Category: NFL news

Eagles to sign RB Jay Ajayi

Jay Ajayi signs with the Philadelphia Eagles

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With Darren Sproles out for the season and Jordan Howard dealing with a stinger, Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Eagles will sign running back Jay Ajayi.

The Eagles had Ajayi in for a workout on Friday morning and the move is added depth for a position that was starting to become the strength of the team.

Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson said that Howard sustained his injury late in the Eagles’ 22-14 win over the Chicago Bears on Nov. 3.

Ajayi missed most of the 2018 season, playing just four games for the Eagles before suffering a torn ACL. Ajayi had 592 yards on 105 carries and four touchdowns in 11 games with the Eagles since 2017.

Ranking 12 of the most disappointing players in the 2019 NFL season

Saquon Barkley and Le’Veon Bell, New York’s best RBs, are among those NFL players who have failed to perform in 2019.

The NFL is heading into the 11th week of its season. Some players have delivered in a big way, while others who were expected to perform at a certain level have not. Ranking a dozen players who have not reached the levels hoped.

12. Adam Vinatieri

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Adam Vinatieri is on his way to a spot in Canton. However, his 2019 season will not be a fond memory unless he regains his kicking stroke. The venerable Vinatieri has missed five field goals in 19 attempts and six PATs. The Colts are sticking with him, which may be more of an indicator of what else is out there.

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Todd Haley slams Freddie Kitchens for the Browns’ lack of discipline

Todd Haley puts the blame squarely on Freddie Kitchens, the man who took his place in Cleveland last year

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Former Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley had some choice words and a harsh assessment of Freddie Kitchens and how the rookie head coach has handled the team in the wake of the Thursday night brawl. Haley joined Sirius XM NFL Radio and opened up on the chaos surrounding his former team.

Haley isn’t exactly an impartial observer here, and that context needs to be heavily noted. He was fired last year and immediately replaced by Kitchens. Keep that in mind when evaluating his comments, though what Haley says here is difficult to argue.

“The Browns won the game, but it’s kind of what’s been biting them in the backside this year and the last few years,” Haley said. “Lack of self-control and discipline.”

That’s when Haley, who also coached for several years in Pittsburgh, set his sights on Kitchens.

“This to me comes back to coaching. This falls squarely right on the head coach, because the head coach talks to every assistant coach…there’s an old saying in coaching, ‘you’re either coaching it or allowing it to happen’.”

He continued,

“Part of the frustration is, you see things happening and going on that you shouldn’t allow, shouldn’t be allowed to be going on because you’re practicing bad habits. You’re practicing lack of discipline, you’re practicing lack of self-control…when I watch the Cleveland Browns I see a lot of stuff being allowed to happen. Whether it’s (Odell Beckham Jr.’s) clown shoes, visors, whatever it may be.”

A longer excerpt of Haley’s interview was tweeted out by Sirius:

Last-minute fantasy football thoughts for Week 11

Drew Brees and Michael Thomas will have a huge game and nine other last-minute fantasy football thoughts for Week 11.

As you get ready to make your final lineup decisions for Week 11, here are 10 random and last-minute fantasy football thoughts:

10. If you have Carson Wentz, start someone else

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

This is not a personal knock against the Philadelphia quarterback. It’s just the reality of the situation as he faces the Patriots. Receiver Alshon Jeffrey may miss the game with an ankle injury, and DeSean Jackson already is out for the season. Wentz won’t have many receiving options. But it probably wouldn’t matter anyway against a New England defense that’s allowed only three touchdown passes and leads the league with 19 interceptions.

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Myles Garrett suspended indefinitely, at least through the end of the 2019 season

After one of the ugliest incidents in NFL history, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has been suspended indefinitely.

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Following the incident near the end of the Browns’ win over the Steelers on Thursday Night Football in which Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett removed Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet and hit him in the head with it, you knew NFL justice was going to come fairly quickly. The incident went viral overnight and gave the NFL several black eyes in the process, so the league fired back as quickly as it could.

As reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Garrett has been suspended indefinitely, which in the league’s purview means that he will not see any on-field action throughout this season and the playoffs. Garrett must speak with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell before he is to be reinstated next season. In addition, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, who came to his quarterback’s defense and was ejected, will be suspended for the next three games, and Browns defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi, who was also ejected, was suspended for one game. Each team was fined $250,000 for the fracas.

Per the NFL’s statement, “Additional discipline for other players will be forthcoming through the standard accountability process, including those players that left the bench to enter the fight area.”

Rudolph, who appeared to attempt to remove Garrett’s helmet in response to Garrett’s late hit with eight seconds left in the game, was not suspended. Fines have not been ruled out for Rudolph and other players. We also have no word at this point what might happen to Browns safety Damarious Randall, who was ejected halfway through the third quarter after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson, who left the field bleeding from his right ear.

This was one of the ugliest games in NFL history, and the fallout is just beginning. Stay tuned to Touchdown Wire for further news as it develops.

Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”

Larry Ogunjobi suspended 1 game for his role in the Browns-Steelers brawl

Ogunjobi will miss the team’s Week 12 game against the Bengals

Cleveland Browns starting defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi has been suspended one game for his role in the massive brawl at the end of the team’s Thursday night win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will miss the team’s Week 12 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ogunjobi pushed Steelers QB Mason Rudolph to the ground after the Myles Garrett helmet-swinging incident. He has also been fined an undisclosed amount by the NFL.

Garrett has been suspended indefinitely. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey has also been suspended three games for punching and kicking Garrett on the ground.

The full initial statement from the NFL announcing the series of suspensions, including Ogunjobi’s:

Myles Garrett suspended indefinitely by the NFL

Myles Garrett suspended indefinitely by the NFL, will miss at least the remainder of 2019 including the postseason

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Myles Garrett knew a suspension was coming. The Browns defensive end expected it after he struck Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph over the head with Rudolph’s own helmet as part of an ugly brawl near the end of Cleveland’s 21-7 win on Thursday night.

Now Garrett knows how long he will miss. The NFL swiftly suspended the star pass rusher indefinitely for his unprecedented act of violence on the field.

Garrett will miss at least the remainder of the 2019 season, including any playoff games the Browns might qualify for after the regular season.

Nick Chubb is the NFL’s first 1,000-yard rusher of 2019

Nick Chubb is the NFL’s first 1,000-yard rusher of 2019

Browns running back Nick Chubb ran for 92 yards on 27 carries in the team’s 21-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. The production carried Chubb over the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the team’s 10th game.

With that, Chubb became the first running back to break the 1,000-yard rushing barrier in the NFL in 2019. Chubb finished the night with 1,011 yards. Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook sits at 991 after already playing 10 games.

It’s a sweet situation for Chubb, who briefly crossed the 1,000-yard threshold as a rookie in 2018 before losing yards on his final carries to take him back down to just 996.

Doug Pederson provides an update on Alshon Jeffery, Nigel Bradham

As the Philadelphia Eagles defense gets healthy for the first time in months, the Birds offensive personnel are starting to feel the sting of injuries and attrition. On Friday, the Eagles announced that Darren Sproles would miss the remainder of the …

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As the Philadelphia Eagles defense gets healthy for the first time in months, the Birds offensive personnel are starting to feel the sting of injuries and attrition.

On Friday, the Eagles announced that Darren Sproles would miss the remainder of the season with a hip injury.

Head coach Doug Pederson provided an update on several other players as well. Jordan Howard is dealing with a “stinger”, while Alshon Jeffery is unlikely to play with a nagging ankle injury.

The Eagles wide receivers on Sunday could be Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews, Mack Hollins, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside. Combined, three of the four players zero catches in the last five games.

At running back, the Eagles could trot out Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, and De’Angelo Henderson? Jay Ajayi is back in town for a workout and could be signed on Friday.

Eagles could be without injured RB Jordan Howard vs. the Patriots

Jordan Howard could miss game vs. Patriots with a shoulder injury

The Philadelphia Eagles have started to get back some key pieces on the defensive side of the ball, but on Friday, the offense took another hit on the injury front. Darren Sproles has a season-ending hip injury, and on Friday, Doug Pederson indicated that Jordan Howard is dealing with a shoulder injury that could keep him out of Sunday’s huge contest in New England.

The Eagles brought Jay Ajayi in for a workout on Friday and the team will likely sign the running back to a contract.

Pederson stated that Howard suffered a stinger near the end of the Bears game and hasn’t been cleared for contact yet.