HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Broncos Activate LB Mark Barron From IR

November 25th, 2020 at 7:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

It took much longer than expected, but Mark Barron is in position to make his Broncos debut. The team activated him from IR Wednesday.

The Broncos signed the former first-round pick during training camp, eyeing a potential part-time role for the veteran on a suddenly reshaped linebacking corps. Denver released longtime starter Todd Davis before the season and saw rookie Justin Strnad suffer a season-ending injury during camp. Barron, however, soon experienced injury troubles. But the former Buccaneers, Rams and Steelers starter is on track to play in Week 12.

Pittsburgh released Barron earlier this year, and he spent nearly six months in free agency. Upon signing a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Broncos, Barron suffered a hamstring injury. During his rehab process, Barron then encountered a pectoral malady.

The former Bucs safety and longtime Rams linebacker will likely see time mixing in on a Broncos defense that has used 2019 backup Josey Jewell as a full-time player alongside top inside ‘backer Alexander Johnson. Jewell’s snap rate has risen from 20% last season to 93% this year. But with Pro Football Focus slotting Johnson and Jewell as 2020’s No. 10- and No. 26-ranked off-ball linebackers, respectively, Barron may not see as much time as initially planned.

To make room for Barron, the Broncos waived running back LeVante Bellamy. The latter has bounced on and off Denver’s active roster this season.

Cowboys Strength Coach Markus Paul Dies

November 25th, 2020 at 7:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Cowboys strength and conditioning coordinator Markus Paul died Wednesday, the team announced. He was 54. The longtime NFL assistant required hospitalization on Tuesday morning after experiencing a medical emergency.

Paul died surrounded by family at a Dallas-area hospital; the cause of death has not been revealed. The Cowboys hired Paul in 2018, but the former NFL defender had been an assistant in the league since the late 1990s. The Cowboys canceled their Tuesday practice after Paul’s hospitalization.

“The loss of a family member is a tragedy, and Markus Paul was a loved and valued member of our family,” Jerry Jones said in a statement. “He was a pleasant and calming influence in our strength room and throughout The Star. His passion for his work and his enthusiasm for life earned him great respect and admiration from all our players and the entire organization. Our hearts are broken for his family and all of the individuals whose lives he touched and made better.”

A standout safety at Syracuse in the late 1980s, Paul intercepted 19 passes with the Orangemen and went on play five seasons with the Bears and Buccaneers. Chicago drafted Paul in the 1989 fourth round and used him as a part-time starter on Mike Ditka‘s final Bears defenses.

As a coach, Paul achieved great success. He collected five Super Bowl rings — three as a member of the Patriots and two with the Giants — in 23 years as an NFL strength coach. Paul spent five seasons with the Patriots, coming aboard when Bill Belichick began his tenure in 2000. After two years with the Jets, Paul stayed in New York and worked as the Giants’ assistant strength and conditioning coach throughout Jerry Reese‘s near-12-year GM tenure. The Cowboys hired Paul as their assistant strength coach in 2018 and promoted him earlier this year.

Texans Place Randall Cobb On IR

November 25th, 2020 at 6:39pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Texans picked up their third win of the season by beating the Patriots, but they picked up a couple of key injuries along the way. We just heard starting defensive tackle P.J. Hall is done for the year, and now Randall Cobb will be hitting the shelf.

The veteran receiver has a toe injury that is considered “significant,” a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). The Texans have since placed Cobb on IR.

Fellow receiver Kenny Stills picked up a quad injury on Sunday, and although we don’t know the severity on that one yet, it’s possible their offense is significantly shorthanded for their Thanksgiving trip to take on the Lions.

It’s a tough blow, as Cobb has been playing a big role in his first season in Houston. Through ten games he has 38 receptions for 441 yards and three touchdowns. He inked a three-year pact worth an impressive $27MM back in March. He turned 30 back in August, but outside of seven missed games in 2018 has mostly been pretty durable.

NFL To Rescind K’Waun Williams’ Ban

November 25th, 2020 at 5:32pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Nov. 25: The NFL has reversed course in this case. The 49ers slot corner will not face a two-game ban. Issues with the testing procedures induced the league to backtrack on Williams’ suspension, according to Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Williams has insisted he has not used a banned substance.

Nov. 24: We’ve got another two-game suspension to report on the heels of Luke Gifford getting the same ban. This time it’s 49ers cornerback K’Waun Williams getting hit for violating the league’s policy on PEDs.

Fortunately for San Francisco Williams is already sidelined with a high ankle sprain and wasn’t likely to play before this suspension will be up anyway. He’ll be eligible to return for the team’s Week 14 game against Washington. Williams is the team’s nickel corner who lines up in the slot. He started the year off playing a little over half of the team’s defensive snaps, but then was sidelined with a knee sprain in Week 4.

He returned in Week 8, but went down with the ankle sprain the following game. He was quite productive last year, finishing with 51 tackles, two interceptions, a sack, and four forced fumbles in 15 games and eight starts. The Pittsburgh product entered the league as an UDFA with the Browns in 2014.

He quickly became a key contributor in Cleveland but was waived after the 2015 season following a dispute with the team over an injury he had at the time. After sitting out 2016 with that injury he signed with San Francisco the following year. His strong play earned him a three-year extension worth $10MM that is set to expire at the end of this season. He’ll be a free agent this offseason and due to the high marks he received last year, he’s likely in for a raise.

Rashod Bateman Opts Out, Enters 2021 Draft

November 25th, 2020 at 5:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman made a decision to opt out of his junior season because of COVID-19 concerns this summer but reconsidered after the Big Ten announced plans to start its campaign in the fall. But recent developments prompted Bateman to again decide to begin early preparations for his NFL career.

The standout pass catcher will wrap his final Golden Gophers slate early, citing the increased coronavirus issues (Twitter link). COVID trouble caused the cancelation of Minnesota’s Saturday game against Wisconsin, with the 100-plus-year-old rivalry representing one of many cancellations or postponements to occur across Division I-FBS over the past several days. Nine Minnesota players and six staffers tested positive for COVID-19 over the past five days. The Gophers played without 20 players due to COVID and injuries last week.

Bateman is expected to be a surefire first-round pick in 2021. Scouts Inc. rates the 6-foot-2 receiver as its No. 9 overall draft-eligible player for 2021. While wideouts Ja’Marr Chase — an LSU summer opt-out — and Alabama’s Devonta Smith rank ahead of Bateman, he will be a coveted target in yet another strong receiver draft.

This season, Bateman is averaging more yards per game than he did during a breakout 1,219-yard sophomore slate. The Gophers’ top weapon was on track to push for another 1,000-yard season, despite Minnesota being set to max out at eight games this year. He caught 36 passes for 472 yards and two scores in five games.

It will be interesting to see if other early-round prospects follow Bateman’s lead, in light of what has become an increasingly unstable college football season.

Titans Work Out Brooks Reed

November 25th, 2020 at 4:17pm CST by Rory Parks

The Titans are still looking for a boost to their pass rush. Per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the club has brought in veteran edge defender Brooks Reed for a workout (Twitter link).

Though Tennessee picked up a critical overtime win against the Ravens on Sunday to keep pace with the Colts in the AFC South, Mike Vrabel‘s defense has struggled all season, and one of the reasons for that is the unit’s inability to pressure the opposing quarterback. The Titans have recorded just 12 sacks on the season, third-fewest in the NFL, and they rank near the bottom of the league in terms of passing yards allowed per game.

At this point in his career, Reed is unlikely to move the needle too much, but Tennessee has to try something. The team’s two major free agent additions to its pass rushing corps — Jadeveon Clowney and Vic Beasley — were major flops, and now Clowney is on IR while Beasley is on the Raiders’ practice squad.

Reed, 33, was a second-round pick of the Texans back in 2011. He posted six sacks in his rookie campaign, but that ended up representing a career high. For much of his professional tenure, which includes a four-year stint with the Falcons and a nine-game showing with the Cardinals last year, he has been deployed as a rotational pass rusher.

His 2019 campaign with Arizona was cut short due to a hamstring injury, and this marks the first time we have heard of interest in his services this year.

Colts Place DeForest Buckner On Reserve/COVID-19 List

November 25th, 2020 at 2:42pm CST by Rory Parks

The Colts have placed DeForest Buckner on the reserve/COVID-19 list, according to a team announcement. This could be an especially difficult blow, as Indianapolis will take on the Titans in a battle for first place in the AFC South on Sunday.

At this point, it’s unclear if Buckner tested positive or if he is considered a close contact with someone who did. If he tested positive, he is guaranteed to miss the matchup with Tennessee, though if his placement on the list is due to a close contact, he may be back on the field on Sunday (depending on when the contact occurred and his test results in the coming days).

Indianapolis pulled off one of the biggest blockbusters of this offseason in acquiring Buckner, as it shipped a first-round pick to the 49ers in exchange for one of the game’s premier interior defenders and signed him to a massive $21MM/year extension. And Buckner has not disappointed, as Pro Football Focus currently ranks him fifth among all interior D-linemen, including an especially high pass-rush grade (though he has generated just 2.5 sacks on the season).

PFF is not quite as bullish on his run defense, but it still considers him an above-average performer in that regard. And the Colts will need all the run support they can get against Titans’ RB Derrick Henry, who rushed for 103 yards on just 19 carries against Indy two weeks ago.

Buckner joins fellow DL Denico Autry on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and as Stephen Holder of The Athletic tweets, Autry’s status for Sunday’s game is still unclear. If the Colts are without both players, they will need monster performances from players like Tyquan Lewis and Grover Stewart to contain Henry.

Bengals Promote QB Brandon Allen

November 25th, 2020 at 2:10pm CST by Zachary Links

Nov. 25: Allen, not Finley, will get the start against the Giants on Sunday, per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network (via Twitter). The 28-year-old Arkansas product finally saw his first regular season action in the pros in 2019, starting three games for the Broncos. Denver won just one of those games, and Allen posted a poor 68.3 QB rating.

Nov. 23: The Bengals will promote Brandon Allen from the practice squad to the active roster, as NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Following Joe Burrow‘s season-ending knee injury, the Bengals’ QB depth chart now consists of Allen and Ryan Finley.

[RELATED: Joe Burrow Done For Year]

Burrow had to be carted off the field on Sunday after his left knee got rolled up. He didn’t need a doctor to tell him that it was an ACL tear. Shortly after leaving the game, Burrow announced that he was done for the year on social media. Minutes later, the Bengals officially confirmed the news.

It’s been a trying year for the Bengals, but Burrow was one of their few bright spots. Behind a porous offensive line, the No. 1 overall pick managed 2,688 yards and 13 touchdowns against just five interceptions.

Finley will take over for the former Heisman Trophy winner, with Allen holding the clipboard on the sidelines. The Burrow-less Bengals will look for win No. 3 this week against the Giants who are (somehow) in the NFC East chase.

Broncos Have Not Discussed Garett Bolles Extension

November 25th, 2020 at 1:43pm CST by Rory Parks

A few months ago, any talk of the Broncos giving an extension to LT Garett Bolles would have seemed ridiculous. After all, Denver declined Bolles’ fifth-year option back in May, and the former first-round pick had not even come close to living up to his draft status.

But Bolles has been outstanding in 2020, ranking as Pro Football Focus’ top-rated tackle and receiving excellent marks for both his run-blocking and pass-blocking acumen. Plus, he has been called for just three holding penalties thus far, only one of which has been accepted. In his first two years as a pro, he was tied for the league lead in most accepted holding penalties, and in 2019, he was tied for sixth.

As Mike Klis of 9News.com writes, Bolles credits increased attention to his technique as one of the primary reasons for his stark improvement, along with new OC Pat Shurmur‘s pulling scheme. “I think in the past I just used my athletic ability to get the technical side of things,” Bolles said. “To the little things where taking sets barefoot in your kitchen, to watching film, watching guys, looking on the outside shoulder, hand movement and hand fights, and things like that.”

Better fundamentals have allowed the 28-year-old’s natural athleticism — which is what attracted the attention of GM John Elway to begin with — to shine through. And as he is earning just under $2MM this year, he looks like one of the best bargains in the league.

So one would think that Denver would be acting quickly to lock him up on a long-term basis, especially since the left tackle market is red-hot at the moment. But according to Klis, the club has yet to open extension talks, though that’s almost certainly due to the financial uncertainty created by COVID-19 and the fact that the salary cap is likely to decrease in 2021.

There is no indication that the Broncos are opposed to a new deal, and Bolles would certainly be receptive to one. “I mean, (a contract extension) would be nice, but it’s not up to me,” he said (via Troy Renck of Denver 7 ABC). “That’s why I hired an agent, he talks to Mr. Elway. When they want to do it, they’ll do it. That’s just how I look at it. I just want to be consistent. I have to go out there and play at a high level every single week.”

Given his past track record and the likelihood of a depressed free agent market, it would be surprising to see Bolles match or top David Bakhtiari‘s new $23MM/year deal with the Packers, and he may not hit the $20MM AAV threshold. But a surefire Pro Bowl (and perhaps First Team All-Pro) left tackle coming off a dominant season will be a highly-desirable commodity, so whether it comes from the Broncos or someone else, Bolles will be in line for a pretty sizable raise in short order.

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