to the locker room.

The safety joined Philly in late August after a trade with the New Orleans Saints. Gardner-Johnson has been a key addition. Not only does he lead the NFL in interceptions (six), his versatility on the back end provides flexibility in coverage, and he's no slouch against the run.

It's a blow to the Eagles' defense, where undrafted rookie Reed Blankenship stepped in Sunday. The hope is C.J.G.J. is back for the postseason run, where his presence will be vital.

NFL.com

 

Bears put Eddie Jackson, Darnell Mooney on injured reserve



The Bears lost a couple of key players to injuries in Sunday’s 31-10 loss to the Jets and both of them were moved to the injured reserve list on Tuesday.

Safety Eddie Jackson and wide receiver Darnell Mooney are both out for at least the next four games, but neither player is expected to see the field again this season.


Jackson is believed to have suffered a significant Lisfranc injury — damage to the bones and/or tendons in the middle of the foot — and that means a recovery timeline of months. Head coach Matt Eberflus said on Monday that Mooney is expected to have season-ending ankle surgery.

The Bears also signed safety A.J. Thomas to the active roster from the practice squad. With Dane Cruikshank also picking up an injury against the Jets and Jaquan Brisker out with a concussion, the Bears were down to two healthy safeties.

PFT

 

Brian Daboll has Giants readying for 'meaningful' December: 'They're important games now'

As December dawns, the New York Giants enter the last month on the calendar with a winning record for the first time since 2016.

Despite a two-game losing streak, Big Blue rookie head coach Brian Daboll is making sure his 7-4 squad knows it's arrived at a hugely significant time of the season, and perhaps arrived at an all-important point in continuing a franchise turnaround.

"When you play meaningful games in December, I think that's why we all do this," Daboll said Tuesday, via team transcript. "You go all the way back to OTAs and to preseason and the beginning part of the season; now you're in December. And I've been on teams that have played meaningful games in December, and I've been part of teams that haven't. It's not a lot of fun when you're not playing meaningful games. So, let's come to work with a great attitude, a positive mindset. Keep getting better. And you focus on the week's opponent: That's how you have to do it. But they're important games now."

The Giants got off to a surprising 6-1 start to the season under Daboll, stunning many along the way before hitting their current skid with losses to the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.

Nonetheless, they're still in prime position to return to the playoffs and record their first winning campaign since that aforementioned 2016 season.

Daboll believes his players are dealing with the adversity of a losing streak the same way they dealt with the triumphs of their early success -- taking it head on and being steady in their approach.

"I think the way they're handling winning -- they're consistent," Daboll said when asked how he felt his team was handling its recent adversity. "We've all been in this league a long time. The last time that you haven't faced adversity will be the first time. You're going to face it. Week 1, Week 5, Week 10. So, the approach is to be consistent, like the message I've tried to give really since I've been here."

New York hosts the Washington Commanders (7-5) on Sunday and enters as the NFC's No. 6 seed, just inside the playoff bubble and just ahead of No. 7 Washington.


As he mentioned, this isn't a novel concept for Daboll to be part of meaningful football games in December. As the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator, Daboll went to the playoffs each of the last three seasons.

Now he's trying to make it four in a row individually and pilot the Giants to their first postseason in six years. An all-important December lies ahead for Big Blue.

NFL.com
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Big time meaningful game... This is why i love December football.

 

Kyle Pitts ruled out for rest of 2022 season



Unfortunately for the Falcons, Kyle Pitts‘ second season has come to a premature end.

Via multiple reporters, head coach Arthur Smith said the young tight end will be out for the rest of the season after undergoing a knee procedure this week.


Pitts went on injured reserve with a reported torn MCL on Nov. 21. Pitts’ recovery time was to be determined by the outcome of the surgery.

“Nothing that concerns us going into 2023,” Smith said of Pitts, via Tori McElhaney of the team’s website.

Atlanta’s passing offense has generally been down in 2022 after transitioning from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota at quarterback. But Pitts’ production in particular took a hit.

After recording 68 catches for 1,026 yards as a rookie in 2021, Pitts finishes 2022 with just 28 receptions for 356 yards with two touchdowns. His yards per reception went down from 15.1 to 12.7, catch percentage was down from 61.8 percent to 47.5 percent, and yards per target was down from 9.3 to 6.0.

In more positive injury news, Smith said left guard Elijah Wilkinson will return to practice from injured reserve. That gives Atlanta 21 days to activate Wilkinson to the 53-man roster.

PFT

 

Jordan Davis set to return to practice for Eagles



Eagles rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis is set to start working his way back into the lineup.

The Eagles announced that the first-round pick has been designated to return from injured reserve. Davis can begin practicing with the team on Wednesday and could be activated to play against the Titans this weekend.


Davis has missed the last four games with an ankle injury. He started five of the first seven games of the season and has 14 tackles on the year.

The Eagles defensive line looks very different than it did when Davis was placed on injured reserve. Veterans Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh have joined Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, and Milton Williams to give them enviable depth on the interior.

In addition to the Davis move, the Eagles announced they have released defensive tackle Marvin Wilson from the practice squad and signed wide receiver Auden Tate, wide receiver Kawaan Baker, and offensive lineman Tyrese Robinson to the practice squad.

PFT

 

Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald will do something he’s never done before on Sunday: Miss a game because of an injury.

Rams coach Sean McVay confirmed today that Donald won’t play Sunday against the Seahawks because he has an ankle injury.


Donald has never before missed a game because of an injury. The only two games he’s missed in his career were the first and last games of the 2017 season: The first because of a contract holdout, and the last because the Rams were resting their top players for the playoffs. (Donald won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award for that season despite missing two games.)

The 3-8 Rams have been devastated by injuries this season, and they’re eight-point underdogs on Sunday against the Seahawks.

PFT

 

My understanding from what I've heard this week is that Pitts will be out of action for about two months.

But only six weeks remain in the regular season, so... season-ending injury.

 

Kyler Murray, Patrick Peterson exchange pleasantries



Unfortunately, the Cardinals and Vikings have already played this year.

In the newest episode of the All Things Covered podcast, former Cardinals and current Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson, who played with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray for two years, offered a blunt assessment of his former teammate.


“Kyler Murray don’t care about nobody but Kyler Muray,” Peterson said. “That’s just a matter of fact.”

The comment bubbled up from a conversation regarding the possibility that coach Kliff Kingsbury will be the scapegoat for the struggles of the team in 2022.

“Ain’t no maybe, he will,” Peterson said. “He will be. He will be. And the crazy thing about it, the guy who hired him will still have a job.”

The discussion pivoted to whether Murray would stick up for Kingsbury. And then Peterson said what he said.

Murray responded on social media: “This isn’t true…you on some weird shit [Peterson], you got my number, if you really felt like this as a ‘big bro’ or ‘mentor’ you supposed to call me and tell me, not drag me so your podcast can grow…”

Regardless of where Peterson has said it, it’s not a new thing. There’s a clear belief in league circles that Peterson wasn’t a fan of the way Murray handled his business.

Some also believe that future Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald retired when he did specifically because of Murray. While Fitzgerald has never said that publicly (and probably wouldn’t), he heaped praise on Colt McCoy before the recent Monday night game between the 49ers and Cardinals in Mexico City for his leadership and attention to detail.

The implication seemed obvious; Colt McCoy does things that Kyler Murray doesn’t.

What Murray does moving forward will be very compelling, to say the least. A cold war between Peterson and Murray has turned hot. Who else will chime in?

PFT

 

Najee Harris misses practice with abdominal injury



Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday he did not have specifics about Najee Harris‘ abdominal injury, but Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the injury is not significant. Harris’ status this week, though, is up in the air.

He left Monday’s game in the first half and didn’t return, and he missed practice Wednesday.


Backup Jaylen Warren is expected to return after sitting out last week with a hamstring injury. He was a full participant Wednesday.

Receiver Miles Boykin, who missed last week with an oblique injury, also had a full practice.

Linebacker T.J. Watt (ribs), safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (ribs), linebacker Robert Spillane (oblique), linebacker Myles Jack (knee), center Mason Cole (foot) and defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi (toe) were limited.

PFT

 

Four things to watch for in Bills-Patriots game on Prime Video

Call it the Tom Brady curse. For many years -- nearly two whole decades -- the Patriots dominated the Bills in a way few franchises have been able to do to a division rival.

From the moment Brady took over as Patriots starter in 2001 to his final season with the team in 2019, the Patriots went 34-4 in games against the Bills. In Foxborough, it was even worse: The Patriots won all 17 games with Brady starting and finishing the game in that span.

But the times have changed. Now the Patriots are the ones in the stalking position and the Bills are the team with the superstar quarterback.

Josh Allen hasn’t quite been on his early-season MVP track, but in his past five games against the Patriots (including playoffs), he’s completed 66.7% of his passes, thrown for 1,241 yards, 13 touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 227 yards and one score.

So heading into Thursday night’s crucial matchup of the Bills going on the road to face the Patriots, we must consider Buffalo to be the dominant team in the relationship.

The Bills don’t have much margin for error in their chase for the AFC East crown, with the Miami Dolphins sharing their 8-3 record and the Jets just a game behind at 7-4 (with a head-to-head win over the Bills, to boot). They’ve also endured a wild stretch recently that included back-to-back losses and two wins in Detroit (one a “home” game) in a four-day stretch.

But the Patriots might have even less room for error at 6-5 with a tough schedule ahead of them, including a Week 18 rematch in Buffalo. Mac Jones and the offense got on track early on Thanksgiving before faltering late in a tough road loss last Thursday.


Here are four things to watch for when the Bills visit the Patriots on Thursday night on Prime Video:

1. Bills defense has one star back in the lineup, one out. In a big blow to the Bills, pass rusher Von Miller will miss Thursday’s game. They signed him for games such as this, so it will be up to Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa and Boogie Basham to help pick up the slack. The Patriots have cycled through offensive linemen like mad this season, even benching former first-rounders, guard Cole Strange and tackle Isaiah Wynn at different points this season. Center David Andrews also missed last week’s game and is questionable for this one. Mac Jones has been sacked 19 times in his past 150 dropbacks, so the pass-rushing opportunities should be there. In Thursday’s win over the Lions, Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White saw his first action of the season -- 16 snaps on defense -- and figures to have a chance at playing extensively in this one. This would be White’s first game against the Patriots since Dec. 28, 2020, after missing all of last season with an ACL injury, as well. New England’s ability to throw the ball will be key, as it will be missing running back Damien Harris and can only ask Rhamondre Stevenson to do so much as a runner with how involved he’s been in the pass game lately.
2. Patriots must heat up the pass rush against Josh Allen. New England has a highly ranked defense that has taken over several games this season. But there has been a clear disparity between their results versus the best quarterbacks and the ones below that mark. Talented QBs and high-powered offenses haven’t had their way with the Patriots, but they’ve had far more success against them this season than lesser ones by a wide margin. One inconsistent group has been the pass-rush unit up front. The loss of defensive tackle Christian Barmore has hurt the interior pressure, and though Matt Judon has been mostly excellent this season as an outside rusher, there have been too many games where other Patriots have not stepped up in this department. Nine of their 37 sacks came against a feckless Colts team. And those inconsistencies stretch back to the three Bills games a season ago. Allen was sacked twice on 32 dropbacks in Week 13 a year ago, but he was not sacked and hit only five times in 72 dropbacks in the Week 16 game and the playoff battle combined. The Patriots can’t let Allen dictate the game with his arm and legs, must throw him off rhythm and get him off his spots and need to generate turnover-worthy chances to have a shot.
3. Bills come in struggling in the red zone. The Bills were the NFL’s No. 1-ranked red-zone offense in 2021, scoring touchdowns 66.3% of the time in the regular season. But things have trended far more negatively in 2022, as the Bills have turned the ball over a league-worst six times in that part of the field -- nearly three times as many as they had a year ago, in nearly double the plays. Things were better in this department when the Bills converted three of four red-zone chances in the Thanksgiving win over the Lions. But they were only 9 of 20 in the three games prior, two of which ended in losses (including the Vikings loss, which ended with an overtime INT in the end zone). Part of the struggles have come from Allen trusting his arm strength too much, believing he can thread the eye of any tight-window needle. The Patriots will be mindful of this. Allen has had pretty good success against the Patriots converting in that area of the field, not taking sacks and not turning the ball over, in the last few meetings. The Patriots gladly will let the Bills move down the field readily if it means holding them to field goals and making one or two big plays near the end zone.
4. Patriots also need to fix their secondary quickly. New England ranks ninth in passing yards allowed per game (198.5), sixth in yards per pass play allowed (6.05) and third in INT percentage (3.32%). But last week, this was a group that mostly played poorly. Jonathan Jones had two pass breakups and an interception, but was torched a few times by the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson. Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger made a few plays, but it was hard to find the bright side from a pretty dismal performance overall. Even Devin McCourty seemed to get picked on multiple times. The Patriots know that won’t cut it against Allen and the Bills. Jones often marks Stefon Diggs, but who will cover Gabe Davis? And what about Isaiah McKenzie, who was the secret weapon in the Bills’ dominant win in Foxborough last year? Germain to the pass-rush section, it’s certainly possible that the Patriots opt to rush three and four often, playing more coverage than anything else. But Allen also demands a spy in certain spots, so New England must be sharp, assignment-wise, to slow down this high-powered group that now has full confidence it can go into Gillette Stadium and drop 30-plus points.

NFL.com

 

Bears and Packers tied with 786 franchise wins, meet Sunday for most wins in NFL history



For more than a century, the Bears have been the winningest franchise in NFL history. That could change on Sunday.

The Packers and Bears are currently tied with 786 wins in franchise history, so the winner of their game on Sunday will have the title as the winningest team in league history. If that’s the Packers, it will mean a team other than the Bears owns the title of winningest franchise in NFL history for the first time since before they were called the Bears and before the league was called the NFL.


In 1920 and 1921, when what is now the NFL was called the American Professional Football Association, the franchise that is now the Bears and was then called the Staleys won the most games, and that team has remained the NFL’s all-time winningest franchise for more than a century since then.

The Packers entered the league just a year after the Bears did and had plenty of success in their early years, but the Bears had plenty of success too, and the Packers weren’t able to gain significant ground on the Bears in the franchise win total until the arrival of Brett Favre, and then Aaron Rodgers: Since Favre arrived in Green Bay in 1992, the Packers have won 85 more games than the Bears. Three decades of first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterbacks are good for a franchise’s win total.

This has been a disappointing season for Rodgers, but he likes to say that he owns the Bears, and owning the franchise win total record that has long belonged to the Bears would be an achievement for Rodgers and the Packers to celebrate.

PFT
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Go Bears!

 

Bills, Edge Rusher, Von Miller just hit the IR.

 

I'd say Go Bears! too, but purely for the sake of irony I think I'll be rooting for this one to end in a tie...

 

Despite multiple attempts to take Antonio Brown into custody, he has not yet been arrested



A warrant has been issued for the arrest of free-agent receiver Antonio Brown. He faces a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.

Police have been to his home. They have not yet executed the arrest warrant.


According to Sam Brock of NBC News, authorities have made multiple attempts to take Brown into custody. Police, however, do not regard the situation to be an ongoing standoff.

Brown isn’t communicating with police. Per Brock, they’re not even sure he’s inside his home. They don’t want to risk officer safety over a misdemeanor charge.

So maybe they’ll sit outside and wait indefinitely, either for Brown to leave his house from the inside or to arrive at it from the outside.

It really seems like a lot of effort for a misdemeanor, both by the police to arrest him and by Brown to avoid the inevitable.

PFT

 

They should look under the bus, he’s been throwing everybody and their brother under it.

 

7-3, Patriots... and I love those throw-back uni's for New England.

 

10-7, Bills... I lied.

 

I like the old patriots and chargers uniforms.

 

Thursday Night Football: Bills move to 9-3 with 24-10 win over Patriots



The Bills punted three times Thursday night against the Patriots. That was something.

In two games against New England last season, Buffalo didn’t punt.


The Bills, though, still scored on four of eight possessions, not counting kneel downs at the end of the first half and the end of the game, and dominated the Patriots, winning 24-10.

Buffalo improved to 9-3, while New England fell to 6-6.

The Bills became the first team in NFL history to win three Thursday Night Football games.

Buffalo outgained the Patriots 355 to 242 and had 72 plays, 21 more than New England had. The Bills had 37 runs and 33 passes, winning the time of possession 38:08 to 21:52.

Josh Allen went 22-of-33 for 223 yards and two touchdowns. He had 8-yard scoring tosses to Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis.

Diggs had seven catches for 92 yards, while James Cook ran for 64 yards on 14 totes and Devin Singletary had 13 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown.

Mac Jones was 22-of-36 for 195 yards and a touchdown, with cornerback/returner Marcus Jones catching two passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.

PFT

 

Police still wait outside Antonio Brown’s house to arrest him



Free-agent receiver Antonio Brown has made himself a prisoner in his own home.

Police officers are waiting outside his house in Tampa to arrest him on misdemeanor domestic violence charges. Brown apparently is inside the dwelling, and he won’t come out.


Via ABC Action News, police used a megaphone to urge Brown to give himself up. The authorities said they had spoken to Brown’s attorney. They continued to knock on the door and to call out for him.

“We’re not going anywhere,” the police said.

Brown apparently isn’t going anywhere, either.

Again, he’s only facing misdemeanor charges. The situation should be resolved simply and peacefully. Hopefully, that will happen sooner than later.

PFT
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Drama.