Rams receiver Davante Adams did not practice on Wednesday and was upgraded to a limited participant on Thursday with a hamstring injury.
Adams told reporters that it’s not the same hamstring issue that bothered him earlier in the season and he feels like he should be OK to play this weekend against the Cardinals.
“It’s a little different spot, but it’s feeling good, though,” Adams said, via transcript from the team. “I’m feeling much better than what I anticipated and honestly just wanted to be smart about it. I felt it early in the game last week and was able to get through the game just fine.
“I just want to manage it. We have a turtle race coming up here so we just have to make sure we are available.”
Adams currently leads the league with 14 touchdown receptions, having caught at least one in each of Los Angeles’ last six games.
In his first season with the Rams, Adams has 52 receptions for 689 yards.
Cardinals Clips
Rams wide receiver Davante Adams didn’t practice on Wednesday because of hamstring soreness.
He returned to limited work on Thursday.
Running back Kyren Williams (ankle) remained a limited participant on Thursday.
Rams coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that he expects Adams and Williams to play against the Cardinals.
Cornerback Darious Williams (tibia) and nose tackle Poona Ford (calf) remained non-participants.
Safety Kamren Kinchens (shoulder) and outside linebacker Byron Young (knee) again were limited.
Inside linebacker Omar Speights (ankle) returned to full participation after being limited on Wednesday.
Rams coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that injuries to wide receiver Davante Adams and running back Kyren Williams should not affect their game status for Week 14.
Adams’ hamstring soreness, though, kept him out of Wednesday’s practice.
He played 39 snaps and made four catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns.
Williams’ ankle injury limited him in the first practice of the week.
He left the loss to the Panthers, playing 35 of 52 snaps and running for 72 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
The Rams also had cornerback Darious Williams (tibia) and nose tackle Poona Ford (calf) as non-participants.
Safety Kamren Kinchens (shoulder), inside linebacker Omar Speights (ankle) and outside linebacker Byron Young (knee) were limited.
Wide receiver Tutu Atwell (hamstring) fully participated.
The Cardinals will not have quarterback Kyler Murray back on the practice field this week, but another one of the team’s injured players will be returning to work.
The team announced that they have opened the practice window for defensive lineman L.J. Collier. Collier has been out since injuring his knee in Week 2. He will have a three-week window to practice with the team and can be activated at any point.
Running back Trey Benson and offensive lineman Christian Jones have also been designated for return by the Cardinals recently.
The Cardinals also signed tight end Pharaoh Brown to the active roster. He has appeared in three games for the team this season.
What was supposed to be the slow time from late June through late July was anything but, thanks to an unexpected collaboration with Pablo Torre. And the fuse we lit together in the days preceding July 4 is making its final push toward either an impressive display of fireworks — or another dud.
Per multiple sources, a decision on the appeal of the collusion ruling that both the NFL and the NFL Players Association hid for multiple months is coming.
The hearing before the three-judge panel happened roughly two weeks ago, we’re told. The decision is expected sooner than later, we’re told.
The case was sparked by the five-year, $230 million, fully-guaranteed contract that the Browns gave to quarterback Deshaun Watson in March 2022. As originally framed, the grievance focused on the refusal of the Ravens, Cardinals, and Broncos to give fully-guaranteed deals to Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson, respectively.
The arbitrator found that the NFL urged teams to curtail fully-guaranteed contracts, but that the teams didn’t heed the directive. It was, in my opinion, a failure by the arbitrator to properly review, process, and analyze the circumstantial evidence, accepting predictable denials while ignoring common sense.
Along the way, the case was expanded to include all veterans who signed contracts during the relevant window. If the NFLPA prevails as to all players who were allegedly affected by the collusion, the financial consequences could be crippling for the league.
The reporting that first emerged in an episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out exposed the existence of the hidden ruling, raising pointed questions about the union’s failure to weaponize the portion of the ruling that essentially caught the NFL with both hands buried in the collusion cookie jar. And it became the first domino that resulted in aggressive scrutiny of the NFLPA, culminating in the resignations of NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell and NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter.
After the collusion ruling came to light, the NFLPA appealed the decision. That process has played out quietly, with no reporting as to the arguments made, either in writing or during the hearing.
When a decision is announced, we’ll possibly be back to where we were in January, when the initial ruling was issued. Will the NFL or the NFLPA release the document? Or will they once again hide it? Will the media collectively shrug at the situation (as it did for months), or will it aggressively seek to obtain the decision, to study its terms, and to analyze its implications?
The vast majority of the “journalism” that happens in sports media consists of being spoon fed by the team or an agent the specifics of a transaction that often is announced only minutes after multiple reporters engage in a race to be the first to tweet the “news.” When the parties are committed to secrecy, the game changes. Most don’t even try to find out the things they don’t want us to know.
They didn’t want us to know about the initial collusion ruling. They may not want us to know about the appeal decision. One thing I know is that Torre won’t let it go, and that there will likely be another PTFO collaboration once we get our eyes on the thing they may hope no one ever sees.
The Cardinals added a running back to the roster on Tuesday, signing Corey Kiner off the Vikings’ practice squad.
They also announced the release of running back Jermar Jefferson in a corresponding move.
Kiner, a rookie out of the University of Cincinnati, was with the 49ers in the preseason before signing with Minnesota in late September.
The Cardinals released two other running backs from the practice squad, cutting Sincere McCormick and Montrell Johnson Jr.
They added linebacker Eku Leota to the practice squad.
Kiner joins Bam Knight and Michael Carter as the healthy running backs on the roster. Emari Demercado is still working his way back from an ankle injury.
Trey Benson did not practice Thursday and Friday last week as he works his way back from a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve. He has until Dec. 10 to be activated to the 53-player roster.
The NFL will head into the final five weeks of the regular season with the fewest number of teams still in playoff contention since at least the 2002 season.
The Giants, who fell to 2-11 on Monday night, became the first team eliminated from postseason consideration in Week 12 and four teams joined them in Week 13. The 1-11 Titans, 2-10 Raiders, 2-10 Saints, and 3-9 Cardinals are also set to start making their plans for the 2026 season.
Per NBC Sports research, that is the most teams out at this point in the season since the divisional realignment that took place ahead of the 2002 season.
While all of those teams are out of the running, no teams have clinched a playoff spot at this point.
A handful of other teams should be joining that quintet soon. The 3-9 Jets, 3-9 Browns, 3-9 Commanders, 4-8 Falcons, and 4-8 Vikings are going to a lot of things to break in their favor to keep the playoff fires burning much longer.
The Commanders and Vikings play this week and the loser will have no remaining path to the playoffs. The Commanders will also be out if they win and the Eagles win while the Jets, Browns and Falcons are all out with a loss this week.
Rams running back Kyren Williams and wide receiver Davante Adams came out of Sunday’s game with no concerning injuries, coach Sean McVay said Monday.
“Nothing that we expect to restrict guys from being available this week,” McVay said, via Adam Schefter of ESPN. “We might limit some guys in practice once we see how they come in [Tuesday], but nothing that we expect to affect game statuses for Arizona.”
Williams left the loss to the Panthers with an ankle issue. He played 35 of 52 snaps and had 13 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown.
McVay said Williams’ ankle was “pretty good,” as the scar tissue from previous injuries made it easier to deal with in-game.
Adams had hamstring soreness but played 39 snaps and made four catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has missed the last four games while on injured reserve, which means he is now eligible to return to practice and be activated to play in games.
That’s not going to happen this week, however. Head coach Jonathan Gannon said at his Monday press conference that Murray is “not quite there yet” in his recovery from a foot injury.
When Murray was injured, there was a lot of speculation that he might not return to the lineup again this season even if he’s healthy and that the two sides are on track to part ways when the season is over. During an appearance on Arizona Sports Monday, Gannon said that he has no objection to playing Murray if the quarterback is well enough to play.
“Between myself and [General Manager Monti Ossenfort], we are all about trying to win a game here,” Gannon said. “We’re going to make every decision predicated on that and what’s best for the team.”
Jacoby Brissett has been the Cardinals’ starter in Murray’s absence and he will remain in that role against the Rams in Week 14.
It wasn’t the prettiest performance of the year for the Buccaneers offense, but their defense stood tough late and they got enough points to pick up their first win since Week 8.
After a Bucs punt, the Cardinals took control of the ball on their own 9-yard line with 1:49 to play. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed a couple of check downs, but the Bucs defense forced a pair of incompletions that allowed Baker Mayfield to kneel out a 20-17 home win.
The win moves Tampa to 8-4 on the season and ensures that they’ll remain all alone at the top of the NFC South heading into Week 14. They’ll be hosting the Saints, which makes for a good chance to ensure that they’ll finish the year with a winning record.
Mayfield is playing with a left shoulder sprain and was just 18-of-28 for 194 yards on the afternoon. He hooked up with left tackle Tristan Wirfs for a touchdown late in the first half and running back Bucky Irving found the end zone on a 13-yard run in the third quarter. Irving, who was playing for the first time since Week 4, had 17 carries for 61 yards to go with two catches for 20 yards. The end result of the offensive effort was just 279 yards overall and that number will have to go up if the Bucs are going to pull clear of the Panthers in the NFC South once and for all.
The Bucs led 17-3 at one point, but Brissett led a pair of touchdown drives that made things interesting late. Brissett ended the day with 301 passing yards, so he has now thrown for more than 250 yards in all six of his starts this season.
Brissett also threw an interception to kill a scoring chance in the first half, however, and running back Bam Knight lost a fumble to open the second half. The Bucs sacked Brissett twice and forced a turnover on downs earlier in the fourth quarter.
Those miscues helped make it a fourth straight loss for the Cardinals and they’ll wait to find out if wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will be able to play against the Rams next Sunday. Harrison left the game with a heel injury in the second half and did not return.
