2020 September - Pro Football Rumors

Broncos’ Courtland Sutton Tears ACL

September 21st, 2020 at 12:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Courtland Sutton’s season is over. On Monday morning, doctors confirmed that the Broncos’ talented wide receiver has suffered a torn ACL (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).

Sutton, 25 in October, was forced out early from Sunday’s game against the Steelers, but not before he notched three receptions for 66 yards. For the Broncos, it was a tantalizing preview of what could have been another impressive season. Last year, Sutton enjoyed a breakout campaign, finishing out with 72 grabs for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns.

It’s another devastating blow for the Broncos, who have been bit hard by the injury bug recently. Right before the season started, star pass-rusher Von Miller was likely lost for the year with an ankle injury. Then on Sunday, quarterback Drew Lock went down as well, and will miss multiple games with a shoulder injury. Starting cornerback A.J. Bouye and running back Phillip Lindsay are also currently on the shelf.

Sutton missed Week 1 with a shoulder injury, and had just made his return against Pittsburgh. In his absence, rookie first-round pick Jerry Jeudy will take on a more prominent role in the offense. Fellow young pass-catchers like DaeSean Hamilton, K.J. Hamler, and tight end Noah Fant will all be leaned on more as well.

Fortunately, Sutton should be ready in time for the start of the 2021 season. At 0-2 now and with a depleted roster, it’s looking like a potential lost year for the Broncos. Jeff Driskel will start at quarterback for the time being.

Eagles Place Isaac Seumalo On IR

September 21st, 2020 at 11:58am CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles can’t catch a break. On Monday, head coach Doug Pederson announced that starting left guard Isaac Seumalo has been placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Per league rules, Seumalo will miss at least the next three weeks. This was the outcome the Birds feared after the interior lineman went down in the second quarter against the Rams. After his early exit, Matt Pryor moved into his spot, and he profiles as the likely LG replacement in the interim.

The Eagles’ bad luck on the O-Line began this summer, when star guard Brandon Brooks was lost for the season. Fortunately, they had old friend Jason Peters on speed dial, and he was ready to return and change positions to help fill the gap. Then, the injury bug bit Andre Dillard, pushing Peters back to his native spot at left tackle.

As the Eagles move ahead with yet another new front five, there is at least one silver lining – Seumalo’s injury does not appear to be a season-ender. But, at the very least, they’ll be without the 26-year-old (27 in October) for the next three games against the Bengals, 49ers, and Steelers. And, of course, they’re working their way out of an 0-2 hole following losses to the Washington Football Team and the Rams.

Colts’ Malik Hooker Suffers Torn Achilles

September 21st, 2020 at 11:48am CST by Zachary Links

It’s official. On Monday, Colts safety Malik Hooker was diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Hooker will be placed on injured reserve and shut down for the remainder of the 2020 season.

It’s heartbreaking news for Hooker, who has seen his young career derailed by injuries. In 2017, the Ohio State product likely would have been a Top 10 pick. But, with concerns about his surgically-repaired sports hernia and a torn labrum, he fell to the Colts in the middle of the first round. Then, as a rookie, he missed more than half of the season with a torn ACL.

Hooker stayed on the field for much of 2018 and 2019, but he was less than 100%. With questions about his long-term health, the Colts declined Hooker’s fifth-year option in May. Instead of an injury-guaranteed $6.7MM next year, Hooker is now on course for free agency, though he won’t have the strength of a strong platform year to show to teams.

With Hooker out of the picture, the Colts will turn to third-round safety Julian Blackmon for deep-field help. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Hooker will concentrate on rehab.

The Colts advanced to 1-1 with their 28-11 victory over the Vikings on Sunday. Next, they’ll face the Jets with Blackmon making his first career start.

Panthers’ RB Christian McCaffrey To Miss Time

September 21st, 2020 at 11:36am CST by Zachary Links

Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey is expected to be sidelined for “multiple weeks,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The early hope on Sunday was that CMC’s ankle injury was not especially serious. Now, it sounds like McCaffrey will be a candidate for the injured reserve list. The expectation is that he’ll be out for the next 4-6 weeks, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link).

McCaffrey turned his right ankle during Sunday’s contest against the Bucs, capping his day with 18 carries for just 49 yards. Afterwards, the Panthers turned to Mike Davis, who finished the game with eight catches for 74 yards. Davis is a solid understudy who drew rave reviews throughout camp, but the Panthers will obviously miss having CMC, who is the focal point of their offense.

Although the Panthers fell short in their season opener, McCaffrey was his usual stellar self. After coming just shy of 100 yards rushing and averaging ~13 yards per reception on three grabs, there was little doubt that the 24-year-old was setting himself up for another elite season. The Panthers are counting on more big performances from McCaffrey after he inked his record-breaking four-year, $64MM deal in the offseason.

Even in a down 2019 for the Panthers, McCaffrey still managed 1,387 rushing yards off of 287 carries, giving him an average of 4.8 yards per tote. He also caught 116 passes for 1,005 yards through the air. All combined, he notched 19 touchdowns on the year.

If McCaffrey misses the next six weeks, he’ll be absent for games against the Chargers, Cardinals, Falcons (twice), Bears, and Saints.

Giants’ Saquon Barkley Tears ACL

September 21st, 2020 at 11:32am CST by Zachary Links

The Giants’ fears have been confirmed. On Monday morning, the club announced that star Saquon Barkley has suffered a torn ACL. The running back will be formally placed on injured reserve, officially ending his season after just two games.

The severity of Barkley’s knee injury was readily apparent when he was forced out early from Sunday’s game against the Bears. After an MRI of his right knee at the Hospital for Special Surgery, the former No. 2 overall pick now knows that he’ll be headed to the operating table. After that, Barkley will begin his road to recovery with an eye on 100% health to open the 2021 season.

Barkley was hampered by an ankle issue last year that limited him to only 13 games and had him hobbled in several others. In his full 16-game season as a rookie in 2018, the Penn State product notched 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. He also added another 721 and four through the air while averaging 5.0 yards per carry. That was the kind of season that the Giants and Barkley were banking on.

Now 0-2 after falling to the Steelers and Bears, the Giants are left with Dion Lewis and Wayne Gallman as their backfield leaders. Both players profile as capable backups — and Gallman has impressed on the practice field — but the Giants are still expected to scour the market for alternatives. There aren’t a ton of high-end free agent options at this stage of the season, but the trade market could provide the Giants with some opportunities.

49ers To Sign Ziggy Ansah?

September 21st, 2020 at 9:36am CST by Zachary Links

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. The 49ers are meeting with Ezekiel Ansah this week, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Ansah previously met with the Niners twice, but left both meetings without a deal. This time, the club is much more optimistic about a deal coming together.

It sounds like Ansah will, at long last, join the Niners, pending the results of his COVID testing. The 31-year-old has also drawn interest from the Ravens and Bills, but it seems like teams have purposely waited until the end of Week 1 to get into serious talks with him. Had Ansah signed before the season opener, his deal would have been fully guaranteed for the season. Now, the talented yet injury-prone veteran can be signed without a full commitment.

For the Niners, Ansah can serve as a talented reserve behind Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead, The No. 5 overall pick of the 2013 draft, Ansah posted a double-digit sack campaign as recently as 2017. A shoulder injury marred his 2018 season and delayed his 2019 debut, but he is now another year removed from that injury. He could exhibit some of his old form in 2020, perhaps in a smaller number of snaps.

After topping the Jets 31-13 in Week 2, the Niners will turn their attention to the Giants on Sunday afternoon.

Injury Updates: Colts, McCaffrey, Broncos, 49ers

September 20th, 2020 at 7:47pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It’s been a tough day for the NFL, with a slew of high profile players going down with serious injuries. We’ve brought you all the season-ending ones already, and now we’ve got some updates on some hopefully less long-term but still significant injuries. Colts receiver Parris Campbell had to be carted off with a knee injury, but fortunately Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that he did not tear his ACL.

Campbell’s 2019 rookie season was plagued by injuries as he dealt with a sports hernia, a broken hand, and a broken foot, so this was especially tough to see. He was supposed to play a big role in this Colts offense, and showed a nice connection with new quarterback Philip Rivers in Week 1. The Ohio State product and former second-round pick will have an MRI on Monday, and it seems like an MCL injury could be likely.

Here’s more from around the league:

Panthers superstar Christian McCaffrey sprained his ankle and will have an MRI on Monday to determine the severity, Rapoport tweets. Fortunately, Rapsheet reports that the “initial hope” is it’s not too serious. Needless to say, it would be a massive loss for Carolina’s offense if he’s forced to miss any time.
We heard earlier today that Drew Lock would miss multiple games with an AC joint injury in his throwing shoulder. While he agrees with the prognosis of multiple weeks missed, multiple sources told Mike Klis of Denver 9 News that the injury is not in fact to the AC joint (Twitter link). The bad news is that Klis also reports there is “concern” within the organization about Courtland Sutton‘s knee, but that nothing more will be known until tomorrow morning. The Broncos have been besieged by injuries, and can’t seem to catch a break in that regard.
The Falcons blew a huge lead late for an absolutely gutting loss to the Cowboys, and the bad news doesn’t end there. The team fears starting right tackle Kaleb McGary has sprained his MCL, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The MRI Monday will confirm how long he’ll be out, but this sounds like a multi-week absence. McGary has started every game since the team drafted him in the first-round last year, and this is the last thing this 0-2 Atlanta team needed.
Nick Bosa is done for the year with a torn ACL, and two other 49ers players are dealing with knee injuries. Running back Raheem Mostert is believed to have a mild MCL sprain and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas is believed to have a “serious” knee injury, according to tweets from Schefter. It sounds like both are going to miss time, although Mostert’s shouldn’t be too long-term and Schefter notes that Thomas’ didn’t have the initial grim clarity of Bosa’s, which could be a good sign. San Francisco has been another team bit hard by the injury bug.

Ravens CB Tavon Young Done For The Year

September 20th, 2020 at 6:59pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Ravens picked up a big win over the Texans to move to 2-0 Sunday, but they’ll be without a big piece of their defense moving forward. Cornerback Tavon Young will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, head coach John Harbaugh announced after the game.

This will be the second year in a row that Young is on the shelf, as the Temple product missed all of last season with a neck injury. He also missed the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL, so his injury history is now pretty extensive. He started 11 games as a rookie in 2016, then played a big role in 2018 again while making six starts.

His contributions as the team’s slot corner earned him a three-year, $25.8MM extension in February of 2019. He’ll now have played just two games since that deal, which runs through the 2022 season.

Young played a big role in Baltimore’s opener, playing around half of the defensive snaps against Houston. Depending on the severity of the latest injury, it’s fair to wonder whether the Ravens will count on him to be in their plans in 2021 and beyond.

Colts Fear S Malik Hooker Has Torn Achilles

September 20th, 2020 at 5:03pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The hits keep on coming, as we’ve got word of another devastating injury to pass along. The Colts fear safety Malik Hooker has a torn Achilles, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Hooker is an every down player, so this is a big loss for Indianapolis’ defense. A first-round pick out of Ohio State in 2017, Hooker’s pro career has been plagued by injuries. As a rookie he tore his ACL after seven games, and he missed a handful of contests over the past couple years with other minor ailments.

Still only 24, it’s tough to see for the youngster. Colts rookie safety Julian Blackmon, who made his pro debut Sunday after tearing his ACL last December, will be asked to step up. The 2020 third-rounder from Utah played well against the Vikings, and will be a crucial piece of Matt Eberflus’ unit moving forward.

The news is especially brutal for Hooker, since the Colts declined the fifth-year option on his contract back in May. That means he’ll be a free agent after this season, and he won’t be fully healthy by the time the market opens. He’s obviously still quite young, but he might have to settle for a cheap prove-it deal due to his now extensive injury history.

Broncos QB Drew Lock Out 2-6 Weeks

September 20th, 2020 at 4:47pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t the only starting quarterback who won’t be out there next week. Broncos passer Drew Lock has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder and is expected to be out 2-6 weeks, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Schefter adds that Lock will have an MRI on Monday to determine more specifics, but it sounds like Denver is going to be without him for at least a couple of games. Jeff Driskel came on in relief, and will now be the starter moving forward. It’s a brutal blow to the Broncos after they’ve suffered two narrow down to the wire losses through the first two weeks.

They’ve had some bad injury luck, with star pass-rusher Von Miller likely to miss the season due to ankle surgery and top receiver Courtland Sutton banged up. It’s also tough for Lock’s development, since the Missouri product only started five games as a rookie and could use all the reps he can get.

There was a lot of optimism internally with this Broncos team entering the year, but that has mostly been dashed now. Driskel performed admirably against the Steelers and nearly led a comeback in the second half, but he’s shown during previous stints with the Bengals and Lions he isn’t going to be an above average starter.