The Colts traded inside linebacker Antonio Morrison to the Packers for cornerback Lenzy Pipkins, giving each veteran a chance to impress their new coaches in this week's preseason finales 鈥?and a better chance of making the 53-man active roster.
Green Bay already was thin at inside linebacker after incumbent starter Jake Ryan suffered a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during training camp. The Packers suffered another blow when Ryan's replacement, rookie Oren Burks, hurt his shoulder during Friday's pregame warmups and missed the game against Oakland.
Burks was a third-round draft pick in the spring, but coach Mike McCarthy said Sunday the injury was less severe than initially feared and that the injury would not be long term.
Still, they made the move.
"Antonio is obviously an experienced linebacker, and if you look at the youth of the group, that's something we felt we needed to add," McCarthy said. "Lenzy's a good young corner, did some really good things for us at the end of the year. But we're very young at that position."
Getting Morrison could fill one of Green Bay's most glaring needs.
The 6-foot-1, 241-pound Morrison played in 31 games with the Colts, made 19 starts including 15 last season. He finished among the league's top 20 in tackles in 2017, leading the Colts with 109.
Morrison was originally the Colts' fourth-round draft pick in 2016.
But Morrison started sliding down the Colts' depth chart after new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus switched from a 3-4 defensive front to the more traditional 4-3, a scheme that requires only one starting inside linebacker. In contrast, Green Bay will continue to use a 3-4 scheme under new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.
Morrison's experience also could make him an immediate contributor with starter Blake Martinez, who had 144 tackles last season and finished with a share of the league lead. Martinez started next to undrafted rookie Greer Martini when Burks sat out Friday.
Burks said nobody has given him a timeline for his return and he's not sure if he'll be ready for Green Bay's season opener Sept. 9 against Chicago.
"Shoulder just popped out. It's unfortunate but it's part of the game," Burks said. "Knew something was wrong, obviously, but I've never had any shoulder issues before so I didn't really know what I was feeling or any kinds of things like that. Good evaluation, good feedback from the MRI and things like that."
Pipkins played in 12 games, mostly on special teams, after making the Packers as an undrafted rookie last season.
He also moved down the depth chart after Green Bay selected cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson with its top two picks in this year's draft and re-signed free agent Tramon Williams, who played for Pettine in Cleveland after leaving Green Bay in free agency following the 2014 season.
"Our two rookies played well in the game http://www.officialoilers.com/authentic-adidas-connor-mcdavid-jersey ," McCarthy said. "But I think it's just a product of a number of things. It (linebacker) is a position that we wanted to add experience to, and definitely some young guys there that we feel good about."
With an already young secondary, the Colts figured they'd take a look at the 6-foot, 196-pound Pipkins in Thursday night's preseason finale at Cincinnati.
Second-year cornerbacks Quincy Wilson and Nate Hairston both missed the Colts' game with injuries.
Pierre Desir, a fifth-year player who made five of his 12 career starts last season in Indy, and Kenny Moore II, a second-year player who has impressed coaches, have been the starters this preseason.
But Pipkins could help the Colts in nickel or dime packages if Wilson or Hairston are out any significant amount of time.
"We feel like it's a good fit," coach Frank Reich said. "He's a guy that our guys had their eyes on. It's tough with Antonio because I loved Antonio, I loved the toughness he brought. But I think this was a move that was best for the team."
AP Sports Writer Genaro Armas in Milwaukee also contributed to this article.
Tennessee cornerback Adoree Jackson was flipping for joy after a couple of interceptions defending Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson and the rest of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 18th pick overall in 2017 by the Titans, Jackson celebrated picking off a pass to DeSean Jackson Thursday in a one-on-one drill with a flip. With few people on the far side of the field watching, Jackson made sure to flip again after intercepting a pass intended for Tampa Bay tight end O.J. Howard.
"Back home, they'd give me a 10," Jackson said. "If I was in the Olympics, I probably wouldn't get a high score I don't think. I didn't stick my landing correctly. I didn't do the right things. I didn't tuck or none of that. Everybody said they were scared when I was in the air. ... I'd have gave me a seven."
Titans coach Mike Vrabel has no issue with how Jackson likes to celebrate big plays.
"If he wants to backflip after he intercepts the ball or bats it down, I'm all for it," Vrabel said.
The Buccaneers and Titans wrapped up their second joint practice Thursday in a prelude to their exhibition game Saturday night, and these sessions have provided a good preseason test for a Tennessee secondary that wants to be one of the NFL's best, if not the best, against a group of wide receivers that helped Tampa Bay rank fourth in the NFL last season in passing offense.
Evans and his teammates got the best of the Titans on Wednesday with Tampa Bay coach Dirk Koetter noting that offense should beat defense in 1-on-1 drills. Koetter thought his receivers came out "smoking" with Evans having a really good practice.
"They've got good corners, we've got good receivers," Koetter said. "It's fun to watch those guys compete."
The Titans bounced back Thursday http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-shaquem-griffin-jersey , setting a tone in 1-on-1s with Malcolm Butler breaking up a pass to DeSean Jackson. That's the drill where Butler's teammate used a tip from fellow cornerback Logan Ryan to watch for a specific move. Jackson turned, got his left hand in tipping the ball to himself for the interception.
"Kudos to Logan for getting me in position, and I just had to make the play," the Titans cornerback said.
The 6-foot-5 Evans gave Tennessee a strong test at 6-foot-5 with at least 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first four seasons. Evans also gave the Titans defensive backs a good review.
"Oh, I like them," Evans said. "Butler, physical, experienced corner. Adoree Jackson, hell of an athlete, and Logan Ryan he has game. Very experienced, very smart."
Adoree Jackson called the joint practices a lot of competition with both teams pitting their first-team units against each other.
"You're fired up," Jackson said. "You're trying to show out, they're trying to show out. They're trying to expose you, you're trying to expose them, and it's all about getting better. Man, I feel like I sweated more in these joint practices than I did my whole life."
Both Vrabel and Koetter made it clear before these practices to avoid fighting, and they were successful with the exception of back-to-back plays with the Titans' first-team offense on the field.
Bucs safety Chris Conte hit Titans running back Dion Lewis hard, prompting pushing and shoving. Vrabel and Titans general manager Jon Robinson both ran in to break it up. On the next play with Derrick Henry running, the Titans and Bucs pushed and shoved each other again.
NOTES: Bucs rookie Alex Cappa worked at right guard with the first-team after Caleb Benenoch got a bit banged up in the first team period. Koetter said Bennenoch returned. ... Bucs CB Ryan Smith went inside with trainers, and Koetter did not have an update. ... Titans TE Delanie Walker walked gingerly inside with a team doctor after a catch across the middle.
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12.10.2018 04:13
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