2020 November - Pro Football Rumors

49ers To Activate Sherman, Mostert From IR

November 27th, 2020 at 4:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 49ers will have two key starters back in Week 12. Kyle Shanahan said Friday the team will activate Richard Sherman and Raheem Mostert ahead of the 49ers’ game against the Rams.

While the duo will be questionable to play Sunday, their respective activations point to the 49ers having both in uniform for the NFC West matchup.

Sherman has missed almost all of his 10th NFL season, going down with a calf injury in Week 1. Week 12 served as the All-Pro cornerback’s tentative return date, and he will end up hitting that for a team in desperate need of starters to come back.

The Hall of Fame candidate is in the final weeks of his three-year 49ers contract. Sherman and the 49ers were working on an extension, but no progress on those talks has emerged in months. How the 32-year-old corner looks upon returning from his latest injury figures to be key for his 49ers future.

Mostert went down in the 49ers’ first game against the Rams, suffering a high ankle sprain. The late-blooming running back already sustained an MCL injury this season, but after recovering from that fairly quickly, Mostert took longer to return from this malady. He stands to return to a 5.9 yards-per-carry figure and enter a key stretch. The 49ers have Mostert under contract for 2021, but his durability has certainly come into question this season.

The injury-besieged 49ers will have top wideout Deebo Samuel back in action. The second-year receiver has missed time with a hamstring injury and has also endured a two-injury 2020, having missed months because of a fractured foot. Samuel practiced fully Friday and is off San Francisco’s injury report. The 49ers, per ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner (on Twitter), are also activating running back Jeff Wilson. During a brutal year for San Francisco’s backfield, Wilson played well before suffering a high ankle sprain against the Patriots. Tevin Coleman remains out.

Raiders To Place Takk McKinley On IR

November 27th, 2020 at 3:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Takkarist McKinley‘s busy month of transactions continued Friday. The Raiders are placing the recently acquired defensive end on IR, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

This move comes after the Raiders submitted a third waiver claim for McKinley. After watching the Bengals and 49ers send him back to waivers following failed physicals, the Raiders will work around that process by placing the pass rusher on IR.

McKinley is dealing with a groin injury, but the Raiders are clearly high on the former first-round pick. They will stash him on IR for at least three games. McKinley will not be eligible to debut for Las Vegas until Week 15.

McKinley’s November has included: the Falcons shopping him, McKinley accusing the team of turning down trades, the Falcons waiving him, the Bengals claiming him and waiving him, the 49ers claiming him and waiving him, and the Raiders claiming him. The Raiders and Browns each submitted three waiver claims for McKinley. After Sunday night’s loss to the Chiefs, the Raiders held a higher waiver priority.

Despite Takk’s rookie deal expiring at season’s end, the Raiders are in need of pass-rushing help. He will now profile as a hopeful mid-December boost for the AFC playoff contenders.

Chargers Activate Chris Harris, Place Melvin Ingram On IR

November 27th, 2020 at 3:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

A Pro Bowl defender will be available for the Chargers against the Bills, but the team will also be without one. The Bolts activated Chris Harris on Friday but cleared the roster spot by placing Melvin Ingram on IR.

Harris has been out since Week 2 with a foot injury, but the All-Decade cornerback returned to practice last week. The Chargers signed the longtime Broncos slot corner to a two-year deal this offseason, but their squadron of All-Pros in the secondary has largely failed to materialize.

Derwin James is out for the season, and the Chargers traded 2018 All-Pro Desmond King to the Titans. Casey Hayward will also miss the Bills game with a groin injury, interestingly leaving Harris as the only member of that would-have-been All-Pro quartet on track to suit up in Buffalo.

The Chargers previously ruled Ingram out for Week 12 with a knee injury. This will be the second time the ninth-year edge rusher has landed on IR this season. He missed time earlier this year because of knee trouble. These setbacks have damaged Ingram’s 2021 free agency stock. After lobbying for a new contract in August, Ingram returned to practice. The 31-year-old defensive end’s multi-injury season — one that has yet to produce a sack — and the expected cap reduction could severely affect his market come March.

Adam Thielen Expected To Miss Week 12

November 27th, 2020 at 2:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Adam Thielen remains on the Vikings’ reserve/COVID-19 list, and the NFL’s touchdown reception leader is not on track to be activated ahead of Minnesota’s next game.

The Vikings are expected to be without Thielen on Sunday, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). Given the timing of Thielen landing on the Vikes’ coronavirus list (Monday), the veteran wide receiver would have been able to return Sunday — provided he continued to test negative. But this has been one of the vaguer virus situations to emerge.

No Thielen positive coronavirus test has been reported, but should he miss Sunday, he will have been delayed longer than many who have landed on the virus list. Several players have landed on the list early in the week only to be cleared for Sunday games. Thielen missing would obviously weaken the Vikings against the Panthers, though the team can rely on Justin Jefferson and All-Pro candidate Dalvin Cook.

Thielen has caught a career-high 11 touchdown passes, however, and has not missed a game this season. Prior to this COVID-19 issue, the 30-year-old wideout has used the season as a comeback effort of sorts. Thielen missed all or most of seven games last season due to a hamstring injury. The Vikings, though, were prepared to rely on their former tryout-camp find this year after trading Stefon Diggs to the Bills. As was the case last season, the team is thin at wideout beyond its starters. Sunday’s game is obviously critical for the 4-6 team’s last-ditch playoff hopes.

NFL Moves Ravens-Steelers To Tuesday Night

November 27th, 2020 at 2:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

2:28pm: This game is now slated for 7pm CT Tuesday. The Ravens’ Week 13 game against the Cowboys has been moved to 4pm CT on Monday, Dec. 7. The league has not announced a change for Pittsburgh’s Week 13 game against Washington, which remains on for Sunday, Dec. 6.

1:46pm: The Ravens-Steelers rematch will be rescheduled for a second time. The NFL is moving the AFC North rivalry from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday night, Adam Schefter and Dianna Russini of ESPN report (via Twitter).

Having already postponed the game originally scheduled for Thanksgiving night, the league has now pushed it back to what appears to be a fail-safe point. A Ravens coronavirus outbreak, one that has produced positive tests throughout the week, caused the postponements.

Double-digit Ravens players and staffers — a list that now includes Lamar Jackson — have tested positive for COVID-19. More test results are expected to arrive Friday. This will mark the first Tuesday game since Bills-Titans in October. However, the league is limited with options if more Ravens positives prompt another delay.

Another move would prompt the NFL to exercise its Week 18 emergency option or trigger the 16-team playoff format — if it simply calls off the Baltimore-Pittsburgh rematch. The NFL has not seen its teams play an uneven number of games since 1935.

The Ravens disciplined a strength and conditioning staffer earlier this week for failure to comply with the NFL’s evolving COVID-19 protocol. They will now be down the reigning MVP. Jackson and third-string quarterback Trace McSorley reside on Baltimore’s reserve/COVID list. Robert Griffin III will start against the Steelers, with undrafted rookie Tyler Huntley in line to be his backup. RG3 faced the Steelers last season, but that came in Week 17 last season after the Ravens had clinched home-field advantage.

This outbreak has led to a Steelers game being postponed for the second time this season. A Titans outbreak began an NFL rescheduling wave, moving the Steelers’ bye to Week 4. Pittsburgh is now on track for a Tuesday-Sunday double next week, with a game against Washington looming Dec. 6. The NFL, however, moved the Bills-Chiefs matchup back a day to accommodate the Bills. It may do the same for the Steelers. The Ravens’ Week 13 game against the Cowboys — originally slated for Thursday, Dec. 3 — will be moved.

Bears To Start Mitchell Trubisky In Week 12

November 27th, 2020 at 2:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Mitchell Trubisky will receive another chance. The Bears are turning back to their initial 2020 starter against the Packers, Matt Nagy announced Friday.

Nick Foles is battling a hip injury but has struggled after enjoying brief success upon replacing Trubisky earlier this season. The Bears have lost four straight and rank 31st in both points and total yards after 10 games. Foles has not practiced this week.

The Bears lost Trubisky to injury as well, but the former No. 2 overall pick has recovered and will attempt to mount one last contract-year push ahead of a potential free agency bid. Chicago used Tyler Bray as Foles’ backup while Trubisky sat. Despite being a 2013 UDFA, Bray had one career pass attempt going into that ill-fated relief effort. Trubisky, 26, will return to a stat line that includes a career-low 59.3% completion rate and a 6.5 yards-per-attempt figure. He ended last season at 6.1.

Trubisky’s return to action illustrates how dire the Bears’ offensive situation has become. Nagy benched the fourth-year starter in Week 3, and Foles led a comeback victory over the collapse-prone Falcons. Trubisky struggled against Atlanta, continuing a swoon that prompted the Bears to pass on his fifth-year option in May. Trubisky regressed across the board last season, and the Bears traded for Foles. The latter, however, ranks 28th in Total QBR. Nagy handed off the play-calling reins to OC Bill Lazor in Week 10, but the Bears accomplished little on offense in a loss to the Vikings.

All of this has resulted in the Bears continuing to largely waste the work of their top-tier defense — a familiar refrain in Chicago. The Bears’ losing streak has moved them to the “In the hunt” sector of NFC playoff picture graphics.

Texans To Cut WR Kenny Stills

November 27th, 2020 at 1:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

The waiver wire will soon feature a proven pass catcher. The Texans are cutting Kenny Stills, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

Despite Houston trading for the former New Orleans and Miami wide receiver last year, the team has not featured him much this season. The eighth-year veteran has just 11 catches for 144 yards, having taken a backseat to other veteran targets Will Fuller, Brandin Cooks and Randall Cobb. Even with Cobb on IR now, Stills played just four snaps on Thanksgiving.

With the trade deadline having passed, Stills will head to the wire. A 28-year-old deep threat, he profiles as an interesting late-season piece for a contender. Stills’ contract expires at season’s end. In 117 career games (77 starts), Stills has 310 receptions for 4,843 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Stills enjoyed a bigger role last season, playing alongside Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins. He caught 40 passes for 561 yards and four touchdowns. The former fifth-round pick produced two 700-plus-yard seasons with the Dolphins, earning a four-year, $32MM extension in 2017. Barely $1MM remains on that deal. With the Saints, Stills led the NFL with 20.0 yards per catch in 2013 and posted a career-high 931 yards in ’14. The Saints traded him to the Dolphins in 2015.

The Texans, who acquired Stills in 2019’s Laremy Tunsil blockbuster deal, tried to trade Stills prior to this year’s deadline. But they ended up hanging onto each member of their veteran receiving quartet. Now, Houston will have just Fuller and Cooks from that crew down the stretch. Keke Coutee has resurfaced as an auxiliary cog.

This Date In Transactions History: Washington Claims Reuben Foster

November 27th, 2020 at 1:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The [Washington Football Team] has had its fair share of controversies. One of their most polarizing moves took place two years ago today, when they claimed linebacker Reuben Foster off waivers.

Foster stood as one of the NFL’s most talented linebackers. He was also a household name for all of the wrong reasons. The 2017 first-round pick was accused of roughing up his ex-girlfriend, Elissa Ennis, in February of 2018. Ennis went on to recant that story, but, in November, she alleged Foster of abusing her once again at the 49ers’ team hotel in Florida. The Niners dropped him soon after and no one expected him to be claimed off of the waiver wire.

Washington did just that, vowing to keep Foster on the straight-and-narrow and off the field until his legal situation was resolved.

“[We] fully understand the severity of the recent allegations against Reuben. If true, you can be sure these allegations are nothing our organization would ever condone,” VP of player personnel Doug Williams said. “Let me be clear, Reuben will have to go through numerous steps, including the full legal process, an investigation and potential discipline from the NFL, as well as meetings with counselors associated with the team, before he will ever have the opportunity to wear the Burgundy and Gold as a player.”

Still, Foster has yet to actually take the field for the WFT. The ‘backer tore his ACL and MCL in his very first Washington practice, wiping out his 2019 season. Washington activated him this past August, but his lack of strength and explosiveness forced the club to park him on IR once again. Now in his final year under contract, it’s possible that Foster will never actually play a down in D.C. It’s also possible that Foster will never play again in the NFL — we won’t know for sure until the offseason when he gets re-evaluated.

Bucs’ A.Q. Shipley To Retire?

November 27th, 2020 at 12:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Buccaneers center A.Q. Shipley is done for the year after injuring his neck. It’s especially serious and it appears to be a career-ender, according to head coach Bruce Arians. The Bucs placed Shipley on IR Friday.

“I feel bad because I love A.Q,” Arians told SiriusXM. “He’s one of my favorite players of all time and was playing good for us. But I think it was a previous injury that might have just got aggravated in his neck.”

Shipley entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Steelers in 2009, but he didn’t make his regular-season debut until 2012 when he hooked on with the Colts. After that, he spent a year with the Ravens and returned to Indy before joining the Cardinals in 2015.

Shipley’s best seasons came under Arians, with Pro Football Focus grading him as one of the game’s top centers during the Cards’ 13-3 season in 2015. Last year, PFF assigned him just the 29th overall grade among snappers, a sign that his 2018 ACL tear had slowed him down. Still, Arians was happy to bring him to the Bucs, where Ali Marpet‘s injury recently opened a starting spot for him.

After 110 career games played, Arians sees the unfortunate injury as the start of Shipley’s coaching career.

Packers To Meet With Tavon Austin

November 27th, 2020 at 12:31pm CST by Zachary Links

The Packers will work out Tavon Austin, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The former Rams and Cowboys wide receiver has yet to see live action this year.

Austin, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2013 draft, joined the 49ers over the summer and was said to be playing well in training camp. Then, when a knee injury forced him to IR, he was cut loose. Austin has never come close to justifying his draft status, but his speed and versatility continues to intrigue coaches around the league. In theory, Austin could feature as a receiver, rusher, and returner for the Packers.

Of course, health has been Austin’s biggest stumbling block as a pro. Over seven injury-laden years in the NFL, Austin has notched 215 receptions while averaging just 9.3 yards per catch. For what it’s worth, he did average more than 15 yards per grab over the last two seasons with the Cowboys, but that was in a super small sample size of 21 receptions.

The Austin audition comes after Darrius Shepherd fumbled on a kickoff return against the Colts. With over 200 career kick and punt returns on his resume, a special teams role could be Austin’s quickest path to getting back on the field.