Tag: Takk McKinley

Takk McKinley could make Rams debut Sunday, Kendall Blanton also expected to play

Sean McVay said Takk McKinley could play as early as this Sunday. Kendall Blanton is expected to be active against the Cardinals, too.

There are a whole lot of new (and familiar) faces in the Rams’ building this week after the long list of roster moves the team made. That group includes Takk McKinley, Malcolm Brown and Kendall Blanton.

McKinley and Blanton were signed to the active roster from other practice squads, and the expectation is that both could play on Sunday against the Cardinals.

“He could play,” Sean McVay said of McKinley. “It’s a good thing to be able to get Takk in here. Obviously, Raheem has a familiarity with him.”

It sounds even more likely that Blanton will be active, especially in wake of Brycen Hopkins’ suspension. Blanton is the only other tight end on the active roster besides Tyler Higbee.

“He will. That’s the plan right now,” McVay said of whether Blanton will be active. “A guy that knows the system, that’s played at a high level throughout the playoffs. Similar to Malcolm, being able to get somebody back in here with just some of the situations and scenarios that have come up, we felt that was the best thing and so it’s good to have Kendall back in here.”

McKinley could be the Rams’ fourth edge rusher behind Leonard Floyd, Terrell Lewis and Justin Hollins. The team waived Keir Thomas, who was previously the No. 4 option, so McKinley could naturally fill that role.

And Blanton would be the No. 2 tight end, though Liam Coen said Thursday that Roger Carter Jr. is expected to be elevated to the game day roster from the practice squad.

“Get Roger Carter up and do some things,” he said. “Trying to get him a little bit of access this week to practice and understand the game plan.”

The Rams are very shorthanded, with Cobie Durant and David Long Jr. ruled out, but they’ll be ready for Arizona on Sunday.

Takk McKinley explains why torn Achilles was ‘the best thing to happen’ to him

Takk McKinley tore his Achilles in December, but he now sees the injury as a blessing in disguise

Takk McKinley is one of many newcomers for the Los Angeles Rams this week. The former first-round pick was signed off the Titans’ practice squad by the Rams, bringing him back home to California where he was born and raised.

McKinley last played a regular-season game in December as a member of the Browns, but his year was cut short by a torn Achilles. It was a long road back from the injury, but McKinley is ready to roll again.

And after taking the field for a padded practice Thursday for the first time all year, McKinley is starting to feel like himself again.

“First off, it feels great to be on the field again,” McKinley said via the team’s official site. “Tore my Achilles late December last year, and it’s been – excuse my language – a hell of a journey just to get back on the field, just to get to this point, just to be able to be back in an NFL locker room. Especially the L.A. Rams, who won a Super Bowl, who got a team that’s pretty much built together, I’m here to help wherever I can.”

McKinley said he thought he could come back from his torn Achilles in five or six months “because Cam Akers did it,” but it’s taken him a bit longer to return. Akers’ quick recovery is more an outlier than the norm.

As painful and crushing as his Achilles injury was, he also believes it was a blessing in disguise.

“Honestly, it [the Achilles injury] was the best thing to happen to me as crazy as it may sound,” McKinley said, via Heavy.com.

McKinley admits he wasn’t the most mature player when he first came into the NFL and didn’t take his health as seriously as he should have. But now after suffering a torn Achilles and being forced to go through that difficult rehab process, he pays closer attention to keeping his body in the best shape he can.

“I’ll be honest, I had to grow up,” McKinley said. “In my younger days, I don’t think I took a lot of things seriously whether if it was nutrition or whatever it may be. As you get older in this league, you realize that your body is your money. Your body is your way to provide. I had to learn the hard way and sometimes, you had to go through some things to learn. And now, I’m on a meal plan and I make sure I take my vitamins. I just do all the little things that I was supposed to do.”

McKinley is on the Rams’ active roster but it’s unclear if he’ll contribute right away on Sunday when they face the Cardinals on the road. McKinley plans to be ready whenever the Rams need him, but he first needs to learn the playbook and get acclimated on defense.

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Rams sign OLB Takk McKinley off Titans’ practice squad

The Rams are signing former first-round pick Takk McKinley off the Titans’ practice squad, adding him to their 53-man roster

The Los Angeles Rams are a team that has added a handful of former first-round picks from other teams, and they’re bringing another into the fold this week.

According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Rams are signing Takk McKinley off the Titans’ practice squad. McKinley will be signed to the Rams’ 53-man roster, and because Los Angeles poached him from another team, he’s required to be on the active roster for at least three weeks – or he must be paid at least three game checks.

McKinley was a first-round pick by the Falcons in 2017 and has since made stops with the Raiders, Browns and Titans. He’s played just 15 games the last two years and has made six starts in that span.

McKinley, who went to UCLA and is from Oakland, is just 26 years old. He’s played 60 games in his career and started 27 of them, recording 20 sacks across five seasons.

McKinley will compete for reps behind Leonard Floyd, Terrell Lewis and Justin Hollins. The Rams also have Keir Thomas on the 53-man roster.

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Two former Browns defenders take visits with Denver, Dallas

Two former Browns defenders, one of which the team might want to bring back later, took visits with other teams on Saturday:

The Cleveland Browns have made some wholesale changes to their team over the last few years under GM Andrew Berry. In his first offseason, the offense got a lot of attention with the other side being the focus in 2021. This offseason has been a little more balanced.

Two former Browns defenders showed up on the NFL’s personnel log after taking visits.

Last year’s rotational defensive end Takk McKinley visited the Dallas Cowboys. Coming off of a late-season Achilles injury, it is unknown when McKinley may be able to work out for teams. Earlier this offseason, it was reported a return to Cleveland was possible.

Given his rehab process, it is no surprise that the Cowboys didn’t sign the former first-round pick after his visit and now he’ll head to Arizona:

Former Browns linebacker Joe Schobert took a visit to the Denver Broncos and tried out for the team. After four years with the team that drafted him, Berry allowed Schobert to move on in free agency in 2020. He signed a five-year, $53.75 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He lasted on year in Jacksonville before being traded to Pittsburgh for a sixth-round pick. The Jaguars picked up a big chunk of Schobert’s contract to get the deal done.

In 2021, he played in 84% of the Steelers defensive snaps compiling 112 tackles but only two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one quarterback hit.

Given Cleveland’s drafting of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, bringing back Anthony Walker Jr. and high hopes for Jacob Phillips, a return doesn’t seem likely for the former fourth-round pick.

Cardinals have scheduled visit with former 1st-round pick Takk McKinley

McKinley visited the Cowboys on Saturday and will meet with the Cardinals in a few days.

The Arizona Cardinals are set to meet with a former first-round pick this coming week. According to Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson, Takk McKinley, who visited the Dallas Cowboys Saturday, is scheduled to visit the Cardinals in a few days.

McKinley is a 6-2, 260-lb edge defender who has played in 4-3 defenses as a defensive end. He was drafted 26th overall in the 2017 draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

He had six sacks as a rookie and seven in his second year but has only had seven combined sacks the last three seasons. He played in 2021 for the Cleveland Browns after four with the Falcons.

He would play outside linebacker in the Arizona defense.

The Cardinals have not really addressed the outside linebacker position in free agency this offseason following the departure of Chandler Jones to the Las Vegas Raiders. They re-signed Dennis Gardeck, signed Jessie Lemonier and selected Cameron Thomas and Myjai Sanders in the third round of this year’s draft.

McKinley could add veteran depth with some pass-rushing upside.

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Takk McKinley could be an late addition to Browns

McKinley may not be ready for much of the season but could be an impact player late in the year for the Browns:

The Cleveland Browns spent most of the offseason revamping the offense while bringing back a majority of the defense from last year. Retaining DE Jadeveon Clowney and LB Anthony Walker Jr. while getting a long-term extension with CB Denzel Ward were the highest priorities.

The team also spent a lot of their draft capital on the defensive side of the ball, drafting CB Martin (MJ) Emerson, DE Alex Wright and DT Perrion Winfrey with three of their first four selections.

The biggest veteran addition on that side of the ball was DE Chase Winovich. The Browns traded LB Mack Wilson to the New England Patriots in exchange for the former Michigan star. Winovich’s role was to replace what DE Takk McKinley gave the team before he got injured.

McKinley played well for Cleveland in his 11 games. He had 2.5 sacks, eight QB hits, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. His late-season Achilles injury could keep him out much of the season, a Cam Akers-like return seems unlikely, but he could help the team down the final stretch:

Currently, Cleveland has 88 players signed to their 90-man roster with rookie DT Perrion Winfrey yet to sign his contract. Perhaps McKinley fills that final roster spot before training camp so he can start working out with the team in advance of his return.

Report: Takk McKinley tore his Achilles, out for season

As feared, Takk reportedly tore his Achilles tendon Monday night:

The Cleveland Browns are expecting to get more bad news coming off of the bad news sandwich of Week 15. The Las Vegas Raiders pulled out a last-minute victory in Cleveland to keep their slim playoff hopes alive while dashing the Browns chances of taking the lead in the AFC North.

While not all is lost for Cleveland, the loss does put a damper on things going into a big matchup with the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day.

With Jadeveon Clowney missing the game due to symptoms of COVID-19 and backup Ifeadi Odenigbo also out on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the team was glad to get Takk McKinley back from the list before the game. McKinley’s presence opposite Myles Garrett was important.

Then McKinley went down and was carted off the field.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, McKinley’s injury is what many speculated when it happened, a torn Achilles:

A devastating blow for McKinley and the Browns. The former first-round pick was playing on a one-year contract and will need about a full calendar year to return from the injury. Olivier Vernon suffered the same injury for Cleveland late last season and has not returned to football this year.

For the Browns moving forward, Clowney’s symptoms could keep him out of Saturday’s matchup leaving very little across from Garrett including Porter Gustin, Joe Jackson and Curtis Weaver.

In a game that is almost must win, against a great quarterback, that may not be enough to get the job done.

Takk McKinley injured, carted off the field, out for the remainder of the game

Already down Clowney and Odenigbo, the Browns lost McKinley late in the 3rd quarter:

The Cleveland Browns are down a ton of players on the reserve/COVID-19 list including defensive ends Jadeveon Clowney and Ifeadi Odenigbo. During the game, Takk McKinley was injured leading to him being carted off the field. McKinley couldn’t put weight on his left leg as he was loaded onto the cart.

Just activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list himself, McKinley’s return was seen as a big boost to the team. Teammates came and checked on him as he was leaving the field.

Based on early indications, McKinley is unlikely to return to the game leaving Porter Gustin and Joe Johnson to provide help to Myles Garrett.

The team quickly ruled McKinely out for the rest of the game.

Late in the third quarter, the Las Vegas Raiders led the Browns 10-7 when McKinley went down.

Browns activate DE Takk McKinley off reserve/COVID-19 list

Perhaps a sign of things to come, four days later the edge rusher gets Takk’d back onto the roster:

Just as one more player (James Hudson III) goes on the list, another comes off the reserve/COVID-19 list. Defensive end Takk McKinley has been officially activated off the team’s reserve list and is eligible to play in Monday’s matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.

McKinley was placed on the list on Tuesday of this week, now cleared four days later. The new protocols in place were created to make it easier for vaccinated, asymptomatic players to return quickly.

With McKinley back, Myles Garrett at least has a quality bookend to face the Raiders. Jadeveon Clowney was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Friday.

The team also elevated Porter Gustin from the practice squad to help with the position.

With McKinely’s seemingly quick return, it will be interesting what other players could be back in time for Monday. Wyatt Teller, Jedrick Wills and Jarvis Landry all were also placed on the list Tuesday.

Stay tuned for more updates on this ever-evolving story.

Browns three pass rushers have excelled at getting pressure

Through seven weeks, the Browns are getting their money’s worth from their top three pass rushers and there is a chart to prove it:

The Cleveland Browns have Myles Garrett to cause havoc for opposing offenses and he has done his job well. The former #1 overall pick leads the league with 9.5 sacks, two ahead of Harold Landry and two and a half ahead of TJ Watt.

This offseason, the Browns added Takk McKinley and then Jadeveon Clowney in an attempt to improve the rushers partnering with Garrett. McKinley has 1.5 sacks while Clowney has 3.5 with no other Cleveland defender have more than one sack.

Sacks are not the only way that pass rushers should be judged. The ability to get pressure on a quarterback is important as is their ability in run defense.

According to Seth Walder of ESPN, the Browns triumvirate stands out among the league with only Watt having a better pass rush win rate. Garrett and McKinley are below league average in run stop win rate while Clowney is right at that average (the vertical line that splits Clowney’s name):

While Cleveland may prefer all three of their edge guys to be further right on the chart, being better as pass rushers is their primary goal.

Having three defenders with such high pass rush win rates is one reason that Joe Woods has been comfortable only bringing four rushers. It also explains why a fifth rusher often gets home when sent.

It will be interesting to see how these rates track over the rest of the season but, early on, the Browns are getting their money’s worth from their three pass rushers.