NFL - NEWS & NOTES

While Watt is the superior player, Taco Charlton has the greatest name.

 

Jerry Jones was probably hungry when he selected Taco.

 

Kenny Golladay back at Lions practice, Matthew Stafford not throwing



Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay was back on the practice field Wednesday.

Golladay has missed the last two games with a hip injury, but multiple reporters passed along word that he was on the field and working with the rest of the team during the open portion of Wednesday’s practice.

The return of Golladay would be a plus to the passing game, although the Lions still have to figure out quarterback Matthew Stafford‘s status. He’s dealing with a right thumb injury and was at practice Wednesday, but, per those reporters, was not throwing or otherwise participating in the session.

Stafford said this week that he thinks he’ll be able to play. That will be something to watch over the rest of the week along with how wide receivers Danny Amendola and Marvin Jones are doing. Neither player was participating on Wednesday.

NBC

 

Panthers say Christian McCaffrey set to miss Sunday’s game



A report earlier this week indicated that the Panthers would be without running back Christian McCaffrey again this week because of a shoulder injury and it appeared that the team confirmed it on Wednesday.

The team’s Twitter account sent out a tweet saying McCaffrey had been ruled out along with a link to a post on their website saying the same thing. They took both the tweet and the post down a short time later and replaced them with ones saying that McCaffrey is expected to miss the game.

While the Panthers are hedging, there’s no sign that the outlook has brightened for McCaffrrey. He was not at the open portion of Wednesday’s practice and that would have to change later this week to create hope that he will not miss his eighth game of the 2020 season.

Mike Davis has started in place of McCaffrey in his previous seven absences and is expected back in that spot this Sunday against the Lions.

NBC

 

NFL puts intensive COVID-19 protocols in place for all teams for rest of season



The NFL instituted a set of intensive COVID-19 protocols for team facilities in the wake of positive tests this season, but they will now move to put those protocols in place for all of the league’s teams.

In a memo to all 32 teams on Wednesday, the league said that the protocols will now be in place for everyone through the end of the season. The decision was made in response to the rise in COVID-19 cases around the country and the corresponding rise around the NFL.

“The upcoming holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving next week, will introduce new risks of exposure that we need to address now,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in the memo. “Because we have a highly sophisticated program of daily testing, we know when the virus enters our facilities, which underscores the importance of contact tracing and other steps to minimize close contacts within a facility. Recent experience has highlighted the importance of minimizing high-risk close contacts; on multiple occasions, we have seen individuals identified on that basis test positive within a short time. We have also seen many instances in which effective action by clubs to minimize these close contacts prevented the virus from spreading within the club, and avoided players or coaches being ruled out of practice or games.”

The protocols call for meetings to take place virtually and all personnel must wear masks at all times while at team facilities, including on the practice field. They also call for no gatherings of players or other team personnel away from the facility.

NBC

 

Bears to give DeShone Kizer a tryout



Nick Foles is day-to-day. Mitch Trubisky is week-to-week. Tyler Bray is not the answer.

The Bears therefore have a need at the quarterback position. Via Field Yates of ESPN.com, the Bears will give free-agent DeShone Kizer a tryout.

Under COVID-19 protocols, Kizer will have to wait several days before showing the Bears what he can do. If he does enough to earn a roster spot, he could be on the team when the Bears, who are on a bye in Week 11, play at Green Bay on the Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend.

Kizer started 15 games for the Browns as a rookie second-rounder in 2017, a season that ended with Cleveland going winless. He appeared in three games for the Packers in 2018.

The decision to kick tires on Kizer comes at a time when there simply aren’t many competent free-agent quarterbacks available. Given that the Colin Kaepernick ship permanently has sailed (the fact that Kizer, not Kaepernick, got a phone call underscores this reality), NFL teams who need a QB are in most cases SOL.

NBC

 

Report: Raiders place at least 8 defensive starters on COVID reserve list ahead of Chiefs showdown

The Las Vegas Raiders are facing significant COVID-19 problems — again.

According to NFL Network, at least eight starters on the Raiders defense — among others — will be placed on the COVID-19 reserve list. Those players have not been identified, and they may or may not be eligible to play on Sunday.

Either way, it’s going to be a problem as the Raiders face the daunting task of taking on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

According to the report, their placement on the list is due to high-risk contacts instead of positive tests. If they continue to test negative, the players on the list can play on Sunday. Either way, they won’t be able to prepare in practice this week for the league’s most dangerous offense.

YAHOO

 

Pace and Nagy need to be fired, and they need to start selling off pieces. Shut it down.

 

That's ridiculous.

 

Just looked at the Saints schedule for the next 4 weeks.
Atlanta
Denver
Atlanta
Philly

We just might get away with this.

 

Thursday Night Football: No last-minute magic for Cardinals as Seahawks hold on 28-21



The Cardinals didn’t have any magic left Thursday night.

Arizona, which beat the Bills on the Hail Murray on Sunday, couldn’t pull off another last-second victory four days later. The Seahawks held on for a 28-21 victory in a battle for first place in the NFC West.

The Seahawks improved to 7-3, while the Cardinals fell to 6-4. The Rams, who are 6-3, play the Bucs on Monday Night Football.

The Seahawks led 23-21 when Kyler Murray was penalized for grounding followed by J.R. Sweezy‘s penalty for holding in the end zone, resulting in a safety with 9:12 left. Seattle took the free kick and bled 6:53 off the clock, settling for a 41-yard Jason Myers field goal and a 28-21 lead.

The Cardinals got the ball back with 2:15 remaining, two timeouts and 79 yards to go. They got as close as the Seattle 27, but from there, Murray threw three incompletions — none intended for DeAndre Hopkins — and then Carlos Dunlap sacked him on fourth-and-10 with 34 seconds left.

The Seahawks Defense was as good as it has been all season, and Dunlap has made them better. Dunlap had two of the team’s three sacks.

The NFL’s No. 1 offense managed only 314 yards against the 32nd-ranked defense. In a Week 7 overtime win over the Seahawks, the Cardinals scored 37 points and gained 519 yards.

Murray had only 15 yards on five carries and completed 29 of 42 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdown passes to Dan Arnold and Chase Edmonds got the Cardinals to within 23-21 in a game they never led.

But Russell Wilson got his 93rd win in his ninth season, going 23-of-28 for 197 yards and two touchdowns. The Seahawks, who had 347 yards, had 165 rushing yards.

Carlos Hyde gained 79 yards and scored a touchdown on 14 carries, and Wilson had 10 carries for 42 yards.

DK Metcalf caught three passes for 46 yards and a touchdown, and Tyler Lockett made nine receptions for 67 yards and a score.

NBC

 

Myles Garrett‘s placement on the COVID-19 list earlier Friday was for a positive test, not for close contact with someone who did, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports.

He will miss Sunday’s game against the Eagles, and his availability for the Week 12 game against the Jaguars is unknown. The Browns, though, are bracing for a two-game absence, per Cabot.

The Browns kept the star defensive end from the team facility Wednesday and Thursday with flu-like symptoms. His test results Friday morning finally came back positive.

Because he’s both positive and symptomatic, he must stay away from the team for at least 10 days and receive medical clearance to return. It is unknown whether his clock started earlier this week when he showed symptoms or on Thursday when he generated the positive test with results coming back Friday morning.

Since Garrett was at home all week, contact tracing revealed no high-risk close contacts, according to Cabot.

Adrian Clayborn or Porter Gustin will start in Garrett’s place against the Eagles, who lead the NFL with 35 sacks allowed.

It could signal the end of Garrett’s bid for defensive player of the year. He leads the league with 9.5 sacks and four strip sacks and was mentioned in the conversation with Aaron Donald and T.J. Watt as a leading contender for the award.

NBC

 

NFL inches toward a COVID-19 catastrophe



The NFL’s COVID-19 strategy continues to hinge on the notion that players and others will get the virus, and that the league will intervene quickly and decisively by identifying those who have it and remove them from the facility, along with anyone else deemed to be in sufficiently close contact with those who have it.

That strategy will work, until it doesn’t. At some point, a team may have too many players who have tested positive, and too many collateral players who land on the COVID-19 reserve list as a proactive measure, to field a competitive complement of players.

For now, it’s a game of beat the clock. The league wants to get the games played, one after another and week after week, before the situation reaches critical mass in one or more NFL organizations.

The biggest challenge is coming. Thanksgiving potentially will become a national cornucopia of virus-sharing, with tens of thousands of mini-superspreader gatherings around tables and TVs throughout the country unfolding in a haze of tryptophan and Trump-triggered arguments. Then, as all the people who have been urged by the CDC to not travel next week travel back to their home cities, the spread will continue. And continue. And continue.

By the middle of December, that’s when the NFL may arrive at a moment of reckoning. The question is whether the league and the union agree to put the players in a home-market bubble before or after one or more games get canceled due to too many positives and too many other players beyond those who are positive landing on the COVID-19 reserve list.

In many respects, it’s amazing the NFL has made it this far without losing games. It will be even more amazing if that continues, without the league at some point putting all players, coaches, and essential staff in a hotel.

NBC

 

Bears can't lose anymore if they cancel games.

Just saying.

 

Raiders DC faced with 'daunting task' in matchup against Chiefs due to COVID

A host of Las Vegas Raiders landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week ahead of Sunday's matchup against division rival Kansas City.

With 10 of the 11 Raiders players currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list residing on the defensive side of the ball, defensive coordinator Paul Guenther lamented facing a high-powered Chiefs team without the full unit being able to practice.

"I don't know how we can beat these guys with a full lineup at practice, let alone three-fourths of your lineup not here all week," Guenther said, via ESPN. "What don't they have? We're playing the world champs. What don't they have? They have a great quarterback, great receivers, great tight ends, line is physical. And they're coming off a bye, so it's a daunting task."

We should read a heaping of motivation gravy onto the woe-is-us mashed potatoes Guenther is scooping. Coaches live to play the "everything is against us" card. Guenther is surely going to use the lack of full practice time to motivate his defenders to face Patrick Mahomes & Co. on Sunday.

Missing a boatload of starters who either tested positive for COVID-19 or must self-isolate due to being close contacts does put the Raiders in a precarious position. Those in self-isolation as close contacts could be eligible to play Sunday if they test negative.

The Raiders overcame their offensive line having to isolate earlier in the season.

"Well, it's a little bit different," Guenther said. "The offense had one position group that was kind of decimated for the week. We have guys at all three levels of our defense that aren't here and practicing and in the meetings where you can look them in the eye. Or you can take him through things on the practice field, little tweaks or whatever it may be that this team does."


Added Guenther: "I know one thing, we're going to show up at 5:20 [Pacific time] and we're going to give 100 percent, because that's what we do. We'll get these guys ready to play. Whoever is out there at 5:20, they'll be ready to go."

Last meeting against the Chiefs, Guenther's crew held Mahomes to a career-low 51.2 completion percentage, with the Chiefs QB missing some open throws deep. Sunday, the Raiders will attempt to recapture that magic despite not being together on the practice field this week.

NFL.com

 

Im sure Nagy will still find a way to loose a game if they are all cancled

 

Matthew Stafford listed as questionable, Kenny Golladay and D’Andre Swift out



The Lions and Panthers both listed their starting quarterbacks as questionable for Sunday’s game.

Matthew Stafford was a limited participant in practice for the second straight day after sitting out on Wednesday due to a right thumb injury and he was listed as questionable on their final injury report of the week. Teddy Bridgewater is in the same boat for the Panthers due to a knee injury.

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule sounded optimistic about Bridgewater’s chances of playing and Lions quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan told reporters that he sees no reason why Stafford won’t be able to play on Sunday.

The similarities on the injury report don’t end at quarterback. As expected, the Lions ruled out running back D'Andre Swift with a concussion while the Panthers will be missing running back Christian McCaffrey with a shoulder injury.

The Lions will be missing more offensive pieces than the Panthers, however. Wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola are both out with hip injuries. It’s the third straight week that Golladay has been ruled out.

Defensive end Austin Bryant (thigh), linebacker Jarrad Davis (knee), defensive lineman Da'shawn Hand (groin), safety Will Harris (groin), and offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai (foot) join Stafford in the questionable group.

NBC

 

Titans signed him to their practice squad...

 

Browns will still host up to 12,000 fans, despite local stay-at-home advisory



The pandemic, if you haven’t noticed or actively have tried not to, currently is worse than it’s ever been. The stark contrast between the critical nature of the public-health crisis and the shrugging that so many are still doing in the face of it will be illustrated on Sunday in Cleveland.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Browns can still host up to 12,000 fans for Sunday’s game against the Eagles, despite a stay-at-home advisory issued Wednesday for Cleveland and greater Cuyahoga County.

A Browns spokesperson told Cabot that the team “will continue to monitor the circumstances and remain flexible,” but that the Browns “plan to continue to safely host a limited number of fans.”

The fact that the local measure is an advisory and not a stay-at-home mandate allows the Browns to welcome those who choose to ignore the advisory. Still, no matter how safe the protocols inside the stadium may be, the broader act of going to a game necessarily puts those 12,000 fans in other circumstances (stopping at the store, congregating in the parking lot) that will cause them to interact with others, possibly in a setting that will be conducive to a transfer of the virus.

The move isn’t about short-term greed for the Browns organization. It’s about placating those who would be ignoring the advisory anyway. And so it’s easy to rationalize opening the stadium up to 12,000 of them by concluding that they’ll be safer there than they would be elsewhere.

Regardless, the situation encapsulates the broader national dilemma that has raged for more than eight months. Those who has always downplayed the situation and who continue to do so clearly are winning, as evidenced by the number of lives we continue to be losing.

Congratulations?

NBC

 

Titans signed him to their practice squad...


I thought the Bears were going to get him.......he is on Practice Squad for the Titans.......that is good news because he has thrown a lot of INT's