NFL Player News

The Giants were two-score underdogs against a team with a rookie quarterback making his first career start in Week 16. We quickly found out why. Lock’s second pick-six — talk about a phrase where you never want to see after the word “second” — seemed to be more the fault of his right tackle, who botched the play. It was, nevertheless, a pick-six. His first a quarter earlier was all on the signal caller, as Lock never saw Jessie Bates easily jumping the route. Lock also lost a fumble in an all-around dismal performance. Lock is being put in an impossible position, but he’s not improving it in any way, shape or form. He’s not an NFL-level starter and probably isn’t a legitimate No. 2, either. It’s unclear who of Lock, Tommy DeVito, and Tim Boyle may start against the Colts in Week 17.

According to Rapoport, Sullivan “is well-regarded in NFL circles” and was a former colleague of Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker during their time in Green Bay. Sullivan was promoted to his current role in 2022 but had previously spent four seasons as the Packers’ co-director of player personnel. Sullivan is one of several front office execs already lining up to speak with the Titans, who met with former Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie on Friday.

The move officially ends Driscoll’s fifth NFL campaign. Driscoll made one start at right guard earlier this year when the team was particularly banged up in the trenches. He will be a free agent in the spring.

The Eagles aren’t risking the health of any of their star players ahead of Sunday’s game against the Packers. Smith becomes the second receiver to be sidelined by the Eagles out of precaution, as the team has also exercised caution with A.J. Brown (knee) throughout the week. We’re still waiting for the Eagles to release their official injury report, but it seems as if Smith will be good to go regardless of what designation he carries heading into the weekend.

McKenzie is looking to get back in the general manager’s chair after spending the last six seasons with the Dolphins in his current role. McKenzie served as the Raiders’ general manager from 2012-2018 and played a hand in delivering them their first 12-win season since 2000 when the team went 12-4 in 2016 only to lose in the AFC Wild Card Round to the Texans. McKenzie’s experience in NFL front offices dates back to 1994, making him a tenured and well-qualified candidate option for the Titans should they decide to extend a job offer to him.

The Bucs will also have Jamel Dean back in the lineup after Dean missed Week 18’s game with a knee injury. Winfield, who hasn’t played since Week 14, is also returning from a knee injury, providing two immediate boosts to a secondary ahead of the Buccaneers’ biggest game of the season.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise after Hurts was upgraded to a full participant in Thursday’s practice. It was only a matter of time before the Eagles’ QB1 cleared protocol and was given the green light for Sunday’s Wild Card game. Hurts has participated in all three practices this week, and should be well-rested after missing the team’s last two games and barely playing in Week 16 against the Commanders before exiting the game. The Eagles are getting healthy at the right time, and should be at near full strength heading into Sunday.

After saying earlier in the week that Lattimore “hit all the markers” the team needed to see to clear him, Quinn confirmed Lattimore’s availability for Sunday night’s game against the Buccaneers. It will be the latest installment of the Marshon Lattimore vs. Mike Evans saga, as Lattimore expected to see plenty of his former division rival in the tilt. How healthy Lattimore is remains a mystery, as the veteran corner has dealt with this nagging hamstring injury for most of the season, but he’s well-enough to take the field for the Commanders in what will be just his third game with the team.

Glenn spoke to the Jets on Thursday and has now sat down to speak with the Saints. The highly-coveted head coaching candidate still has meetings with the Raiders, Jaguars, and Bears on tap but declined a chance to speak with the Patriots. Glenn has ties to the Saints that go back to 2008, which marked his final year in the league as a player, but he also served as their defensive backs coach from 2016-2020 before joining the Lions in 2021 as their defensive coordinator. Glenn’s interviews are just getting started. He’ll likely go through a second round with several teams in the coming week.

Things go from bad to worse for Watson, who tore his Achilles for a second time after suffering the initial injury less than three months ago. It’s hard to know the impact of this injury on the Browns, as the team has long been rumored to be interested in adding other quarterbacks this offseason. Some have gone as far as to speculate that Watson will “never play a meaningful snap for the Browns again.” Regardless, Watson faces an even longer road to recovery after undergoing another surgery on Thursday to repair this second tear. It wouldn’t be surprising if this injury sidelined Watson for all of next season. According to Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, if Watson re-injured himself while doing something “he was not supposed to be doing” the guarantees in his contract could be at risk.

The Jets are truly leaving no stone unturned. Their in-depth search for their next head coach has now hit the college ranks in a somewhat unprecedented fashion. Locksley, who has spent the last six seasons with Maryland, has a lifetime 35-67 record as a head coach and has never held a job in the NFL. Well-renowned for his ability as a recruiter, Locksley seems like an unlikely candidate to make the leap from college to the pros with no NFL experience, especially when you consider his .343 career winning percentage.