Broncos place RB Blake Watson on non-football injury list

The Broncos placed rookie running back Blake Watson on the non-football injury list ahead of the start of training camp.

The Denver Broncos placed undrafted rookie running back Blake Watson on the non-football injury list on Wednesday, according to KPRC-TV’s Aaron Wilson. Watson’s injury is not yet known.

As the name suggests, the NFI list is for players who suffer an injury away from the team’s facility unrelated to a game, practice or team workout. Watson still counts against the 90-man offseason roster and he can return from the NFI list once he’s ready to practice again.

Watson was also picked by the Memphis Showboats in the second round of the UFL draft on Wednesday. He will remain with the Broncos, but if Watson is off Denver’s roster next spring, the Showboats will have first dibs among UFL teams.

Watson isn’t the team’s only rookie running back dealing with an injury. Broncos coach Sean Payton revealed in May that fifth-round draft pick Audric Estime had a minor knee procedure in the spring.

Payton estimated that Estime would be recovered in time for training camp. We’ll find out if Estime is ready to go when Denver begins training camp practices next Friday.

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OG Chris Reed expected to stay on NFI list, miss first 4 games

We seem to have clarity on the status of Reed moving forward

Offensive lineman Chris Reed hasn’t practiced since the beginning of training camp due to injury. He was placed on the non-football injury list to start training camp. According to The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, Reed is expected to stay on the non-football injury list and miss the first four games of the season.

This appeared to be the pathway for Reed because he hadn’t practiced all of training camp and that direction was made even more clear when it was reported that he restructured his contract recently.

Reed was scheduled to have a base of $1.4 million with $600k guaranteed. The restructure dropped his base salary down to $1.165 million but that is now fully guaranteed.

With the Vikings keeping Reed on the NFI list, the offensive line will have another open spot on the 53-man roster.

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Raiders place DT Neil Farrell Jr on Non-Football Injury list

Second year DT Neil Farrell Jr heads to Non-Football Injury list

Among those not in attendance for the first day of Raiders training camp was defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr.

The second-year lineman joins rookie first round pick defensive end Tyree Wilson on the NFI. While rookie DT Byron Young starts camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

Farrell appeared in nine games last season as a fourth round pick out of LSU. In those appearances he combined for 12 tackles and two QB hits.

With two DTs sidelined, players like second-year DT Matthew Butler, rookie seventh round pick Nesta Jade-Silvera, and newly re-signed Kyle Peko to move up the depth chart.

There are no surefire starting DTs on this team, making for somewhat of an open competition at the position. The projected starting rotation as of now is Bilal Nichols, John Jenkins, and Jerry Tillery.

If Neil Farrell hopes to make a jump in his second season, he will need to return to the practice field soon.

Vernon Butler comes off Non-Football Injury list for Raiders

Vernon Butler hits the training camp field, coming off NFI list

Just in time for the first day in pads, the Raider got back one of their interior defensive linemen. Vernon Butler came off the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list Wednesday adding some more depth to the line.

The veteran defensive lineman signed with the team this offseason to compete for a spot in the rotation.

A first-round pick in the 2016 draft, the Louisiana Tech product never lived up to his draft status. He’s started a combined 19 games in his career, all over the past three seasons in Carolina and Buffalo.

His best season came in 2019, a contract year after the Panthers didn’t pick up his fifth-year option. That season, he started nine games and had six sacks, eight QB hits, 32 combined tackles with seven going for a loss, and three forced fumbles.

He hasn’t had a sack in the two seasons since with just three combined QB hits.

What we see is a player who is capable of putting up good numbers if used properly or, alternatively, applies himself.

The interior defensive line for the Raiders is crowded, but with no surefire favorites, so he will have the opportunity to earn a spot, but could just as easily find himself cut come the season if he isn’t the right fit. Being on the field for camp certainly increases his chance to gain a foothold in that competition.

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Packers place WR Sammy Watkins, CB Keisean Nixon on non-football injury list

The Packers placed WR Sammy Watkins and CB Keisean Nixon on the active/non-football injury list on Tuesday.

The Green Bay Packers placed wide receiver Sammy Watkins and cornerback Keisean Nixon on the non-football injury list on Tuesday, according to the league’s daily transaction report.

The non-football injury list is used by teams for players who are injured outside of practices or team-related activities. A player can come off the list at any time once cleared.

Both Watkins and Nixon were acquired by the Packers this offseason. Watkins spent last season with the Baltimore Ravens; Nixon with the Las Vegas Raiders. If healthy, both could play important roles for Matt LaFleur’s team in 2022.

Watkins, who has missed 10 games over the last two seasons, knows he must stay healthy to create a career revival in Green Bay.

Nixon could be a key backup at cornerback and a core special teamer for Rich Bisaccia, who he played for in Las Vegas.

Watkins’ placement on the list underscores why the Packers signed receiver Osirus Mitchell on Tuesday.

Watkins and Nixon are joining rookies Rasheed Walker, offensive tackle Caleb Jones and linebacker Caliph Brice on the non-football injury list.

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Raiders send IDL Vernon Butler to Non-Football Injury list

Another Raiders interior defensive lineman lost to injury

Training camp has just started for the Raiders and things are without several interior defensive linemen. First it was projected starters Johnathan Hankins and Bilal Nichols who began camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. And today they were joined by Vernon Butler who was placed on the Non-Football Injury list.

The seventh-year veteran DT Butler was added this offseason to compete for a spot in the rotation.

With Hankins, Nichols, and Butler down, this is what the group looks like:

Neil Farrell Jr (D-4)
Tyler Lancaster
Andrew Billings
Matthew Butler (D-5)
Kyle Peko
Kendal Vickers

So, as you can see, they still have plenty of bodies to fill out their first, second, and third teams. Two of whom are drafted rookies. Only Vickers is a returning player. All others enter their first training camp with the Raiders.

It’s actually a pretty sizable group, which makes you wonder if a return by any of the three currently out would lead to one of the other getting cut.

S Lonnie Johnson among 3 Texans activated from non-football injury list

The Houston Texans had three players activated from the non-football injury list, including safety Lonnie Johnson.

The Houston Texans had three players come off the non-football injury list on Tuesday just in time for the team’s first padded practice of training camp.

Safety Lonnie Johnson, cornerback Cornell Armstrong, and tight end Pharaoh Brown were able to come off NFI and join the team for the sixth practice on day seven of training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center.

The injuries for Johnson, Armstrong, and Brown weren’t disclosed.

With the pads coming on as the trio hops off the NFI list, safety Justin Reid describes Tuesday’s practice as being akin to the first day of school.

“It’s like the first day of school,” Reid said on Aug. 2. “It’s exciting. We all know that what we have been doing the last couple of days has been a whole lot of fun but real football gets played when the pads get put on. So we get to see what everybody got starting [Tuesday].”

D’Wayne Eskridge, Travis Homer placed on Seahawks PUP List

Ahead of the start of training camp, wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge and running back Travis Homer have been placed on the Seahawks PUP List.

The Seattle Seahawks have placed a couple of players on the team’s Physically Unable to Perform List ahead of the official start of training camp on Wednesday. Rookie wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge and running back Travis Homer will both start camp on the PUP List.

Eskridge, Seattle’s highest draft pick in April, had been limited throughout the offseason as he battled a toe issue. Homer had been sidelined with a calf injury.

In addition, the Seahawks also placed undrafted free agent guard Pier-Olivier Lestage on the Non-Football Injury List to start camp. Lestage had undergone surgery this spring to repair a sports hernia and is apparently still on the mend.

The first practice of 2021 training camp is set to kick off this afternoon.

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Jaguars place undrafted rookie LB Dylan Moses on non-football injury list

In a move that was expected, Jacksonville placed undrafted rookie LB Dylan Moses on the non-football injury list.

It seems that the Jaguars will have to wait a little while to see what they have in undrafted rookie linebacker Dylan Moses. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the team placed Moses on the non-football injury list on Tuesday.

This is a move that had been expected since he signed with Jacksonville after the draft. Once considered a first-round prospect, Moses tore his ACL in fall camp before the 2019 season while in college at Alabama. Though he returned in 2020, he was playing through an injury which was discovered after the Crimson Tide’s national championship win over Ohio State.

He underwent another knee surgery on Feb. 9, and concerns surrounding his health caused him to slip in the draft. Jacksonville likes Moses’ upside and will hope he can develop into the player some thought he would be with a clean bill of health.

However, with his placement on the non-football injury list, he’ll be spending at least a good chunk of his rookie season on the sideline. Players on the NFI list are not entitled to compensation under their contracts but their contracts continue to run.

Moses totaled 76 tackles (six for loss) and an interception at Alabama in 2020.

Seahawks rookie DE Darrell Taylor not ruled out for postseason play

Seattle Seahawks rookie defensive end Darrell Taylor could be available to the team at some point during the postseason from the NFL list.

Coach Pete Carroll isn’t ruling out the chance that rookie defensive end Darrell Taylor could be available to the team at some point during the postseason if the Seattle Seahawks continue their push into the playoffs.

“He has flashed, obviously, we’ve seen the quickness,” Carroll told reporters Thursday afternoon. “Today, I’m anxious to see this film because this was the best day for him. We’re kind of ramping him up and today he cut it loose a little bit, so I’m anxious to see it, but there’s no question that that he belongs out here with these guys.”

Taylor finally returned to practice this week after spending the entire season so far on the Non-Football Injury list as he recovered from a leg injury he sustained last year while at Tennessee.

The rookie would need to be activated to the roster before he could appear in a contest.

The Seahawks have the healthiest roster of their 2020 campaign as they head into the playoffs this weekend, set to square off against the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round on Saturday.

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