Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Reigning NFL Rookie of the Year Saquon Barkley is continuing to deal with an ankle injury, but he insists he has no plans to sit and rest the lower limb.
Reigning NFL Rookie of the Year Saquon Barkley is continuing to deal with an ankle injury, but he insists he has no plans to sit and rest the lower limb.
Reigning NFL Rookie of the Year Saquon Barkley is continuing to deal with an ankle injury, but he insists he has no plans to sit and rest the lower limb.
Reigning NFL Rookie of the Year Saquon Barkley is continuing to deal with an ankle injury, but he insists he has no plans to sit and rest the lower limb.
The Rams, Chargers, Bears and Browns are among the biggest disappointments.
What teams have failed to deliver in the biggest manners in 2019? The expectations for each of these 11 were not the same. Still, they have all come up short in different ways.
Zac Taylor has taken a team that went 6-10 in 2018 and turned it into a laughingstock that is 0-9. Sure, there is no A.J. Green and that is an enormous loss. However, it feels more like a blessing for the talented wideout. Also, don’t think about throwing the loss of John Ross into the equation. He was trending as a bust and had a few good games before being injured, again. Benching Andy Dalton on his birthday was a gift as much as an insult. And throwing Ryan Finley to the Ravens was almost criminal. Could they go winless? It feels more probable than impossible.
Nick Gates, an undrafted free agent offensive tackle out of Nebraska in 2018, has played his way into the starting lineup for the New York Giants.
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Nick Gates made his first NFL start for the New York Giants on Sunday when he filled in for the injured Mike Remmers at right tackle. Gates has been a Giant since last spring when they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska.
The 6-foot-6, 318-pound Gates spent his rookie season on injured reserve and made the team out of camp this season after an impressive showing at training camp and in preseason games. He basically was added to the roster as depth until general manager Dave Gettleman can fill out the offensive line with some his beloved “hog mollies”.
But Gates might end up being one of those hog mollies. He had a decent showing against the Jets on Sunday and the Giants might keep him in the starting lineup for the remainder of the season with Nate Solder going through the concussion protocol and Remmers dealing with a back issue.
“I thought he played well,” Shurmur said. “Listen, he’s a tough, competitive guy. We were looking forward to seeing him play because we feel like he has a chance to be a good player. He battled. One thing about Nick Gates, he’s tough, he’s competitive and he tries to do things the right way. He had a lot of really good plays out there.”
Nick Gates had a great game yesterday filling in for Remmers. Here’s an example right here, look at how he drove away #44 away from Jones. I can easily see Nick Gates being our starting RT next year. Was a fan of him in the preseason and he didn’t disappoint yesterday. pic.twitter.com/0ANWgjdtNp
— Danny King (@DannyKingNFL) November 12, 2019
Gates went undrafted in 2018 for a reason. He wasn’t deemed physically gifted enough for a team to burn a draft pick on. But how many times have we heard this story over the years? Here is what Rotoworld.com had to say about Gates last year:
“Gates turned pro as a redshirt junior after making 35 career starts, moving from right tackle to left tackle for his final two seasons. He only earned honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2017. Short armed (32″) and a lowly second-percentile SPARQ athlete, Gates isn’t built to play tackle in the NFL and isn’t a good enough blocker to excel inside.”
That’s pretty damning analysis. It did not keep the Giants from extending a flier on him last April. Since then, Gates has done the rest. The Giants aren’t deep on the offensive line and the hard-working Gates has played his way into their plans. For the short term, anyway.
“What I like about Nick Gates as a player is, first of all, he’s a tough guy, he plays with athleticism and balance,” offensive line coach Hal Hunter said last week. “He’s a conceptual player, he kind of does everything you ask him to do. I like everything about him. I think he’s got the mental makeup and he’s got some physical tools. What he needs the most, as any young player, he needs to play more. He needs to play. What he did in the preseason, and all of the different positions he played– he played all five positions in the preseason. He shows a lot of promise, and I’m glad we have him.”
Players surprise all the time. The Giants are hoping they mined a gem here with Gates.
After returning from a six-game suspension, Jets’ second-year defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd had a sack and three tackles for loss.
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A week ago, Nathan Shepherd returned to the Jets following a six-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.
On Sunday, he turned in what was easily his best game as a pro. The second-year defensive lineman had a sack and three tackles for loss in the Jets’ 34-27 win over the Giants. Shepherd would have recorded another sack, too, had CB Nate Hariston — who was eventually benched — not erased the play with a holding penalty.
The sack was the first of Shepherd’s career. Playing in 16 games as a rookie last season, he recorded 15 tackles in five starts. Overall, he did little to show why former general manager Mike Maccagnan invested a third-round pick on a Division II product.
Shepherd flashed the potential that impressed NFL scouts on Sunday, though. He finished the game with a Pro Football Focus grade of 82.0, coming off a decent 68.7 grade in the Jets’ 26-18 loss to Miami in Week 9.
Since returning from his suspension, Shepherd has provided a much-needed boost for a Jets team that had been previously reeling.
“It’s good to have him back,” Adam Gase said following Sunday’s game. “His energy level, he’s so happy to be playing football again. That stuff’s contagious.”
It would have been easy for the Jets to dismiss Shepherd after he was suspended for two separate violations of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He didn’t perform well as a rookie and New York’s new regime had no attachment to the Maccagnan holdover.
Instead, Gase and Joe Douglas stuck with the 26-year-old. The sample size has been small, but so far the decision has paid off.
“I feel like I used eight of my nine lives,” Shepherd told NFL Network following his suspension. “I kind of have to treat it like I have a peanut allergy — if I get one more, it’s going to be over for me. That’s just my reality and I accept that.”
A third violation of the NFL’s PED policy would equal a minimum of a two-year ban for Shepherd.
Shepherd’s two failed tests came on June 27 and July 25 while he was recovering from shoulder and groin injuries. The shoulder injury could eventually require surgery. He underwent an MRI on his groin that revealed he needed sports hernia surgery. In response to a change in posture, Shepherd had multiple herniated discs in his back.
Rehabilitating and coming back from suspension, the Leonard Williams trade allowed Shepherd the opportunity to prove that he was still worthy of a roster spot. With his NFL future in limbo, he rose to the occasion on Sunday.
He’s become an asset for the league’s No. 1 rushing defense and the Jets third-round pick from a year ago is finally coming around. It took some patience, but the investment in Shepherd may turn out to be worth it if he continues to play like he did Sunday.
If the regular season were to end today, the New York Giants would select third overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
With their Week 10 loss to the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, the New York Giants fell to 2-8 on the season and now have themselves set up for another top 5 pick in the NFL Draft.
Although records are unbalanced due to bye week cycle, the Giants would be slated to pick No. 3 overall if the regular season were to end today.
Here’s how the top 10 stacks up:
ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) gives the Giants a 10.1% chance to attain the No.1 overall selection and an 83.9% chance of landing a Top 10 pick.
The Giants are mired in such an ugly stretch in their franchise’s history that they’ve selected in the top 10 three times over the previous four seasons — No. 10 in 2016, No. 23 in 2017, No. 2 in 2018 and No. 6 in 2019.
If things don’t turn around over the final seven weeks of the season, the Giants will make that four times over the past five season, which speaks volumes about how far this organization has fallen.
The Giants have a bye in Week 11 and depending on how things shake out, they could move from No. 3 to No. 5, but will remain in the top 5 regardless.
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New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones has been named a finalist for this week’s FedEx Air Player of the Week along with Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes.
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New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones has been named a finalist for this week’s FedEx Air Player of the Week.
Jones completed 26 of 40 attempts (65.0 percent) for 308 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 121.7 passer rating in the Giants’ Week 10 loss to the New York Jets.
Also nominated for FedExAir Player of the Week are Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City, two of the NFL’s brightest young stars at the moment.
Jackson completed 15 of 17 attempts (88.2 percent) for 223 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 158.3 passer rating – the highest attainable grade – in the Ravens’ 49-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Jackson became the second quarterback to have multiple games with a 158.3 passer rating in a single season in NFL history.
Mahomes completed 36 of 50 attempts (72.0 percent) for 446 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 119.2 passer rating against the Tennessee Titans.
With four touchdown passes in Week 8, is the fifth rookie quarterback with at least two games of four touchdown passes in NFL history, joining Robert Griffin III (two games in 2012), Marcus Mariota (two in 2015), Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton (three in 1961 with the Vikings) and Deshaun Watson (three in 2017).
Rookie Kyler Murray of Arizona also threw for over 300 yards on Sunday, marking the first time in NFL history in which two rookie quarterbacks each recorded at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes in the same week.
According to Joe Person at the Athletic, the team has signed cornerback Corn Elder off the Giants’ practice squad.
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Corn Elder move will be official Tues. for Panthers, who signed him off Giants’ practice squad.
Depth move and does not indicate bad injury news for one of the other CBs, per source.
No word on corresponding move.— Joe Person (@josephperson) November 12, 2019
The Panthers are bringing back another familiar face. According to Joe Person at the Athletic, the team has signed cornerback Corn Elder off the Giants’ practice squad.
Elder was one of former general manager Dave Gettleman’s last draft picks in Carolina. Gettleman selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. Elder did not see the field much in his first run with the Panthers, though. He appeared in 13 games last season but only played 251 total snaps, mostly on special teams. He was one of the team’s first cuts this year.
Why bring him back now?
It may have something to do with both starting outside cornerbacks James Bradberry and Donte Jackson dealing with groin injuries. Bradberry sat out Sundays’ loss to the Packers and Jackson apparently re-aggravated his, which kept him on the sidelines three weeks earlier in the season.
When Jackson went out against Green Bay, slot cornerback Javien Elliott moved outside to cover for him. Colin Jones took over for Elliott in the slot, which is obviously not an ideal situation. Elder is best suited to play that nickel position.
He may be active against Atlanta, but we probably won’t see him play unless both Bradberry and Jackson are out. That seems unlikely, as Jackson returned against the Packers later on and made some big stops down the stretch.
The move to add Elder is official. To make room, the team waived OL Bryan Witzmann.
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The New York Giants did not think they needed to replace Pro Bowl PK Aldrick Rosas this soon after his Pro Bowl season but they might have to.
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In 2018, New York Giants placekicker Aldrick Rosas was Pro Bowler, connecting on 32 of 33 field goal attempts and missing just one of his 32 point after attempts.
That was last year. A lot has changed since then. This year, Rosas won’t be going to Orlando, sadly to say. He is mired in a slump that most players at his position go through, and he is not resembling the automatic kicker he was just a season ago.
On Sunday, Rosas missed an extra point attempt wide right in the third quarter. It was the third consecutive game he missed a PAT and fourth straight game with an unsuccessful kick, counting his missed field goal try against the Cardinals in Week 7.
That has reportedly led the Giants to try out some kickers this week during their bye.
With Aldrick Rosas struggling, the #Giants worked out 2 kickers: Kaare Vedvik and Elliott Fry. Rosas has missed an XP in 3 straight games.
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) November 11, 2019
Rosas had had only attempted 10 field goals this season, converting on eight. He has converted 19 of 22 PATs.
“Just have to go back to the drawing board,” special team coordinator Thomas McGaughy said of Rosas last week. “It’s a rhythm thing, he’s starting to get more into a rhythm. Sometimes he has a tendency to get a little fast, he gets a little anxious. He has to calm himself down, slow down and go through his mechanics and go through his progressions and not rush through anything. That has been his issue right now, he just has to stay within himself and be himself. He’s a Pro Bowl kicker, the kid has a ton of talent. You have to realize, too, he’s a young player, young players make mistakes and he has to make sure he limits those mistakes.”
The Giants did not think they needed to replace Rosas this soon after his Pro Bowl season and perhaps they won’t. This summer, they brought it just one kicker to challenge him, Joey Slye of Virginia Tech, who they cut at the outset of training camp.
Slye is kicking for the Carolina Panthers this year and has not fared much better that Rosas, missing six of his 22 FG attempts and two PATs.
Two members of the New York Giants were named to the Pro Football Focus NFL Week 10 Team of the Week.
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The New York Giants fell to the New York Jets, 34-27, on Sunday in embarrassing fashion and precious few players could put a feather into their cap for a solid performance.
One of those players was right guard Kevin Zeitler, who played well despite some struggles around him, earning a spot on Pro Football Focus’ NFL Week 10 Team of the Week.
RG KEVIN ZEITLER, NEW YORK GIANTS
Zeitler earned his highest single-game grade of the season (75.6) against the Jets in Week 10. He allowed just two total pressures and earned a 72.3 run-blocking grade.
Considering how poorly the offensive line played as a hole and how little Saquon Barkley was able produce, it may seem somewhat shocking to see Zeitler’s name here, but PFF has their opinion.
In addition to Zeitler, punter Riley Dixon also earned a spot on the PFF Team of the Week, although they offered no additional context when it came to his inclusion.
Dixon averaged 53.5 yards on six punts with a long of 59 and one downed inside the 20. He also had a touchback and a failed two-point conversion attempt off a bad snap from Zak DeOssie.
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