HEADLINES

Year: 2024

Baker Mayfield Not Expected To Miss Time

November 17th, 2021 at 1:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

Already battling a fractured shoulder, Baker Mayfield left Sunday’s game in New England with a knee injury. The Browns are not likely to need another Case Keenum fill-in start, however.

Neither Mayfield nor Kevin Stefanski expect a second missed start, though the fourth-year quarterback said (via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, on Twitter) this is probably the most beat up he has been in his football career. Mayfield is not practicing Wednesday.

Mayfield escaped his latest injury without structural damage, suffering a knee contusion in the Browns’ loss to the Patriots. Mayfield’s shoulder issue did require one missed game, a narrow Week 7 win over the Broncos, but he has otherwise played through that issue — one that will almost certainly require offseason surgery. The Browns face the 0-8-1 Lions in Week 11.

As for Mayfield’s backfield, Nick Chubb remains on the Browns’ reserve/COVID-19 list. The Pro Bowl back is vaccinated and can return by submitting negative tests two days apart. Stefanski added Kareem Hunt will not return in Week 11, despite being eligible to do so. The fifth-year back has missed four games with his calf injury but is moving closer to returning. Demetric Felton also remains on Cleveland’s COVID list. The Browns activated running back John Kelly from their virus list.

The Browns have played without both Chubb and Hunt twice this season. D’Ernest Johnson was the last man standing in both games, and the ex-Alliance of American Football performer would start against the Lions if Chubb is not activated by Saturday afternoon. In his third Browns season, Johnson is averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Packers Audition RB Kerryon Johnson

November 17th, 2021 at 11:59am CST by Sam Robinson

After three years in Detroit, Kerryon Johnson has gone through a more complicated 2021. The former second-round pick has been with three teams this year, with more looming on the radar at various points.

The Packers joined the latter contingent, bringing in the ex-Lions starter for a workout. Green Bay has run into another Aaron Jones MCL issue, creating a temporary need in its backfield.

[RELATED: Jones To Miss Time With Knee Injury]

Once the new Lions regime waived Johnson earlier this year, the Eagles claimed him. The Dolphins had submitted a claim as well. Philly, however, cut ties with the ex-Auburn standout in August. Johnson landed in San Francisco in September, amid the 49ers’ early-season injury struggles at running back, but barely lasted into October with the team. He has also met with the Raiders and Washington this year.

Green Bay is set to use A.J. Dillon as its starter during Jones’ absence, with second-year UDFA Patrick Taylor residing as the other running back on the 8-2 team’s active roster. Kylin Hill is on IR, with a knee injury knocking the Mississippi State rookie out for the season. The Packers have Ryquell Armstead and 2019 seventh-rounder Kerrith Whyte on their practice squad. Johnson, who rushed for 641 yards in 10 games as a rookie, played in one game for the 49ers this season.

Browns Eyeing 2022 Denzel Ward Extension

November 17th, 2021 at 11:30am CST by Sam Robinson

While the Browns opening substantive extension talks with Baker Mayfield before year’s end remains in play, they are not rushing the process with their 2018 first-round picks. Neither Mayfield nor Denzel Ward are signed long-term, despite the latter having begun talks this summer.

But the Browns are planning to extend Ward, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes, who adds the team does not view this as an urgent matter. This points to a Ward deal being likelier in 2022 than by season’s end. Ward is signed through 2022, with the Browns having picked up his $13.3MM fifth-year option in May.

The Browns were discussing a Ward deal in August, but they understandably opted to lock down contract-year starters Nick Chubb and Wyatt Teller first. Cleveland extended Joel Bitonio as well last week, moving to reward its Pro Bowl guard after taking care of his younger O-line mate. Ward and Mayfield represent the next dominoes here. It is certainly not uncommon for teams to slow-play extensions for non-quarterback first-round picks. Of the 2018 first-rounders, only Josh Allen has signed an extension.

A Cleveland-area native, Ward has become one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks. He leads a Browns corner corps that features another first-round pick (Greg Newsome), an ex-second-rounder (Greedy Williams) and free agent acquisition Troy Hill. Pro Football Focus ranks Ward as the No. 5 overall corner through Week 10. The Ohio State product has run into injury trouble throughout his career. Ward has missed 12 career games, due to injuries and COVID-19, though he has been on the field for nine of Cleveland’s 10 contests this season.

Ward, 24, has displayed steadier work than Mayfield and has a clear path toward a top-market contract. Ex-Ward Ohio State teammate Marshon Lattimore becoming the third $19MM-per-year corner provides a better marker for the younger ex-Buckeye’s eventual extension. Lattimore, Marlon Humphrey and Jalen Ramsey have moved the bar past $19MM over the past year and change, helping this position break through after its market did not move much for several years.

Vikings Designate Patrick Peterson For Return, Activate Harrison Smith

November 17th, 2021 at 10:48am CST by Sam Robinson

The Vikings have been playing without their secondary anchors for a bit, but both Harrison Smith and Patrick Peterson are on track to suit up again soon.

Minnesota activated Smith from its reserve/COVID-19 list and designated Peterson for return Wednesday. Peterson went on IR with a hamstring injury Oct. 18. Should he return Sunday against the Packers, it will mark a minimum three-game absence for the decorated cornerback. Minnesota has 21 days to activate Peterson.

Smith missed two games after contracting the coronavirus, ending a four-season stretch without a multigame absence. But the five-time Pro Bowl safety will be back in uniform for the Vikings’ pivotal divisional matchup in Week 11. Pro Football Focus has graded Smith as a top-20 safety this season, bestowing such a distinction on offseason addition Xavier Woods as well.

After multiple down years to close his Arizona tenure, Peterson has fared better in Minnesota. The All-Decade corner has allowed a 59% completion rate in coverage, way down from the 67% figure of 2020. The veterans’ returns stand to aid a Vikings pass defense that ranks 14th through nine games.

Frank Gore Open To Joining Contender

November 17th, 2021 at 9:46am CST by Sam Robinson

Frank Gore has slid off the NFL radar for a bit, seeing the Titans go with Adrian Peterson to help fill their Derrick Henry void. And the 16-year veteran is preparing for a boxing foray.

Set to fight former NBA veteran Deron Williams on the undercard of the latest boxing event headlined by YouTube stars — a card set for Dec. 18 in Tampa — Gore remains open to a return to the NFL. The future Hall of Fame running back said during a prefight press conference he would consider ditching his boxing plans if a team needed him. “I might say eff it and go with them,” Gore said of potentially scrapping the Williams fight to play a 17th season.

Gore, 38, spent the 2019 season with a contending team, helping the Bills to the playoffs. Otherwise, he spent the post-San Francisco portion of his career helping less talented squads. Gore played for the Colts from 2015-17, caught on with the Dolphins in 2018 and played with the Jets last season.

Despite his advanced age, Gore made 14 starts for the Jets and rushed for 653 yards (albeit at a career-low 3.5 per carry) and currently has exactly 16,000 for his career. That total trails only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton in NFL history. Gore was considering retirement in June but was also open to catching on elsewhere. He certainly has connections around the league and has proven incredibly durable, having missed just three games over the past 10 seasons.

A few teams have seen their starting back miss extensive time this season — the Bears, Chiefs, Eagles, Giants, Panthers and Titans among them — and the Browns have gone through multiple games without Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Gore has not been connected to any vacancies just yet, but given his durability and historically long career for a running back, a late-season partnership should not be ruled out. The four-round Gore-Williams bout features a 215-pound weight limit; that is just above Gore’s listed playing weight.

Jets To Start Joe Flacco In Week 11

November 17th, 2021 at 9:07am CST by Sam Robinson

A third quarterback will take the reins for the Jets this season. Weeks after coming over from the Eagles in a trade, Joe Flacco will be given the nod against the Dolphins on Sunday, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets.

Flacco went from being inactive to being Mike White‘s backup. After White’s four-interception day against the Bills, Robert Saleh will give Flacco a try. This will be Flacco’s fifth Jets start. He appeared in five games and started four in relief of Sam Darnold last season. This will be Flacco’s 176th career start. Among players never selected for a Pro Bowl, that is first all time.

Zach Wilson suffered a PCL injury Oct. 25 and initially faced a two- to four-week timetable. Although the rookie has returned to practice, the Jets do not view him as being 100%, Cimini adds. This, along with a Dolphins blitz-heavy defense that limited Lamar Jackson last week, will lead to Flacco. A 14th-year veteran, Flacco did not see any time for the Eagles this season.

Saleh previously said the Jets’ quarterback situation would sort itself out organically, with signs pointing to White having a legitimate chance to keep Wilson on the bench. Despite White’s 400-yard day that keyed a Jets upset of the Bengals, the fourth-year passer’s stock has undoubtedly dipped a bit after his outing against the Bills. White will be Flacco’s backup in Week 11, keeping Wilson out of action.

Flacco, 36, completed a career-low 55% of his passes for a woeful Jets team in 2020, averaging 6.4 yards per attempt. He signed with the Eagles on a one-year deal worth $3.5MM in March. Flacco’s playing-time increase would be good news for the Eagles, who could see their trade compensation rise from a 2022 sixth-round pick to a fifth. Flacco would need to play 50% of the Jets’ offensive snaps in at least four games for the pick to move into Round 5, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Raiders Work Out CB Brian Poole

November 16th, 2021 at 10:22pm CST by Ben Levine

After getting cut by the Patriots last week, Brian Poole is now looking for his next gig. Per Aaron Wilson (on Twitter), the veteran cornerback auditioned for the Raiders today. The team also worked out defensive linemen Braxton Hoyett, P.J. Johnson, and Daniel McCullers.

The Saints reached an injury settlement with Poole earlier this month, cutting him from their injured reserve. He later joined New England’s practice squad with the expectation that he’d get promoted to the active roster, but he didn’t see the field for the Patriots before receiving his walking papers.

The 29-year-old spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Jets, with Pro Football Focus grading Poole as a top-12 corner during those two campaigns. Prior to his Jets run, Poole spent three seasons with the Falcons. Now, he’s looking to join a Raiders depth chart that’s led by Casey Hayward, Brandon Facyson, Nate Hobbs, and Amik Robertson.

McCullers has 76 games of experience after being selected in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. He got into 73 of those games with the Steelers between 2014 and 2019, but he was limited to only three games with the Bears in 2020. The 29-year-old has remained unsigned throughout the 2021 campaign. Johnson, a 2019 seventh-round pick, and Hoyette, a former undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State, have combined for one career appearance.

49ers RB Elijah Mitchell Suffered Finger Fracture

November 16th, 2021 at 8:42pm CST by Ben Levine

Elijah Mitchell went under the knife today, but there’s still hope that he’ll play this weekend. Kyle Shanahan told reporters that the 49ers running back underwent surgery today on a finger fracture, per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).

The team is hoping Mitchell will be able to return to practice as soon as tomorrow, and the 49ers have similar hopes that he’ll be on the field Sunday against the Jaguars. We’ll presumably get more information on his status for Week 11 in a few days.

The sixth-round rookie has been incredibly productive this season, leading his squad with 560 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 116 carries. Mitchell missed a pair of games earlier this season thanks to a shoulder injury, but he’s otherwise started the last five games for San Francisco.

If Mitchell is forced to miss another game, the team could turn to Jeff Wilson, who recently made his season debut after recovering from an ankle injury. Rookie Trey Sermon could also be an option, but the third-round pick hasn’t seen the field in weeks.

Panthers Waive P Joseph Charlton

November 16th, 2021 at 8:15pm CST by Ben Levine

The Panthers are sticking with Lachlan Edwards as their punter. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the team waived punter Joseph Charlton.

Charlton got into all 16 games for the Panthers last season, averaging 46.3 yards per punt and earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week late in the campaign. However, he struggled through the first five games of the 2021 campaign, seeing that yards-per-punt number drop to 39.1.

The 24-year-old landed on injured reserve with a back injury in mid-October. He was recently designated to return from IR, but the team decided to stick with their fill-in for the rest of the season.

“Lac” Edwards was the Jets full-time punter between the 2016 and 2019 seasons. He’s since had stints with the Bills, Chargers, and Lions, but he didn’t take the field for those squads. He joined the Panthers in late October and has seen time in their last three games, averaging a career-high 48.5 yards per punt.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/16/21

November 16th, 2021 at 5:30pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

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