Jene Bramel
Footballguy
Nick Perry and Charles Woodson remain out. Brad Jones continues as the every-down inside linebacker. Erik Walden should continue to see the majority of snaps at OLB opposite Clay Matthews. MD Jennings saw most of the snaps as Woodson’s replacement but rotated out a few times.
Haloti Ngata is listed questionable, but with a shoulder injury rather than the MCL sprain that had been his primary injury in recent weeks. Local writers expect him to play, but he’s likely to rotate out heavily as he did before the bye week.
The Browns are likely without Ahtyba Rubin today, but get Phil Taylor back off the PUP list. D’Qwell Jackson has been limited with foot and toe injuries recently, but I haven’t seen any indication that he will not play today. I’ve also not seen any indication that Craig Robertson could be benched in favor of James-Michael Johnson in subpackages, but Robertson hasn’t been effective in recent games. It’s something to watch in the second half of the season.
The Texans said that Barrett Ruud would be active and begin rotating into some defensive packages this week. Gary Kubiak also said that Darryl Sharpton was nearly healthy and close to returning. Bradie James wasn’t playing every-down and hasn’t been statistically productive when he is on the field. We may now be a week or so away from an extensive rotation. The rub here is that both Ruud and Sharpton could end up seeing the bulk of the team’s snaps, but neither is likely to be more productive than what we’ve seen from James. If you’re in a deeper league and looking for a flyer, Sharpton is probably the best bet of the longshots.
Perry Riley is questionable with a hamstring injury. He is likely to play this week, but he may rotate with Lorenzo Alexander at times. Though Brandon Meriweather will not return today, the safety rotation continues. Madieu Williams gets the majority of snaps, with Reed Doughty and Jordan Pugh rotating behind.
The Titans are now using Akeem Ayers as a rotational defensive end in subpackages, which has dropped him from the every-down linebacker list. Zach Brown began last week as the Titans’ nickel OLB, playing every down, but the team played predominantly dime packages after the first quarter. There are indications we’ll see more nickel this week, making Brown an upside LB3 play. Colin McCarthy is having his practice reps managed, but he looked healthier last week than he has in some time. Impossible to know how it plays out this week, but Jordan Babineaux was a full time player last week.
Tracy Porter remains out; Chris Harris will again start in his place. I don’t expect any changes to the linebacker rotation with Joe Mays out as he wasn’t playing recently anyway. It will be interesting to see how the Broncos handle the return of DJ Williams, however.
DeAndre Levy may be back today, but he’s likely to see fewer nickel snaps if he returns. Both Louis Delmas and Amari Spievey are out, putting John Wendling and Ricardo Silva back in the lineup as starters. Both have had decent games as replacements, but I’d lean narrowly to Silva if you’re looking for a flyer today.
Pat Angerer and Jerrell Freeman were fully practicing on Friday after being in walking boots earlier in the week. I would plan on the current linebacker rotation (Freeman every down, Angerer and Conner rotating in the base, with Angerer in a spare subpackage or two) until we see otherwise. Robert Mathis should be back this week.
Mark Herzlich will start for the injured Chase Blackburn today, a move that seemed to be about to happen anyway. I doubt Herzlich will be as involved in the subpackages as Blackburn was, despite the expected absence of Keith Rivers again. Instead, expect to see lots of Big Nickel alignments, with Antrel Rolle, Stevie Brown and Kenny Phillips on the field at the same time. Fewell would not say whether Phillips would get his starting job back. I think we’re most likely to see a rotation today, with neither playing full time. Of the two, I think it’s more likely that Brown plays full time than Phillips. EDIT: PFT is reporting that Kenny Phillips will NOT play today.
EJ Biggers will start for Tampa Bay with Aqib Talib gone. Leonard Johnson sees an expanded role as a nickel defensive back. Da’Quan Bowers returned last week but played only a handful of snaps.
Dan Connor is out this week. The Cowboys tried to play more dime packages, but were forced to use Orie Lemon in the base defense at times last week. Ernie Sims could be getting closer to playing a full time role, however. He was already seeing some time in the nickel in the first half last week and he’s not likely to be any worse than Lemon was in the base defense.
Akeem Dent will be an every-down linebacker with Sean Weatherspoon out tonight. Mike Peterson will see time in the base defense.
David Hawthorne was fully practicing this week and could rotate in more heavily with Jon Vilma, who had played nearly every down last week as the Saints were predominantly in a nickel package.
Haloti Ngata is listed questionable, but with a shoulder injury rather than the MCL sprain that had been his primary injury in recent weeks. Local writers expect him to play, but he’s likely to rotate out heavily as he did before the bye week.
The Browns are likely without Ahtyba Rubin today, but get Phil Taylor back off the PUP list. D’Qwell Jackson has been limited with foot and toe injuries recently, but I haven’t seen any indication that he will not play today. I’ve also not seen any indication that Craig Robertson could be benched in favor of James-Michael Johnson in subpackages, but Robertson hasn’t been effective in recent games. It’s something to watch in the second half of the season.
The Texans said that Barrett Ruud would be active and begin rotating into some defensive packages this week. Gary Kubiak also said that Darryl Sharpton was nearly healthy and close to returning. Bradie James wasn’t playing every-down and hasn’t been statistically productive when he is on the field. We may now be a week or so away from an extensive rotation. The rub here is that both Ruud and Sharpton could end up seeing the bulk of the team’s snaps, but neither is likely to be more productive than what we’ve seen from James. If you’re in a deeper league and looking for a flyer, Sharpton is probably the best bet of the longshots.
Perry Riley is questionable with a hamstring injury. He is likely to play this week, but he may rotate with Lorenzo Alexander at times. Though Brandon Meriweather will not return today, the safety rotation continues. Madieu Williams gets the majority of snaps, with Reed Doughty and Jordan Pugh rotating behind.
The Titans are now using Akeem Ayers as a rotational defensive end in subpackages, which has dropped him from the every-down linebacker list. Zach Brown began last week as the Titans’ nickel OLB, playing every down, but the team played predominantly dime packages after the first quarter. There are indications we’ll see more nickel this week, making Brown an upside LB3 play. Colin McCarthy is having his practice reps managed, but he looked healthier last week than he has in some time. Impossible to know how it plays out this week, but Jordan Babineaux was a full time player last week.
Tracy Porter remains out; Chris Harris will again start in his place. I don’t expect any changes to the linebacker rotation with Joe Mays out as he wasn’t playing recently anyway. It will be interesting to see how the Broncos handle the return of DJ Williams, however.
DeAndre Levy may be back today, but he’s likely to see fewer nickel snaps if he returns. Both Louis Delmas and Amari Spievey are out, putting John Wendling and Ricardo Silva back in the lineup as starters. Both have had decent games as replacements, but I’d lean narrowly to Silva if you’re looking for a flyer today.
Pat Angerer and Jerrell Freeman were fully practicing on Friday after being in walking boots earlier in the week. I would plan on the current linebacker rotation (Freeman every down, Angerer and Conner rotating in the base, with Angerer in a spare subpackage or two) until we see otherwise. Robert Mathis should be back this week.
Mark Herzlich will start for the injured Chase Blackburn today, a move that seemed to be about to happen anyway. I doubt Herzlich will be as involved in the subpackages as Blackburn was, despite the expected absence of Keith Rivers again. Instead, expect to see lots of Big Nickel alignments, with Antrel Rolle, Stevie Brown and Kenny Phillips on the field at the same time. Fewell would not say whether Phillips would get his starting job back. I think we’re most likely to see a rotation today, with neither playing full time. Of the two, I think it’s more likely that Brown plays full time than Phillips. EDIT: PFT is reporting that Kenny Phillips will NOT play today.
EJ Biggers will start for Tampa Bay with Aqib Talib gone. Leonard Johnson sees an expanded role as a nickel defensive back. Da’Quan Bowers returned last week but played only a handful of snaps.
Dan Connor is out this week. The Cowboys tried to play more dime packages, but were forced to use Orie Lemon in the base defense at times last week. Ernie Sims could be getting closer to playing a full time role, however. He was already seeing some time in the nickel in the first half last week and he’s not likely to be any worse than Lemon was in the base defense.
Akeem Dent will be an every-down linebacker with Sean Weatherspoon out tonight. Mike Peterson will see time in the base defense.
David Hawthorne was fully practicing this week and could rotate in more heavily with Jon Vilma, who had played nearly every down last week as the Saints were predominantly in a nickel package.
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