Category: NFL News

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ season is over. / Danielle Parhizkaran / USA TODAY NETWORK

Don’t tell Aaron Rodgers he’s done for the season.

After rupturing his Achilles just four snaps into his Jets debut last Monday night against the Buffalo Bills, and by all prognostics out for the rest of the year, Rodgers is already planning his return to the field which he thinks can be sooner rather than later.

The 39-year-old quarterback underwent surgery on Wednesday in Los Angeles and, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the renowned orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, performed an innovative procedure designed to “accelerate the normal rehabilitation process from such an injury.”

Placing an internal brace called an Achilles “speed bridge” on Rodgers’ torn Achilles, the surgery allegedly protects the repair and opens up the possibility of an earlier return. In fact, the relatively new procedure is “designed to have an athlete fully recovered in as little as four months”, per Rapoport and Pelissero.

If that were the case, that would mean Rodgers could potentially be back by mid-January, just in time for the playoffs should the Jets make it that far.

“There’s a lot of different ideas about the overall length of the rehab, I think what I’d like to say is, just because nobody’s ever done it in a certain way doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” Rodgers said. “I definitely have some odds stacked against me based on age, but I like it. Stack all the odds up against me and see what happens. My entire focus and dedication is about acquiring the most information and adding to what I’ve already put together as a pretty damn good rehab plan that’s going to, I think, shock some people.”

Of course, as Rodgers said, the procedure and rehab are no guarantees, especially at his age (he turns 40 in December).

However, in an effort to come back way before anybody could have predicted, Rodgers might also receive platelet-rich plasma…

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PHILADELPHIA — For the second time in five days, the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t have the prettiest outing in their 34-28 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. A win is a win in the National Football League, regardless. 

The Eagles weren’t clean on offense and were down four starters on defense at one point. Their starting off-ball linebackers and safeties weren’t even on the team last season, and they had to start a cornerback who played just 20 career defensive snaps heading into this game (Josh Jobe). 

The Vikings got their yards and points, but the Eagles did enough on both sides of the ball to win and get to 2-0. This victory had plenty of storylines worth revisiting, whether they were overreactions or not.

The A.J. Brown-Jalen Hurts sideline dilemma will linger

Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction

For those who didn’t see on the broadcast, Brown and Hurts had a conversation on the sidelines, resulting in Eagles coach Nick Sirianni having to pull Brown to the side and talk to him. The assumption is Brown was frustrated over the lack of targets and yards, as he finished with just four catches for 29 yards on the night. The Eagles even tried to force feed Brown for a touchdown on the next series, only to go three-and-out and allow the Vikings to cut the lead to a one-score game shortly after. 

Much will be made of this, especially with Brown not at his locker when the locker room was open to reporters. Jalen Hurts didn’t discuss the situation much in his press conference, while DeVonta Smith denied anything existed. 

Right now, it’s much ado about nothing. Brown wants his targets and wants a good game, but the sideline issue with Hurts is a thing until it isn’t. This will be a problem if Brown hashes out on the sideline later in the season, making this thing grow. Brown can nip the issue in the bud when he’s available next week. 

DeAndre Swift is RB1

Overreaction or reality:…

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Nick Wright still has doubts about Purdy after 49ers thrashed Steelers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Brock Purdy picked up right where he left off last season, tossing a pair of touchdown passes in the 49ers’ blowout win over the Steelers on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

Following the game, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa took a shot at the pundits who have been vocal with their doubts about Purdy’s ability to be the guy in San Francisco.

“Purdy shut some haters up,” Bosa said. “I think whenever a guy comes back from an injury, people kind of don’t expect them to make another leap in the second year. I’m just happy for him. He’s exactly who we thought he was.”

However, not all of Purdy’s doubters are convinced just yet. On Monday’s episode of “First Things First,” FS1’s Nick Wright made the case that this 49ers offense is constructed in a way that any quarterback would be able to succeed in.

“I would have thought when Jimmy [Garoppolo] went down, and we got the final pick of the draft to step in, that everyone would agree that this is amazing we’re getting this in real life and not just in a thought exercise;” Wright said.

“A real-life test, an experiment with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, with All-Pros everywhere, with Trent Williams. Can you drop anybody in and have that offense work? When Mr. Irrelevant comes in and goes undefeated, they’d be like, ‘Well, I guess you can!’ Instead, everyone is like, ‘This kid is amazing!’ I don’t believe it.”

Wright then reiterated that his opinion wasn’t rooted in thinking Purdy did not perform well; rather, his success resulted from his supporting cast rather than his ability.

“I thought he played well, but If you dropped in Derek Carr, are they worse?” Wright asked. “If you dropped in Kirk Cousins, are they worse? If you dropped in Matt Stafford, are they better? If you dropped in Mac Jones, are they the same? Are there ten quarterbacks in the league that you could drop in that would…

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Say what you want about the level of competition, but the Jaguars absolutely got the Colts’ best shot Sunday for what presented itself as a treacherous divisional road trip. Jacksonville’s been a thorn for Indy in recent years, especially when the Colts were the superior team and the Colts tried their best to repay the favor on Sunday in Anthony Richardson’s debut. Indy benefited from the positives of an up-and-down performance from the rookie quarterback, plus one of the more bizarre defensive touchdowns you’ll ever see. But ultimately Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville’s much-hyped offense were just too much for the Colts to contain. 

A strong Week 1 performance doesn’t guarantee anything for the full season, but it was impressive seeing how the Jags — picked by some pundits to make the Super Bowl — and Lawrence — a trendy MVP selection prior to the year — handled adversity and piled up 31 points to earn a decisive division victory. 

Lawrence finished with just 241 passing yards on 24-of-32 passing but he also threw a pair of passing touchdowns, including an absolute dime to Zay Jones, who made an equally as impressive catch. 

The Colts even tacked on six points courtesy of DeForest Buckner, who pulled off the extremely rare delayed scoop and score after sacking Lawrence.

Tank Bigsby learned a rookie NFL lesson the hard way, but it didn’t cost his team the game, plus the rookie delivered on his name, punching in a touchdown for the Jags. Travis Etienne also scored and piled up over 100 total yards and new addition Calvin Ridley was outstanding, with eight catches on 11 targets for 101 yards and a score. 

Jacksonville hasn’t had this much hype since 2018 after the previous season’s run to the AFC Championship Game (shoutout Myles Jack, ask if he was down when you’re in Duval County) and much like the Lions, it was reasonable to ask if maybe things had gotten a little out of…

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Shanahan confident Moody will be 49ers’ kicker for ‘long time’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Jake Moody era in San Francisco is set to begin with the rookie kicker cleared to play ahead of the 49ers’ season opener against the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

During an interview with Greg Papa on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “49ers Gameplan,” coach Kyle Shanahan displayed the utmost confidence in Moody.

“He’s had a great week,” Shanahan told Papa. “We expect him to be really good here on Sunday. He’s been great, we know we got the right guy, we really like his mentality and mindset. We’re excited to go to battle with him. He’s going to be our dude this year, and I think he’s going to be our dude for a long time.”

Moody has some big shoes to fill in San Francisco after the recently departed Robbie Gould spent six seasons with the 49ers.

One of the biggest adjustments Shanahan will have to make transitioning from Gould to Moody is the noticeable difference in leg strength the latter provides.

When asked if he would be open to having Moody attempt field goals beyond 60 yards, Shanahan shared that it is absolutely on the table.

“It’s an option,” Shanahan said. “Not having that option in the past made it pretty simple. Having that option makes it a little harder. Just because you can kick it that far doesn’t mean it’s always the best decision.

“Now, there is a lot more thought to it, something that I’ll have to feel out as we go. You get that confidence through experience, and I’m talking about myself. When I put him in those situations and the more he makes. When three is automatic, it’s hard to turn down. It’s hard to get that feeling of automatic, I didn’t have that in my career really until I came here.”

Automatic might be the perfect adjective to describe Gould’s tenure with the 49ers, as he made 89 percent of his field goal attempts, including a perfect 21 for 21 in the playoffs.

Moody will have a tall ask in Year 1 as he tries to live up to the standard…

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The Atlanta Falcons released their first depth chart of the 2023 regular season this week, and it included something no other depth chart did: The “J” position.

Listed at “J” was Swiss Army knife Cordarrelle Patterson, who is an electric running back, wide receiver and kick returner. The “J” is called the Joker position for the Falcons — which appears to be a perfect fit for Patterson. He’s a seven-time All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowler and has more kickoff return touchdowns than any player in NFL history with nine. 

Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said the concept started as a joke, but that there was no way he was going to list Patterson as a third-string running back on his depth chart behind Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier. 

“He’s not third-team anything,” Smith said during an interview on 92.9 The Game.  

As you can tell from his social media profile, Patterson is embracing this new position.

Patterson was known primarily as a specialist before Smith unlocked him in his first season as head coach in 2021. That year, Patterson recorded a career-high 1,166 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns. In this Joker role, you can expect Patterson to do more of what he’s been doing ever since he joined the Falcons — a little bit of everything. 

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