NFL News

The original content and analysis produced by the Nerdy Football staff during the past week:

• I examined the extension case for Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, arguing that even if he is franchise-tagged by Carolina, he should still approach the $14MM AAV earned by Darrelle Revis, Patrick Peterson, and other top CBs.
• Zach Links rounded up the best of the football blogs in the latest edition of Pigskin Links.

The headlines from the past week at Nerdy Football:

Key News:

• Despite rumors to the contrary, former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis emphasized that he will not attempt to make an NFL comeback.
• Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will miss two-to-six weeks after suffering a lacerated kidney during last week’s game against the Broncos.
• Offensive tackle Will Beatty, who tore a biceps muscle in May and is now undergoing rotator cuff surgery, will not be activated off the PUP list by the Giants.
• In other injury news, Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta won’t play this season as he continues to deal with major hip injuries.

Extended:

• Patriots – Josh Kline, G (through 2017)

Signed:

• 49ers – Travaris Cadet, RB (link)
• Jets – Randy Bullock, K (link)
• Rams – Wes Welker, WR (link)
• Saints – Matt Flynn, QB (link)
• Washington – Brian De La Puente, C (link)

Waivers:

• Colts – claimed QB Charlie Whitehurst from the Titans (link)

Waived:

• Browns – Robert Turbin, RB (link)

Injuries:

• Colts – Henry Anderson, DT (IR)
• Eagles – Jordan Hicks, LB (IR)
• Lions – Rashean Mathis, CB (IR)
• Patriots – Dion Lewis, RB (IR)

Suspended:

• Bears – Tayo Fabuluje, T (link) and Ego Ferguson, DT (four games)
• Broncos – Aqib Talib, CB (one game)
• Rams – Stedman Bailey, WR (four games)
• Joseph Randle, free agent RB (four games)

As the early Week 10 games get underway, let’s take a look at some notes from around the league:

• Texans owner Bob McNair is understandably disappointed with his club’s performance this year under second-year head coach Bill O’Brien, and rumors persist that O’Brien could be on his way out at the end of the season while GM Rick Smith, long a McNair favorite, could stay in Houston. If that happens, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that O’Brien is “very intrigued” by the head coaching job at the University of Maryland, which is a more attractive position than some outsiders may realize. O’Brien fits Maryland’s criteria–a relatively young offensive mind who can run a quality pro-style offense–and he previously served as an assistant coach with the Terrapins. Current Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich is also reportedly interested in the job.
• Although it was expected that Texans TE Ryan Griffin would play this week, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle reports that the team did not activate Griffin from the Injured Reserve-Designated To Return list before a Saturday afternoon deadline, meaning he will have to wait until next week to get back into game action. As Wilson writes, Griffin has recovered from a sprained MCL suffered during the season-opener against Kansas City, but he is still working his way back into football shape.
• After Michigan’s narrow win over Indiana last night, an Indiana-based reporter began to ask Wolverines head coach–and former Colts quarterback–Jim Harbaugh if he would have any interest in the Colts head coaching position should it become available at the end of the season, as is widely expected. Per Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com, Harbaugh did not allow the reporter to finish the question, saying simply, “Stop. Just stop yourself. No comment.” 
• Eddie Lacy was a surprise entry on the Packers‘ inactive list today, but he has disappointed all season. Some of Lacy’s struggles can be attributed to injury, some to poor blocking, and some to Lacy’s physical condition (he is noticeably heavier than last year). As Rob Demovksy of ESPN.com writes, Lacy is facing a crossroads in his young career, and Green Bay hopes that the emergence of James Starks, coupled with Lacy’s difficulties, will spur the latter back to his previous level of success.
• Mark Kiszla and Troy Renck of The Denver Post debate whether the Broncos should give backup quarterback Brock Osweiler some snaps down the stretch in order to preserve Peyton Manning for what will likely be his last playoff run. As long as a first-round bye is at stake, Osweiler will remain on the sidelines, unless the outcome of a particular game is no longer in doubt.
• Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com breaks down the upcoming free agent and trade markets for quarterbacks.

Since the Chargers hired GM Tom Telesco and head coach Mike McCoy within a week of each other two-and-a-half seasons ago, the team has compiled a 20-21 record, which has led some to believe that both men will be relieved of their duties at the end of the 2015 season. However, as Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune writes, Telesco, at least, will get one more season to right the ship.

Acee says that three sources familiar with the inclinations of John Spanos, the team’s president of football operations, say Spanos prefers continuity among his top decision-makers, and Spanos apparently believes that injuries, more than poor roster construction, are to blame for the Chargers’ 2-7 record. Of course, Telesco’s predilection for small and speedy players could be a cause of the team’s rash of injuries, and it also has had a direct impact on the team’s performance. As Acee notes, “[t]he defense is preposterously undersized and relatively unphysical,” and even before the injuries, there were not many players on the defensive side of the ball that were worthy of a starting job.

On the other hand, Telesco did manage to piece together a contending club during his first two seasons in San Diego despite inheriting the “ashes of an aging roster,” and it’s not as though many of the players who are currently struggling with injury had any type of injury history in college that should have made Telesco wary of drafting them. While Telesco has been an abject failure in free agency–see Jacoby Jones and Derek Cox–Spanos is willing to provide his first-time GM a little leeway.

The same may not be true, however, for McCoy. Although there are no concrete rumors concerning the head coach’s job security, Acee writes that the team “is more likely to wind up with changes on the coaching staff than in the personnel department.” It is fair to wonder why McCoy, who has been tasked with fielding a competitive club with a roster that has been ravaged by injury and hamstrung by Telesco’s decision-making, should be held more responsible than Telesco himself for the team’s poor performance, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk may have an answer. Telesco, Florio says, is apparently willing to defer to Spanos, who is more directly involved with personnel decisions than most NFL owners and part-owners.

Spanos’ decisions, of course, will be even more significant if the team ultimately move to Los Angeles. As Florio writes, the Chargers would be competing with the Raiders for fans and revenue, so they will need a strong personnel man and head coach to lead them into a new era. Whether Telesco and McCoy are the right choices remain to be seen, but at the moment, it appears as though Telesco will have the opportunity to prove himself while McCoy may not.