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Pharoh Cooper

Injury Notes: Lewis, Pruitt, Cooper, Marshall

August 29th, 2016 at 9:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Steelers are still considering free agent cornerback Keenan Lewis, but it will take him at least a month to recover from hip and groin injuries, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That news jibes with at least one report earlier this month that indicated Lewis would need as much as six weeks to heal from his ailments. However, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently reported that the Steelers were troubled by the medicals on Lewis’ hip when he visited the team recently.

Here’s more on the injury front:

  • Although tight end MyCole Pruitt looked to have suffered a serious injury during yesterday’s preseason games, the second-year Viking will only miss two-to-four weeks with a sprained MCL, tweets Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. As such, Pruitt will likely miss at least the season opener, but he’ll return as Minnesota’s No. 2 tight end at some point early in the campaign.
  • Rams rookie wide receiver Pharoh Cooper has a shoulder injury and will miss “a few weeks,” head coach Jeff Fisher yesterday told reporters, including Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. At minimum, Cooper will probably miss the season opener. Cooper, a fourth-round pick, had apparently been the favorite for the LA’s third receiver role (and could still be when he gets back to action).
  • The Redskins will also lose a rookie for a short period of time, as seventh-round running back Keith Marshall will likely be out for three weeks, according to coach Jay Gruden (Twitter link via Mike Jones of the Washington Post). However, Gruden added that Marshall could be placed on injured reserve, which would likely allow Washington to stash Marshall until 2017.
  • The Buccaneers are expected to place WR/KR Donteea Dye on the waived/injured list with a hamstring issue, according to Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. Dye will need roughly a month to recover, but there’s a possibility could bring Dye back into the fold, tweets Laine (though it’s unclear if that means the club would bring him back off IR, or re-sign him after releasing him with an injury settlement).

Rams Sign Entire Draft Class

June 9th, 2016 at 3:28pm CST by Zachary Links

The Rams announced that they have signed their entire 2016 draft class. It was long expected that the Rams would all sign their rookies on the same day in June, as the team has done in recent years. Rams Helmet (Featured)

This morning, word leaked out that the Rams and No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff had agreed to terms on his contract. Of course, thanks to the rookie slotting in the latest CBA, contract negotiations are, by and large, pretty painless. The only exception to that is in the third round where there is a little more wiggle room between players and teams, but the Rams did not have any third-round picks in this year’s draft thanks to the massive haul of picks they sent to the Titans in order to select Goff.

After Goff, the Rams’ next highest draft pick was Western Kentucky tight end Tyler Higbee. In the weeks leading up to the draft, Higbee made headlines for all the wrong reasons when he was charged with second-degree assault. One scout expressed concern about Higbee shortly after he was selected by L.A.:

“He is a major partier,” said the anonymous scout. “That was his big problem, despite the arrests. He has a lot of maturing to do, and I’m not sure he can mature fast enough.”

The 23-year-old was considered a potential third-round talent, but the charges predictably impacted his stock. Higbee caught 48 passes for 563 yards and eight touchdowns last season but missed five games due to a knee injury. When asked about the injury at his pro day, the WKU product told reporters he was 75-80% recovered.

Here is the complete rundown of the Rams’ entire 2016 draft class:

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AFC Rumors: Steelers, Patriots, Easley, Texans

April 11th, 2016 at 7:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers have used the majority of their pre-draft visits within the last week, and announced several more today. As Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes, the following players were in Pittsburgh today to meet with the club: Ole Miss defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, Alabama cornerback Cyrus Jones, West Virginia safety Karl Joseph, South Carolina wide receiver Pharoh Cooper, Virginia Tech linebacker Dadi Nicolas, Colorado cornerback Ken Crawley, Maryland safety Sean Davis, and Boston College safety Justin Simmons.

Here’s more from the AFC:

  • Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams is visiting with the Patriots at Gillette Stadium today, sources tell Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (on Twitter). The Pats previously met with the tailback at the combine. Williams, 22, missed the 2015 regular season after undergoing foot surgery. In 2014, he racked up 1,190 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground despite splitting carries.
  • Patriots defensive lineman Dominique Easley has hired agents Drew Rosenhaus and Michael Katz of Rosenhaus Sports for representation, as Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. Easley, 23, has been plagued by injuries since being selected by the Patriots in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. In December of last season, he was placed on IR with a leg injury. In his injury-shortened sophomore year, Easley totaled 15 tackles and two sacks as a part-time player.
  • Texas Tech’s Jakeem Grant is visiting the Texans, as Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle writes. The wide receiver/kick returner has also worked out for the Dolphins, Colts, and Jets. Grant returned four kicks for touchdowns over the course of his collegiate career with the Red Raiders and caught 90 passes for 1,268 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.