Dolphins work out four LBs on Wednesday

Dolphins host four LBs for workouts.

The Miami Dolphins, after hosting three defensive linemen on Tuesday and eventually signing one to their practice squad, held more workouts the following day.

On Wednesday, Miami hosted four linebackers – Jermaine Carter Jr., Reuben Foster, Marcus Haynes and Terrell Lewis.

Carter, 28, was a fifth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2018 following a collegiate career at Maryland. Carter spent three seasons in Carolina before joining the Cleveland Browns in 2022. In 72 games, he’s recorded 194 (eight for a loss), six quarterback hits, two passes defensed, two fumbles recovered and a half-sack.

Foster, 29, was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 31st overall pick in 2017. In 16 career games, he recorded 101 tackles (10 for a loss), seven quarterback hits and two passes defensed.

Haynes, 25, went undrafted this year after a collegiate career at Old Dominion that saw him play in 37 games and record 96 tackles (20 for a loss), 13 sacks, four forced fumbles, four passes defensed and a fumble recovery. He signed with the Denver Broncos and was placed on the practice squad during roster cuts.

Lewis, 25, was a third-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2020 out of Alabama. He played most of his first three seasons with Los Angeles before joining the Chicago Bears at the end of 2022. In 30 career games, he’s recorded 40 tackles (eight for a loss), 10 quarterback hits, six sacks, three passes defensed, one interception and one forced fumble.

The Dolphins have lost two linebackers to injury in back-to-back weeks with Jaelan Phillips suffering a torn Achilles and Jerome Baker sustaining an MCL injury.

Miami may have already signed Jason Pierre-Paul to help on the edge, but they could consider adding one of these four to the practice squad for some extra depth.

Texans sign LB Ian Swenson, release LB Jermaine Carter

The Houston Texans signed LB Ian Swenson and terminated the contract of LB Jermaine Carter, a vested veteran.

The Houston Texans have shuffled one linebacker for another on their 90-man offseason roster.

The Texans announced they signed linebacker Ian Swenson. The former Connecticut product generated 169 combined tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery through his 30 career games with the Huskies from 2017-21.

Houston terminated the contract with vested veteran Jermaine Carter. The 28-year-old had not been on the Texans long as they signed Carter on May 8. The former Carolina Panthers 2018 fifth-round pick stayed with the team through the 2021 campaign. In 2022, Carter spent the offseason and training camp on the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster, but was released at the end of preseason. Throughout the regular season, Carter was on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad and active roster, appearing in seven games with one start.

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 category=1416]

Browns make 3 roster moves as they travel to Detroit to take on Bills

The Browns have made three roster moves today as they prepare to travel to Detroit to take on the Buffalo Bills.

The Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills are set to face off at Ford Field in Detroit as Orchard Park has been snowed out. The Browns will be looking to improve to 4-6 on the season, while the Bills look to climb to 7-3 after a devastating loss to the Minnesota Vikings last week.

Yesterday the Browns brought in six players for tryouts as they do every week, and now today they have made three roster moves as they travel north to Michigan. Here are the three roster moves and their importance to the Browns as they get set to take on the Bills.

[listicle id=81334]

Browns bring Curtis Weaver back to practice squad, add another

The #Browns have added two players to their practice squad, including a familiar face.

After a week where the Cleveland Browns signed two players off of their practice squad in Jordan Kunaszyk and Isaac Rochell, a few positions opened up. Today, they welcomed back a familiar face in pass rusher Curtis Weaver, signing him to the practice squad. Additionally, they added Jermaine Carter to the practice squad as well.

Weaver is well-known, as he has spent the past two seasons prior and all of training camp with the Browns. Carter, however, is a new name. A former fifth round pick of the Carolina Panthers, Carter also spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs. After Kunaszyk went to the active roster (due to the loss of Anthony Walker Jr.), the Browns have allotted another linebacker behind him on the practice squad.

[listicle id=79795]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbw33aqtym0ft0g player_id=none image=https://brownswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Panthers LB Jermaine Carter jokes about NFL’s new COVID-19 rules

Panthers linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. summed it up pretty well with this joke he shared on Twitter.

The NFL isn’t mandating vaccinations against COVID-19, but they are making it pretty close to impossible to play without one.

In a memo released yesterday, the league announced harsh penalties for teams that have COVID outbreaks during the season. If a team is unable to play a game and it cannot be rescheduled within the 18-week timeframe, that team will forfeit. There will also be financial penalties and discipline from Commissioner Roger Goodell. Cancelled games will also result in players from both teams not getting their weekly paychecks. All together, it should be more than enough motivation for the league’s remaining unvaccinated players to get their shots.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. summed it up pretty well with this joke he shared on Twitter.

This is true, but not everyone will go along. The most notable objection has come from Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who says he’s questioning his future in the NFL as a result. There also seems to be quite a bit of disagreement on the Buffalo Bills based on their Twitter interactions. Wide receiver Cole Beasley has been the most vocal critic of the league’s efforts to get vaccinated.

As for the Panthers, there haven’t been any public complaints as of yet. According to the Associated Press, they have one of the highest vaccination rates in the league.

Players had the option to opt out like last season, but none have chosen to do so.

[lawrence-related id=638397]

[vertical-gallery id=638384]

Panthers LB Jermaine Carter: Rookie CB Jaycee Horn has ‘held his own’

Watch linebacker Jermaine Carter praise Horn’s work at OTAs.

Truth be told, nobody really knows for sure how any college prospect is going to work out in the NFL. Fans, analysts and even pro scouts get players wrong every single year.

We won’t know for a couple more months what he looks like against live competition, but so far Panthers rookie cornerback Jaycee Horn has impressed his teammates at practice. Watch linebacker Jermaine Carter praise Horn’s work at OTAs.

[lawrence-related id=637983]

[vertical-gallery id=637104]

Panthers LB Jermaine Carter shares what he learned from Luke Kuechly

Carolina’s defense finished the season strong in no small part due to Carter’s efforts.

Luke Kuechly might not be in the building anymore. His influence is still strong throughout the Panthers’ organization, though. The former linebacker and pro scout plans to spend his fall months fishing and hunting this year, offering him a chance to step away from football for a while.

At least Carolina has a much more sturdy footing at linebacker than in 2020 right after Kuechly’s sudden and shocking retirement. Bringing in Denzel Perryman in free agency should help. The continued development of Jermaine Carter will also be key, though. Carter says he learned a lot from Kuechly, per Darin Gantt at the team website.

“Some things Luke taught me, I’d watch TV copies of other teams, pick up the verbiage they were saying, and he taught me so much of that; how to break down film by situations instead of just watching the whole game, like first down one day, third down another. Little things like that I learned from Luke, and I think it helped me a lot last year. . . he’s going to be a Hall of Famer; he’s one of the best to ever play, so I definitely took advantage of it.”

Carter did an excellent job at Kuechly’s former middle linebacker spot last year after Tahir Whitehead was benched starting in Week 11. Carolina’s defense finished the season strong in no small part due to Carter’s efforts.

That said, heading into the 2021 campaign it’s unclear exactly what the new pecking order is. While Carter performed well and has earned praise from coach Matt Rhule, Perryman has a lot more experience and pretty much everyone is projecting he’ll be the team’s starting MLB come Week 1.

[lawrence-related id=637730]

[vertical-gallery id=637742]

Tremont Waters’ ankle breaker impressed Panthers LB Jermaine Carter

Waters broke out a crazy crossover Tuesday afternoon, which caught the attention of Carolina Panthers linebacker Jermaine Carter.

While Tacko Fall nearly pulled off his first career 20-point, 20-rebound game, teammate Tremont Waters was busy breaking ankles and dishing out assists.

The two Boston Celtics rookies helped lead the Maine Red Claws to a 125-93 win on assignment over the Capital City Go-Go in a matinee special. Fall recorded 18 points and a career-high 20 rebounds while Waters 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and one crazy crossover.

The crossover by Waters was captured on video by Carolina Panthers linebacker Jermaine Carter and posted to Twitter by Chris Grenham of Forbes. The NFL player added the highlight to his Instagram story, which was re-posted by Waters himself.

Carter was seen at the game with Go-Go general manager Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Cincinnati Bengals linebacker LaRoy Reynolds as the team hosted a contingent of local children for Education Day.

Although Waters missed the shot, Fall was there to clean it up and finish the play off with a putback dunk as the Red Claws were putting the finishing touches on the blowout victory.

[lawrence-related id=12074,12013,11173]

Panthers vs. Saints: 6 stories to follow for the last game of 2019

Here are six stories we will be following tomorrow.

On Sunday the Panthers finish out the 2019 season at home against the Saints, who are favored to win by almost two touchdowns.

Given the way things have gone during this seven-game losing streak, expecting an upset is unrealistic. However, there are plenty of other reasons to watch aside from who wins and loses. Here are six stories we will be following tomorrow.

Will Grier’s deep ball

Will Grier
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Two games isn’t nearly enough time to properly evaluate a quarterback prospect. The Panthers should have started Grier a month earlier than they did, but it’s too late to take that back now. Grier’s best asset is the touch he flashes on his deep ball. Several times last week against the Colts he just barely missed receivers on long routes. A little more accuracy and consistency would go a long way for Grier in this area. Especially with D.J. Moore ruled out, Grier should be looking for Curtis Samuel and letting it loose.