NFL News and Notes – Thursday November 22nd 2018

There’s nothing like Turkey Day football, and we have 3 divisional matchups to perfectly accompany your meal(s).

It has been a bit of a slow news week thus far, so we have an updated injury report and a look at some of the candidates for Comeback Player of the Year.

The Bears are preparing to take on the Lions Thursday morning, and it is looking less and less likely that 2017 2nd overall pick Mitchell Trubisky will play. Trubisky sustained a shoulder injury in the Bears 25-20 win over the Vikings last Sunday night.

Starting for the Bears instead will be Chase Daniel, who has started 2 games in his 9 year career, but has spent time with Matt Nagy in Kansas City prior to being brought in to help Trubisky learn Nagy’s system this past offseason.

Rodgers Does His Part To Help In Wildfire Relief

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tweeted out a video Wednesday explaining that he is donating $1 Million dollars to wildfire relief in California. Rodgers is a native of Chico, CA and said the tragedy hit close to home and he felt compelled to take part in the relief.

One of Rodgers long time sponsors, State Farm, has also agreed to donate $1 for every retweet of Rodgers original tweet along with the hashtag #retweet4good.

Injury Report

ATL LB Deion Jones (foot) – out
BAL QB Joe Flacco (hip) – questionable
CAR WR Devin Funchess (back) – questionable
CHI QB Mitchell Trubisky (shoulder) – doubtful
CIN WR A.J. Green (toe) – questionable
DAL T Tyron Smith (neck) – questionable
DET RB Kerryon Johnson (knee) – out
DET WR Marvin Jones (knee) – out
GB DT Mike Daniels (foot) – out
IND C Ryan Kelly (knee) – out
LAR WR Cooper Kupp (knee) – placed on IR
LAC DT Corey Liuget (quad) – placed on IR
MIA QB Ryan Tannehill (shoulder) – questionable
MIN WR Adam Thielen (calf) – questionable
NE TE Rob Gronkowski (back) – questionable
NE QB Tom Brady (knee) – questionable
NO EDGE Marcus Davenport (toe) – questionable
NO T Terron Armstead (shoulder) – out
PHI CB Jalen Mills (foot) – questionable
PHI CB Sidney jones (hamstring) – doubtful
SF LB Reuben Foster (hamstring) – questionable
TB LB Lavonte David (knee) – questionable
TB EDGE Jason Pierre-Paul (knee) – questionable
TB TE O.J. Howard (ankle) – placed on IR
TEN QB Marcus Mariota (neck) – questionable
WAS RB Chris Thompson (ribs) – out
WAS T Trent Williams (thumb) – questionable

Don’t Call It A Comeback

The AP Comeback Player of the Year award is always particularly interesting, awarded to a player each year who dealt with serious injury or extremely underwhelming play the previous year. Typically, there are only two or 3 worthy candidates, and the award is dominated by quarterbacks, who have won 11 of the 20 awards since the award was resurrected in 1998.

Last year we saw more big name talents lost for the year than any year in recent memory, and there are multiple players worthy of serious consideration.

Top Tier

Colts QB Andrew Luck – After a lengthy back and forth of would he or won’t he play in the 2017 season after a serious shoulder issue, the Colts traded for Patriots backup QB Jacoby Brissett to assume the QB spot for the season. Luck is back this year in full force, not only making his case for Comeback POTY but OPOY and MVP as well. Luck is 2nd in the league in passing TDs with 29, and has a completion percentage of 67.3%, which is a career high. He is on pace to set career marks in TDs and yards as well, and is carrying a subpar Colts roster to playoff consideration.

Texans EDGE J.J. Watt – Although he did not miss the entire 2017 season, he has played just 8 of a possible 32 games over the past 2 seasons due to prolonged back issues that appeared to be threatening the career of the once dominant pass rusher who at one point tallied 69 sacks over a 4 year span. Watt has picked up where he left off prior to his injuries, and is tied for 4th in the league with 10 sacks, and has 9 more QB hits and 4 forced fumbles after 11 games.

Mid Tier

Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.– The star receiver played in just 4 games in 2016 while dealing with an ankle injury before the Giants shut him down for the season. On the year, he totalled just 214 snaps and setting career lows in yards per reception, receptions per game, yards per game, and catch percentage. This season he’s averaging 13.5 yards per reception and is on pace for over 110 receptions, 1400 receiving yards, and 8 TDs.

Texans QB Deshaun Watson – After setting the NFL on fire over his first 7 games last season, Watson tore his ACL in practice, and many were concerned whether it would limit Watson’s playmaking ability. Watson has the Texans back on top of the AFC South this year while surpassing his marks from a season ago in completion percentage, yards per attempt, yards per game, and interception percentage.

Honorable Mention

Redskins RB Adrian Peterson, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, Eagles QB Carson Wentz

Enjoy the Thanksgiving festivities as well as some good football. Also enjoy the weekend contests and as always, good luck on any action you may have on the games. Cheers!