Giants rule out three key contributors for game vs. Ravens in Week 15

#Giants coach Brian Daboll says G Jon Runyan (ankle), LB Bobby Okereke (back) & DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches (neck/shoulder) are out Sunday vs the #Ravens

The Giants are banged up, and just moments after the final practice of the week, head coach Brian Daboll announced that offensive guard Jon Runyan (ankle), linebacker Bobby Okereke (back), and defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (neck/shoulder) are out for Sunday’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Cornerback Dru Phillips (shoulder) is doubtful, while quarterback Drew Lock (heel/left elbow) is out of the walking boot and has a chance to be the emergency 3rd quarterback.

The Giants have been decimated by injuries on both sides of the ball this season. The latest starter to land on injured reserve is safety Tyler Nubin after he suffered an ankle injury during the team’s Week 14 loss. With only four games remaining, Nubin’s rookie campaign has come to an end after 13 games.

The Giants also added four players to their practice squad: quarterback Tim Boyle, who was released on Saturday, two weeks after he was signed; defensive tackle Ross Blacklock; cornerback Ekow Boye-Doe, who played in six games for the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs, and cornerback Azizi Hearn, who has never played in an NFL regular-season game.

The Giants have won the last three home games against the Ravens dating back to 2008, and the home team has won each of the previous six contests between the two teams.

Giants vs. Ravens: 3 causes for concern in Week 15

The New York Giants square off in a Sunday afternoon battle against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15. Here are three causes for concern.

The New York Giants will be home at MetLife Stadium for the eighth time this season when they host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

The Giants enter Week 15 with an eight-game losing streak, one shy of a franchise record.

The Ravens will be one of the Giants’ toughest opponents of the season on paper and the oddsmakers believe that to be the case as well. Big Blue opened up as just over two-touchdown home underdogs ahead of Sunday.

The line has moved further in the Ravens’ direction following the news that Tommy DiVito would be back at quarterback for Big Blue.

The Ravens are considered a Super Bowl contender by many and have a small margin for error going into Week 15 if they want to catch the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC North division title.

Here are three causes of concern going into Sunday’s matchup.

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Derrick Henry

Just like other big-name running backs who left their former teams to find a new team this past offseason, to say Derrick Henry has been impressive is an extreme understatement. He has been a workhorse for the Ravens and is on pace to have the highest yards per rush of his career along with the highest total touchdown season of his career.

The Giants have been one of the worst teams against the run this season and it was a concern going up against Alvin Kamara ahead of last week’s game, especially given the injuries on the Giants defensive line.

But Big Blue’s defense held their own, limiting Kamara last week. This week, however, the Giants will welcome one of the league’s best running backs and certainly one of the hardest to tackle.

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The Injury Bug

The Giants’ misfortunes with injuries continued this week. In addition to their best players on each side of the ball remaining out for the season, the Giants saw two more notable members of their secondary, Tyler Nubin and Tre Hawkins, go on season-ending IR this week.

The Giants will also turn back to Tommy DeVito under center with Drew Lock in a walking boot due to a heel injury. Sunday will be the Giants’ third quarterback switch in the last four games.

They will also likely be without offensive lineman Jon Runyan as the laundry list of injuries continued to grow on Wednesday.

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The Situation

Lamar Jackson has lost just twice to an NFC team in his career, including once against the Giants in 2022.

The Ravens are also fresh off a bye week and well-rested going into Week 15 as they trail the Steelers by two games in the AFC North standings. The Giants are 0-7 at MetLife Stadium this season.

All of that to say, the Giants are heavy underdogs for a reason in Week 15.

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Jon Runyan Jr. ready for first taste of Giants-Eagles rivalry

Jon Runyan Jr., the son of Philadelphia Eagles great Jon Runyan, is anxious to get his first taste of the New York Giants-Eagles rivalry.

Offensive lineman Jon Runyan Jr. may be in his first season as a New York Giant, but he knows the drill as well as the most seasoned veterans who have been through the wars.

That is because he is the son of former Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jon Runyan Sr., who played in 19 games against Big Blue during his 14-year NFL career.

Many of the games — played between 1996-2009 — pitted the elder Runyan against Giants Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan, whose storied rivalry has created a life-long friendship.

The elder Runyan will be an interested party this Sunday as his son lines up against his former team as a member of the Giants but prior commitments will prevent him from attending the game in person.

“He’s excited,” Runyan Jr. said of his father. “He won’t be at the game. He’s got to work this Sunday just like most Sundays, but I’ve got a lot of family and friends coming up from the area. They’re all going to be in Giants gear, or else they’re not allowed to be around us, but everybody’s excited. Like I said, a lot of people coming. This is a big one.

“Obviously, when I was a little kid, I grew up as a huge Eagles fan, but work took me elsewhere, and now I’m the biggest Giants fan in the world, so I’m excited for this weekend coming up.”

Runyan Jr. was asked if his father had prepped him for the heated rivalry that dates back to 1933.

“No, not really, but I grew up, obviously, a huge NFC East fan,” said Runyan Jr., who grew up in the Philadelphia area. “If the Eagles or Giants aren’t playing, we’re going to get the Cowboys or the Commanders broadcast. I’d always be watching that one o’clock window and just always watching NFC East football. That’s what I grew up on, and I know how heated it is now, how close everybody in proximity is.

“Me personally, I have a lot of family that’s down in Texas, so they’re all Cowboys fans, so that kind of even made me grow up hating the Cowboys even more. That kind of feeds into a lot of that going on now. Back in the NFC East, it feels like I’m back home, I’m really enjoying it.”

The Giants know where his loyalties lie at the moment and are counting on Runyan Jr., who has taken every offensive snap this season, to continue his solid play this Sunday.

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NFL suspends Chargers defensive back before Week 4 game vs. Chiefs

NFL suspends Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. before Week 4 game vs. Kansas City Chiefs | @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs, fresh off a clutch victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night, will turn their attention to an AFC West matchup this weekend. The Los Angeles Chargers will be without a top player on defense following an NFL disciplinary ruling.

Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. has been suspended without pay for one game for repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players. The league offices released a press release focusing on this past Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In a letter to James, NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan detailed that the suspension is for a violation of Rule 12, Section 2, Article 10 (a), which states that “it is a foul if a player lowers his head and makes forcible contact with his helmet against an opponent.” He noted that James has had multiple offenses for personal fouls in recent seasons.

“During the third quarter of Sunday’s Chargers-Steelers game, you were involved in a play that the League considers a serious violation of the playing rules,” said Runyan in the letter. “The video of the play shows that you lowered your head and made forcible contact to Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth. You had an unobstructed path to your opponent, and the illegal contact could have been avoided.”

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“Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules will not be tolerated,” said Runyan. “Substantial penalties are warranted when players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player.”

The Chargers star will be eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, September 30th, after the Week 4 matchup with the Chiefs.

Michael Strahan amused that Jon Runyan has to root for Giants

Michael Strahan is delighted that his long-time rival and friend, Jon Runyan, now has to root for the New York Giants.

It’s no secret by now that New York Giants Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan and former Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jon Runyan are long-time friends.

It didn’t start out that way. The two men were fierce rivals on the field with Runyon charged with keeping Strahan off Donovan McNabb’s back.

Strahan recently told Giants.com’s Michael Eisen the story of how their friendship was forged back in 2002 at the Pro Bowl by Runyan’s wife, Loretta.

“We’re hanging out by the pool, and there’s this nice lady talking to me,” Strahan said. “She said, ‘You should meet my husband. There’s just families hanging out.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll meet your husband.’ Freaking Jon Runyan. It was his wife (Loretta). She set me up.

“I’d never had a conversation with him, never desired to. We literally talked there, and from then on, I could play tough and hard against him, but I couldn’t hate him. I had to channel something else besides thinking I had to hate the guy to play well against him because he’s such a nice guy, such a good guy, and his wife was such a sweetheart. I can’t hate this guy.”

Runyan was mentioned in Strahan’s Hall of Fame acceptance speech, an event in which Runyon — and his son, Jon Jr. — attended.

This week, when the Giants signed Jon Runyan Jr. to a free agent contract, the relationship came ‘full circle’ as the younger Runyon stated.

Strahan got a kick out of his old team adding the son of his nemesis/friend this week.

“One of my favorite things is knowing that Jon Runyan has to root for the Giants,” Strahan said, laughing. “That was the first thing that came to my mind, ‘Thank God, now Jon has to actually root for the Giants. This is going to be awesome.'”

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Ranking 2024’s top 12 free-agent interior offensive linemen

The Panthers’ interior offensive line was decimated by injuries at both guard positions. They’ll keep that in mind this spring.

If any team knows about the importance of interior offensive line depth, it’s the 2023 Carolina Panthers—who fielded six different starters at left guard and seven different starters at right guard. So while Brady Christensen and Austin Corbett will both likely be back, there’s still some work to be done.

Here are the best interior hog mollies the Panthers could take a look at in free agency:

Chargers named potential landing spot for 3 free agent offensive linemen

With Jim Harbaugh as the Chargers’ head coach, he is going to prioritize fixing the running game, which means bolstering the offensive line.

With Jim Harbaugh as the Chargers’ head coach, he is going to prioritize fixing the running game, which means bolstering the offensive line.

Los Angeles’ search begins in free agency. Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger believes they could be an ideal destination for three pending free-agent offensive linemen, two being centers and the other a guard.

The two centers are Raiders’ Andre James and Cowboys’ Tyler Biadasz.

James is coming off a career year, earning the highest PFF grades as a run blocker and in pass protection. He would fit well in offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s power/gap scheme.

Biadasz, a former fourth-round pick, has played at a high level since being drafted in 2020. He started nearly every game from 2021 to 2023 and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2022.

The Chargers will most likely need to find a starting center, with Corey Linsley’s future in doubt due to a medical issue.

The guard that was listed was Packers’ Jon Runyan.

There is some familiarity as Runyan played for Harbaugh at Michigan from 2015 to 2019. He has experience at both guard spots, and with a new system being implemented, there is no guarantee that Zion Johnson or Jamaree Salyer will be starters next season.

Uncertain future ahead for free agent RG Jon Runyan, who wants to return to Packers

Jon Runyan, who has an expiring contract, knows his future is uncertain, but he wants to return to the Packers.

Throughout the Green Bay Packers locker room on Monday, there was a mixture of emotion coming off a heart-breaking playoff loss, as well as optimism about what lies ahead for this young team.

Along with all of that, for right guard Jon Runyan Jr., there is also uncertainty as he enters NFL free agency this offseason.

“I’m definitely going to have to take some time to get away and process everything,” said Runyan at his locker on Monday.

A 2020 sixth-round pick by Green Bay, Runyan was a two-year starter at guard for the Packers coming into the 2023 season and began the year in that role. However, by about the halfway point in the season, he found himself in a rotational role with second-year player Sean Rhyan during the second half of the season.

“Not really what I preferred,” said Runyan, “but just talking to the coaches, they were kind of saying, I was dealing with injuries, kind of banged up, kind of everywhere on my body, and the coaches could see it and they thought it would be a good opportunity to get some rest in a little bit and give Sean some reps, give him a shot, and he played well.”

The start of the season was up and down for Runyan. He allowed 10 pressures in just the first six games and was inconsistent as a run-blocker.  As is often the case, we never truly know from the outside looking in what a player is dealing with injury-wise, but also, by Runyan’s own admission, he wasn’t playing his best either.

“It did make me take a step back,” Runyan said, “and I do think that I did struggle at points in the season, looking back on it. I was dealing with some things physically, I’m not using that as an excuse, but I definitely could have played better and once everything started happening, it definitely allowed me to reevaluate everything that I was doing and kind of helped me focus in on what was more important and I felt like it sparked me to a good end of the season for me.”

The rotation between Runyan and Rhyan began in Week 9, and at that time, still consisted of Runyan playing the majority of the game. It was about two or three series a game that Rhyan saw snaps.

But in Week 15 against Tampa Bay, that playing time split between the two went from drastically favoring Runyan to about a 50/50 split. That also happened to be when Runyan really started playing his best football.

After surrendering 10 pressures and two sacks in the Packers’ first six games of the season, Runyan gave up only three pressures and no sacks in the final six.

“I also feel like I played some of my best football these past five, six games as well,” added Runyan. “So I don’t really have any regrets for how the season went. A lot of stuff was out of my control, personally, but overall I feel pretty good with how the season went.

“I wasn’t really fazed by the rotation and everything and looking back it was kind of beneficial for my body and it kind of helped me play better, sparked something inside of me and I felt better physically and mentally and I was able to go out there and play well.”

Throughout the second half of the season, whether it was Matt LaFleur, Adam Stenavich, or Luke Butkus, all three spoke very highly of how the offensive line rotation at right guard and left tackle helped elevate the competition in the offensive line room and therefore the overall play of the unit as well. The on-field performance of the group reflected this as well.

However, that doesn’t happen without having the right type of individuals within that position group. As a two-year starter in a contract year, transitioning to a rotational role couldn’t have been an easy move for Runyan to make, but he embraced it, resulting in him and the offensive line as a whole finishing the season playing their best football.

“Teams and organizations are in the business of winning games,” said Runyan, “and it doesn’t really matter the cost. If they’re not getting the results on the field from the players who are out there, they’re going to try to look in some cases cheaper and better ways. And once you’re presented with that scenario, you can go two ways. You can shut down and pack it in and say that this is your death, or you can understand it.”

For the Packers, they now have a decision to make. Rhyan showed that he has the potential to be a capable starter, especially as a run-blocker, but as Stenavich has pointed out, he has to improve as a pass-blocker if he is going to be a long-term starter at the position.

Whether or not Runyan is back, the team will likely bring in some added competition and try to, at a minimum, bolster the depth along the interior offensive line, and that need will only grow if Runyan ends up elsewhere. The only returning interior linemen from this year’s 53-man roster are Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Royce Newman, and Rhyan.

For Runyan, he’s built his resume, playing 85-plus percent of the Packers’ offensive snaps in each of the last three seasons, but he recognizes that whatever comes next is not completely in his control either. However, if it were, he would be back with the Packers for a run in 2024.

“It was awesome,” said Runyan of his time in Green Bay. “I don’t know if there’s a better organization out there.

“I gave them all I could, really. I never went out there without trying to give my best. I hope the fans and my teammates and coaches are able to see that. Really special place. I don’t know why I’m getting so emotional right now, but it means a lot to me. It was awesome. I don’t want to leave, but it’s not really in my hands.”

5 free agents Saints fans should watch in Cowboys vs. Packers

5 pending free agents New Orleans Saints fans should watch in Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers playoff game:

The New Orleans Saints are stuck watching the playoffs from home, but it’s a good opportunity for fans to scout some of the top players headed for free agency — and both the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers have some playmakers who could interest the Saints if they hit the open market.

Here are five pending free agents we’ll be looking for on Sunday afternoon:

Here is the NFL’s full statement and explanation for Kareem Jackson’s suspension

“Illegal acts that are flagrant and jeopardize the safety of players will not be tolerated,” Jon Runyan said in a letter to Kareem Jackson.

The NFL announced a four-game suspension for Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson on Monday following his headfirst tackle on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs on Sunday Night Football in Week 11.

See the NFL’s full statement on Jackson’s suspension below.


Kareem Jackson of the Denver Broncos has been suspended without pay for four games for repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players, including during this Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan issued the suspension for a violation of Rule 12, Section 2, Article 10 (a) which states that “it is a foul if a player lowers his head and makes forcible c​​ontact with his helmet against an opponent.”​

In a letter to Jackson, Runyan wrote:

“With 13:38 remaining in the first quarter, you were involved in a play that the League considers a serious violation of the playing rules. The video of the play shows that you lowered your head and made forcible contact to Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs.  You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided.

“Illegal acts that are flagrant and jeopardize the safety of players will not be tolerated. The League will continue to​ stress enforcement of the rules that prohibit using your helmet to make forcible contact with your ​opponent.  On the play in question, you lowered your head and delivered a forceful blow to the shoulder and head/neck area of an opponent when you had time and space to avoid such contact.  You could have made contact with your opponent within the rules, yet you chose not to.​

Following the Broncos’ Week 7 game against Green Bay, Jackson was suspended for four games for violations of unnecessary roughness rules. That suspension was subsequently reduced to two games by hearing officer Derrick Brooks, jointly appointed and compensated by the NFL and NFLPA.  Jackson was also disqualified from a Week 2 game against Washington for a similarly flagrant hit, and subsequently fined.

Jackson will be eligible to return to the Broncos’ active roster following the team’s Week 15 game against Detroit.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Jackson may appeal the suspension. Any appeal will be heard and decided by the NFL-NFLPA hearing officers, Derrick Brooks or James Thrash.

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