NFL

Willis and Jordan Love (elbow) both practiced in full today, which is the good news this team needed after leaving Week 18 fairly banged up. Love should be good to go, barring a setback, but Willis appears to be ready to step in if need be.

Eagles beat writer Jeff McLane reports the Eagles “are limiting (Brown’s) workload so he’s as close to 100 percent as possible by Sunday.” Brown is clearly still being slowed by a knee injury that has hampered him for the last several weeks, but his absence on Thursday appears more about resting his knee than the issue worsening. Brown seems like a near lock to play in Sunday’s Wild Card Round against the Packers barring any setbacks.

This is great news for the Packers. Love was a limited participant when the practice week opened on Wednesday so one can reasonably conclude that his throwing-elbow’s health is improving. The Packers have employed a run-heavy approach for much of this year but a matchup with the Eagles’ vaunted offense has decent odds of turning into a pass-heavy affair. Luckily, Love is on track to play.

Hurts has now practiced on back-to-back days to start the week and continues to trend toward playing in Sunday’s wild card game against the Packers. He still needs to clear concussion protocol, but it seems as if the worst is behind him after being injured in Week 16’s loss to the Commanders.

Farmer spent the 2020 NFL season as a Rams scouting consultant before ascending to his current position in 2021. The Rams have enjoyed immense draft-day successes over the last four seasons that the Jets undoubtedly wish to emulate. Farmer held roles in the Falcons, Chiefs and Browns’ personnel department prior to his five-year tenure with the Rams.

There’s an obvious connection to Vrabel and the Raiders, given that his former teammate, Tom Brady, is a co-owner of the team. That said, it doesn’t sound like the Raiders are interested in courting Vrabel, who is already drawing interviews from the Jets, Patriots, Bears, and Saints. It’s possible the Raiders decide to reach out to Vrabel as they get deeper into their coaching search, but for now, it appears they’ll pass on the veteran head coach.

This news comes just two days after ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Raiders would retain Telesco after parting ways with Antonio Pierce. Telesco is officially one-and-done as the Raiders’ general manager. Telesco nailed the first round of last year’s draft when he selected Brock Bowers with the No. 13 pick, but the plan to sign Gardner Minshew as the team’s starting quarterback for the season while also stringing together the worst running game in the league didn’t help his argument. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports that the firing of Telesco was “mostly because ownership seems to prefer having the general manager and head coach more connected — like a cohesive partnership,” suggesting his dismissal was not all performance based. Telesco spent 11 years as the Chargers’ GM and was fired after Week 15 in a season that ended with a 5-12 record. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear his name mentioned in other circles as teams search for their next GM heading into 2025.

Schultz notably points out in his post that Cunningham was a finalist for the Titans’ general manager job two years ago before the team ultimately decided to go with Ran Carthon instead. Cunningham Worked as a scout with the Ravens and Eagles and was named as the Eagles’ director of player personnel in 2021. In 2022, the Bears hired Cunningham as assistant general manager, where he’s worked closely with general manager Ryan Poles for the last three seasons. Cunningham was also rumored to be a finalist for the Commanders general managers job last offseason before the team hired Adam Peters. it would not come as a surprise if this season Cunningham finally made the leap to GM after coming close in recent years.

McFadden was a fifth-round pick by the Chargers in 2023. He’s played 13 games in his career while making two starts and earned a PFF blocking grade of 52.0 as a rookie. Now, on waivers, any team will have a chance to claim McFadden before he becomes a free agent.

Flowers didn’t log a practice this week and was assumed to be a long shot to play after suffering a knee injury in Week 18’s win over the Browns. The 2024 Pro Bowler should have a better chance at suiting up for the AFC Divisional Round, should the Ravens win on Saturday. For now, Lamar Jackson will depend more on Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews in the passing game against a Steelers team that is in the midst of a four-game losing streak.