Peyton Manning‘s return to Indianapolis will headline the Week 9 slate of games from a public relations perspective, but two other matchups might actually be more consequential in terms of playoff odds. The 3-4 Dolphins will head to Buffalo to take on the fellow 3-4 Bills, while two more contenders for AFC wild card spots — the Raiders (4-3) and Steelers (4-4) — will face off in Pittsburgh.
With those contests in mind, let’s take a look at some notes from the AFC:
- The Titans waived running back Terrance West earlier today, and that move will have implications on the Browns, West’s former club. Cleveland will not not receive the conditional seventh-round pick they were set to gain for West when they traded him to the Tennessee, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports. West’s departure from Tennessee today prevents him from earning the playing-time incentives to trigger the pick exchange.
- David Cobb will likely rejoin the Titans next week off IR-DTR, Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com reports (on Twitter), further marginalizing the free-falling West. ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan agrees, tweeting that he expects Cobb to join the 53-man roster next week as opposed to today despite West’s waiving.
- The league is still investigating the Colts‘ compliance with injury reporting due to revelations that Andrew Luck could be dealing with a rib injury, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). Luck reportedly suffered several broken ribs, but that injury was never listed on the club’s official injury sheet, a potential violation of NFL rules.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.
How does this whole Luck/injury reporting situation compare to the Patriots (former?) habit of stuffing the injury report? Wasn’t Brady always listed as probable or something with some false injury, and for an extended period of time? What makes this situation any different, and what is the underlying issue beyond just not following protocol?