Press conferences: They’re either the most important thing in the world or something to be entirely ignored, depending on if they validate how you already felt or not. Nonetheless, they are an important window into an NFL organization. Much as the eye in the sky don’t lie about players, coaches can’t cover up every emotion or lean they have when they’re asked questions. In omission, or in tone, even someone as tight-lipped as Bill Belichick or Nick Caserio can give something away. And that’s what this column scans for.
Let’s look at some of the trickiest situations for Week 14 lineups.
Ken Walker as a game-time decision: Is there a backup plan you can trust?
Walker hasn’t practiced all week and despite Pete Carroll naming him questionable for Week 14, the press clipping did not suggest that he was all that enthusiastic about the chances of Walker going:
Pete Carroll on Ken Walker Week 14 pic.twitter.com/t4CwBRuZUo
— rivers mccown (alt) (@mccownclips) December 10, 2022
We didn’t really get a formal separation of Walker or DeeJay Dallas. I watched offensive coordinator Shane Waldron‘s press conference and didn’t get a whole lot of extra feel for it. The only thing the coaches have said that I found interesting is Carroll continuing on to rave about Travis Homer‘s work in practice.
Gregg Bell has the best sense for Seattle injuries in my mind and he points out that the Seahawks are going to be playing on Thursday Night against the 49ers ... this could be a situation where they save the bullets. He also expects Darwin Thompson to come up off the practice squad.
What I’ve done in the leagues I’ve had a chance to draft Walker in is bring in Homer as the backup plan for Walker. If you can’t do that, the late start makes this an extremely difficult decision on staying or going. The NFL has only put three games in that late window, and it’s not like there are a ton of exciting pivots to be made in most lineups. You’re already starting Jeff Wilson, Austin Ekeler, D’Onta Foreman and the like. Maybe you could use Leonard Fournette as a backup plan. But I think the most logical way to do things is -- if you have a back you’d rather start above Homer, you’ve probably got to go with him in the early slate. Do you think Zonovan Knight will do more than Homer? I have no idea what to think. But this is the dilemma the Walker situation has put us in.
Hopefully we get some reporting before noon that clarifies things one way or another, but I’d be reluctant to trust Walker this week without practice. He’s at risk for in-game aggravation. No talking to the media this week is another bullet point that leads me to believe they’ll be cautious -- really everything except them labeling him questionable should point to him sitting this game out. But I can’t tell you they’re going to do it. I also can’t tell you they’re going to do it with Dallas. But my overriding sense is that he won’t play because Pete Carroll is almost universally optimistic about injuries and we haven’t seen a lot of that with Walker. I think Week 15 could be in play, though.
Trevor Lawrence finally hits the practice field on Friday, will he go?
Let’s see if we can get Rex Ryan excited.
Doug Pederson on Trevor Lawrence Week 14 pic.twitter.com/B14vgpOmgb
— rivers mccown (alt) (@mccownclips) December 10, 2022
“We’re talking about a toe here.” Yes, I think that light-hearted moment betrayed a lot of where the Jaguars are with their franchise quarterback. He might be questionable, but I’d expect him to play against the Titans. Lawrence gave his normal media availability earlier in the week. I don’t think it’s really an issue of pain management -- it’s probably turf toe and should be bad but not absolutely unbearable.
The question is more “can you trust Lawrence?” As good as the moment was two weeks ago against the Ravens, he hasn’t put up many huge finishes in fantasy this season. Now he’s dealing with an injury and might be running less, taking some of the upside of his legs out of the equation. He’s getting a lot of buzz as a QB1 starter based on going up against the Titans, but I want to point out that Tennessee shut out Jacksonville in 2021 and held them to 19 points in their other game. That’s not entirely fair because of Urban Meyer, but I think Lawrence has had enough hiccups this year that between his play and the injury, I’d be a little worried about counting on him as a QB1 this week.
Saquon Barkley‘s neck scare: Coaches versus Media
Saquon Barkley‘s situation this week is almost the exact opposite of what Ken Walker is dealing with. Walker’s questionable tag stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. Here, Brian Daboll talking about Barkley stands out in a negative way in real contrast to the rest of what is happening here. But I think you can read enough into the first part of his answer I post below to see that this might not be much of a deal:
Brian Daboll on Saquon Barkley Week 14 pic.twitter.com/Y57Uf9Asqg
— rivers mccown (alt) (@mccownclips) December 10, 2022
Here’s the problem with the quote. We start off with “it’s just a long season” -- that feels like the talk you’d give generally about anyone who you’re planning to play. But then you get to: “I’d say, probably got to see.” That lets you make up your own mind about how you’d like to proceed.
The rest of it around Saquon? It looks fine. The Giants beat writers have been almost unanimously in lockstep that he’ll play and that this isn’t serious. Barkley gave an interview on Thursday so the Giants don’t seem to be protecting his status too much.
Ultimately, yes, any kind of injury around one of the most famous football players is important. But I don’t think this has the look of something that should concern you, and I wouldn’t expect to need a backup plan on Barkley this week.
