Wide receiver A.J. Brown was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday and his participation level dropped on Thursday.
Brown was listed on Wednesday’s injury report with a knee issue and reporters noted that he left the session early with a member of the team’s training staff. Brown was not on the practice field at all on Thursday as the team continued working ahead of Sunday’s home game against the Packers.
According to multiple reports, the Eagles expect Brown to play against Green Bay and that the team is managing his work during the week in order for him to be as healthy as possible come kickoff.
Brown’s status will get another update on Friday when the Eagles practice and issue injury designations, but it seems that the Eagles will have a key offensive player operating at less than 100 percent.
Overtime rules in the NFL postseason have some important differences from the regular season. Here’s a rundown.
As always, overtime starts with a coin toss, and the team winning the toss can choose to kick, receive, defer or select which goal to defend.
But in the playoffs, both teams are guaranteed a possession — even if the team that receives the overtime kickoff scores a touchdown. If there’s a touchdown on the first possession, that team will then kick off and the other team will have a chance to score a touchdown of its own. The only situation in which both teams would not get a possession would be if the team on defense first scores a safety. In that case, the safety would win the game.
If the team possessing the ball second has not concluded its possession when 15 minutes run out, that team will keep the ball into the second quarter of overtime.
Unlike regular-season overtime, postseason overtime uses 15-minute quarters, and is played like a whole new game. That includes a two-minute warning at 2:00 of the second quarter of overtime, and the same timing rules at the ends of the second and fourth periods of overtime as in the second and fourth quarters of every game.
If time runs out on the second quarter of overtime with the game tied, there will be another kickoff, and the team that lost the coin toss will choose to kick, receive or defend a goal. However, there is not a full halftime intermission if the game remains tied after the second overtime (which has never happened in NFL history). The overtime halftime lasts only two minutes.
If the game is still tied after four quarters of overtime, there will be another coin toss and play will continue like it’s the first quarter of a new game, a game in which the first team to score wins.
Each team gets three timeouts per half in playoff overtime.
Postseason overtime introduces different strategies. Many coaches believe it’s better to kick off to start overtime so that they know what they need on their first offensive possession. And if the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown and kicks the extra point, the team going second can go for two after a touchdown of its own to try to win the game right then and there.
Super Bowl LVIII in February of 2024 was played under the NFL’s current playoff overtime rules. The 49ers won the toss, chose to receive and kicked a field goal on their first possession. The Chiefs then marched down the field and scored a touchdown on their first possession, to win the game.
The Buccaneers won the NFC South in 2023 and beat the Eagles in their playoff opener before losing 31-23 in Detroit to end their season.
Last Sunday’s win over the Saints gave the Bucs another division title and they’ll be matched up with another NFC East team in the Commanders in their playoff opener. They won’t be facing the Lions again if they win, but the question of whether that will be the only difference from last year looms over the team as they head into Sunday.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield shared the part of the offense that makes him think the team can go on a longer run this time around.
“The biggest difference is the run game,” Mayfield said, via the team’s website. “When we’ve needed to run the ball to win games, we’ve been able to do that. That’s a physical mentality and everybody being on the same page with that and understanding that when you get to a certain mode late in the game when you’re having to run the clock out, we’re able to do that. To me, that’s the biggest difference. Skill player-wise in the pass game, yeah, we’re connecting quite a bit but the biggest difference is the run game.”
The Bucs were last in the league in rushing yards in 2023 while averaging a league-worst 3.4 yards per carry. They added running back Bucky Irving in the draft and they’re now third in the league in yards per carry. They outrushed their last eight opponents and went 6-2 in those games, so getting things going on the ground against Washington would be a good sign for their chances of getting deeper into the postseason.
After the Broncos beat the Chiefs last Sunday to wrap up a playoff spot, wide receiver Courtland Sutton called it “really dope” to make it to the postseason for the first time in his seven-year NFL career.
On Wednesday, Sutton made sure to let people know that making the playoffs wasn’t all he’d like to do. Sutton said “one of the biggest misconceptions” is that the Broncos are satisfied with making it to the postseason whether they beat the Bills on Sunday or not.
Quarterback Bo Nix is in his first NFL season, but he echoed Sutton when it comes to “being complacent” about ending the team’s playoff drought.
“I don’t want to be handcuffed by just making it, just because we haven’t done it in so long,” Nix said, via the team’s website. “If we’re going to make it, we might as well go win some games. Honestly, it’d be a shame to get this far, start enjoying where you are and then become complacent and not do your best in this game when you have a chance to go out there and compete to go win.”
While the playoffs may be new to Sutton, Nix and other Broncos players, head coach Sean Payton has plenty of postseason experience and one of his tasks heading into Sunday will be making sure that they aren’t overcome by the moment.
The Steelers have been talking up the possibility of using both of their quarterbacks during Saturday’s game in Baltimore and Justin Fields said this week that part of the benefit of that comes from making the Ravens prepare for a wider range of possibilities heading into the game.
Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr acknowledged that such preparations are part of what the team is doing at practice this week. Orr called Fields and Russell Wilson “two starting-caliber quarterbacks” and said Fields “made some critical plays that ultimately in our eyes cost us” the first regular season game between the teams.
Fields had an eight-yard run to set up a field goal in the third quarter and a nine-yard run that helped the Ravens run out the clock on an 18-16 win. Orr said the Ravens have to be aware of Fields’s ability as a runner, but downplayed the need to come up with radically different plans for the two players.
“The game plan really doesn’t change much for either one,” Orr said, via the team’s website. “Play sound, disciplined football and we like our chances.”
The Steelers have lost four straight games, including their rematch with the Ravens, and their offense has been lagging, so it would be fair to expect them to throw everything they can at the Ravens in order to keep their season from ending. Orr’s job is to make sure the Ravens are ready for anything that might come their way.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts missed the final two games of the regular season after suffering a concussion, but the team rested starters in Week 18 and that made it unclear whether Hurts was progressing toward a return to the lineup or not.
On Wednesday, anyone worried that Hurts wouldn’t make it back for the playoff opener got some reassurance. Hurts took part in practice for the first time since getting hurt in Week 18.
Hurts was a limited participant and couldn’t have done more work due to the steps needed to clear the concussion protocol, but the workload was enough to make a positive impression on a couple of players charged with keeping Hurts upright. Right tackle Lane Johnson said Hurts was “really dialed in, sharp and crisp” and left tackle Jordan Mailata used similar language about the quarterback.
“I’ve been in this position before with a concussion, and when you miss time, you try and find ways to get back as fast as you can,” Mailata said, via Christiaan DeFranco of the Delaware County Daily Times. “I think he did a great job of dealing with that and coming back as sharp as he did today. I thought he had a phenomenal practice.”
Assuming Hurts experienced no concussion symptoms after the practice, he can move up to full practice participation. Tolerating that without issue would leave him set to be cleared to face the Packers on Sunday.
Wide receiver Quentin Johnston took a step in the wrong direction on Wednesday.
Johnston was listed as limited in Tuesday’s practice because of a thigh injury, but he missed practice entirely on Wednesday. Johnston was listed with an illness in addition to the thigh injury.
Thursday will bring the final practice and final injury report before Saturday’s game against the Texans.
Running backs J.K. Dobbins (ankle) and Gus Edwards (ankle) and right guard Trey Pipkins III (oblique) remained in the limited category for the second day in a row. Wide receiver Joshua Palmer (foot) and defensive back Ja’Sir Taylor (rib) were out of practice along with Johnston.
Cornerback Eli Apple (hamstring) was a full participant after being designated for return from injured reserve earlier in the day. Left tackle Rashawn Slater (knee) and left guard Zion Johnson (ankle) went from limited to full participation.
The Eagles had their top two quarterbacks on the practice field on Wednesday.
Head coach Nick Sirianni said before practice that Hurts would take part in his first on-field work since suffering a concussion in Week 16 and he was listed as a limited participant on the team’s injury report. That was to be expected given the steps needed to clear the concussion protocol and Hurts should be able to move up to full participation if he is symptom-free after the session.
If that’s the case, it will look good for his chances of playing against the Packers on Sunday.
Kenny Pickett also took part in practice on a limited basis. Pickett injured his ribs in Week 17 and had to leave the Eagles’ win over the Cowboys, but his presence on the practice field bodes well for his chances of playing as well.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown (knee, rest) and running back Will Shipley (ankle) were the team’s other limited practice participants. Guard Trevor Keegan (illness) was the only player on the active roster who didn’t practice at all.
Tight end Grant Calcaterra (shoulder), linebacker Nakobe Dean (abdomen), tight end Dallas Goedert (knee), defensive end Bryce Huff (wrist), and defensive tackle Byron Young (hamstring) were all full participants.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said this week that quarterback Justin Fields “certainly” could have a role in Saturday’s playoff game against the Ravens and Fields said on Tuesday that he will be ready for anything the coaching staff has in mind.
Fields said he is always “preparing like I’m playing” and that he will be set to hit the field in Baltimore. The Steelers have regularly talked about using Fields, but he’s only played 13 snaps since Russell Wilson took over as the starter in Week Seven so the talk has rarely amounted to much substance.
Fields thinks that the talk about using him can still benefit the Steelers, however.
“I think for me, just being able to utilize with my legs and stuff, that causes the defense to watch film on that, really just waste time on it whether we’re planning on running it or not,” Fields said, via the team’s website. “So, I think it’s definitely a plus for us.”
The Steelers should be open to anything that can give their offense a spark after closing the regular season with four straight losses, but their reluctance to roll the dice with Fields over the last couple of months suggests that they’re more likely to sink or swim with Wilson at the helm.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s fifth trip to the playoffs begins at home on Saturday against the Steelers and he’d like this run to end at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
Jackson has never made it to a Super Bowl and that is the biggest thing missing from the two-time MVP’s list of achievements. The Ravens lost at home to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game last year, but never made it that far in previous trips and Jackson’s play has generally been lackluster in comparison to his regular season efforts.
On Tuesday, Jackson attributed those performances to being too amped up and said that he believes he has a better handle on things heading into his seventh postseason start.
“I’m just too excited, that’s all,” Jackson said, via a transcript from the team. “Too antsy, that’s all. I’m seeing things before it happens like, ‘Oh, I have to calm myself down.’ But just being more experienced, I’ve found a way to balance it out.”
Jackson said another lesson he’s learned about the postseason is that “the game is won with the turnover battle and keeping the ball in your control.” A calmer approach should help on that front, although the Steelers will be their trying their best to keep Jackson from feeling settled.
