NFL Player News

The Texans carried four running backs and a fullback on their active roster in Week 1, with Pierce now the lone man out in the equation for Week 2. Expect Dare Ogunbowale to serve as the third-down back while Woody Marks mixes in for change of pace duties behind lead rusher Nick Chubb. Also inactive for the Texans are WR Christian Kirk, WR Braxton Berrios, QB Graham Mertz, C Jake Andrews, and DT Tommy Togiai.

Anarumo spent the 2025 serving as the Colts’ defensive coordinator after being fired by the Bengals in 2024. He held the same position with them for six years. Anarumo also received interview requests from the Giants and Titans during this interview cycle.

Minter, 42, served as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator under head coach Jim Harbaugh over the last two seasons. He also held the same role with Harbaugh’s Michigan squad from 2022-2023. He had a one-year stint at Vanderbilt, serving as defensive coordinator and safeties coach. He worked for former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh before that, signing on as a defensive assistant in Baltimore from 2017-2018. He was promoted to assistant defensive backs coach in 2019 and promoted again to defensive backs coach in 2020.

Hollins resumed practicing today, which gives him a chance to suit up for the Patriots’ AFC Championship Game against the Broncos. Hollins is a reliable blocker and a streaky producer, operating as a speedy field-stretcher for the Patriots. His return could reduce WR Kayshon Boutte’s snap share, though Boutte has caught 7-of-9 targets for 141 yards and one touchdown in two postseason games. He has a chance to retain the starting role even if Hollins returns.

A high-ankle sprain plagued Havenstein for much of the season. He also reportedly added a knee injury to mix, shortly before being placed on injured reserve in mid-November. Getting their right tackle back in time for this week’s game against the Seahawks would be great for the Rams’ offense. He resumed practicing on Thursday.

Douglas spent the 2025 season in his current role, following a six-year stint as the Jets’ general manager. Before that, he served as the Eagles’ vice president of player personnel from 2016-2019. He was hired as the Bears’ director of college scouting in 2015 after spending 2000-2014 as a scout with the Ravens.

Both also interviewed for Atlanta’s hand-created-for-Matt-Ryan “president of football” position, and the Falcons appear to have used those interviews as a starting point for their general manager position. Neither has come back for a second interview yet, with Atlanta only just announcing some new interviews for GM candidates today after spending the early offseason on the head coach and (ugh) “president of football” positions. Cunningham has ties to Ryan through his boss, Bears GM Ryan Poles, who played with Ryan at Boston College.

“The ’23 Giants tied for the league lead with 31 takeaways, which has to intrigue the turnover-starved Jets. Glenn jumped on Martindale early, interviewing him before the Jets’ season ended,” Cimini adds. Martindale had DC interviews with the Falcons and Colts last offseason and would certainly make the Jets more bombastic in one way or another. The Jets are the only team that has interviewed him in the 2026 offseason that we know of.

“So yes, we will find our guy, but we’re going to make sure that we’re building the infrastructure along the way so when we do find our trigger man -- whoever that may be, whether it’s Tua, Quinn [Ewers] or somebody that’s not in the building -- we have a team that he can go play and win with,” Sullivan continued. It sounds like the Dolphins new management feels like the current quarterback room is at ground zero, and Sullivan further added “we will draft quarterbacks every year, if not every other year, because I think you have to.” Neither Tua Tagovailoa nor Quinn Ewers appear to be on firm ground with the new regime. Tagovailoa is a likely post-June 1 release, while Ewers could be traded if another team was willing to part with enough for him.

Asked in a mailbag column if the Texans would pursue a veteran back in free agency, Alexander noted that he believes Dare Ogunbowale could return to the Texans, but flatly said Chubb won’t. The 30-year-old vet will try to catch on elsewhere in a short-yardage role in 2026. The Texans could make an offseason move to sign or draft a back to split time with Woody Marks. Or perhaps both.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Mauigoa is expected to be one of the top picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. He allowed eight sacks in three regular seasons at Miami. PFF charts him as having been beaten by a defender only five times in 2025.