The Cowboys downgraded cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to a limited participant in Thursday’s practice.
Porter, who has had an ankle injury since Week 6, was a full participant on Wednesday.
Porter played less than 50 percent of the defensive snaps in two of the three games he’s played since. He played 36 snaps in Week 6 against the Packers, 51 in Week 7 against the Eagles and 36 in Week 8 against the Cardinals.
The Cowboys added linebacker DeMarvion Overshown to the practice report with back and hamstring injuries. He was limited.
Defensive back Caleb Downs (concussion/ankle) and safety P.J. Locke III (concussion) returned to limited work after missing Wednesday.
Offensive tackle Broderick Jones (personal), outside linebacker Von Miller (rest) and linebacker Dee Winters (calf) were upgraded to full participants. Jones and Miller missed Wednesday’s session, and Winters was limited.
Tight end Jake Ferguson (ankle), outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence (ankle) and wide receiver KaVontae Turpin (ribs) did not practice a second consecutive day.
Wide receiver George Pickens (hamstring), tight end Luke Schoonmaker (groin) and left guard Tyler Smith (ankle) remained limited.
Colts Clips
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has spent the last two weeks fielding questions about whether he’ll remain with the team and that will come to an end by next Tuesday one way or another.
Taylor will either remain with the Colts through Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline or he’ll be dealt to a team that thinks he can help push them over the top this season. Until he’s dealt or the deadline passes, Taylor knows “you’re not going to avoid” the questions he faced one again on Thursday and he knows that he’ll be happy when they stop coming his way.
“No one wants uncertainty,” Taylor said Thursday, via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. “Until the past couple weeks, it’s kind of been the same thing. But it won’t be until Tuesday where you’ll know exactly what’s going on, you’ll know exactly what the verdict is.”
Taylor played amid the rumors in last week’s loss to the Jaguars and the plan is for him to play against the Cowboys this week. He said he is working to keep his focus on that game because he doesn’t “want external factors creeping in and trying to alter your play,” but that will be a much easier task to accomplish once there’s certainty about where he’ll be after November 10.
As the trade deadline creeps closer, some think a high-profile team is lurking as to the biggest name that remains potentially available.
Chris Simms mentioned on Thursday’s PFT Live that some in league circles are wondering whether the 49ers could make a play for Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. (People around the league ask Simms those questions, because 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is one of his best friends — and because they assume Simms knows what’s happening with the 49ers, even if he rarely if ever does.)
A Taylor-to-49ers trade would be jarring. It would be unexpected. As jarring and unexpected as the news that emerged on a Thursday night in October 2022, when word first broke of the 49ers’ trade with the Panthers for running back Christian McCaffrey.
A trade for Taylor would create obvious questions regarding McCaffrey. Taylor has $3.87 million remaining in base salary (after Week 9, it drops to $3.49 million). McCaffrey has a 2026 cap number of $10.861 million. While that’s low enough to keep the duo together for the rest of the season, things would change in 2027.
McCaffrey has a cap number of $26.4 million, with no guaranteed money in what will be the last year of his current deal. Taylor would count for more than $16 million in 2027, under his current contract.
Most likely, the 49ers would move on from McCaffrey after this season, if they trade for Taylor.
And, yes, it would be a stunner if the 49ers trade for Taylor. The exact same kind of stunner that it was when the 49ers traded for McCaffrey in 2022.
But that’s what teams do when they’re serious about going all in. The Bears are. The Seahawks are. The 49ers may be.
Every contender needs to ask itself that question as the trade deadline approaches. Are you content to wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up first? Or are you going to turn a wishlist into tangible action items aimed at potentially putting a Super Bowl ring on everyone’s finger?
The Cowboys’ injury report has 16 names, with five players sitting out Wednesday’s practice with injuries.
Defensive back Caleb Downs did not practice with a concussion and an ankle injury. He left Sunday’s game with a head injury.
Downs, a first-round rookie, has played 509 defensive snaps — 92 percent — and 45 on special teams. He has totaled 52 tackles, a sack, a pass defensed and two forced fumbles.
Tight end Jake Ferguson (ankle), offensive tackle Broderick Jones (personal), outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence (ankle), safety P.J. Locke (concussion), outside linebacker Von Miller (rest) and wide receiver KaVontae Turpin (ribs) did not practice.
Wide receiver George Pickens (hamstring), tight end Luke Schoonmaker (groin), left guard Tyler Smith (ankle) and linebacker Dee Winters (calf) were limited.
Defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard (calf), defensive tackle Kenny Clark (back), outside linebacker Marist Liufau (forearm), cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (ankle) and offensive tackle Drew Shelton (hamstring) were full participants.
At this point, running back Jonathan Taylor is on the Colts.
By this time next week, he may not be.
But Indianapolis is still planning to play Taylor in Sunday’s matchup against the Cowboys, head coach Shane Steichen told reporters in his Wednesday press conference.
Why?
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of stuff out there right now,” Steichen said, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com. “He’s on our football team, and he’s excited for this opportunity to go play. He wants to go win this game.”
Taylor has expressed a desire to stick with the Colts, while also acknowledging that he’s not necessarily in control of his future at the moment.
In eight games this season, Taylor has rushed for 610 yards with eight touchdowns and caught 21 passes for 202 yards.
We’ll see if a team makes a deal for Taylor before the deadline on Nov. 10.
The Colts took a break from working on trading away players ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline to assure that one member of the team will be sticking around for a while.
According to multiple reports, they have agreed to a two-year contract extension with defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore. Per those reports, it is a $35 million deal with a $13 million signing bonus and includes $22.5 million through the 2027 season.
Adebawore was a 2023 fourth-round pick in Indianapolis and he matched his career high with four sacks through the first eight games of this season. He has 67 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery over 51 career appearances.
With DeForest Buckner now on the 49ers, Adebawore is set for a bigger role on the Colts’ front and his new deal could prove to be a bargain if he builds on his strong start to the 2026 season.
The Cowboys had injury to go with the insult of Sunday’s 33-30 meltdown overtime loss to the Cardinals.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer said defensive back Caleb Downs and safety P.J. Locke are both in concussion protocol.
Downs, a first-round rookie, has played 509 defensive snaps — 92 percent — and 45 on special teams. He has totaled 52 tackles, a sack, a pass defensed and two forced fumbles.
Locke just returned from injured reserve, missing five games with a foot injury. He returned to practice Oct. 23.
Schottenheimer also said outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence has an ankle injury “that might be a little bit longer” to recover from. Lawrence, the team’s other first-round rookie, has played 226 defensive snaps and 40 in special teams.
He has totaled 13 tackles, a sack and two passes defensed.
Colts coach Shane Steichen says he isn’t benching quarterback Daniel Jones.
Steichen said today that he still believes Jones is the best quarterback on the team, even after a dismal performance in Sunday’s 42-7 loss to the Jaguars dropped the Colts to 2-6.
“I feel that Daniel gives us the best chance to win right now,” Steichen said.
On Sunday, Steichen benched Jones late in the game and gave Anthony Richardson his first playing time of the season. Richardson threw two passes, completing both of them for eight yards, and also took a sack that lost 10 yards. Richardson also had a five-yard run.
The Colts have already traded away two starters and would surely be willing to trade either Jones or Richardson if any other team wants them, but for now Steichen says he’s coaching to win, and that Jones gives him the best chance to win.
At a time when the Vikings are believed to be talking to the Colts about a potential trade for running back Jonathan Taylor, they should adjust their focal point, just a bit.
The Vikings should be talking to the Colts about a potential trade for quarterback Daniel Jones.
When the thought first popped into my somewhat relaxed brain on Sunday, I was mostly kidding. After reflecting on Sunday’s 19-15 loss to the Lions — and revisiting the rare displays of frustration from receiver Justin Jefferson late in the game and, even more significantly, from coach Kevin O’Connell when talking to quarterback Kyler Murray after an ugly interception late in the first half — it’s not a joke.
They should immediately pivot from Taylor to Jones.
The Vikings had Jones in the building two years ago, after he was released by the Giants. They wanted to keep him for 2025, more (by all appearances) than they wanted to keep Sam Darnold. (Indeed, there were whispers of a potential benching of Darnold for Jones in the 2024 postseason.)
Now that the Colts are in full-blown pre-rebuild mode, trading Jones should be part of the effort to clear the decks (and stockpile picks) for the next G.M. And while the Colts have a window to avoid more than $10 million of Jones’s $38 million compensation package for 2027 via a trade in the early days of the new league year in March, they could get more now from a contender that envisions Jones as an immediate upgrade.
Jones obviously won’t be the long-term answer in Indianapolis. And he would undoubtedly welcome the chance to move on from a team that prematurely threw in the towel last week by trading guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
In Minnesota, Jones would be an immediate upgrade over Kyler Murray. The difference between Jones vs. Murray could be more significant than the difference between Jonathan Taylor and Aaron Jones/Jordan Mason. Which, if accurate, would result in a bigger overall bump to the offense.
The Vikings have a championship-caliber defense, thanks in large part to the work of defensive coordinator Brian Flores. The grind-it-out-and-get-a-win formula had been working — until it didn’t.
Here’s the inescapable reality. When they win with quarterback play that is inconsistent and, in turn, frustrating to people like Jefferson and O’Connell, it’s easy to overlook the flaws and keep pushing forward. When they lose, the frustrations of that moment become compounded by the lingering frustrations regarding plays and points left on the field in the wins that were salvaged by the defense.
Whether it’s Jones or someone else (including a possible pivot to Carson Wentz), O’Connell and G.M. Nolan Teasley need to conduct a frank, candid, and objective assessment of the quarterback play under Murray. The fact that they picked Murray over J.J. McCarthy shouldn’t be a factor. That’s the kind of pride/ego consideration that keeps dysfunctional teams dysfunctional by doubling down on a mistake instead of admitting it and moving on.
The Vikings need to realize that: (1) the defense is great; (2) the running game is good enough; and (3) the passing game is too spotty to be expected to make a big play in a big spot.
Consider the decision that O’Connell made with 3:01 to play on Sunday, when the Vikings faced fourth and five from their own 33. Down four points after the Detroit running game had hot-knife-through-buttered their way to the go-ahead touchdown, why give the ball back to the Lions and let them close out the game by continuing to lean on Jahmyr Gibbs?
In that moment, O’Connell thought the chances of winning were enhanced by punting — not by asking the offense to gain five yards in a gotta-have-it situation.
While the choice showed unwarranted confidence in the defense, it showed NO confidence in the quarterback.
Frankly, that one specific decision from O’Connell leads naturally to the next, more consequential decision that the organization must make. If O’Connell doesn’t trust the offense under Murray to gain five yards with the game on the line, the Vikings should no longer entrust the offense to Murray.
It’s that simple. And, if the Vikings hope to avoid an outcome to the season that will result in an every-other-year playoff appearance and another one-and-done postseason, they’ll make the decision that someone other than Murray should be playing quarterback.
At a time when politics have become a major national focal point, this would be a so-called 80-20 issue among Vikings fans. They’ve seen the “just good enough is just good enough” movie for decades. With the defense the Vikings currently have, the offense needs more. If they’re serious about having a snowball’s chance in San Diego to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years, they’ll send Kyler to Belize and make a play for Jones.
Or someone else. See if the Raiders are willing to part with Kirk Cousins (they shouldn’t be, but why not make the call?) Call the Chargers about Justin Herbert. Scour every depth chart and start doing the due diligence.
When Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon just before the trade deadline in 2023, the Vikings mobilized instantly to find a replacement. Based on the full body of work from Murray to date in 2026, they should be doing the same thing now — if they want to parlay their 6-0 start into the best possible finish.
Daniel Jones ended Sunday’s 42-7 loss to the Jaguars on the bench and Colts head coach Shane Steichen was asked if the quarterback will be spending more time there in the future.
Jones was pulled in favor of Anthony Richardson after throwing his second interception of the game in the fourth quarter. It marked the first time that Richardson has gotten on the field this season and some have wondered if the 2023 first-round pick will get another chance in the starting job before his rookie deal is up.
Steichen said, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com, that the Colts are evaluating everything in light of a performance that can only be described as dreadful on Sunday. That’s not specific to Jones, but he bares almost no resemblance to the quarterback that had the Colts off to a great start during the 2025 season and he may still be limited by the torn Achilles that wound up ending his season.
The Colts will host the Cowboys next Sunday and then face the Dolphins, Titans and Giants before a Week 13 bye. That Giants game would be a reunion for Jones, but it remains to be seen what role he’ll be in by that point in the season.
