Corey Linsley – Page 18 – Syndication Server

Packers add C Corey Linsley (back) to injury report

The Packers added another starter along the offensive line to the injury report.

The Green Bay Packers added another starting member of the offensive line to the Week 7 injury report.

Center Corey Linsley, who was listed on Thursday’s updated injury report with a back injury, joins left tackle David Bakhtiari, who has now missed two straight practices with a chest injury.

It’s unclear the severity of Linsley’s injury, although the veteran center does have a history of back issues. He was listed as limited on Thursday.

Linsley has been terrific to start the 2020 season. He is the highest-graded center at Pro Football Focus through six weeks, and by a significant margin. He’s played 337 snaps, including 201 pass-blocking snaps, without giving up a pressure.

The Packers were also without Marcedes Lewis, who didn’t practice on Thursday, but the team often gives the veteran tight end time off during the week. He is nursing a knee injury but played last week.

The Packers now have 14 players on their Week 7 injury report. They made no other changes from Wednesday, when Bakhtiari, running back Tyler Ervin, safety Darnell Savage, tight end Robert Tonyan and defensive lineman Tyler Lancaster all missed practice. Two practice absences to start the week suggest all five are heading towards an iffy playing status on Sunday against the Houston Texans.

Bakhtiari, Tonyan and Savage are all starters. Lancaster is a run-stuffer along the defensive line, and Ervin – who missed Week 6 with a wrist injury – has been the offense’s go-to player on jet motion plays.

How the Packers would replace Bakhtiari at left tackle is uncertain. We ran through the options here.

Replacing Linsley would only complicate the situation. Lucas Patrick, the current starter at right guard, is the top backup at center. If Linsley can’t go, rookie Jon Runyan would likely have to start at one of the guard positions.

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Eagles RT Lane Johnson lands in the top-5 of a PFF ranking of the NFL’s highest-graded offensive linemen ahead of Week 3

Philadelphia Eagles star right tackle Lane Johnson is No. 4 in a Pro Football Focus ranking of the NFL’s highest graded offensive linemen through Week 3

Lane Johnson’s importance to the Philadelphia Eagles can’t just be explained in dollars and senses. The star right tackle is the engine that makes the train run and during a Week 1 loss to Washington, the lack of Johnson’s presence at right tackle was glaring as Carson Wentz was sacked 8 times by the Football Team’s stout front line.

Johnson returned in Week 2 with a hurt ankle and played a huge role in the Eagles holding Aaron Donald sackless in the loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Pro Football Focus recently ranked the highest-graded offensive linemen in the NFL through Week 3, and Johnson landed on the list despite missing a game.

4. T LANE JOHNSON, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
It’s probably safe to say the Eagles missed Johnson in Week 1 against Washington. He has been one of the best tackles in the NFL for some time now, and he looked like it again in his first game of the season against the Rams in Week 2. He did not allow a pressure on any of his 42 pass-blocking snaps — losing only one pass-blocking rep overall — and he put up a run-blocking grade over 90.0 in his return to action.

The Eagles have been disappointing through the first two games, but a healthy Johnson on the field helps this offense. Now, it comes down to Carson Wentz to turn around his league-worst play this season before the Eagles find themselves out of playoff contention.

With Johnson’s return, the right side of the Eagles offensive line was stabilized and Nate Herbig looked much improved in his second start at right guard.

Report: Packers C Corey Linsley dealing with sprained thumb

Packers C Corey Linsley has a sprained thumb on his right hand, per NFL Network.

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#Packers C Corey Linsley left Sunday’s win after spraining the thumb on his snapping hand, source said. Should be OK moving forward, but one more thing for Aaron Rodgers’ banged-up line to deal with.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 21, 2020

The injury that sidelined Green Bay Packers center Corey Linsley during the second half of Sunday’s 42-21 win over the Detroit Lions isn’t believed to be a serious one.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Linsley sprained the thumb on his snapping hand but “should be OK moving forward,” suggesting the injury won’t be a significant or long-term issue.

Any injury to the snapping hand of a center can be a debilitating issue, especially if the player can’t properly grip the football.

Linsley was escorted back to the locker room in the second half and didn’t return. He was replaced at center by Lucas Patrick, who originally started the contest at right guard. The Packers have dealt with several injuries along the offensive line through two weeks this season, leaving Matt LaFleur to shuffle through many different combinations, both before and during games.

The Packers play the New Orleans Saints on the road in Week 3. Linsley’s status for that contest won’t be known until later this week.

Now in his seventh season as the Packers starting center, Linsley has started 88 career games in Green Bay. He was terrific in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings, landing in the “studs” category of our weekly “studs and duds” tape breakdown. His block helped spring Aaron Jones’ 75-yard touchdown run to start the second half on Sunday.

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Packers C Corey Linsley on contract: ‘I have no idea what’s going to happen’

Packers center Corey Linsley has an uncertain future in Green Bay with only one year left on his deal.

Corey Linsley didn’t have a notable reaction to the Green Bay Packers drafting three interior offensive linemen, and he isn’t sure – with an expiring contract after this season – what his future holds.

Back in 2017, the Packers gave Linsley a three-year extension in late December, keeping him out of free agency, but a similar situation isn’t guaranteed this time around.

“It is what it is. I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Linsley said during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. “I can only control what I can control. Just playing out the year and seeing what happens and going from there.”

Linsley, a fifth-round pick of the Packers in 2014, has been the starting center in Green Bay each of the last six seasons. Now 29, Linsley is still an established member of the NFL’s upper half of starting centers, but the Packers drafted three offensive linemen, including Oregon center Jake Hanson, possibly signaling a future parting of ways.

“Yeah, no reaction, I guess. I just saw it,” Linsley said when asked how he felt after seeing the Packers drafting the trio in the sixth round.

Linsley said Hanson, who started almost 50 games for the Ducks, is an “attentive” and “very intelligent” player who is quickly getting up to speed with the Packers offense.

The Packers also re-signed Lucas Patrick, who played snaps at center last year, and left guard Elgton Jenkins played center in college, providing several different options should the Packers move on from Linsley after 2020.

Linsley would likely have no shortage of suitors if the Packers let him go. Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire ranked him as the No. 8 overall center in his positional rankings last month.

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The NFL’s 11 best centers

Centers are the underrated captains of any NFL offense. Here are the 11 best in the game today.

A good center is the unheralded captain of an offense. While we all talk about skill position players, and maybe throw in the names of a few marquee offensive tackles if we’re feeling particularly smart, interior offensive linemen are crucial to the implementation of any offensive design.

And centers are just as important as anybody. Not that it’s a pleasant job at times. Imagine you’re an NFL center. You have to have all the plays in your head as much as (or more than) your quarterback does. Most often, you’re in charge of the adjustment calls that tell other blockers how to switch their blocking patterns to merge with defensive line changes. You have to know all your single-blocks, all your combo blocks, and you have to be ruthlessly accurate when hitting the second and third levels of a defense to block linebackers and defensive backs on certain plays — sweeps, screens, and more.

Oh, and there’s also the matter of getting the ball to the quarterback, whether he’s under center, in the pistol formation, or in straight shotgun, with at least one gigantic defensive tackle aligned to one of your shoulders or head-to-head. You have mere milliseconds to snap the ball before those one or more gigantic defensive tackles come down on you with the hammer of the gods.

Few jobs in sports test one’s mental acumen and physical endurance on every play more than this one. Centers never get the attention they deserve, but at Touchdown Wire, we’re out to change that. Here, after poring over advanced metrics and watching a lot of tape, are the top 11 centers heading into the 2020 NFL season.

Honorable Mentions

Rodney Hudson was Kansas City’s center from 2011-2014, Mitch Morse replaced Hudson in that role in 2015 and held it through 2018, so we should definitely keep an eye on Austin Reiter, who helped the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl in 50 years as Morse’s replacement. Both Hudson and Morse are on this list, and Reiter could certainly find himself there soon — he allowed just 11 total pressures on a league-leading 835 pass-blocking snaps in the 2019 season, and if he’s able to improve his run-blocking, the sky’s the limit. The Jets signed former Broncos center Connor McGovern (not to be confused with current Cowboys guard Connor McGovern) to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, and McGovern should be a great addition to a line in desperate need of help just about everywhere. For all their quarterback issues, the Bears have two linemen — James Daniels and Cody Whitehair — who have been excellent centers through their times in the Windy City. Washington’s Chase Roullier, a sixth-round pick out of Wyoming in the 2017 draft, is another young center to watch. Tampa Bay’s Ryan Jensen was a particularly tough omission, as he pass-blocked very well in an unpredictable deep-passing offense, and should be even more efficient in the switch from Jameis Winston to Tom Brady.

Now, on to the top 11.

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