HEADLINES

Charles Gaines

North Notes: Joe Thomas, Bengals, Peterson

November 10th, 2015 at 1:22pm CST by Luke Adams

We’re a full week removed from the trade deadline, but whispers about the blockbuster deal that didn’t get done on that day – Joe Thomas to the Broncos – continue to linger. For his part, Thomas today denied a weekend report suggesting he and/or his agent asked the Browns to explore the trade market for a possible deal.

“I’m not sure where that report came from, but I can say in no uncertain terms that I never asked the Browns for a trade, that I never talked to them about wanting to be traded, (nor) did any of my representatives talk to the Browns about wanting to be traded,” Thomas said today, per Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com. “From what I understand about how things went, the Browns were contacted by the Broncos and that’s where the trade came from.”

That weekend report also indicated that Thomas wanted the Broncos to guarantee his 2016 and 2017 salaries before agreeing to a deal, which the Browns star tackle also denied.

“The other thing I’m going to be very firm and make no qualms about is myself was never involved in any contract discussions with the Denver Broncos, my agent was never involved in any contract discussions, there was never any guaranteed money discussed,” Thomas said. “I was off the grid this weekend, so I was a little surprised to see (the report).”

Let’s round up a few more Tuesday notes from across the NFL’s North divisions….

  • The Browns will add running back Glenn Winston and cornerback Charles Gaines to their active roster at some point this week, according to head coach Mike Pettine (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal). Having cut linebacker Jayson DiManche and defensive back De’Ante Saunders yesterday, Cleveland shouldn’t need to make any other roster moves to accommodate the returning players.
  • A pair of Bengals players that opened the year on reserve lists returned to practice for the team today, according to Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. As Harvey notes, Cincinnati will now have a three-week window to decide whether or not to activate offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi (non-football injury list) and linebacker Sean Porter (physically unable to perform list).
  • As Joel Corry of CBSSports.com observes (via Twitter), Adrian Peterson needs at least 1,350 rushing yards and a Vikings playoff berth to keep his 2016 roster bonus from dropping by $2MM. While those may have seemed like tall orders before the season, Peterson – the league’s leading rusher – is currently on pace to exceed 1,500 yards, and Minnesota is tied for first place in the NFC North.

AFC Notes: Colts, Harvin, Jets, Browns

November 6th, 2015 at 6:10pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The 3-5 Colts, losers of three straight games and one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams, are a strong bet to drop their fourth consecutive contest this Sunday when they match up with the 7-0 Broncos. Their season has also gone poorly away from the field, as speculation regarding the statuses of beleaguered general manager Ryan Grigson and head coach Chuck Pagano has abounded and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton lost his job earlier this week.

Indy’s players – specifically team leaders Robert Mathis and D’Qwell Jackson – are cognizant of the organization’s off-field turmoil and called a meeting among themselves last week in an effort to galvanize each other. At the meeting, the players encouraged one another to ignore distractions coming from the front office and coaching staff, Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star reports. One issue players are unhappy with centers on the front office – not the coaching staff – making certain lineup decisions, a dysfunctional action that takes a significant amount of power from Pagano & Co.

Here’s more from the AFC:

  • Bills receiver Percy Harvin could end up on injured reserve with a knee injury, general manager Doug Whaley told The Buffalo News’ Vic Carucci (Twitter link). Harvin’s knee “flared up,” Whaley said (via Twitter). The seventh-year man has 19 catches on 30 targets this year. He has been out of the Bills’ lineup with injuries since mid-October.
  • Jets cornerback Dee Milliner is back to full health after undergoing wrist surgery during the summer, but the team is unlikely to activate him from short-term injured reserve for this weekend’s game against the Jaguars, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini (Twitter link). On why Milliner won’t be in the lineup, head coach Todd Bowles said (via Howie Kussoy of the New York Post), “It’s just a numbers thing.” If the Jets don’t activate Milliner by Tuesday, they’ll have to place him on season-ending IR.
  • Browns head coach Mike Pettine said cornerback Charles Gaines, who had been on short-term IR because of a hamstring injury, is likely to start playing soon (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal). Gaines, a sixth-round rookie out of Louisville, hasn’t appeared in an NFL game yet.
  • The Jets worked out two free agent receivers – LaRon Byrd and Damarr Aultman – on Friday, according to Cimini (Twitter link). Byrd is the only of the two who has seen action in the league, though it was for just four games back in 2012. He has one career catch.

Update On IR-DTR Players

November 2nd, 2015 at 10:31am CST by Luke Adams

We’re now through eight weeks of the NFL season, which means we’re approaching the year’s halfway point. It also means that players who were placed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return prior to the regular season are eligible to be activated and play in their respective teams’ next games.

Players placed on IR with the designation to return are eligible to begin practicing after six weeks, and can return to game action after eight weeks, so there are some IR-DTR players who have begun practicing already, and some of them could be activated for Week 9. Not every player will be healthy enough to return immediately now that they’ve become eligible to do so, but we should see at least a handful of the 10 players who have been on IR-DTR all year be activated to 53-man rosters in the coming days.

Here’s a breakdown of the 10 IR-DTR players eligible to be activated for Week 9:

  • Jay Ajayi, RB (Dolphins): Ajayi recently said that he’s back to full health, though the Dolphins may have a decision to make in their backfield if they decide to activate the rookie runner.
  • Alex Carter, CB (Lions): Carter is on track to begin practicing after the Lions’ Week 9 bye, and likely won’t be activated right away.
  • David Cobb, RB (Titans): Cobb is expected to be activated this week, and at least one Titans beat reporter believes the rookie is capable of earning a high percentage of the team’s carries.
  • Demar Dotson, T (Buccaneers): When he began practicing, Dotson admitted his injured knee wasn’t where he wanted it to be, but it sounds like he’s made enough progress to be activated this week.
  • Charles Gaines, CB (Browns): Gaines returned to practice when he was eligible to do so, and sounds like he’s eager to get back on Cleveland’s roster. If the Browns want him active for Week 9, they’ll have to make a move soon, since the team plays on Thursday this week.
  • Dee Milliner, CB (Jets): Head coach Todd Bowles said last week that he believes Milliner will be ready to play as soon as he becomes eligible, though he cautioned that the team will need to find room on the active roster.
  • Maurkice Pouncey, C (Steelers): There has been some speculation that Pouncey could be sidelined for the entire season, but head coach Mike Tomlin still expects his veteran center back this year. That likely won’t happen for a few more weeks though, since the initial diagnosis put Pouncey on track to be out until at least Week 12.
  • Bryan Stork, C (Patriots): The Patriots’ offensive line has been hit hard by injuries this season, so having to decide between Stork and David Andrews at center will be a welcome problem for the team. Stork appears on track to return in Week 9.
  • John Sullivan, C (Vikings): After suffering a setback and undergoing another surgical procedure, Sullivan won’t be back anytime soon, and may not play at all this season.
  • Brent Urban, DE (Ravens): Asked two weeks ago about Urban, head coach John Harbaugh said that the defensive end wasn’t practicing, adding that his recovery would probably take “a few more weeks.”

While these 10 players are the only ones on IR-DTR eligible to return in Week 9, there are 12 more who will gain eligibility in the coming weeks. The full list can be found right here.

Among those 12 other IR-DTR players, the most notable name is Tony Romo, who can’t play until Week 11. The Cowboys quarterback is eligible to begin practicing this week, but Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link) hears that won’t happen quite yet. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Romo is still on track to return to the field when he’s eligible for game action, but it makes sense to keep getting Matt Cassel first-team practice reps in the meantime.

PUP, NFI Players Soon Eligible To Practice

October 19th, 2015 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

Week 6 of the NFL season will come to an end after Monday night’s game between the Giants and Eagles, and when teams begin preparing for Week 7, many clubs could be welcoming injured players back to practice. Six weeks into the NFL season, players who were placed on the physically unable to perform list or the non-football injury list prior to Week 1’s games will be eligible to return to the practice field.

Of course, just because those players are able to return to practice doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be healthy enough to do so. Players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player currently on the PUP list could return to the field for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest.

The rules for NFI players are similar to those for PUP players. If a player on either reserve list doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, his 2015 season will officially be over.

Here are the players currently on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list who can begin practicing as soon as this Tuesday:

And here are the players currently on their teams’ non-football injury or illness lists, who are also eligible to begin practicing this Tuesday:

  • Arizona Cardinals: WR Damond Powell
  • Buffalo Bills: CB Leodis McKelvin
  • Cincinnati Bengals: T Cedric Ogbuehi
  • Cleveland Browns: DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, TE Randall Telfer, RB Glenn Winston
  • Dallas Cowboys: LB Mark Nzeocha
  • Houston Texans: T David Quessenberry
  • Kansas City Chiefs: QB Tyler Bray
  • San Francisco 49ers: WR DeAndre Smelter
  • Seattle Seahawks: DT Jesse Williams

In addition to monitoring players on the PUP and NFI lists, it’s worth keeping an eye on players who have been placed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Teams can use this IR-DTR spot on one player per season, placing him on the injured reserve list without necessarily ruling him out for the season. As we explained in an earlier post, players given this designation can begin practicing after six weeks and can return after eight weeks.

That means that a player who was placed on IR-DTR prior to Week 1 can begin practicing on Tuesday, though he won’t be eligible to return to game action until Week 9. A player who was placed on IR-DTR after Week 1 will have to wait until next Tuesday – October 27 – to return to practice, while other IR-DTR players will have to wait until November to practice.

Here’s the list of players currently on IR-DTR who can begin practicing as soon as Tuesday:

Browns Sign Austin Davis, Put Charles Gaines On IR-DTR

September 7th, 2015 at 12:12pm CST by Rob DiRe

MONDAY, 12:12pm: The Browns have officially announced their signing of Davis. To make room on the roster, the club used its injured reserve slot with the designation to return on rookie cornerback Charles Gaines. The sixth-rounder will now miss at least the first eight weeks of the club’s season.

SUNDAY, 10:10pm: Earlier today, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN opined that he would not be surprised if the Browns put in a waiver claim for recently released quarterback Austin Davis, given their current trouble at the position (via Twitter).

Fowler looks pretty smart now, as Davis is flying to Cleveland tonight to have a physical with the Browns sometime tomorrow (via Twitter). He is expected to sign with the Browns, assuming the team has an open roster spot for him.

Josh McCown is set to start the opener, but backup Johnny Manziel has experienced soreness in his elbow that has left the team uncertain about his health for the beginning of the season.

The team also just cut both players battling for the third-string role, in Pat Devlin and Thad Lewis. This was viewed as a sign Manziel would be healthy in time for the opener, but bringing in Davis throws even more uncertainty into his arm health.

Former quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who made the Browns as a wide receiver, could always be turned to in emergency situations if both McCown and Manziel become unavailable during a game.

Davis was the 29th ranked quarterback in 2014 according to Pro Football Focus, despite only throwing a pass in nine games last year. For the season he completed over 63% of his passes, with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions, amassing over 2,000 yards in the process. Respectable numbers for a little more than a half season with a weak Rams’ offense.

Davis could serve as the backup to McCown while Manziel gets healthy, and if he master’s the offensive scheme could definitely challange McCown for starting snaps. With two healthy quarterbacks, he would be a candidate to remain with the team on their practice squad is he isn’t claimed before passing through waivers.

The once undrafted Davis is in his third NFL season, after working his way up the roster for the Rams. His experience starting eight games makes him an ideal candidate for the depth chart, even if he is not active for games with a healthy Manziel.

He will have to pass his physical, and hope the team still has a roster spot open for him tomorrow.

Browns Sign Nine, Waive Four

May 11th, 2015 at 11:46am CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Browns have signed sixth-round cornerback Charles Gaines and eight players who tried out for them at their recent rookie camp, reports ESPN’s Pat McManamon (via Twitter). The list of tryout signings comes courtesy of Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link):

  • E.J. Bibbs, tight end, Iowa
  • Paul Browning, wide receiver, Colorado State-Pueblo
  • Landon Feichter, defensive back, Purdue
  • Kevin Haplea, tight end, Florida State
  • Darius Jennings, wide receiver, Virginia
  • Luke Lundy, running back, Ottawa
  • Rodman Noel, linebacker, North Carolina State
  • Brandon Stephens, defensive back, Miami (Ohio)

To make room for their newest players, the Browns cut kicker Garrett Hartley, wideout Phil Bates, cornerback Varmah Sonie, and defensive end Christian Tupou, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).

Dolphins Notes: Thomas, Draft, Trusnik

April 1st, 2015 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

Dolphins safety and special-teamer Michael Thomas met with coaches and formally signed his contract tender with the team this morning, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). There was no doubt that Thomas would be back, since he was an exclusive rights free agent and couldn’t negotiate with other teams, but he’s now officially under contract, and the club expects “big things” from him in 2015, says Beasley.

Here’s more on the Dolphins, courtesy of Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:

  • A team source tells Jackson that Auburn receiver Sammie Coates and USC wideout George Farmer are among the prospects being flown in to meet with Dolphins coaches and executives this month. Miami acquired Kenny Stills in a trade with the Saints last month, but Stills alone won’t replace Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, and Brandon Gibson, so the team remains in the market for receiving help.
  • Clemson outside linebacker Vic Beasley doesn’t look like a good bet to fall to the No. 14 pick, but the Dolphins have scheduled a visit with him anyway, says Jackson.
  • Miami’s Phillip Dorsett and Florida State’s Rashad Greene are among the receivers the Dolphins have invited to audition for them on their local day on April 10. According to Jackson, FSU tight end Nick O’Leary won’t be in attendance that day due to a scheduling conflict, but he’ll meet with team execs and coaches on April 9 instead.
  • Louisville cornerback Charles Gaines and Minnesota safety Cedric Thompson are among the defensive backs slated to visit the Dolphins, per Jackson. The club also intends to audition Miami middle linebacker Denzel Perryman, and sent linebackers coach Mark Duffner to Clemson to work out potential second-round pick Stephone Anthony.
  • According to Jackson, the Dolphins didn’t show any interest in retaining linebacker and special-teamer Jason Trusnik, who signed yesterday with the Panthers.