HEADLINES

49ers Place S Talanoa Hufanga On IR; K Jake Moody An IR Candidate

October 9th, 2024 at 3:43pm CST by Adam La Rose

OCTOBER 9: The 49ers are following through with an IR move for one of these regulars. Hufanga is heading back to IR, the team announced. Finishing last season sidelined due to an ACL tear, Hufanga is expected back this season. But the All-Pro safety will be shut down for at least four games. The 49ers signed tight end Brayden Willis from their practice squad to take Hufanga’s roster spot.

OCTOBER 8: Talanoa Hufanga has managed to make a pair of appearances this season for the 49ers, but his next game action will come after a notable absence. The All-Pro safety is dealing with ligament damage in his wrist, head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Tuesday.

[RELATED: 49ers Place Yetur Gross-Matos On IR]

As a result, Hufanga is facing an absence of roughly one month. A stint on injured reserve would ensure at least a four-game absence, making that a consideration in this case. Shanahan added (via Matt Barrows of The Athletic) the team has yet to decide if an IR stint will be in store.

In either case, today’s news is unwelcomed given Hufanga’s importance to the 49ers’ secondary and his missed time from last year. The 25-year-old suffered a torn ACL in November, limiting him to 10 regular season games and sidelining him for San Francisco’s run to the Super Bowl. Hufanga was activated from the PUP list at the end of the summer, though, making him eligible to play within the first four weeks of the campaign upon returning to practice.

The former fifth-rounder made his season debut in Week 3 before missing the following contest. Hufanga then suffered his latest injury early in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals, a game which dropped the 49ers’ record to 2-3. Rebounding from that poor start will be challenging as the team deals with several key absences on defense.

In other injury news, kicker Jake Moody – who is dealing with a high ankle sprain – is facing a similar recovery timeline, per Shanahan. He too could land on IR, something which would result in an extended audition period for the team’s new kicker. Matthew Wright is now in place as Moody’s replacement, having agreed to a practice squad deal earlier today.

The 49ers designated defensive tackle ​Kalia Davis for return from IR before the roster cutdown deadline. That move used one of their eight activations for the year (although Davis has not yet been brought back into the fold), with running back Christian McCaffrey, cornerback Ambry Thomas and Jon Feliciano all still on injured reserve. First-round rookie wideout Ricky Pearsall remains on the reserve/NFI list for now; all four members of that group will use up an activation once they are healthy. The 49ers must therefore be careful with IR designations moving forward, but one or both of Hufanga and Moody could be shelved for four games soon.

Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland Avoids ACL Tear, Expected To Return This Season

October 9th, 2024 at 1:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

OCTOBER 9: As could be expected, Kneeland is landing on IR. The Cowboys officially moved the rookie defensive end to the injured list Wednesday, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Considering the timetable here, Kneeland being off Dallas’ 53-man roster makes sense. He and Lawrence’s timetables point to returns sometime in November.

OCTOBER 7: Managing to beat the Steelers despite missing their top four defensive ends, the Cowboys also received word the most recent of those injuries — to rookie Marshawn Kneeland — is not as severe as initial fears indicated.

Carted off early in Dallas’ Sunday-night win, Kneeland did not sustain an ACL tear. The second-round pick is expected to return later this season, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Kneeland will miss time, however, as he suffered a partially torn lateral meniscus. A surgery is on tap, but this damage will not re-route the promising player on the level an ACL tear would have.

Kneeland is not undergoing a full meniscus repair, Rapoport adds, as that would sideline the Western Michigan alum for the season’s remainder. Rather, this is a meniscus trim. An IR move may still be in the cards, but it would be of the IR-return variety.IR probably will be the course the Cowboys take, as ESPN.com’s Todd Archer notes this procedure will lead to a four- to six-week recovery timetable.

The Cowboys have DeMarcus Lawrence on IR, though he is expected back while Sam Williams is out for the season due to the ACL tear he sustained this summer. Micah Parsons is week to week with his high ankle sprain, creating significant issues for Mike Zimmer‘s unit.

Down Parsons and Lawrence for the Pittsburgh matchup, Dallas opted for a low-key reinforcement strategy. The team added K.J. Henry off the Bengals’ practice squad. Chauncey Golston started opposite Kneeland, while Tyrus Wheat and Carl Lawson played regularly following Kneeland’s injury. Parsons has not been ruled out for Week 6, but with Dallas’ bye coming in Week 7, the team opting for caution regarding its best player would make sense.

Expected to mix in behind Parsons, Lawrence and Williams, Kneeland came to Dallas after meeting with roughly half the NFL on “30” visits. Tallying low sack totals at Western Michigan (fewer than five in each of his four seasons at the MAC program), Kneeland nevertheless impressed on the pre-draft circuit. He tallied 26 tackles for loss from 2021-23 and became a more prominent Cowboys piece following Williams’ injury.

It will be interesting to see how the Cowboys go about replacing their latest injured D-end cog, but Kneeland and Lawrence’s return windows are comparable. A Lisfranc injury will sideline Lawrence between four and eight weeks. It is possible Parsons will have both his sidekicks back at some point in November. Absent a Parsons return in Week 6, the Cowboys will need to get by — absent a higher-profile acquisition — with a skeleton crew against the Lions.

Cowboys Open Practice Window For DaRon Bland

October 9th, 2024 at 12:33pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Cowboys have opened the 21-day practice window for All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland, who started the regular season on injured reserve after a training camp foot fracture that required surgery, per ESPN’s Todd Archer.

Bland was designated to return when he was originally placed on injured reserve during final roster cuts, so the Cowboys still have seven return designations remaining for their injury-ravaged roster.

[RELATED: Injured Reserve Return Tracker]

Rookie Caelen Carson started the Cowboys’ first three games, but struggles against the Saints and the Ravens in back-to-back weeks led to his benching, with Andrew Booth and Amani Oruwariye starting in Week 4 and 5, respectively.

The Cowboys will be hoping Bland can make a sooner-than-expected return to the field opposite Trevon Diggs with their pass rush depleted with injuries to Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Marshawn Kneeland. At 3-2, Dallas sit second in the NFC East behind the Commanders with matchups against the Lions, 49ers, and Falcons in their next three games.

The Cowboys do have a Week 7 bye, so they will monitor Bland’s progress carefully to determine if he needs the extra time to get fully healthy. The sooner he can get back, the better for a Dallas defense that ranks 23rd in points allowed this season, though their primary weakness has been against the run. Still, Bland led the NFL with nine interceptions in 2023 – five of which he returned for touchdowns, an NFL record – and he would significantly shore up the Cowboys’ cornerback play after rotating through three backups to start the year.

Titans Bring Back QB Trevor Siemian

October 9th, 2024 at 12:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

As Will Levis grapples with an AC joint sprain, the Titans are turning to one of their former backups as an insurance option. Trevor Siemian is back with the team.

Siemian, the Broncos’ initial post-Peyton Manning starter, has become a journeyman in the years since his 2018 Denver exit. One of the former seventh-round pick’s career stops came in Tennessee, with the Titans rostering him as a Ryan Tannehill backup from 2019-20.

Initially adding Siemian during training camp in 2019, the Titans kept him around as a reserve behind Tannehill and Marcus Mariota. Siemian stayed in 2020, as Mariota left for Las Vegas, but ended that season with the Saints. Siemian, 32, has since bounced around in a career that has also overlapped with new Titans HC Brian Callahan. Siemian spent a few months of the 2023 offseason with the Bengals, who ended up cutting him after the preseason last year.

This is a practice squad agreement. The Titans, who traded Malik Willis months after signing Mason Rudolph, have two active-roster QBs: Levis and Rudolph. The latter would start if Levis’ shoulder injury keeps him out. Callahan has insisted Levis remains his starter, despite the second-year QB’s early-season struggles. If Levis is out, however, Siemian would stand to be a gameday elevation for Week 6.

Siemian has made 33 career starts. Three of those came for the Jets last season. The Jets had brought in Siemian on a practice squad deal shortly after Aaron Rodgers‘ Achilles tear. Gang Green took heat for not having a better backup plan than Zach Wilson, but after Wilson returned to action following the third and final benching of his Jets career, a concussion ended his season. Siemian stepped in and finished the year as the team’s starter. He completed just 56.2% of his passes, at only 4.7 yards per attempt, but went 2-1 as a starter.

The Saints also used Siemian as a four-game starter, back in 2021, while the Bears turned to him to close out the 2022 season (to seal the 2023 No. 1 overall pick they then traded). For his career, the Northwestern alum has been with seven teams. This marks his second reunion, as the Jets had also rostered Siemian earlier in his career.

Additionally, the Titans added signed tackle Leroy Watson from their practice squad. Watson, whom the Titans acquired from the Browns this offseason, played under Bill Callahan in Cleveland. Watson has not played this season, failing to make Tennessee’s 53-man roster in August, but TitanInsider.com’s Terry McCormick notes he could split reps with Nicholas Petit-Frere this week at right tackle. Petit-Frere won that post out of training camp and has started all four Titans games, but Pro Football Focus ranks him 59th among tackles this season.

Ravens Reunite With Ex-DC Dean Pees In Advisory Role

October 9th, 2024 at 12:13pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Former Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees is returning to Baltimore as a senior advisor to current defensive coordinator Zach Orr, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.

“He’s a guy who knows me as a person, knows the system, knows the culture here,” Orr said. “He’s a Raven.”

Orr told Zrebiec that he stayed in contact through the season and recently reached out to bring on his former coach in an advisory role. “Ultimately, all I care about is us performing the best we can to help us win,” Orr continued.

Pees will enter a unique situation in which he advises a defensive coordinator he used to oversee as a player. Pees was Baltimore’s defensive coordinator when Orr signed with the Ravens as an undrafted rookie in 2014. Pees coached Orr to a second-team All-Pro selection in 2016 before a congenital spine condition forced the linebacker to retire.

Now, Pees will take on an advisory role to his former player, who has fielded the league’s best rushing defense while allowing the second-most passing yards of any defense. The Ravens are coming off a Week 5 shootout in which the defense was torched by Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins to the tune of 392 passing yards and five touchdowns.

Pees has coached in the NFL for 18 years, starting as linebackers coach under Bill Belichick in New England in 2004. John Harbaugh then hired Pees for the same role in Baltimore before promoting him to defensive coordinator in 2012. Pees led the defense to a Super Bowl victory in his first year calling plays and remained with the Ravens until his retirement in January 2018.

Pees’ retirement lasted just 28 days before he was hired by the Titans as defensive coordinator under Mike Vrabel, a position he held for two years before his second retirement in January 2020. This time, Pees stayed away from the NFL for a year before taking the Falcons’ defensive coordinator position under Arthur Smith. He then retired for the third time in January 2023, but could not turn down the opportunity to return to Baltimore, reunite with Orr, and help coach the Ravens’ talented defense.

Lions Could Lose Derrick Barnes For Rest Of Season

October 9th, 2024 at 11:45am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Lions could be playing the rest of the 2024 without inside linebacker Derrick Barnes, who was placed on injured reserve after a knee injury in Week 3.

“I think we will be fortunate to get him at any point this year,” said head coach Dan Campbell on Monday, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I don’t want to say it’s not going to happen, but I think we would be pretty fortunate if it does.”

The Lions have been evaluating Barnes’ knee he sustained the injury in Week 3 to decide if the fourth-year linebacker will require surgery. While no determination has been made, Campbell’s comments indicate that Barnes will need a lengthy recovery period, surgery or not.

2022 sixth-rounder and former Hard Knocks fan favorite Malcolm Rodriguez has taken over Barnes’ spot in Detroit’s defense, recording 10 tackles and a sack across Weeks 3 and 4. Rodriguez will look to further solidify his starting role after the Lions’ Week 5 bye in their upcoming matchup with the Cowboys.

The Lions did get some positive injury updates this week with center Frank Ragnow and safety Brian Branch both returning to practice after one-game absences. Detroit’s bye week gave both players additional time to get healthy: Ragnow from a partially-torn pectoral muscle and Branch from an illness. Both players are key starters for the Lions, who had to shuffle on both sides of the ball in Week 4.

Robert Saleh Not Planning To Join Another Coaching Staff In 2024

October 9th, 2024 at 11:07am CST by Nikhil Mehta

Despite calls from 49ers fans who want Robert Saleh to return to San Francisco, the now-fired Jets coach has no intention of taking another coaching job during the 2024 season, per Michael Silver of The San Francisco Chronicle.

Instead, Saleh is going on vacation with his family before preparing for the 2025 NFL hiring cycle, when he should be a popular candidate for teams in need of a new defensive coordinator. The Jets’ defense has consistently been one of the best in the league since Saleh’s arrival in 2021, ranking in the top three of points per drive, EPA per play, and success rate allowed, according to ESPN’s Benjamin Solak. That followed a strong stretch as defensive coordinator of the 49ers from 2017 to 2020, which earned Saleh the gig in New York.

Saleh’s firing was so sudden that he did not get a chance to meet with his players before he left the building, per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz. However, Saleh’s departure from the building has, to a degree, been blown out of proportion by rampant speculation. He was not physically ejected from the Jets’ facility, merely escorted out by security in a common corporate practice, according to Peter Schrager of NFL Network.

Saleh’s defensive pedigree could likely land him a position with another NFL team this season if he wanted it, with the Texans (who employ ex-Saleh staffer DeMeco Ryans as HC) also looming as a natural fit. But the three-plus-year Jets HC seems content to collect the remainder of his 2024 salary from the Jets as he contemplates his future. One year remains on Saleh’s Jets contract, a five-year deal that ended up producing a 20-36 record.

NFL Places Patriots S Jabrill Peppers On Commissioner’s Exempt List

October 9th, 2024 at 10:11am CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL will use its commissioner’s exempt list to sideline Jabrill Peppers. After an arrest near Boston over the weekend, the veteran Patriots safety is officially on paid leave, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets.

Not only is Peppers barred from Patriots games, he is ineligible to practice while on the list. This marks the second usage of the commissioner’s exempt list this season, following Browns rookie defensive lineman Michael Hall.

Peppers was hit with charges of assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation and the possession of a class B substance. He is accused of choking a woman and shoving her head against a wall outside his Braintree, Mass., apartment, the Boston Globe’s John Ellement, Christopher Price and Camilio Fonseca report. Identifying herself as Peppers’ on-and-off girlfriend, the woman said the DB “took off her clothing and put her outside” his apartment.

Peppers pleaded not guilty to each of the charges and was released on bail, according to the Globe. The arrest occurred shortly after Peppers’ 29th birthday. The unnamed woman said she Peppers were “being intimate when her phone rang,” angering the veteran defender. The woman then accused Peppers of pushing her out of his bedroom. This led to Peppers allegedly pushing the woman down a flight of carpeted stairs in a hallway, according to the Globe.

Peppers denies he choked or pushed the woman, telling police she “appeared to be drunk” and acted erratically, blaming this for her fall down the stairs. Police did not smell alcohol on her breath, per the Globe. The woman declined to be hospitalized, but paramedics provided her an icepack. Police observed scratches on her knees and indicated redness on the right side of her forehead, according to the Globe, which adds a police search of Peppers’ apartment produced a bag Peppers allegedly confirmed was cocaine. Peppers soon informed Patriots HC Jerod Mayo of the development.

The Patriots took the atypical step, for a home team, of downgrading Peppers from questionable to out the day before their Week 5 Dolphins matchup. While Peppers is out of the picture for the time being, he is tied to a recently signed extension (three years, $24MM). The 2025 guarantees on that contract ($2.5MM of the safety’s $4.5MM base salary) are at risk. A personal conduct policy suspension can still come out of this arrest, despite Peppers being placed on the exempt list. Hall was hit with a five-game ban upon his reinstatement.

Texans Place Nico Collins On Injured Reserve

October 9th, 2024 at 9:33am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Texans have placed wide receiver Nico Collins on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury suffered in Houston’s Week 5 win over the Bills, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

His absence will be a blow to the Texans offense, but Collins is expected to be back “sooner, rather than later,” according to Rapoport.

Collins is the NFL’s leading receiver with 567 yards through five weeks despite going down in the first quarter last week. Now, he’ll be sidelined until at least Week 9, depriving Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud of his most efficient and explosive offensive weapons.

Houston will lean on its receiver depth to withstand Collins’ absence, starting with offseason acquisition Stefon Diggs. The former Bill started out slow with 70 yards through two games, but he’s averaged 85 yards per game in Weeks 3 to 5 as his chemistry with Stroud improves. He will have to keep up the pace to help replace some of Collins’ production.

The Texans will also be hoping that second-year wideout Tank Dell can recapture some of his explosive rookie form now that he is recovered from the fractured fibula that ended his 2023 season and an offseason shooting. He is only averaging 34.3 yards per game after posting nearly double that last season, which is partially due to Collins’ emergence as an alpha and the arrival of Diggs. Dell could also be dealing with some physical limitations from his fibula surgery; Tony Pollard and Mark Andrews suffered similar injuries in recent years and had to work back up to their Pro Bowl level of play.

Collins’ injury could also mean more opportunities for third-year receiver John Metchie, who sat out his rookie year after a leukemia diagnosis. Metchie has been unable to carve out a role in the Texans offense since returning to the field in 2023, catching just 16 of his 30 targets for 158 yards. He has just one catch for seven yards in 2024 after watching the first three weeks from the sidelines as a healthy scratch. While the Texans are likely to rely on veteran Robert Woods as a known quantity and strong run-blocker, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik could take the opportunity to expand Metchie’s role and help him find his footing in the NFL.

The Texans signed tight end Teagan Quitoriano off the Bears’ practice squad to fill Collins’ spot on the 53-man roster, per Rapoport. Quitoriano was originally a Texans fifth-round pick in 2022 but struggled to stay healthy across his first two seasons. A preseason calf injury ultimately led to Quitoriano’s before the start of the regular season, and the Bears signed him to their practice squad a few weeks later. Now, Quitoriano will return to Houston after his brief stint in Chicago where he will take up a depth tight end role in the Texans’ offense.

Raiders To Relaunch QB Competition

October 9th, 2024 at 9:20am CST by Sam Robinson

After benching Gardner Minshew in two of their past three games, the Raiders are now planning to make the veteran reclaim the job via a competition with backup Aidan O’Connell.

The QBs’ latest battle will take place in practice this week, The Athletic’s Vic Tafur notes. This marks another chapter in a long-running matchup to determine which quarterback is Las Vegas’ better stopgap option, as ties to 2025 draft prospects are undoubtedly coming soon. For now, the Raiders will need to again pick Minshew or O’Connell, the team’s options after six quarterbacks went off this year’s draft board before the team’s No. 13 overall pick.

Antonio Pierce put a temporary halt to speculation he would bench Minshew, but after Patrick Surtain‘s 100-yard pick-six keyed a Broncos blowout that featured a second Minshew interception, the Vegas HC has not provided the sixth-year veteran any assurances the job is still his for the team’s Week 6 matchup against the Steelers. O’Connell, the team’s starter for the second half of last season, may soon have his latest chance.

Although O’Connell also tossed an interception to Surtain in the Raiders’ 34-18 loss, one of Pierce’s first decisions as interim HC was to install him as QB1. The Raiders benched Jimmy Garoppolo shortly after firing Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler last year, and the fourth-round pick started every game during Pierce’s interim period. O’Connell also was believed to have a leg up on Minshew during the passers’ offseason competition, but Pierce cited the veteran as the better option to help the team start strong. Despite a road win over the Ravens, the Raiders have been unable to establish consistent offense with Minshew at the controls.

Minshew ranks 27th in QBR, representing a steep fall from his Colts finish (13th) last season. Minshew commanded a two-year, $25MM deal this offseason — a pact that led all non-Kirk Cousins FA passers in this class — but became insurance in the event the Raiders did not draft a passer this year. Minshew has 42 career starts on his resume but may well be headed back to the bench, as it would be interesting if Pierce benched the incumbent twice only to like his most recent practice work and keep the status quo in place. O’Connell has completed just 57% of his passes, at 5.5 yards per attempt, in relief duty this season.

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