NFL Week 4 Injury Report: Jets Without Two Cornerbacks Against Saints

SBN’s Stampede Blue reports that Colts DE Dwight Freeney will start today as Indianapolis faces Seattle at home. ESPN’s John Clayton reported it originally, and NFL.com has confirmed the report.

NFL.com reports that Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe is active for the Chiefs today and will play when they face the Giants at home. Also, as reported earlier on SBN, DL Chris Canty and CB Aaron Ross are officially out for the Giants.

It is unclear whether star linebacker Shawne Merriman will play Sunday when San Diego travels to Pittsburgh. This from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Bothered by a strained groin, Merriman was officially listed as questionable for the game today after participating in practice for the second straight day.

Not that he was expected back, but Steelers S Troy Polamalu has been listed as out for the team’s Week 4 game against the Chargers, according to CBS Sports.

Polamalu suffered an MCL strain during the team’s opening night win over the Titans. He was expected to miss 3-6 weeks.

Starting left tackle Demetrius Bell is one of four players that Dick Jauron announced will be out Sunday at Miami. Bell is suffering from a groin injury. Starting in his place will be Jonathan Scott.

The shoulder injury ailing Lions' RB Kevin Smith will apparently not be enough to keep him out of this Sunday's game at Chicago. 

Vaughn McClure, beat writer for the Chicago Tribune, reports:

Lions running back Kevin Smith tells Tom Kowalski of MLive.com that he will play against the Bears.

Good news for the 1-2 Lions.

The AP reports the Jets will be without their number two and three cornerbacks Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland when the team takes on the Saints this Sunday. Sheppard has been limited by a quadriceps injury, while an ankle injury has hampered Strickland.

Should be no big deal for the Jets though -- it's not like you need your secondary intact when playing Drew Brees.

Dwight Lowery and Drew Coleman will replace Sheppard and Strickland.

After aggravating an ankle injury last week, Giants sparkplug RB Ahmad Bradshaw was back on the practice field on Friday, and looks set to play in the team’s Week 4 game against the Chiefs, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

The Ledger also reports that DT Chris Canty and CB Aaron Ross look like they’ll be scratches for Week 4 after sitting out of practice this week.

However, CB Charles Woodson and DE Cullen Jenkins did practice.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Jamal Lewis sat out Friday’s practice with the Browns while nursing a hamstring injury. The injury kept Lewis out for last week’s game against the Ravens as well.

In addition to Lewis, kicker Phil Dawson and guard Floyd Womack did not practice. All three should be listed as questionable or doubtful for Sunday:

If they can’t play, Lewis (hamstring) will be replaced by Jerome Harrison, Dawson (calf) will be replaced by Billy Cundiff and Womack (ankle) will be replaced by Hank Fraley.

Despite practicing Friday, Rick Maese of the Washington Post reports that RB Clinton Portis is listed as questionable on the injury report and will be a game time decision.

Portis was also listed as questionable and a game time decision last week but ended up playing.

According to Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald, mammoth Patriots DT Vince Wilfork returned to practice after spraining his ankle, while LB Jerod Mayo was at the practice facility for the first time since injuring his knee in Week 1 to do some jogging.

Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston adds that receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker were also at practice. Moss played last week despite a sore back; Welker has missed the last two weeks due to an undisclosed knee problem.

We’ll keep you updated on any more news out of Foxboro leading up to kickoff on Sunday.

Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe took snaps with the first team offense Friday, according to Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star.

Bowe previously rode the stationary bike in practice on Wednesday and returned to the field on Thursday.

Rick Maese of the Washington Post reports that Redskins RB Clinton Portis and DT Albert Haynesworth are both at practice on Friday. Portis had sat out practice earlier in the week due to his persistent ankle problems, while Haynesworth has been bothered with a sore hip after hurting it during the Skins’ Week 3 loss to the Lions.

We’ll keep you updated with any news about how they look in practice.

Given his absence from practice this week, it’s hardly surprising that Mike Bell will miss the team’s Week 4 game against the Jets, as Jay Glazer reports. Bell is recovering from a strained MCL – incidentally, the same injury that hampered fellow Saint RB Pierre Thomas – and was expected to miss 2-3 weeks.

Glazer further reports that the plan is to work Bell back in after the Saints’ Week 5 bye. Pierre Thomas’ strong play last week most likely made this an easy decision for the Saints brass.

According to Pewter Report:

Bucs defensive end Gaines Adams (groin), cornerback Torrie Cox (ankle), running back Earnest Graham (hamstring), wide receiver Maurice Stovall (knee), defensive tackle Roy Miller (ankle), return specialist Clifton Smith (quad), running back Cadillac Williams (knee) and guard Jeremy Zuttah (hip) were participating in practice this morning.

Tampa Bay RB Derrick Ward (knee) was held out of practice for the third straight day due to his injury. He appears unlikely to play vs. the Redskins.

Cadillac Williams, who was questionable on last week’s injury report due to knee soreness from playing on artificial turf, figures to start in Ward’s absence.

Also, former top-five pick and frequent target of criticism Gaines Adams appears to be making good on his prediction that he would play despite being hampered by a groin injury.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

Shawne Merriman practicing. Of course, he practiced last week too. We’ll see

We’ll keep you updated on any news about Merriman’s status for this Sunday.

Adam Caplan of Scout.com reports that the Bills have put injured CB Leodis McKelvin on IR. McKelvin suffered a fractured fibula during the team’s Week 3 loss to the Saints. While he was initially expected to miss 6-8 weeks, he is now apparently finished for the year.

Adam Caplan of profootball.scout.com tweets that Kevin Smith was in Thursday’s practice; however, he still is uncertain if he will play Sunday at Chicago.

Smith sat out Wednesday’s practice with a shoulder injury.

After sitting out last week’s game against the Eagles due to a hamstring injury, Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star reports that Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe was back on the practice field for the Chiefs today.

It’s still unclear whether Bowe will play this week, but we’ll keep you updated on any developments.

Ohm Youngmisuk of the New York Daily News reports:

Tuck in pads and working with DLinemen 2day; Canty and Ware out on side. Bradshaw and A.Ross on the bike during portion open to media

Tuck sat out last week with a partially torn labrum. He had reportedly considered trying to play with a harness in Week 3, so he looks like a good bet to get back on the field this Sunday against the Chiefs.

Canty has missed the last two weeks due to a calf injury, while former first-rounder CB Aaron Ross has been out since the end of training camp after aggravating a hamstring injury. Ross reportedly suffered a setback yesterday, which ended his chances for playing this week.

Bradshaw, who was wearing a protective boot yesterday, tweaked an old ankle injury from college, but might see some practice snaps tomorrow. Both Bradshaw and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride have said he will play this weekend.

Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork was held out of practice today, according to Ian Rapoport. Wilfork has been dealing with a sprained ankle he suffered in Week 3 against the Falcons. His status for this week remains uncertain.

According to PewterReport.com, Gaines Adams missed his second straight practice due to a knee injury he suffered against the Giants last Sunday.

However, Adams believes he will be able to play in Sunday’s game against Washington:

"I’ve played through some injuries before, but with the groin it can get very serious, so we have to be careful. It’s not like a shoulder or anything like that. It’s dealing with my legs, and I use them on every play. We don’t want to strain it more or tear it."

According to Tampa Bay Online, Antonio Bryant, Derrick Ward and Gaines Adams are not at today’s practice. More details to come.

Bryant and Ward both have knee issues.  Adams is suffering from a groin injury sustained in last Sunday's game against the Giants.

The Nashville Tennessean reports that Titans nickelback Vicent Fuller underwent surgery today to repair his broken forearm. Fuller is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks.

Patriots DT Vince Wilfork has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle after leaving Sunday’s contest against the Falcons. The injury is reportedly not to be long term and his status for this week remains uncertain.

Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

Rams WR Laurent Robinson out for the season with a broken tibia.

Robinson had been one of the few (relative) bright spots for the Rams so far, hauling in over 140 yards and a touchdown through the first two weeks, before getting injured against the Packers.

In other Rams news, safety James Butler will miss at least two weeks due to a strained MCL, again from Miklasz.

Patriots DT Vince Wilfork left last week’s game against the Falcons with an ankle injury after teammate Mike Wright accidentally rolled on Wilfork’s ankle. No word yet on how severe the injury is, and whether Wilfork is expected to miss any time. We’ll keep you updated.

More bad news for the Bills. From the team’s official twitter feed:

Donte Whitner is having thumb surgery today and Leodis McKelvin has a cracked bone in his leg. Visit buffalobills.com for more.

No timetable yet on their returns. We’ll keep you updated.

Jim Zorn kicked off his press conference today by saying that Albert Haynesworth has a strained glute and that he expects the defensive tackle to be OK. No word on if that means he’s playing this week or not.

Larry Weisman tweets that $100 million dollar man Albert Haynesworth is back in Tennessee, where he played collegiately and professionally, to undergo an MRI after injuring his hip in the ‘Skins’ Week 3 loss to the Lions.

Haynesworth returned to action in the second half against the Lions, so it’s certainly discouraging that he’s undergoing an MRI today; perhaps the hip injury was more severe than initially thought. We’ll keep you updated on his status through the day.

Chargers LB Shawne Merriman left the Chargers’ Week 3 game against the Dolphins after his injured groin limited him. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Times reports:

Linebacker Shawne Merriman was not surprised his injured groin wouldn’t last more than a few snaps of Sunday’s 23-13 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

“I wasn’t good before the game,” Merriman, who played the first two snaps of Miami’s first two series and then not again, said of his pregame workout. “It wasn’t feeling good at all. It wasn’t there yet. I just had to go to see what I could do.” […]

Going forward, though, Merriman didn’t rule out resting through the bye that follows this week’s game at Pittsburgh.
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “We’ll do our best to get me ready (for Sunday).”

Rookie first-round pick Larry English replaced Merriman in the starting lineup.

Much like the Bills, the Titans secondary took quite the blow Sunday against the Jets.

The Tennessean reports that nickel back Vincent Fuller broke his arm and Pro Bowl cornerback Cortland Finnegan injured his hamstring.

Once the two veterans were injured, the secondary for the Titans got very young:

After Fuller’s injury, rookie Ryan Mouton stepped in at nickel back. Another rookie, Jason McCourty, replaced Finnegan at corner.

The newfound inexperience at corner was quickly exposed by the Jets:

McCourty nearly made a play on a long throw down the left side in the fourth quarter, but Jets wideout Jerricho Cotchery beat him to the ball for a 46-yard gain.

“He made the play and I didn’t,” McCourty said.

Starting quarterback Marc Bulger injured his throwing shoulder late in the first quarter Sunday against the Packers. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the injury may be season-ending:

League sources later told the Post-Dispatch that Bulger has a rotator cuff injury in his throwing shoulder. He will have additional testing today, and if it’s a torn rotator cuff, the injury could end his season.

In Bulger’s absence, backup quarterback Kyle Boller threw for 164 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The Rams were already down 16-0 by the time Boller got his first snap and eventually lost 36-17.

In addition to Bulger’s injury, the Dispatch notes that the Rams’ wide receiving corps took quite a hit as well:

Late in the second quarter, the Rams lost their top receiver, Laurent Robinson, with what looks like a substantial right ankle injury. (Robinson was on crutches after the game.) The team’s other starting wide receiver, struggling Donnie Avery, suffered an injury to his ribs late in the fourth quarter.

Niners RB Frank Gore left early in the team’s Week 3 loss to the Vikings after testing his injured right ankle and being unable to go. Now it looks like the Niners will be without his services for at least the next few weeks. Jason La Confora of NFL Network reports:

Gore is suffering from a high ankle strain and likely will miss at least the next two games, according to a league source. The hope is that he could return after the 49ers’ Week 6 bye.

Preseason star Glen Coffee replaced Gore, and struggled against the Vikings’ stout run defense, gaining 54 yards on 25 carries.

Detroit RB Kevin Smith left Sunday’s win over the Redskins with a shoulder injury, the severity of which is currently unknown. Detroit coach Jim Schwartz told reporters Smith would be evaluated later today. We will be monitoring his condition for any updates.

According to The Sporting News, starting cornerback Leodis McKelvin and starting safeties Bryan Scott and Donte Whitner all went down to injury Sunday against New Orleans. McKelvin, Scott and Whitner all left the game.

Whitner left due to a thumb injury, and McKelvin and Scott both came out of the game due to ankle injuries.

In addition to the banged up secondary, starting left tackle Demetrius Bell incurred a groin injury and left the game as well.

The extent of the injuries are unknown, but losing three starters in the secondary and another starter on the offensive line all at once does not bode well for the Bills

As if things could not get worse for the 0-3 Miami Dolphins, quarterback Chad Pennington left Sunday’s game against the Chargers after sustaining an injury to his twice-operated on right shoulder. Said Dolphins coach, Tony Sparano, of the injury:

I only know that it’s a shoulder [injury]. We’re going to evaluate it when we get back.

NBC’s Pro Football Talk, however, has more information:

Per Peter King of NBC, via Bob Costas during the post-game show, Pennington is doubtful due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Chargers.

If Pennington is unable to go next weekend, Chad Henne will likely get the start. Henne was 10 of 19 for 92 yards and an interception in relief of Pennington.

Speaking of Henne, here is SB Nation's Phins Insider's take on his performance:

We got our first taste of the 2009 version of Chad Henne as he came on in relief of the injured Chad Pennington.  Needless to say (or is it, after reading some of the comments in the post-game thread), it's not fair to judge Henne off of this game or to make ridiculous assumptions off of a quarter and a half of work.  It's unlikely that Henne was getting much practice time with the starting offense during the week and it was clear that the rhythm of the offense - if the Dolphins even have one - was affected by the change.  So let's give Henne some time before bashing him - which should mean a lot considering I haven't ever been overly impressed with Henne since college.

With that said, here's what I saw out of Henne.  I saw a quarterback who looked uncomfortable on the field.  He didn't look confident.  He didn't look calm and collected.  I also saw some inaccurate throws.  Should Ted Ginn have caught those back-to-back drops?  Of course (and we'll get to Ginn later).  But they were inaccurate - especially the second one. 

I also saw a quarterback who made a terrible decision to seal the game for the Chargers.  Henne dropped back and did look right before coming back to Davone Bess, who was running an out pattern to the left.  But he took too long to get back to him and make the throw.  Henne needs to throw that before Bess makes his break.  He was late with the ball and Eric Weddle read it all the way.  But he'll learn from that - I hope.

All told, there isn't too much to talk about.  Henne was thrown into a difficult situation and he played like you would expect an inexperienced quarterback to play.  But at 0-3 - and I said this last week - it's time to make the switch to Chad Henne as the starter.  With Pennington's injury, this might work itself out to begin with.  But even if CP is capable of playing next week, there's no point.  Let Henne get 13 games of starting experience under his belt in 2009 so we can begin to evaluate his long-term potential.

If losing to the lowly Lions wasn’t bad enough, the Redskins might be without prized free agent DT Albert Haynesworth in the coming weeks. Jason Reid of the Washington Post reports:

Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth said he’s not certain how a hip injury he suffered in Sunday ’s 19-14 loss at Detroit will affect him in the coming weeks.

“I don’t know right now,” he said after the Redskins’ 19-14 loss to the Lions in Detroit. “I hope it’ll be okay.”

In the second quarter, Haynesworth made a key sack of Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford on a third-and-five play from the Washington 14. But after Haynesworth landed on Stafford, he could not get up.

Hiding his face with a towel, Haynesworth was taken off the field on a cart with a strained hip flexor. He received treatment in the locker room and returned midway through the third quarter, though the 350-pound takckle said he wasn’t 100 percent in the second half.

“Really slow,” he said. “I didn’t feel like myself. But that’s part of the game. Hopefully I’ll be ready to go by next week.”

Haynesworth has not played a full 16 game season since his rookie year in 2002.