Category: Injuries

Report: Panthers placing DB Juston Burris on injured reserve

The bad injury news keeps coming for the Carolina Panthers.

The bad injury news keeps coming for the Carolina Panthers.

According to a report by Joe Person at the Athletic, defensive back Juston Burris is being placed on the injured reserve list with a rib injury. On the bright side, it’s not expected to end his 2020 season.

This news was expected, as we saw Burris being carted off the field late in the first half of Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears.

The team already has a potential replacement lined up, with the New York Post reporting that Carolina is poaching safety Sean Chandler off the Giants practice squad.

In related news, the Panthers are not expected to activate running back Christian McCaffrey off the IR list this week, per Tom Pelissero at NFL Network.

With a short week against the Falcons coming up, we likely won’t see him back on the field until Week 9 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Texans CB Gareon Conley still not close to returning to the secondary

The Houston Texans are not close to having cornerback Gareon Conley return to the playing field.

Cornerback Gareon Conley is still not close to returning to the playing field for the Houston Texans.

The former 2017 Oakland Raiders first-round pick has been recovering from offseason ankle surgery that has complicated his return to the playing field.

“He’s trying to get back but I don’t think that he’s where we need him to be right now,” interim coach Romeo Crennel said. “He’s had second opinions and they haven’t been able to pinpoint anything definite. We’ll have to see how he does and if he can get back.”

Conley provided Houston with 27 tackles and 11 pass breakups in eight games last season, starting in two of them. The Texans could really use his talents in Week 7 as cornerbacks Vernon Hargreaves and Lonnie Johnson are dealing with injuries following the Texans’ 42-36 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium.

“I think Vernon got banged in the knee a little bit,” Crennel said. “We’ll have to see what they say about that and then Lonnie kind of got kicked in the face. I think that they’re checking him out.”

Phillip Gaines played one snap for the Texans against the Titans. Houston needs their best cornerbacks on the field to tighten up their pass coverage, and having Conley unavailable has been a hinderance.

Giants injury report: Sterling Shepard designated to return from IR

The New York Giants have designated WR Sterling Shepard (toe) to return from IR and he was participating in Tuesday’s practice.

The New York Giants took the field on Tuesday for their only open practice (see: walkthrough) of the week and the injury news seemed generally positive.

As expected, wide receiver Sterling Shepard (toe) had his helmet on and was participating, which means the Giants have designated him to return and begun his 21-day window for activation.

New York has until Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET to return Shepard to their 53-man roster in order for him to play in Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Head coach Joe Judge has stated previously that be a game-day decision.

“Being a walkthrough week for us, we’ll have to go really based on what the trainers tell us,” Judge said on Monday. “We’ll have to go ahead and look at him. We’ll see. This could go up to a pregame workout. We’re not sure. We’ll see where he’s at throughout the week.”

In addition to Shepard, veteran cornerback Brandon Williams (groin) also returned to practice on Tuesday, starting his 21-day activation window.

The full practice report, with updates on wide receiver Darius Slayton (foot) and linebacker Tae Crowder (hamstring), will be published shortly, so check back for that news.

Did not practice:

Limited participant:

Full participant:

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Giants’ Sterling Shepard could make return vs. Eagles

New York Giants WR Sterling Shepard (toe) has a chance to return against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.

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There had been some hope that New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard (toe) would return against the Washington Football Team in Week 6, but that did not occur.

Rather, Shepard worked a bit on the side throughout the week, but was never officially designated to return from injured reserve and remained sidelined this past Sunday.

Now facing a short weeks that culminates with a game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night, the hope is once again that Shepard can make his return.

“I think we’re a little bit closer than we were last week. Obviously, he didn’t make it to the game,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters on Monday. “He worked with the trainers today. I’m going a lot right now off the information they’ve given me from today’s workout. We were in staff meetings when he was out there on the field doing some of his rehab stuff.

“Being a walkthrough week for us, we’ll have to go really based on what the trainers tell us. We’ll have to go ahead and look at him. We’ll see. This could go up to a pregame workout. We’re not sure. We’ll see where he’s at throughout the week.”

Even if Shepard is a game-time decision, the Giants will have to designate him from return prior to pregame on Thursday.

The good news is that no additional roster shuffling will be needed to make that happen as the team officially placed linebacker Lorenzo Carter (Achilles) on season-ending injured reserve on Monday evening.

The bad news is that the Giants desperately need Shepard back. Currently, they have only four wide receivers on their active roster — Golden Tate, Darius Slayton, Austin Mack and C.J. Board — and Board is in concussion protocol after a terrifying hit in Week 6.

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Seahawks rookie TE Colby Parkinson practices in return from NFI list

Seattle Seahawks rookie tight end Colby Parkinson returned to practice from the Non-Football Injury List following the team’s Week-6 bye.

A few Seattle Seahawks players returned to the practice field Monday in a bonus session that marked the end of their Week 6 bye. Rookie tight end Colby Parkinson worked with his teammates after sitting out the first six weeks of the season while on the non-football injury list.

Parkinson, selected in the fourth round of this year’s draft, suffered a Jones fracture in his foot this offseason and underwent surgery in June. He can now practice with the team for three weeks before being added to the active roster or placed on injured reserve.

Coach Pete Carroll was impressed with the rookie’s first day on the field.

“He had a good first day, he had a really good first day,” Carroll told reporters. “We’ll just see what happens, see where it fits into the mix as we go. He’s a really smart kid, he’s been studying like crazy and I don’t think it’ll take him long to know his assignments and all that, but technique-wise and technically he’s going to have to show that he’s come a long ways before we can figure that he can help us or not.”

Parkinson has competition with four other tight ends on the active roster: Will Dissly, Jacob Hollister, Greg Olsen and Luke Willson.

Parkinson and the rest of the Seahawks return to practice Wednesday to prepare to take on the Cardinals in Arizona.

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Eagles’ Miles Sanders, Zach Ertz expected to miss Giants game

The Philadelphia Eagles are likely to be without RB Miles Sanders and TE Zach Ertz on Thursday night against the New York Giants.

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When the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles square off on Thursday Night Football, both teams will be missing key players as a result of injury.

And while the Giants are hopeful to get at least one reinforcement back with wide receiver Sterling Shepard (toe), the Eagles are anticipating additional losses.

ESPN’s Christ Mortensen reports that running back Miles Sanders (ankle) and tight end Zach Ertz (ankle) are expected to sit out for the Eagles in Week 7, and that Ertz could miss up to a month with his injury.

If Ertz does sit out for four weeks, that would mean the Giants not only avoid him on Thursday night, but would also avoid him in Week 10 when they host Philly at MetLife Stadium.

Sanders leads the Eagles with 434 rushing yards on 6.1 yards per carry this season, and there isn’t a close second. His backup, Boston Scott, has gained just 67 yards n 3.2 yards per carry this season.

Ertz, meanwhile, is third on the team in receiving with 178 yards and one touchdown. He — like all tight ends — has been kryptonite for the Giants in recent years, so no one in New York will be sad over his loss.

With Ertz out and Dallas Goedert on injured reserve, veteran tight end Richard Rodgers is likely to start against New York.

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Zack Martin in concussion protocol as Cowboys’ OL lies in rubble

The injuries suffered by the Dallas offensive line have wrecked their season.

Life comes at you fast. When the frustrating 2019 season came to an end, there was plenty of reason for optimism for the Dallas Cowboys. A lot of that centered around the offensive line. After a year away, center Travis Frederick had returned to play a full season following an immune system disease. La’el Collins had emerged to the point there was a legit conversation on who was the better tackle between he and seven-time Pro Bowler Tyron Smith. Zack Martin had just made his sixth straight All-Pro team. 2020 was shaping up to be a tremendous year for the Cowboys OL.

Fast forward to the end of Week 6 2020 and this is not what anyone had in mind. The offensive line is in shambles and the bottom fell out during the club’s 38-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals when Martin was lost for the game due to a concussion.

Back in 2015, I routinely said that the transformation of the Cowboys offensive line could be captured in an easy sentiment. If Doug Free is your team’s best offensive lineman; you’re in a lot of trouble. But if Doug Free is your team’s worst offensive lineman, you’ve got a great group of guys. Now, that guy is Connor Williams.

Smith and Collins are done for the year. Frederick retired back in March. After Martin’s departure, the Cowboys were playing 2019 UDFA Brandon Knight at left tackle and Williams at left guard. Fourth-round rookie Tyler Biadasz was in at center, playing for veteran Joe Looney who is also out hurt. 2019 third-round pick Connor McGovern – who had played just two snaps on the OL last week – came in for Martin and played next to 2020 UDFA Terence Steele.

To make matters worse tight end Blake Jarwin, who has blocking responsibilities too, was lost for the year in Week 1 to an ACL injury.

The line, of course, was a problem on Monday night. QB Andy Dalton was endlessly harassed all night, and the offense struggled to have any downfield plays develop.

Dallas is also without free agent signing Cam Erving, who was supposed to be the swing tackle. The club hoped to activate him from IR, but he got sick prior to the game.Wyatt Miller and Mitch Hyatt were in the mix during training camp, but injuries ended their season.

The Cowboys’ offensive line is in absolute shambles going into Week 7.

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Chiefs injury updates following Week 6 vs. Bills

The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a pair of injuries during their win over the Buffalo Bills.

The Kansas City Chiefs lost a pair of players to injury during the course of the Week 6 game against the Buffalo Bills.

First, Mitchell Schwartz was removed from the game with a back injury, one that had been reported for the first time on the final injury report on Saturday. Next, Alex Okafor suffered another hamstring injury after having suffered one in Week 1 against the Houston Texans.

While you never want to see players injured, the good news is that these two seem to be of the mild variety. Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided some updates following the game.

“So Alex Okafor strained his hamstring— the other hamstring,” Reid said. “I know it’s frustrating for him, but he’ll get that worked on.”

It’s not the same hamstring that Okafor pulled in Week 1 that kept him out until Week 4. Hopefully, this one causes him to miss little time. Okafor has played in just 13 of 25 possible games with the Chiefs since joining the team in 2019. His tenure in Kansas City has earned him the label of injury-prone unfortunately.

As for Schwartz, Reid said that his back was bothering him and they took him out because of it. He elaborated later in his press conference about the extent of the injury and whether Schwartz was close to sitting out tonight from the get-go.

“Yeah, he thought that maybe he could get through it and roll,” Reid said. “[His back] just started tightening up on him and so we made the switch there.”

It doesn’t sound like this should be a long-term type of injury for Schwartz, it just popped up late in the week and he tried to tough it out. It’s possible that with a few days of rest during practice this week, Schwartz could be ready to start in the Week 7 road game against the Denver Broncos.

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Cowboys RG Zack Martin checked out for shoulder stinger, concussion

The Dallas Cowboys offensive line looks dazed and confused trying to protect a non-mobile quarterback, and things may be getting worse. As Andy Dalton is being besieged by blitzes and pressure from all angles, the Cowboys stalwart right guard could …

The Dallas Cowboys offensive line looks dazed and confused trying to protect a non-mobile quarterback, and things may be getting worse. As Andy Dalton is being besieged by blitzes and pressure from all angles, the Cowboys stalwart right guard could be missing on their next drive.

According to Cowboys sideline reporter Kristi Scales, Zack Martin is being evaluated for a shoulder stinger.

Martin came back for the next drive, but was slumped on the ground after the first play. Second-year guard Connor McGovern is in the game to replace him.

According to Scales, Martin is being evaluated for cognitive reasons.

The Cowboys are playing the rest of the season without tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins, and center Travis Frederick retired in the offseason. This is not the Great Wall of Dallas anymore.

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Seahawks safety Jamal Adams uncertain to return Week 7

Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams is still battling a groin injury and remains uncertain to return Week 7 in time to face the Cardinals.

The Seattle Seahawks have been without safety Jamal Adams for the last couple of weeks due to a lingering groin injury. The expectation was that he would be able to return after the bye week but now the timing is uncertain.

Coach Pete Carroll addressed the media Monday afternoon following the team’s bonus practice. He was fairly non-committal as to when exactly Adams would resume activities.

“We’ve got to get through the week and see what happens,” Carroll said. “Give him these days and figure it out – take full advantage of the time. Make sure that we are doing the right thing in taking care of him and looking after him. It’s a long season and we’d love to have him back as soon as we can get him but we want him back when’s he’s right and back for the long haul.”

Adams and the rest of the Seahawks have Tuesday off and return Wednesday to prepare to face the Cardinals on Sunday in Arizona.

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