Broncos QB Bo Nix declines Pro Bowl nod due to minor procedure

Broncos QB Bo Nix turned down an invitation to the Pro Bowl to undergo a pre-planned minor procedure.

When Drake Maye and Russell Wilson were added to the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster on Tuesday as replacements, Denver Broncos fans quickly wondered why quarterback Bo Nix didn’t get in above them.

It turns out Nix was invited to the Pro Bowl as a fourth alternate in the AFC, but he turned down the offer due to a minor procedure, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.

The Klis story says it was a “routine and minor, cleanup procedure,” but his source did not reveal which part of Nix’s body received the treatment. Nix did play through three transverse process fractures last season, but Klis reports that the pre-planned procedure was not related to the back injury.

Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud were all unavailable or opted out of the Pro Bowl, so Nix was next in line. After Nix opted out, Joe Burrow is now the AFC’s top QB left with Wilson and Maye added to the squad behind him.

Nix is the second Bronco to decline an alternate nod, joining guard Quinn Meinerz. After being invited as a first alternate, Meinerz turned it down because he did not want to participate as a replacement lineman.

The AFC squad will be coached by Peyton Manning in skills competitions on Jan. 30 (ESPN) and a flag football game on Feb. 2 (ESPN/ABC).

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Broncos OLB Jonah Elliss had shoulder surgery; made All-Rookie team

Broncos OLB Jonah Elliss underwent shoulder surgery after making the PFWA’s All-Rookie Team in 2024.

Denver Broncos outside linebacker Jonah Elliss underwent should surgery last week, his father, Luther Elliss, confirmed to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.

Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette previously broke the news about Elliss suffering a fractured scapula bone in the team’s playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. At the time of the initial report, it was not yet known if the pass rusher would undergo surgery.

Elliss (6-2, 246 pounds) eventually did undergo surgery, putting his status in doubt for the team’s offseason program this spring.

The Broncos picked Elliss in the third round of last year’s NFL draft out of Utah. He served as a rotational outside linebacker in his rookie season, totaling 38 tackles, six quarterback hits, five sacks and two pass breakups in 17 games (playing 38% of the defensive snaps).

Following his impressive season, Elliss made the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie Team. He was Denver’s only player to take home that honor following the 2024 season.

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Report: Surgery for Cowboys’ Trevon Diggs to include bone graft, increasing rehab time

From @ToddBrock24f7: The procedure should stimulate growth and strength, but it requires a longer recovery and could cost Diggs a big chunk of the 2025 season.

More details are coming out about the latest injury suffered by Trevon Diggs, but what’s becoming increasingly clear is that the Cowboys will be without their star cornerback for a long time.

The surgery to repair his left knee will require a bone graft to address cartilage damage, according to multiple sources, and it will prolong his recovery time even further than originally anticipated.

While the team had been hopeful that the two-time Pro Bowler would be able to return to action around the start of the 2025 regular season, this latest news makes that timetable extraordinarily unlikely.

“I hope it’s definitely sooner,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said Friday, per ProFootballTalk. “But this is a big recovery for Trevon. It’s way too early for me to speculate on that.”

The injury reportedly occurred during the team’s Week 14 game against Cincinnati. Diggs tore the ACL in the same knee early in the 2023 season and missed 15 outings, but this injury is said to be a different issue.

The former second-round draft pick played every snap of the 27-20 loss and even began the next week of practice on a limited basis before consultation with the Cowboys medical staff determined that he should sit out the Week 15 trip to Charlotte to face the Panthers.

“He was having to play with fluid in his knee,” Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said last week. “It’s certainly a very legitimate injury that’s gonna take him some time to recover from.”

Initial estimates put his rehab at “up to eight months,” but longtime Cowboys insider Clarence Hill Jr. of AllCity DLLS first posited that Diggs “could possibly miss most of next season.”

News of a planned bone graft lends considerable weight to that more conservative outlook.

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As described by David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, “this is where a new piece of bone is inserted into the damaged area in the same way a pothole is repaired or a gap in a joint is caulked.”

The procedure necessitates a longer recovery time than other options, but it offers a better chance at stimulating growth and strengthening the area.

Wide receiver Noah Brown underwent a similar procedure when he was with the Cowboys, causing him to miss the entire 2019 season.

At the conclusion of the 2024 regular season, Diggs will have played in just 13 of the Cowboys’ last 35 games, including playoffs. And now a sizable chunk of next year’s 17 is also in serious jeopardy.

Diggs, 26, has a $9 million base salary for 2025 that is guaranteed in case of injury.

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Report: Cowboys get encouraging news on recovery timetable for rising star LB

From @ToddBrock24f7: It was feared DeMarvion Overshown would miss all of 2025 with his latest knee injury. Surgery is now done, and his return could come sooner.

The Cowboys have received an encouraging update on the injury front, a rare occurrence in this season that has seen so many of the team’s top playmakers miss multiple games or have their 2024 campaign end prematurely.

DeMarvion Overshown has undergone surgery to repair the right knee triple tear he suffered against the Bengals on Dec. 9, and despite initial fears that the devastating injury could cost him the entire 2025 season, there is now hope for the second-year linebacker to make an earlier return.

Per NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Overshown’s procedure, performed by renowned California-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, was deemed “successful,” and the former Texas Longhorn “could return by mid-to-late next season, a far more optimistic timeline than initially expected after the diagnosis.”

Overshown tore his ACL, PCL, and MCL in the fourth quarter of Week 14’s Monday Night loss to Cincinnati. The 24-year-old had been the Cowboys’ second-leading tackler coming into that game, just his 13th game appearance since being drafted in the third round of 2023’s draft.

The Texas native missed his entire rookie year due to an ACL tear in his other knee.

He finished this season with 90 tackles, five sacks, eight TFLs, five QB hits, four passes defended, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.

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His Cowboys coaches and teammates were gutted by this latest injury, with Micah Parsons fighting back tears as he spoke to reporters about his “little bro.”

Overshown, though, has kept a positive outlook from the very beginning, posting on social media just hours after the injury, “Wouldn’t want this for anyone else! One of God’s Toughest Soldiers (prayer hands emoji) Keep me in your prayers…”

Patrik Walker of the team website reports that linebacker Marist Liufau, who saw a bump in playing time last week as Overshown’s replacement, has received a post-op text from him stating, “He’s doing well and he’s in good spirits.”

To be clear, Overshown won’t be back in action anytime soon. But it may be a little sooner than once thought.

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Report: Cowboys could be without CB Trevon Diggs for quite some time

From @ToddBrock24f7: Diggs will have surgery to repair cartilage in his left knee, Stephen Jones is eyeing Week 1 for his return, but one insider isn’t so sure.

Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs has seen his season end early for the second year in a row due to a knee injury. And although the team is hopeful that it won’t impact his 2025 season, the two-time Pro Bowler could be cutting it close, and that’s the best-case scenario.

Diggs will undergo surgery to repair his left knee after suffering an injury in the team’s Week 14 loss to Cincinnati, the Cowboys announced over the weekend. The issue is reportedly with his articular cartilage, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, and apparently separate from the knee ailment that kept him out of Weeks 12 and 13.

“This is something that occurred during the [Week 14] game,” head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed in his postgame press conference after the team’s 30-14 win over the Panthers.

Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones elaborated on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan on Monday, saying he did not expect Diggs to be ready for training camp next summer and adding, “but I think his timeline will be right at the start of the season.”

Diggs had played every defensive snap of the Monday night meeting with the Bengals and then consulted with the Cowboys’ medical staff during the week. After missing multiple practices and some testing, the decision was made to keep Diggs home from the trip to Charlotte and proceed with plans for surgery.

“He was having to play with fluid in his knee. He was out there doing everything he can because he wants to play, he wants to compete, he wants to contribute,” Jones said of the 26-year-old Diggs.

“It’s certainly a very legitimate injury that’s gonna take him some time to recover from. We got a vision that we can get him ready to do next year.”

In his Monday post to X, Rapoport put the recovery time at “up to eight months.”

But not everyone is ready to automatically pencil Diggs in for Week 1 next fall.

The former second-round draft pick missed most of the 2023 season with an ACL tear in his right knee. Though he was able to be in the starting lineup for that season opener, there are rumblings now that the organization was dissatisfied with the way he approached the rehab stint.

“This is a serious knee injury,” explained longtime insider Clarence Hill Jr. of AllCity DLLS. “He could possibly miss most of next season.”

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Given the financial ramifications of his $97 million contract extension signed in July of 2023 and the return on that investment the team is getting on the field, expect Diggs’s status to be a major storyline for the coming offseason.

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Cowboys to lose CB Trevon Diggs for remainder of 2024 season

From @ToddBrock24f7: Diggs missed 15 games last season to an ACL tear. His latest injury is said to be “significant” but unrelated to that earlier one.

The Cowboys’ unceremonious exit to the 2024 season has been long, painful, and gradual. In fact, the team’s top players have been dropping out here and there, one at a time since before Week 1.

Now, another one bites the dust.

Cornerback Trevon Diggs, already ruled out of Sunday’s game versus the Carolina Panthers, is now reportedly facing knee surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

The news was first reported by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, who posted the development to X on Saturday, shortly after it had been revealed that Diggs- who had been listed as questionable- would not be traveling with his teammates to Charlotte for their Week 15 matchup.

Diggs had just returned from a two-game absence to appear in Monday night’s date with Cincinnati, playing every defensive snap in the 27-20 loss.

It’s unclear if Diggs re-aggravated that injury or suffered an entirely new one, but an MRI this week on Diggs’s still-problematic left knee showed damage that would require surgery following the season. The decision has been made that the end of his season is now.

WFAA’s Ed Werder reports that, per his source, the injury to Diggs’s knee is “significant,” though specifics have not been made public.

Diggs played just two games in 2023 before an ACL tear- also in the left knee- ended that season, too. When the 2024 campaign finally ends for the Cowboys, the former second-round draft pick out of Alabama will have appeared in only 13 of their last 34 regular-season contests.

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Todd Archer of ESPN cites his own source as saying that this most recent issue “is not related to” the 2023 ACL repair.

Diggs is now the fifth Cowboys’ Pro Bowler to be on injured reserve this season, joining Dak Prescott, Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence, and DaRon Bland. Eight other Cowboys are currently on IR, too.

Prescott and Martin have already seen their seasons come to a premature end due to injury, as have Sam Williams, John Stephens Jr., Markquese Bell, and DeMarvion Overshown.

And now, Diggs.

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Saints TE Taysom Hill thanks fans, prepares for surgery after torn ACL

New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill thanked fans on social media for their support before undergoing surgery:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDgIUQosERj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The New Orleans Saints have been bitten by the injury bug plenty of times this season, but few have been has hard to swallow as the loss of Taysom Hill.

Amongst all of the strife over the last few years, Hill’s commitment to team has made him a favorite for pretty much every Saints fan. To see him fall victim to another brutal injury, this time a torn ACL against the Los Angeles Rams, was quite upsetting.

The do-it-all tight end recently took to Instagram, though, to share an update on how he is feeling after the injury.

The main points made in the message are that he is in good spirits as he prepares for surgery. He thanked all fans for the outpouring of support and is confident that he will make a full recovery.

Many pondered if this latest injury would bring his time in black and gold to an end, but it appears as though the 34-year-old will try to make his way back to the field.

In eight seasons playing for New Orleans, Hill has 3,380 yards of scrimmage for 44 touchdowns. He also had 2,369 passing yards with 11 more scores. That doesn’t even cover the contributions he has made on special teams. A true once-in-a-lifetime player.

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Cowboys’ Zack Martin to have season-ending ankle surgery

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 9x-Pro Bowler suffered an ankle injury in Week 11 and has been out since. Questions will now be raised about a possible retirement.

It’s the end of the season for one of the Cowboys’ all-time greats, and maybe even the end of the line.

Right guard Zack Martin will require surgery to repair the damage from a right ankle injury he suffered in Week 11, according to head coach Mike McCarthy, who made the announcement in his Thursday press conference. The injury occurred during the fourth quarter of the team’s 34-10 loss to Houston and had kept Martin sidelined the past two games.

The team had originally hoped Martin could rehab the ankle with a Week 14 return in mind, but his progress did not go as planned and led to this decision, which Martin and the club reached on Wednesday.

Undrafted Brock Hoffman has gotten the start for Martin in both contests of the Cowboys’ current two-game win streak, and he looks to be the primary replacement once again on Monday when Dallas hosts the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.

“He’s gonna be missed. We’re not gonna replace Zack Martin, by no means,” McCarthy told reporters of the nine-time Pro Bowler who was just announced earlier in the day as a nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. “He brings so much to the team, to the team culture. We all recognize what a great player he has been here in Dallas for his whole career, but what he gives us as a person- people gravitate to him and he does a really good job of bringing people together. That offensive line room is really an illustration of his leadership, and he’ll definitely be missed in that area.”

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Both the Nov. 18 injury and Thursday’s announcement immediately raised questions about the future of the 34-year-old, who was the Cowboys’ first-round draft pick out of Notre Dame in 2014 and is now on the final year of his contract. After being absent for just two games over his first six pro seasons, Martin will have missed 16 contests over his last five years by the time the 2024 regular campaign ends.

Micah Parsons inadvertently sparked some retirement whispers for the eleven-year veteran back in early November. After a loss to the Eagles, the Cowboys linebacker said, “I kind of feel bad for guys like Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year, on their way out. Because that’s who I wanted to hold the trophy for.”

When asked a few days later about playing beyond 2024, Martin himself wasn’t ready to give the topic serious consideration.

“I’m just taking it one week at a time, my guy,” he told reporters.

But now there are no more weeks for the seven-time first-team All-Pro… at least for this season, and maybe for good.

“I think you just have to take a step back and deal with one thing at a time,” McCarthy said Thursday. “That, frankly, was the conversation that Zack and I had. The focus is really about the surgery, what’s next. Those are all questions that will be asked or be thought about.”

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Rashid Shaheed takes first steps forward in his recovery process

Rahshid Shaheed shared a video of his recovery from meniscus surgery. He’s taken the first steps forwards in his return to the field in 2025:

New Orleans Saints wide receiver, Rashid Shaheed has reached a major milestone. On Friday evening, Shaheed posted a clip on Instagram of him walking. This video documents the first steps that he has taken without assistance since getting the surgery

There’s two things you’ll notice from the short clip. Shaheed is walking without any sort of brace on, and he’s walking at a pretty good pace for a guy only six weeks removed from knee surgery.

Shaheed injured his knee against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7. Shortly after that, the wide receiver underwent meniscus surgery and was placed on season ending injured reserve.

He won’t return this season, of course, but Shaheed appears to be making a speedy recovery. He’s one of two wide receivers who my be out for the season. The jury is still out on whether Chris Olave will return from a concussion that also put him on injured reserve.

There may not be a position group more impacted by injuries than the wide receiver room.

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Report: Chiefs DB to undergo surgery after sustaining serious injury vs. 49ers

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, #Chiefs DB Jaylen Watson is set to go under the knife after his injury against the #49ers in Week 7.

According to a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson is set to go under the knife after sustaining a serious injury against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7.

Watson was removed from the game during the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury, and his status was quickly downgraded to out.

Though the Chiefs haven’t given an official update on the third-year defender, Fowler’s report seems to indicate that he will miss extended time, and may be a candidate to be placed on Kansas City’s injured reserve list.

Take a look at Fowler’s report below, which was posted to Twitter on Tuesday morning:

 

If Watson’s injury proves to be season-ending, it would be a major blow to the Chiefs and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who will have to rely on less experienced replacements when Kansas City faces the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8.