NFL News

Following up on a Sunday report, which indicated that Marshawn Lynch is visiting a specialist in Philadelphia about a possible sports hernia, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms that the Seahawks running back is believed to suffering from a sports hernia. If Dr. Williams Meyers, that Philadelphia specialist, agrees with that diagnosis, Lynch would likely undergo surgery immediately, and may miss the rest of the regular season.

It’s worth noting that Jaguars wide receiver Allen Hurns visited Dr. Meyers last week for an abdominal injury, and ultimately decided to put off possible sports hernia surgery until after the season, returning to action for Jacksonville last Thursday against the Titans. Of course, not every sports hernia injury is the same, and it’s possible Lynch’s will require more immediate attention, but we shouldn’t officially write off Beast Mode for the next few weeks quite yet.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s West divisions:

• With the Chargers out of the 2015 playoff picture, it’s time for team chairman Dean Spanos to consider the club’s long-term prospects, according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com, who suggests that both head coach Mike McCoy and general manager Tom Telesco are on the hot seat in San Diego.
• McCoy must go, says Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. According to Acee, who argues that the Chargers head coach should be relieved of his duties at season’s end, it means something that McCoy hasn’t lost the team this season, but “it just doesn’t mean enough.”
• Another head coach whose seat appears to be getting a little warmer is Jeff Fisher, writes Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports. While the Rams haven’t enjoyed very strong quarterback play during Fisher’s tenure in St. Louis, it’s worth noting that Fisher pushed for the acquisition of Nick Foles, who was benched during the club’s current three-game losing streak, notes Garafolo.
• Within that same piece, Garafolo also addresses the Colin Kaepernick situation, indicating that sources close to Kaepernick were “adamant” that the 49ers quarterback didn’t consider his contract status when he made the decision to undergo shoulder surgery. Still, it could become a sticking point this offseason — Kaepernick’s 2016 salary is guaranteed for injury only until April 1, and while the Niners expect the QB to be able to pass a physical by then, those physicals are somewhat subjective. Kaepernick’s camp could cite other physicians with differing opinions and try to fight the team to get his salary guaranteed if he’s cut before April.

As Week 11 winds down, here’s the latest news from around the league.

• Peyton Manning‘s acceptance of a potential front office position could have to wait, with both Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Florio (on NBC’s telecast) hearing the 39-year-old quarterback may want to play one more season. It’s doubtful the Broncos keep Manning around at a figure close to the $21.5MM he’s set to earn in 2016 during the fifth year of his five-year contract, but Florio reported Manning would consider continuing his career on another team. Cabot reports Manning might be hesitant to join the Browns‘ front office since his wife Ashley, a part owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, would prefer to stay in the south.
• An old topic appears to be regaining some steam, with Roger Goodell telling Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (on Twitter) a move to expand the regular season is on the table. This would apparently involve reducing the preseason, per Tomasson, who didn’t specify whether this means the 18-game figure that caused so much contention between the NFL and NFLPA years ago. NFLPA president Eric Winston recently didn’t rule out an expansion to 18 games, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk views this subject’s resurfacing centering on the growing number of international games aligning schedules and some teams’ reluctance to give up home contests.
• The Cowboys‘ patience with Greg Hardy is waning, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (as relayed by NFL.com’s Conor Orr). In addition to the on-field blowups and photos of Nicole Holder emerging recently, Hardy’s late nights are a concern to the team despite the defensive end being on a one-year deal. Hardy also showed up late for a meeting last Saturday night before the Cowboys’ game against the Buccaneers. This has induced dialogue between Hardy and Jason Garrett, Jerry Jones and various team veterans.
• As he’s done throughout the season, though, Jones came to Hardy’s aid. “He is aware that everything he does — his personality, his style, his enthusiasm — it’s all going to be interpreted negatively,” Jones told ESPN.com’s Jean-Jacque Taylor. “If he’s not aware of that, then he’s hurting a lot of people. I think he really gets that. We certainly feel that way. He understands it, and he has agreed to really work on it.” This seems to contradict the above report, but it’s in line with Jones’ comments on the embattled defender throughout the season.
• The Ravens will bring in another quarterback (Twitter link via Jeff Zreibec of the Baltimore Sun) after Joe Flacco‘s torn ACL injury, which Zreibec notes (on Twitter) the Ravens are confident is a torn ACL and MCL. Zreibec tweets Jason Campbell, Rex Grossman and Bengals practice squad member Keith Wenning are options. Wenning spent time on the Ravens’ roster last season.
• Brian Hoyer will stay as the Texans‘ starter when he returns from a concussion, Bill O’Brien informed the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson. T.J. Yates has helped the Texans to back-to-back wins, while Hoyer sports a 13-to-4 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio.

Marshawn Lynch will visit a specialist in Philadelphia, with a possible sports hernia injury, Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

Pete Carroll noted after Lynch missed the Seahawks‘ victory against the 49ers that injury hasn’t been ruled out, and such a diagnosis would shelve Lynch for a while.

The Seahawks appear to be in solid shape due to Thomas Rawls‘ presence, however, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio didn’t mince words when characterizing what the rookie’s 255-total-yard day means for the 29-year-old Lynch’s future in Seattle, saying the sixth-year Seahawk will not be back with the team for a seventh season due to the gulf between the backs’ contracts.

With a cap number of $11.5MM, Lynch would be the third-highest-paid Seahawk in his age-30 season. Should the Seahawks take Florio’s advice and turn their backfield over to 2015 UDFA Rawls, who’s slated to make $530K next year, Lynch’s recent extension which runs through the 2017 season contains $5MM worth of dead money going into next season.

Here’s some more news coming out of the Western divisions tonight.

• Former Cardinals Pro Bowl linebacker Daryl Washington continues to violate the terms of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, Jay Glazer reported on Fox (as relayed by Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk). The 29-year-old Washington hasn’t played since Week 17 of the 2013 season due to his year-long suspension that hasn’t been revisited. Washington was scheduled to apply for reinstatement in March, and there are concerns his career is over.
• Rams starter Case Keenum sustained a concussion during the team’s loss to the Ravens today, but he continued to play, losing a fumble that led to Baltimore’s game-winning field goal, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. A Timmy Jernigan sack that didn’t count due to an offside penalty negating it did the damage, according to Jeff Fisher. Media learned of Keenum’s concussion only when informed by the St. Louis media relations staff that the quarterback wouldn’t be available for postgame interviews.
• San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer met with Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt to discuss progress on a path to a new Chargers stadium, David Garrick of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Hunt’s a member of a six-owner committee focused on Los Angeles relocation, and Faulconer’s met with five members of that newly formed coalition thus far. The two didn’t discuss the two LA stadium projects, Garrick reports, with the meeting instead focusing on San Diego’s path to green-lighting construction on its own. Faulconer’s plan features $350MM in contributions from city and county taxpayers, and after California Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent ruling to expedite an environmental review would put this proposal up for a city vote as early as June, but the Chargers have yet to resume negotiations with the city.
• Gary Kubiak hasn’t decided if Peyton Manning or Brock Osweiler will start for the Broncos against the Patriots next week, Florio reports. The PFT scribe notes Kubiak said he’d have a difficult time benching Osweiler after his solid performance against the Bears, and if the fourth-year career backup follows it up with an upset over the Patriots, Kubiak’s previous declaration of starting Manning again when healthy will simply resolve itself when the first-year Denver coach deems the 39-year-old of insufficient health to recapture the job.

Although their actions are pointing toward a divorce with Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers aren’t connecting those dots publicly yet.

GM Trent Baalke didn’t reaffirm Kaepernick’s status as San Francisco’s quarterback, per Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, but obviously didn’t close the door on a return, with the trade market for the injured quarterback’s services to consider.

“Right now is not the time to get into the particulars,” Baalke told media Sunday of Kaepernick’s future as the team’s quarterback. “Right now, he’s no different than any other player that’s been placed on IR. When that surgery takes place, then the rehab process, getting him ready for the offseason program’s the next step.

“They’ll be involved in all the meetings. They’ll rehab. They’ll condition. They’ll do all the things. No different than any other player that we have on IR.”

Kaepernick only appeared on the Week 11 injury report due to the fifth-year passer initially seeking treatment but not following up on it until complaining of pain recently, Baalke said, before adding the decision for the surgical procedure on his left shoulder was mutual.

Here is more Kaepernick fallout.

• After an NFL Network reported claimed three teams made trade overtures to the 49ers for Kaepernick recently, Baalke denied any teams contacted them, per Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group (on Twitter). Before Kaepernick’s 2016 salary of $11.9MM becomes guaranteed on April 1, such action will presumably move to the top of the front office’s itinerary.
• A trade for Kaepernick will likely be something the 49ers will push for as he recovers from labrum surgery, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that scenario has significant flaws. Even though there is no more fully guaranteed money on Kaepernick’s deal, more than $31MM of guaranteed-against-injury money exists on the contract, making a trade nearly untenable. A deal would also be contingent on Kaepernick being healthy at the time of the trade, and Florio writes the signal-caller won’t be in any hurry to do the 49ers any favors — like the team-friendly deal he signed in June 2014 that gave them a relatively easy out after this second year — after what’s being perceived as a financially conscious move putting him on injured reserve now. Kaepernick forcing a release would allow him to land in the best situation for him, whereas a trade clearly benefits the 49ers.
• The 49ers have no visits scheduled with other quarterbacks yet, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports (on Twitter). Blaine Gabbert and the recently promoted Dylan Thompson are the only two on the active roster.

Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler won his first NFL start today, beating the Bears 17-15 on the day he turned 25 years old. But his future with Denver was once very uncertain, as Michael Silver of NFL.com reports (Twitter link) that the Broncos attempted to trade Osweiler during the 2014 season, and would have accepted as little as a sixth-round pick.

The news shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, as Peyton Manning was in the midst of another solid season in 2014, and given the demand for quarterbacks around the league, it would have made sense for general manager John Elway to see what he could get in return for Osweiler. However, the fact that Elway would have apparently accepted so little in terms of draft pick compensation seems to show that Denver’s front office didn’t value Osweiler very highly.

Circumstances have changed in the year-plus since those talks reportedly occurred, however, as Manning has dealt with injuries and effectively been benched. It’s conceivable that Osweiler will be the Bronco’s QB for the remainder of the season, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported this morning that that the Denver front office is split on their evaluation of Osweiler, which is why he hasn’t been extended as of yet.

Osweiler played well today, completing 74% of his passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, and the hope is that his mobility will allow head coach Gary Kubiak to more effectively run his offense. But whether Kubiak is wholly sold on Osweiler also remains an open question, as we know that Kubiak wanted to bring in Tyrod Taylor as the backup QB for 2015, and Denver reportedly offered more money than did Buffalo.