LeSean McCoy - Pro Football Rumors

Injury Updates: McCoy, Mariota, Albert

December 20th, 2015 at 9:20pm CST by Rob DiRe

We’ll keep track of the latest injury news here, with the newest updates added to the top of the list…

While Albert should be fine after suffering a knee injury during the loss in San Diego, Dolphins center Mike Pouncey wasn’t so lucky. He left the game with his foot stabilized in a boot, and he will be out for the remainder of the season, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.

Earlier Updates

LeSean McCoy‘s knee injury appears to be a minor MCL sprain, according to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (via Twitter). He is expected to be listed day-to-day by the Bills.
Marcus Mariota will have an MRI on Monday after injuring his knee against the Patriots, according to Pro Football Talk (via Twitter). The Titans believe he suffered an MCL injury. With Zach Mettenberger the only other passer on the roster, Tennessee will likely add a quarterback this week.
Dolphins left tackle Branden Albert left the game with a knee injury, and Dallas Thomas was exploited replacing him, according to James Walker of ESPN (via Twitter). With Thomas struggling, the Dolphins will need to make a move if if they want to give any chance to Ryan Tannehill and the offense.
Another big name left tackle went down with an injury in the Seahawks’ Russell Okung, who was doubtful to return with a calf injury, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter).
49ers running back Shaun Draughn exited the game with a knee injury, according to Eric Branch (via Twitter). Draugn has been the leading ball-carrier for the 49ers the last five games after being acquired from Cleveland. With Carlos Hyde and Reggie Bush already out, the 49ers will have to dig deep on the roster to find a new starting running back.

Extra Points: Nkemdiche, Henry, McCarthy, Kelly

December 13th, 2015 at 9:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Consensus top-10 pick Robert Nkemdiche remains in stable condition after a fall from a hotel room window in Atlanta, David Ching of ESPN.com reports.

Reports varied over the nature of the Ole Miss junior defensive lineman’s fall, with this tweet indicating the Atlanta police said Nkemdiche fell from a fourth-floor window. But according to Ching’s report, police indicated this was a one-story fall of approximately 15 feet.

Per Ching, Nkemdiche appeared to have broken the window, climbed over another wall before falling to the ground. A small amount of “suspected marijuana” was present inside the room.

Matt Miller of Bleacher Report projects Nkemdiche to go fourth in the 2016 draft, and Mel Kiper Jr. lists the former No. 1 overall recruit as his No. 5 prospect.

Here are some additional news items on draft prospects and other news from around the league.

Character issues are affecting Nkemdiche’s perception among NFL decision-makers, Miller reports (video link). Miller, however, cautions that demoting character risks can be costly, considering Justin Houston and Tyrann Mathieu‘s rapid rises.
Alabama running back Derrick Henry won the Heisman Trophy as college football’s best player, but that doesn’t automatically mean he will be a high draft pick, writes Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. He spoke with former scout Dan Hatman, who has Henry rated between his 100th and 150th best prospect, citing his reliance on blocking, poor change of direction, and a heavy college workload as reasons to be wary of overrating the top college running back.
Mike McCarthy notified associate head coach Tom Clements on Monday he’d be reassuming control of calling the Packers‘ plays, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports. The 10th-year Packers coach was following the advice of others in the organization urging him to do so, but McCarthy demurred initially because of fear it would make Clements and offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett look bad, Demovsky notes. Entering Sunday’s game, the Packers ranked 22nd in offense and 26th in third-down conversions. They rushed for 230 yards against the Cowboys. Clements last called plays for the Drew Bledsoe-era Bills in the mid-2000s. “The personal part of it was brutal,” McCarthy told media regarding Clements’ demotion. “Professionally, I felt like I had to do it. I was worried about making sure I was going to do my job good.”
Chip Kelly denied calling LeSean McCoy this week, an alleged phone call that resulted in the former Eagles running back hanging up on his ex-coach. “When people want to make up false stories about me calling people up during the week and them hanging up on me – people (are) trying to get Twitter hits or things like that and make themselves significant,” Kelly told media. The Philadelphia Inquirer stands by the story, the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane writes. Kelly attempted to call McCoy after news of the trade with the Bills in March, however.
Gus Bradley‘s job should be safe after the Jaguars‘ 51-16 thrashing of the Colts, O’Halloran writes. O’Halloran believes Bradley was on thin ice prior to this performance, but notching his fifth victory and first over the Colts puts the former Seahawks DC on firm ground in O’Halloran’s mind.
A 2011 loss in Jacksonville prompted Jim Irsay to fire Bill Polian and Jim Caldwell, and Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star wonders if the Colts‘ owner’s reached his decision to fire Chuck Pagano after allowing the 5-8 Jaguars to put up 51 points. In his contract’s final year, Pagano seems a pretty safe bet for a Black Monday headline.
Next week’s must-win for the Colts could feature career backup Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback, Kevin Bowen of Colts.com writes. With Andrew Luck throwing but not yet practicing and Matt Hasselbeck exiting Sunday’s rout early, next week’s Colts-Texans game could double as Whitehurst’s second-biggest career start, after the infamous Week 17 2010 game that clinched the 7-9 Seahawks’ playoff berth. The 33-year-old Whitehurst has made nine career starts, including five last season with the Titans.

Rob Dire contributed to this report.

NFC Notes: Saints, McCoy, Ryan, Shanahan

December 12th, 2015 at 10:06am CST by Rob DiRe

As teams prepare for a December playoff push, a few of the more important NFC teams are dealing with disappointing seasons that have gone off the rails. The Saints and Falcons have both fallen squarely out of the postseason picture, while the Eagles are hanging on due to a terrible NFC East division.

Here are some notes from the Saints, Falcons, and Eagles:

Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan is playing for pride down the stretch in 2015, but most of his teammates are playing for something more important–their jobs, writes Larry Holder of NOLA.com. Holder notes that the team will have to make major decisions on some key players this offseason, including Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Zach Strief, Jahri Evans, and even Sean Payton.
During the Falcons hot start, both Matt Ryan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan looked like absolute superstars in Atlanta. Since then, both have really struggled to produce anything significant offensively. Despite those struggles and who is to blame, Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that neither is on the chopping block this season.
Much has been made of the feud between LeSean McCoy and Chip Kelly, especially since part of the reason for trading McCoy to the Bills was because of “fit” and “culture.” DeMarco Murray is averaging 3.5 yards per carry and has a reduced role in the Eagles’ offense, and has become a distraction, while McCoy is thriving in Buffalo, contradicting both reasons for the trade, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s worth the read if only for the small note about McCoy getting a call from an unknown number this past Tuesday, and hanging up once he realized it was Kelly calling.

Eagles Notes: McCoy, Bradford, Murray

December 10th, 2015 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

It was one of the most fascinating trades of the NFL offseason, and now it’s the story that just won’t go away: with the Eagles preparing to face the Bills this weekend, Philadelphia’s decision to send LeSean McCoy to Buffalo back in March is a hot topic once again, with McCoy and Chip Kelly among those that have discussed the deal this week.

Continuing to get questions about the trade, Kelly told reporters today that the move was designed to free up cap space, and allowed the team to go after Sam Bradford, as Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk details.

“We traded an outstanding running back for a linebacker, but we also traded $700K for $11.9MM,” Kelly said. “In this league, sometimes a guy signs a four-year, $45 million contract, but it’s two years at $16 million guaranteed, the rest of it isn’t, and the back end is really high. So you have to make decisions when guys aren’t in guaranteed years about what you’re going to do.

“So however you look at it, whether it gave us an opportunity to get somebody defensively with that extra money, or it gave us an opportunity because we had to free up money to get Sam,” Kelly continued. “It was a tough decision, but with all those guys we let go this year who were integral to my first two years here, those decisions were made by money. Those decisions weren’t made because we don’t think they’re good football players or we don’t think they’re good people.”

Here’s more on the Eagles:

Per Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), McCoy and the Eagles have a difference of opinion on whether it would’ve been possible to restructure his contract before the trade — according to Kelly, McCoy’s agent suggested reworking the contract wasn’t an option, but the running back says that possibility was never brought up.
As Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets, it’s a case of he-said, he-said at this point, but McLane’s sources dispute Kelly’s claim that agent Drew Rosenhaus was unwilling to restructure McCoy’s deal.
While the Eagles’ old running back is one subject of conversation leading up to this week’s game, their current running back is in the news as well. According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), there are some NFL executives who believe DeMarco Murray has recognized he’s not a great fit for Kelly’s offense, and would like to return to Dallas. A trade is extremely unlikely though, so Murray would have to be cut for that scenario to be in play.
For his part, Murray confirmed today to reporters that he spoke to owner Jeffrey Lurie about his role in Philadelphia, but he said he doesn’t regret signing with the Eagles, and definitely wants to be back next season (all Twitter links via Albert Breer of the NFL Network).

East Notes: Kelly, Bills, McCoy, Murray

December 9th, 2015 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

We touched on some Eagles and Bills news items this morning, with a focus on the two teams’ highly-paid running backs. Since then though, those clubs – and running backs – have continued to be hot topics, creating a few headlines throughout the day. So let’s round up the latest out of Philadelphia and Buffalo, as the two East clubs prepare for a big Week 14 matchup.

In a conference call today with Buffalo reporters, including Mike Rodak of ESPN.com, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said it’s a “false assumption” to call him the team’s general manager. “I just have final say over the roster,” Kelly said. While he may not officially hold the GM title, Kelly is clearly the one making personnel decisions in Philadelphia, so his objections seem to be over a matter of semantics.
Kelly also said earlier today that he regretted not getting a chance to talk to LeSean McCoy before word of the trade that sent to the running back to Buffalo broke, adding that he’d like to shake McCoy’s hand. Shady wasn’t having any of that though, telling Bills reporters, including Mike Rodak of ESPN.com, that Kelly “can’t shake s—.” McCoy continued: “We’re not enemies. I won’t say anything wrong to him. But there’s nothing for us to talk about, at all.”
The Bills‘ offseason acquisition of McCoy was a factor in Tyrod Taylor‘s decision to sign with Buffalo, the quarterback said today, noting that he wanted to be around playmakers (Twitter link via Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News). For his part, Bills head coach Rex Ryan said his team “couldn’t be happier” with the McCoy/Kiko Alonso swap, as Dunne details.
While McCoy was making headlines with his comments today, it was Eagles running back DeMarco Murray that was in the news yesterday, following a report that he spoke to team owner Jeffrey Lurie about his unhappiness with his role. According to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), Kelly said that Murray has expressed those frustrations to him as well. The head coach also suggested that Murray’s conversation with Lurie was happenstance, though he couldn’t explain how it leaked to ESPN (Twitter link via Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News).

Bills GM On McCoy, Incognito, Ryan

November 23rd, 2015 at 9:21pm CST by Zachary Links

Bills General Manager Doug Whaley hasn’t been heard from much in the 2015 season, but Joe Buscaglia of WKBW got an opportunity to sit down with him prior to Buffalo’s contest against New England. The whole Q&A is worth a read, but here’s a look at the highlights:

Offseason acquisitions Richie Incognito and LeSean McCoy had issues with their previous teams. What led you to believe that they would be such a good fit in Buffalo?

Two things. Just from our ownership, and the whole construction of our organization, we knew that once we got those players in here, they know what’s expected of them, and they’re going to toe the line and be Buffalo Bills not only on the field, but off the field. And I think that’s a credit to the coaching staff, Rex Ryan, and also the Pegulas — just to set up an organization when you come in, you’ve got to buy into what a Buffalo Bills means, again, on and off the field.

The Bills have three starters headed for unrestricted free agency: Incognito, Nigel Bradham, and Cordy Glenn. Will you be able to retain all three?

Well, it’s going to be an organizational determination on who can we keep, and prioritize from top to bottom, of your free agents. And we’re a victim, unfortunately, of our scouting staff and how well — not only on the pro side — of acquiring free agents, but on the college side and our drafting. So, we’ve been drafting everybody. And you can’t keep everybody. That’s just the nature of the business. We’re going to try. We’re going to try our hardest, and we’re going to develop a plan after the season and try to implement it. Again, it’s going to be tough, but we’re going to try our hardest to keep all those guys.

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor has one year left on his deal. Will the Bills try and lock him up long-term this offseason?

Again, that’s another thing we’re going to have to talk about in the offseason. It’s a possibility that we’ll try to do that, but again, we’ve got a lot of things to work through in this offseason. It’s going to be a challenging one for us as a staff and an organization, like you said, just because of all the guys we’ve got coming up and the guys you want to lock up long-term. If Tyrod’s the guy, we’ll try to make sure we get him, and be our quarterback for a long, long time. And that’s a good problem to have. All these problems, we’re not complaining about, but they’re good problems.

On talk of not being on the same page as Ryan:

Rex and I, like I said from day one, we can complete each other’s sentences. The best thing about our business now is, when someone throws a report out there, they’re more believed than when you ask me a question and I answer it. If I answer it and say, ‘We’re great,’ people are still going to say, ‘I don’t believe him.’ So, that’s the business we’re in and that’s the business we’ve chosen… I’m fine with that. To answer your question, Rex and I are thick as thieves.

Injury Updates: Big Ben, Lewis, Hankins, Cole

November 8th, 2015 at 8:47pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here’s a look at some more injury news from today’s games:

Bills running back LeSean McCoy injured his shoulder in the victory over the Dolphins today, and will probably have an MRI in advance of Thursday’s game against the Jets, writes Adam Schefter of ESPN (via Twitter).
Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr was spotted wearing a cast on his arm following the overtime win over St. Louis, writes Jason Gonzalez of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The team staff helped him carry his bag while exiting the locker room.
Adam Schefter adds to the reports about Lewis’ injury, noting that the Patriots running back has no swelling, which is a good sign. However his ACL is loose, which is a bad sign. Ultimately, they are still waiting on the MRI (via Twitter).

Earlier Updates:

The Patriots are awaiting the results of an MRI on running back Dion Lewis, but the club is hopeful that he only suffered an MCL sprain, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Regardless, Lewis figures to miss some time, prompting New England to turn to LeGarrette Blount as the team’s primary back.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left today’s game against the Raiders with a foot injury, and was eventually taken to a hospital for further evaluation, per Pittsburgh’s PR staff (Twitter link). Roethlisberger was unable to put any weight on his left foot, and head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters, including Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link), that the veteran QB will undergo an MRI. Roethlisberger, of course, just returned to action after missing several weeks with an MCL sprain.
Giants defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins suffered a torn pectoral during today’s game against the Buccaneers, the team announced on Twitter. While there has been no official announcement, such an injury is expected to be season-ending.
Vikings backup linebacker Audie Cole fractured his ankle today, head coach Mike Zimmer told reporters, including Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Per Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link), Zimmer confirmed that Cole will miss the remainder of the season. Cole hasn’t been a factor on the Vikings’ defense, but he was playing more than half of the club’s special teams snaps.

Extra Points: Palmer, Seahawks, Spiller, McCoy, Bengals

October 9th, 2015 at 9:21pm CST by Zachary Links

At the age of 35, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer isn’t committing to anything beyond this season, Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report writes. However, he is committing entirely to this season.

“I think my realization that the window is closing and my career is not going to go on for a long time, that has changed a little of my approach,” he said. “I’ve always been pretty intense, but I think everybody gets to that point where you realize, man, I only have a couple left. That definitely has changed me a little bit.”

The Seahawks have injury issues with Marshawn Lynch ruled out for this Sunday’s game against the Bengals, but Fred Jackson is likely to play, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). They also have Rod Smith on the practice squad, and could move him to the active roster for depth (via Twitter). The team is considering moving Tharold Simon to injured reserve to make room (via Twitter).
The Saints offense took a hit in terms of explosiveness when they traded Darren Sproles to the Eagles, but they have a new playmaker in the backfield with free agent pickup C.J. Spiller, writes Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. The team is hoping he keeps the threat of the big play alive when he is on the field.
Although he has been trying to play each week so far, Bills running back LeSean McCoy could miss an additional three games with a hamstring injury he described as a “grade-two pull,” according to CSNPhilly.com.
The Bengals earned a reputation as a cheap operation over the years but they have turned things around in a major way. CBSSports.com’s Joel Corry looked at the changes made in Cincinnati that have turned the franchise around, leading to their 4-0 start. The Bengals are built primarily with homegrown talent as 47 of the 58 players on the current roster. Only the Packers, another top team, have a higher percentage of homegrown talent.

Bills Notes: Enemkpali, Taylor, Gray, McCoy

October 5th, 2015 at 2:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we identified several notable players returning from four-game suspensions who could be active for their respective teams in Week 5. One player we didn’t mention? Bills edge defender IK Enemkpali, who may qualify more as “notorious” than “notable.”

Enemkpali, who was picked up by the Bills after the Jets cut him for punching Geno Smith, was briefly moved to Buffalo’s 53-man roster so that the team could store him on its reserve/suspended list while he served his four-game ban. Now that he’s eligible to return, it’ll be interesting to see whether the Bills put him on the 53-man roster or cut him and try to get him back on their practice squad, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com details.

For now, the Bills will have a roster exemption for Enemkpali, and won’t have to make an immediate decision. As the team decides what to do with the young defensive end, let’s check in on some other Bills-related items….

While Tyrod Taylor‘s base salary for this season is just $750K, he could earn up to another $3MM in playing-time and performance incentives if the Bills make the postseason, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. According to Rapoport, Taylor chose the Bills’ offer over one from the Broncos during the offseason, and was hoping he’d get one from the Eagles, but Philadelphia chose not to pursue him.
Bills head coach Rex Ryan said today that tight end MarQueis Gray may have a broken bone in his forearm, which would sideline him for a while, tweets Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News. We’ll see what Buffalo decides to do with Gray, if anything, after the club gets an official diagnosis.
Speaking of injuries, a weekend report indicated that running back LeSean McCoy would miss three to four weeks due to his hamstring issue. However, a source tells Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News (Twitter link) that McCoy’s recovery timetable isn’t set in stone: “[Hamstrings] are tricky. Could be less, could be more.”

LeSean McCoy To Miss 3-4 Weeks

October 4th, 2015 at 12:17pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Rookie running back Karlos Williams will shoulder the load in Buffalo for an extended period of time, as LeSean McCoy will miss an additional three-to-four weeks while dealing with his hamstring injury, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Per Garafolo, an MRI showed a new tear in McCoy’s hamstring, meaning he’ll be shelved for awhile longer.

McCoy originally suffered the injury during training camp in August, but he had been playing through the pain — albeit with mixed results — through the first three weeks of the season. As Garafolo notes, the recovery timeline is based on McCoy being fully healthy; presumably, if he’s willing to return at less than 100%, he could be back on the field a bit sooner. But for now, Williams, along with Anthony Dixon and Cierre Wood, will garner most of the carries for the Bills.

If McCoy does miss four weeks, he’d be absent for Buffalo’s games against the Giants, Titans, Bengals, and Jaguars. The Bills have a bye week following the Jacksonville contest, so a Week 9 return could make some sense for McCoy.

LeSean McCoy News & Rumors