Category: NFL News

Report: 49ers work out DB trio before Week 3 game vs. Rams originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

After getting burned by the Minnesota Vikings during a 23-17 loss in Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season, the 49ers reportedly took a look at some secondary depth this week ahead of their matchup with the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

San Francisco worked out defensive backs Tre Herndon, Danny Johnson and Chandon Sullivan, KPRC2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson reported Tuesday (h/t Niners Wire).

Herndon, 28, recently was released by the New York Giants after signing with the team in June. Before that, the cornerback spent six seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 as an undrafted free agent and appeared in 83 games (34 starts), tallying three interceptions, 32 passes defended and two forced fumbles.

Like Herndon, Johnson went undrafted in 2018 and went on to play six seasons with the Washington Commanders. There, the 28-year-old corner recorded 14 passes defended and one forced fumble in 66 games (eight starts).

Sullivan is another 28-year-old UDFA from the 2018 NFL Draft class and has spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers, with six interceptions and two forced fumbles across his career.

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Tuesday’s visit between 29-year-old Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt and the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs, went well enough that the back-to-back Super Bowl champions are signing him on Wednesday, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones.  Hunt will begin his second tour of duty with the Chiefs on the practice squad.

His signing was necessitated with starting running back Isiah Pacheco heading to injured reserve, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, with a fibula injury that will reportedly cost him the next six to eight weeks. Hunt was cut by the Chiefs in 2018, a year after leading the NFL in rushing yards (1,327) as a rookie in 2017 after a video of him kicking a woman in hotel surfaced. 

He has spent the last four seasons with the Cleveland Browns’ serving as the Robin to Nick Chubb’s Batman. Hunt totaled 2,285 yards and 25 touchdowns with a 4.0 yards-per-carry average in Cleveland. He also caught 147 passes for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns. Hunt ran for 411 yards and a career-high nine rushing touchdowns in 2023 while splitting time with Jerome Ford after Chubb’s gruesome knee injury in Pittsburgh. He did average a career-low three yards per carry that season on 135 carries. 

Once Hunt gets reacquainted with head coach Andy Reid’s playbook, he will split time in the Chiefs backfield with veteran Samaje Perine and rookie Carson Steele. 

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Roob’s Observations: Eagles drop home opener in horrifying last-minute loss to Falcons originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Welcome back to 2023.

After blowing three games last year that they led with two minutes left, the Eagles did it again Monday night.

A nightmare last minute after the Eagles took a six-point lead with 65 seconds left turned what looked like a dramatic comeback win into a horrifying 22-21 loss in the home opener at the Linc.

Here we go with our 10 Observations.

1. That last drive Kirk Cousins – who can’t move – needed only 65 seconds to drive the Falcons 70 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The Eagles got away with some really bad defense much of the game, but it all caught up to them on the final drive. Bad coverage. Bad tackling. Bad everything. They didn’t put up a fight. You really want to think that the way last year ended was out of this team’s system, but this is a game that if you want to call yourself a Super Bowl contender, you just can’t lose. In your own building? In your home opener? Against this team? This was inexcusable. And until the Eagles prove that it’s not 2023 anymore, until they prove they have the mental toughness to win a game like this, until they make the plays to finish a game, that shadow of last year’s disastrous 2023 Eagles finish will loom large over Nick Sirianni and the 2024 Eagles.

2. It’s hard to be too critical of Saquon Barkley. The guy is a beast. A flat-out beast and for two weeks in a row now he’s produced in a big way. In his Eagles debut against the Packers he had 132 scrimmage yards and added 116 Monday night. Some huge plays. But he’s got to catch the football. He just has to. There’s no excuses for that drop. Catch the ball, fall down, ballgame. It’s over. Third-and-3. Eagles up 21-15 with 1:46 left. Ball on the Falcons’ 10-yard-line. Nobody near him. At the sticks. Easy first down. I mean, the game is over as soon as he catches it and falls down at the…

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Welcome to the Week 2 grades!

The second week of the season is always a big one in the NFL, especially for 0-1 teams. If there’s one thing you don’t want to do, it’s start the season with an 0-2 record. Since the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020, only 6.25% of teams (2 of 32) have bounced back from an 0-2 start to make the postseason. 

That’s not great news for the Ravens, Bengals, Broncos, Rams, Titans, Giants, Panthers, Colts and Jaguars, all teams that are now 0-2 after losing on Sunday. Of course, the Houston Texans did make the playoffs last season after starting 0-2, so getting to the postseason isn’t impossible, but all of these teams have dug themselves into a big whole that won’t be easy to get out of. 

With that in mind, let’s get to the grades. 

New Orleans 44-19 over Dallas

Tampa Bay 20-16 over Detroit

Green Bay 16-10 over Colts

N.Y. Jets 24-17 over Tennessee

Minnesota 23-17 over San Francisco

Seattle 23-20 over New England (OT)

Washington 21-18 over N.Y. Giants

L.A. Chargers 26-3 over Carolina

Cleveland 18-13 over Jacksonville

Las Vegas 26-23 over Baltimore 

Arizona 41-10 over L.A. Rams

Pittsburgh 13-6 over Denver

Kansas City 26-25 over Cincinnati

Houston 19-13 over Chicago

Buffalo 31-10 over Miami (Thursday)

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Rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. broke out for two touchdowns in the first quarter of the Arizona Cardinals’ Week 2 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Following a quiet debut to his NFL career in Week 1, rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. scored touchdowns on the Arizona Cardinals’ first two possessions in their Week 2 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams.

After the Rams failed to convert a 4th-and-2 on their opening possession, the Cardinals took over and finished off a six-play, 60-yard drive with a 23-yard pass from Kyler Murray to Harrison on a post pattern over Tre’Davious White.

The Rams went three-and-out and punted on their next series. Greg Dortch returned the ball 17 yards to the Los Angeles 40-yard line. And Arizona only needed one play after that to take a 14–0, thanks to Murray connecting with Harrison again.

This time, it was a 60-yard score with Harrison getting past the Rams’ secondary on a deep crossing route, freed up by a run fake to James Conner and Murray rolling out to the right.

Harrison mixed in a 15-yard reception and 32-yard catch to finish the first quarter with four receptions (on five targets) for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

That’s a considerable improvement over Harrison’s Week 1 performance, in which he caught one pass for four yards in a 34–28 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The rookie was targeted only three times in that game.

As Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice said prior to Week 2’s action, the Bills played a “cloud” strategy against Harrison with defenders low and high against him. The Rams employed a different approach which obviously hasn’t worked so far.

As a result, the rookie wideout has broken out for the sort of impact expected when Arizona selected him No. 4 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.

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The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to move to 2-0 on the young season when they host the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2. Just as they did when they defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the opener, however, they’ll have to do it without wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. In fact, he’ll be out for the foreseeable future. 

The pass catcher is not expected to play in the 2024 regular season, according to ESPN. This report comes after Kansas City elected to place Brown on injured reserve earlier this week, and the receiver is now slated to undergo surgery on his injured shoulder.

On Friday, Brown confirmed his trip to injured reserve via his social media account and added that the first wave of emotions he felt when learning he needed surgery was of disappointment and frustration. 

Head coach Andy Reid also noted that the receiver’s recovery is now “months not weeks.” While this report notes that Brown is not expected to be back this regular season, it adds that there is the possibility of a return in the playoffs but no sooner than mid-January.

Brown suffered the shoulder injury on the very first play of the Chiefs’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars this summer. Patrick Mahomes completed an 11-yard pass to his new receiver, and while Brown came down with the reception, he fell hard on his shoulder and left the game. The hope was that Brown could recoup in time to make a return early in the season, but a prior report noted that his shoulder was not healing as it needed to, so injured reserve and surgery was the next step. 

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Eagles-Falcons player matchups to watch in Week 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles (1-0) will host the Falcons (0-1) in their home opener at the Linc on Monday Night Football.

The Eagles are coming off a 34-29 win over the Packers in Brazil, while the Falcons are coming off an 18-10 home loss to the Steelers.

Here are some key matchups to watch:

Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata vs. Matt Judon

The Eagles got an extended look at Matt Judon at their joint practice against the Patriots in August. He gave them fits. And then a couple days later, he was traded to the Falcons, who desperately needed some pass rush.

Judon, 32, played in just four games in 2023 but made four consecutive Pro Bowls before that and had 12 1/2 and 15 1/2 sacks in his two full seasons with the Patriots. He still looked that disruptive in the joint practice in August and Judon got off to a nice start in Week 1 with the Falcons, picking up half a sack and five combined tackles.

Judon will play on both sides of the line so both Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata will have to be ready for him in this game but Mailata will probably see more of him. The good news is that the Eagles have one of the best tackle duos in the NFL. Both Johnson and Mailata played extremely well in the season opener against a good Packers offensive line. Maybe the Packers had some trouble getting traction on the field in São Paulo, but the Eagles’ tackles did their job. After one week, Johnson ranks fifth and Mailata ranks 10th on the PFF top offensive tackles.

Jalen Hurts vs. Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons

After throwing just one interception all summer, Jalen Hurts made some bad decisions in Week 1 and threw a couple of interceptions against the Packers. The Eagles were lucky to win the game after turning the football over three times. Hurts knows he has to be better.

“Those are things that I control and I have to be better at and I take accountability for that,” Hurts said after the win.

One of those…

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The Apalachee High School football team attended Atlanta Falcons practice on Friday as the local NFL team hosted student-athletes from Winder, Georgia a little more than one week after a school shooting devastated the community. The shooting last Wednesday killed two 14-year old students and two teachers, including Richard Aspinwall, an assistant coach on the Apalachee football team.

The Falcons honored victims of the shooting with Apalachee High School T-Shirts in pre-game warmups and a moment of silence before their Week 1 opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and on Friday welcomed the school’s football team and head coach Mike Hancock as they prepared for their Week 2 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles.

For the Falcons, the school shooting hit fairly close to home: Apalachee High School is just 20 miles away from the team’s training facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia, and 45 miles from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.

Falcons outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who lives in Winder, spoke of the importance of supporting the school and its students beyond the initial shock of the shooting as they attempt to cope and carry on.

“Once the spotlight leaves, those kids will still be going through their scars and still have to relive that day,” Carter said in an interview with the Falcons’ official website. “The more we can do, the more consistent we can stay there and keep giving them mentors, counselors and support, that’s what’s really going to matter.”

The Falcons are looking to bounce back in Week 2 after opening their season with an 18-10 loss to Pittsburgh last Sunday.

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