A day after Washington Redskins team president Bruce Allen said he expects holdout left tackle Trent Williams to return to the team, former teammate DeAngelo Hall said Williams won’t be back by the regular-season opener.
“I reached out to him, and he’s like, ‘Man, there’s zero chance I’ll be in that building next week,'” Hall said on The Athletic’s “Hail to the Podcast” on Thursday, saying he spoke to Williams after Allen’s comments emerged Wednesday.
“I hear some whispers that he might show up,” Hall added, “and then I talk to him and it’s like, ‘Nah, I’m not showing up. We haven’t talked, we haven’t addressed the issues.'”
Hall and Williams were teammates for eight seasons, from when Williams was drafted in 2010 until Hall retired after the 2017 season.
–Free agent defensive end Ryan Russell revealed that he is bisexual, telling his story through ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz in a piece posted to ESPN.com.
Currently looking to get back into the league after missing last season with a shoulder injury, the 27-year-old Russell said that after he met with an NFL team earlier this month, he told himself, “This is the last time I will ever interview for a job as anything other than my full self.”
“Have I lied to teammates, coaches, trainers, front-office executives and fans about who I am? Not exactly,” Russell continued. “But withholding information is a form of deceit. And I want the next part of my career — and life — steeped in trust and honesty.”
–After Houston Texans pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney reportedly fired his agent and visited with the Miami Dolphins, a report indicates the interest may not be reciprocal.
At least if it involves departing with left tackle Laremy Tunsil.
Citing “a well-placed source,” the Miami Herald’s Adam H. Beasley reported Dolphins players “would revolt” if the team sent Tunsil to Houston in a deal for Clowney. As reports came out mentioning a potential Tunsil-for-Clowney deal, the Dolphins reportedly told Tunsil’s camp the team has no plans to trade him.
–Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia and missed the preseason finale.
“A full recovery is anticipated,” per the team, prior to Hunt’s planned return to action in Week 10.
The Nov. 11 game against the Buffalo Bills marks the date Hunt is eligible to rejoin the team after serving an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy.
–The Buffalo Bills traded second-year guard Wyatt Teller to the Browns.
The Browns also receive a 2021 seventh-round draft pick from the Bills in exchange for fifth- and sixth-round selections in 2020.
Teller, 24, was drafted in the fifth round by Buffalo in 2018 and appeared in eight games (seven starts) during his rookie campaign.
–Carolina Panthers kicker Graham Gano’s knee injury doesn’t seem to be getting better, and he could land on injured reserve for the first half of the season, NFL Network reported.
Gano, who finished the 2018 campaign on IR with a knee injury, has not kicked at all during the preseason, with Joey Slye handling those duties.
Slye entered Thursday 6 for 6, including makes of 55 and 54 yards, then drilled a 59-yard field goal in the preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
–The Atlanta Falcons are bringing 44-year-old kicker Matt Bryant in for a tryout Friday, according to multiple reports.
Bryant made 20 of 21 field goals in 13 games with the Falcons last season, but the team released him in February and opted to go with Giorgio Tavecchio.
Tavecchio, 29, has struggled in the preseason, however. He has missed five of his six field-goal attempts from 30-plus yards, including a 53-yarder Thursday.
–Dallas Cowboys rookie guard Connor McGovern suffered a setback in his recovery from a partially torn pectoral muscle and could miss the season, multiple outlets reported.
McGovern reportedly does not need surgery, but the timetable for recovery is unknown.
–The neck injury sustained by Seattle Seahawks cornerback Kalan Reed earlier this month will likely end his NFL career, his agent told NFL Media.
Reed injured his third and fourth vertebrae on Aug. 18 and was placed on injured reserve this week.
–NFL teams will play five games outside the United States in 2019, and commissioner Roger Goodell said there’s room for more.
“The reality is that the demand for playing those games is greater than we have in the inventory,” Goodell told Sports Business Journal.
–A group of retired players involved in a class-action lawsuit against the NFL over brain injuries was defrauded by their attorney and his Florida investment firm, the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC charged Cambridge Capital Group Advisors of Tallahassee, attorney Phillip Timothy Howard and investment manager Don Warner Reinhard with defrauding 20 investors, who largely were the former players.
–Field Level Media
