HEADLINES

Chuck Pagano

AFC South Notes: Pagano, Colts, Titans

December 29th, 2015 at 8:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Head coach Chuck Pagano turned down a one-year extension from Colts owner Jim Irsay in the offseason that included a modest raise but he says that he has no regrets about that, as Amanda Rakes of CBS4 writes.

Pagano has had a rough year with Andrew Luck sidelined for a good portion of the season, but his ground-and-pound method hasn’t worked either, as Indianapolis is tied for 30th in both rushing yards (1,211) and per-carry average (3.6). The Colts have also been dismal through the air, coming in at 31st in yards per attempt (6.4) and 29th in rating (77.6).

Here’s more from out of the AFC South:

  • It’s hard to pin down what Irsay’s offseason plans are for the Colts, but fans shouldn’t necessarily bet on general manager Ryan Grigson being let go, says Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.
  • A general manager change could be in the works in Tennessee, so Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com identifies some potential GM candidates the Titans could consider if they move on from Ruston Webster.
  • Veteran safety Michael Griffin has spent nine years and 140 games with the Titans, but with his cap hit set to increase to $8.3MM in 2016, the second-highest charge on the team, he knows that his future in Tennessee is uncertain. Griffin spoke to Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com about his situation, acknowledging that “there’s never a guarantee for next year.”
  • If the Titans don’t re-sign Byron Bell, they could decide to select a tackle with their first overall pick, speculates Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Tennessee can secure the No. 1 pick with a Week 17 loss.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

AFC Notes: Pagano, Manning, Jets

December 26th, 2015 at 5:47pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

A look around the AFC:

  • One of the reasons for the Colts’ offensive decline this season is head coach Chuck Pagano‘s mentality, a source told Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. Pagano prefers a run-first, ball-control attack rather than a high-flying approach – a 180 in attitude for a team that led the NFL in passing yards in 2014. With Indianapolis having been without quarterback Andrew Luck for a large chunk of the year, it’s hard to fault Pagano for shying away from the passing game. However, his ground-and-pound method hasn’t worked, as Indy is tied for 30th in both rushing yards (1,211) and per-carry average (3.6). The Colts have also been dismal through the air, coming in at 31st in yards per attempt (6.4) and 29th in rating (77.6).
  • Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak took in Peyton Manning‘s workout Saturday and subsequently offered some encouraging words on his injured quarterback. “It went really well,” Kubiak said, per Mike Klis of 9News. “He had a good week, worked really hard this morning. Well, he worked every morning, but worked out really hard this morning conditioning-wise and throwing-wise.” Manning, who hasn’t played since mid-November because of a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot, will miss the Broncos’ key game Monday against Cincinnati. There’s a small chance he could be healthy enough to play in Denver’s regular-season finale on Jan. 3. Of course, even if the 39-year-old is ready to come back by then or during the playoffs, there’s no guarantee he’ll take the starting job back from Brock Osweiler.
  • The Jets will have important decisions to make over the next couple offseasons regarding three members of their dominant defensive line. Both Muhammad Wilkerson and Damon Harrison are free agents at the end of the season, and Sheldon Richardson‘s contract is up after the 2016 campaign. Don’t be surprised if all three are Jets for at least one more year, ESPN’s Rich Cimini writes. Cimini expects Wilkerson to get the franchise tag, while he believes the team could lock up Harrison to a long-term deal worth roughly $4.5MM per annum. If the Jets enable Harrison to hit the open market, he’s likely to head elsewhere. Richardson has been mentioned in the past as a trade candidate, but the Jets are unlikely to move him because of his off-field legal issues. He could start next season suspended for as many as six games, which would significantly damage his trade value and deter the Jets from dealing him.

Sunday Roundup: Cowboys, RGIII, Pagano

December 20th, 2015 at 12:52pm CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at some links from around the league while waiting for the murky playoff picture to begin to sort itself out:

  • Although Kellen Moore did not exactly set the world ablaze in the Cowboys‘ loss to the Jets last night, he nearly helped his team to an upset victory and demonstrated that he is a better option than Matt Cassel moving forward. However, as ESPN’s Todd Archer writes, head coach Jason Garrett is as yet unwilling to name Moore the starter for the final two games of the season. The Cowboys will need to address the backup quarterback situation behind Tony Romo next year, and it makes sense for the club to at least see what it has in Moore.
  • Last night’s loss officially eliminated the Cowboys from playoff contention, so owner Jerry Jones expects the team to put Romo on injured reserve, according to Charen Williams of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).
  • Washington has made it clear that it is ready to move on from Robert Griffin III, but Ian Rapoport (article via Conor Orr of NFL.com) identifies a number of teams that may be interested in RGIII. That list includes the Cowboys, Eagles, Texans, and Saints (or whichever team happens to employ Sean Payton).
  • While Chuck Pagano‘s future in Indianapolis is still very much up in the air, if the Colts do decide to part ways with him, Rapoport says that he would immediately become one of the most sought-after head coaching candidates in the league. Although Pagano has previously said the Colts job would be his last coaching gig, there will apparently be no shortage of teams trying to change his mind.
  • Although things could change in the next several weeks, Mark Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com suggests that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is growing increasingly weary of his team’s performance and could be leaning towards a “clean sweep” that would see both head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer lose their jobs. We had previously heard that one of Farmer or Pettine would be fired, but not both.
  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the NFL-to-Los Angeles process is getting uglier by the minute, with “members of the league’s Los Angeles committee making promises to St. Louis in an effort to keep the Rams there and publicly trashing San Diego in an effort to get the Chargers out.” Florio suggests one way to placate all parties involved may be to have Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Rams owner Stan Kroenke swap their franchises, much like the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams were swapped in 1972. The entire article is worth reading, and although Florio concedes it is something of an outlandish idea, he suggests it could gain traction as we get closer to the critical owners meetings in January. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, however, was quick to throw cold water on that notion (via Twitter).
  • According to Rapoport (via Twitter) Leonard Hankerson, who was claimed by the Patriots this week, was released by the Falcons off the injured reserve list when he told Atlanta that he was healthy and wanted to be cut. The Falcons obliged, and now Hankerson is suited up for New England this afternoon.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com looks at the 2016 class of free agent cornerbacks.

Cole’s Latest: Coughlin, Pagano, Chargers, Rams

December 7th, 2015 at 4:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we rounded up several items related to head coaches whose jobs may be in jeopardy as the season nears an end. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report has provided a few updates on that topic as well, discussing a couple of the coaches we mentioned earlier, as well as a couple others. Here’s the latest:

  • The Giants aren’t likely to fire head coach Tom Coughlin before the end of the season, but they certainly could consider at after the season if they miss the playoffs, says Cole (video link). However, Cole cautions that the franchise has very specific qualifications in mind for its head coach, including a proven ability to deal with the pressure and attention that comes with working in New York. If the Giants don’t have strong potential candidates in mind that fit that bill, they may think twice about letting go of Coughlin.
  • The Colts’ defense allowed the Steelers to put up 45 points on Sunday, just over a year after letting Pittsburgh score 51 on them. That sort of repeat performance is a bad sign and could spark major changes for the team, according to Cole (video link). Although Cole suggests that Chuck Pagano is back on the hot seat, I’d expect the club to wait and see how the season finishes before making any decisions there — a playoff berth and a postseason win or two would make it a tough call. If Indianapolis misses the playoffs, it’s much harder to imagine Pagano keeping his job.
  • While Chargers head coach Mike McCoy and Rams head coach Jeff Fisher are both on the hot seat in their respective cities, there’s a scenario in which one or both coaches could keep their jobs for another year or two. As Cole explains (video link), the transition period if either of those franchises moves to Los Angeles in 2016 will be a rocky one, with the new L.A. team(s) playing in a temporary stadium for a couple seasons. As such, those clubs may be more inclined to hang onto their current coaches, perhaps putting off a change in a year or two and then making a new hire as excitement for that new stadium starts to build. I’m not sure I buy that theory, for a number of reasons, and Cole himself acknowledges that it’s one possible outcome, but perhaps not the most likely one.

AFC Notes: Osweiler, Manning, Dennard, Hoyer

November 23rd, 2015 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

After picking up a victory in his first career start on Sunday, Brock Osweiler will face a tougher test in Week 12. As first reported by Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link) and since confirmed by head coach Gary Kubiak, Osweiler will make another start for the Broncos next Sunday against the undefeated Patriots.

While Osweiler prepares to start a second consecutive game, Peyton Manning is in Charlotte, getting a second opinion on his foot injury, tweets Mike Klis of 9News. Multiple reports on Sunday suggested that the future Hall-of-Famer is considering playing one more season, assuming he can get healthy, but Kubiak denied those rumors, suggesting today that Manning is focused solely on his recovery, rather than on 2016 (Twitter link via Troy Renck of the Denver Post).

Let’s check in on some other items from across the AFC….

  • The Bengals‘ fears on cornerback Darqueze Dennard were confirmed by an MRI today, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who tweets that Dennard requires shoulder surgery and will be out for the rest of the season. Cincinnati should be able to overcome losing the 2014 first-rounder, since he was only serving as the club’s No. 4 corner in recent weeks.
  • Schefter also passes along the latest on the Texans‘ quarterback situation, with head coach Bill O’Brien announcing on ESPN’s NFL Insiders that Brian Hoyer will return to action in Week 12 (Twitter link). That may spell the end of Brandon Weeden‘s time in Houston, unless the team moves forward with three quarterbacks on its roster.
  • In the wake of Quinton Coples‘ release, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets that it was “well known around the league” that the Jets had the linebacker on the trade block for most of 2015. Obviously, there were no takers prior to the deadline, which doesn’t bode particularly well for Coples’ odds of being claimed on waivers. Meanwhile, head coach Todd Bowles hinted today that he has a player – possibly a kick returner – in mind for Coples’ old roster spot (Twitter link via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com).
  • It wasn’t that long ago that it seemed like Colts head coach Chuck Pagano could be fired any day. While he’s still no lock to keep his job beyond the 2015 season, Pagano has his team believing in him, as Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star details.

South Notes: Campbell, A. Johnson, Panthers

November 12th, 2015 at 7:04pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts tried to get Jason Campbell to sign on as Matt Hasselbeck‘s temporary backup, but the veteran quarterback declined. In an interview with ESPN 980, Campbell explained that he’s busy pursuing other opportunities and spending time with his family.

“I’m trying to follow my university a little bit, trying to figure out what it is that I want to get into next as far as TV or radio,” Campbell said (via Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post). “And the most important thing for me is just spending some family time. You’re playing football for so many years — you’re always gone, you’re always on the road, doing different things, and you never get a chance to spend that time with your family. And you look up, and 10 years have went by. Your nephews aren’t three no more; they’re 13. Your parents have gotten older. So the older you get, you seem to realize how much time is valuable, especially spending that time with the ones that you love.”

Even though Campbell is only 33 (34 next month), it sounds like there’s a chance he’ll never make a return to the NFL. Here’s more out of the AFC and NFC South:

  • Andre Johnson was expected to be the Colts‘ No. 2 receiver behind T.Y. Hilton when he inked a three-year, $21MM deal in the offseason. So far, he hasn’t done much on the stat sheet, but the veteran isn’t the least bit upset about it, as Mike Wells of ESPN.com writes. “I think now people are so caught up in fantasy football,” Johnson said. “We hear it all the time. [Fans] get upset with you when you don’t catch a pass. People can say whatever they want or feel however they want to feel. I sleep good at night. I’m not really caught up with people have to say. I’ve had a great career. I’ve got a lot of passes and gained a lot of yards. I don’t really get caught up in what the outside people have to say.”
  • During an appearance on Mad Dog Sports Radio, longtime Indianapolis journalist Bob Kravitz expressed his belief that Nick Saban may be a top target for Colts owner Jim Irsay if the team decides to move on from Chuck Pagano in the coming months. Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk has the details, along with the quotes from Kravitz.
  • The Panthers were panned by many for not taking a left tackle in the draft and instead signing Michael Oher in free agency. As David Newton of ESPN.com writes, even though Oher hasn’t been a world beater this season, he has done a solid job of doing what he was signed to do — protecting Cam Newton. Recently, coach Ron Rivera commented that Oher has brought stability to a position that has been in flux since Jordan Gross retired after the 2013 season. In Sunday’s win over Green Bay, Oher didn’t allow a pressure or a sack and got a positive grade of 2.0 for pass protection from Pro Football Focus.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Colts Notes: Luck, Pagano, Hasselbeck

November 10th, 2015 at 8:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, the Colts announced that quarterback Andrew Luck will be sidelined for the next two to six weeks due to a lacerated kidney and a partial tear of an abdominal muscle. The Colts know who the primary fill-in will be, but who will back up Matt Hasselbeck? Here’s more on that and other items out of Indianapolis..

  • The Colts are going to need another quarterback on the roster now that Luck is sidelined and Josh Johnson isn’t available for another tour of duty, Mike Florio of PFT writes. Right now, Hasselbeck is the only other QB on the 53-man roster, though they could promote Alex Tanney from the taxi squad. If they look out of house, options might include Ryan Mallett, Jason Campbell, and Rex Grossman. The Cowboys also released quarterback Kellen Moore on Tuesday night, so he might also be a consideration.
  • Colts management is still concerned with coach Chuck Pagano and his decision-making, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) reports. The Colts topped the Broncos on Sunday, but a special teams mistake allowed Denver to return a punt for a touchdown at the end of the first half. Still, Pagano remains very popular with the players in the locker room.
  • Many are wondering when Luck will return to the Colts, but Gregg Doyel of the Indy Star is worried about the QB’s long-term future with the team. Luck could theoretically become a free agent as early as 2017, Doyel points out, though that doesn’t mean much as the Colts are armed with the franchise tag. Doyel’s concern is that the Colts have not been adequately protecting their franchise quarterback who has missed multiple games due to injury in 2015. From 2012-2014, when the offensive line was stronger overall, Luck was an iron man for Indianapolis.

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.

La Canfora’s Latest: Colts, Texans, Trades

November 1st, 2015 at 9:02am CST by Sam Robinson

With 2015 shaping up to be Chuck Pagano‘s last in Indianapolis, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com writes, the Miami Hurricanes job could be in play for the fourth-year coach.

The rest of the Colts‘ staffers are set for an uncertain future, with Jim Irsay considering changes after the thus-far-underwhelming team’s Week 10 bye.

Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton‘s job is on the line. Pagano, per La Canfora, wanted associate head coach Rob Chudzinski to run the offense, and longtime organizational staffer Clyde Christensen also looms as an OC candidate in the event Pagano’s preferences are no longer relevant.

Pagano’s Miami connection stems from being the Hurricanes’ secondary coach from 1995-2000.

Irsay hopes to lure a top head-coaching candidate to Indianapolis next year, and that would mean GM Ryan Grigson would almost certainly be shown the door, the CBS reporter notes.

Here are some additional notes from La Canfora on Week 8 Sunday.

  • The schism that formed in Houston recently between Bill O’Brien and GM Rick Smith regarding now-ex-Texans quarterback Ryan Mallett will lead to a change in the organization’s power structure, La Canfora reports. The ninth-year GM could see a reassignment if O’Brien is to assume more control, as he’s used to the head coach having from his years with the Patriots. The present setup involves both O’Brien and Smith reporting to owner Bob McNair separately, and McNair doesn’t see that as a sustainable model in light of the Mallett incident. It’s caused a divide within the organization, sources told La Canfora. “It’s gone from a slow drip to a waterfall,” a team source told the CBS scribe, describing the rift that’s become off-putting for McNair.
  • Matt Forte and Brian Cushing are available for trades, La Canfora notes, mentioning the Bears, Texans and 49ers as the teams most likely to operate as sellers in advance of the Nov. 3 trade deadline. The 49ers have also entertained teams’ interest on offensive lineman Alex Boone and have fielded calls on Vernon Davis. The Seahawks are a team that is willing to trade a depth piece to acquire an offensive lineman to help fix their biggest issue, La Canfora reports. The Ravens and Chargers, despite carrying 11 losses between them, are viewed as being more hesitant to sell off veterans.

Coaching Rumors: Dolphins, Pagano, Texans

October 27th, 2015 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

A report this weekend indicated that Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley is expected to receive consideration in the offseason for the Dolphins‘ head coaching job. However, asked if there’s any truth to those Haley rumors, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) replied, “None.”

It isn’t the first time that Salguero has shot down a Dolphins-related report from La Canfora — during the 2014 offseason, La Canfora reported that the club was exploring trades involving players like Mike Wallace and Dion Jordan, which Salguero’s sources emphatically denied. It’s not entirely clear if the team was indeed considering deals back then, but the Dolphins ultimately traded Wallace a year later, and probably wish they had moved Jordan as well.

In this case, the performance of the Dolphins and interim coach Dan Campbell down the stretch will play a significant role in what candidates Miami considers after the season — if the club continues to look as good as it has in Campbell’s first two games, it’s hard not to imagine the team hiring him on a full-time basis.

Here are a few more coaching notes and rumors from around the NFL:

  • While Chuck Pagano‘s job in Indianapolis isn’t totally safe, it’s highly unlikely that the Colts will make a change this week, tweets Bob Kravitz of WTHR.com. Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star is skeptical that firing Pagano is the answer to turning things around for the Colts.
  • If the Colts do decide to make an in-season change, that move is most likely to happen during the club’s Week 10 bye, says Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Cole identifies offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, assistant head coach Rob Chudzinski, and quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen as the four in-house candidates to replace Pagano.
  • In the wake of Monday’s report that head coach Bill O’Brien and general manager Rick Smith disagreed on whether Ryan Mallett should be cut, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk examines the Texans‘ organizational structure, suggesting that it will likely continue to cause problems. In Smith’s view, it may be time for either the head coach or GM – or both – to go. For what it’s worth, following Mallett’s release today, Tania Ganguil of ESPN.com tweeted that Rick Smith was always on board with the decision, but disagreed about the timing of the move, which would’ve left the team with just one active veteran quarterback.
  • The Lions‘ firing of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi should officially put head coach Jim Caldwell on notice, writes Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com.
  • The Eagles are almost certainly giving DeMarco Murray more playing time than Ryan Mathews because of the difference between the two players’ contracts and guaranteed money, and that’s just one example of how Chip Kelly‘s moves as a GM are hampering him as a head coach, says Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Michael Reghi, Bud Shaw, Dan Labbe, and Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group debate whether Browns head coach Mike Pettine should be on the hot seat in Cleveland.
Load More Posts