NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

Bears coach Matt Nagy wants to keep the Packers in suspense as to whether or not they will see QB NICK FOLES or QB MITCHELL TRUBISKY – but the smoke signals say it is back to Trubisky.  Tyler Sullivan of CBSSports.com:

The Chicago Bears held out starting quarterback Nick Foles from practice on Wednesday as he continues to deal with a hip injury that forced him to exit their Week 10 matchup with the Vikings early. With Foles still sidelined after the bye as the team begins its preparations to take on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, the door appears to be open for Mitchell Trubisky to reclaim the starting spot he lost after Week 3.

While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, head coach Matt Nagy declined to name a starter for Sunday which leaves Foles, whom he described as day-to-day, a slim opportunity to return to action. If the tides do turn to Trubisky, however, Nagy seems pretty confident in the former No. 2 overall pick and was impressed with what he saw from him in practice while taking all the starting reps.

“I thought he did a good job,” Nagy said of Trubisky. “It was good to see him out there and he looked good. The tempo and the rhythm was good.” 

Despite winning his first three games of the season, Trubisky was still showing signs of inefficiency. Over that three-game stretch to begin the year, he completed just 59.3% of his passes for 560 total yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions. Since the demotion, however, Nagy was pretty candid on Wednesday with how pleased he’s been of Trubisky and even said that he believes he “has used these weeks to make himself a better overall NFL quarterback.”

“I’m very, very impressed with how he’s grown week-to-week,” said Nagy. “It wasn’t easy those first couple of weeks. It was hard. It was out of place for him and for us, but he kind of got to tack a step back and see where he’s at. If he is going [to start], what I would say is this, ‘I have all the confidence in the world in him.'”

If Trubisky does get the nod, he’ll at least be going up against a team that he has some experience with as he’s faced the Packers five times over the course of his career. That said, the history against Green Bay (1-4 starting record) isn’t too kind. In those games, Trubisky has a pass-rating of 80 while boasting a 4-3 TD-INT ratio. With that in mind, he’ll need to buck a not-so-great trend if he gets the chance of being QB1 in Chicago once again.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

The Cowboys will play, presumably, today with a heavy heart after the sudden death of strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul.  Todd Archer of ESPN.com:

Dallas Cowboys strength and conditioning coordinator Markus Paul, who was rushed to the hospital Tuesday morning after experiencing a medical emergency, has died, the team announced Wednesday. He was 54.

Surrounded by family, Paul died Wednesday evening at Plano Presbyterian Hospital.

The cause of death was not announced.

“The loss of a family member is a tragedy, and Markus Paul was a loved and valued member of our family,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said in a statement. “He was a pleasant and calming influence in our strength room and throughout The Star.

“His passion for his work and his enthusiasm for life earned him great respect and admiration from all our players and the entire organization. We offer our love and support to his family in this very difficult time. Our hearts are broken for his family and all of the individuals whose lives he touched and made better.”

The Cowboys will recognize and remember Paul before their Thanksgiving Day matchup against Washington at AT&T Stadium.

Paul was treated by Cowboys medical personnel and transported to a hospital by ambulance shortly before 7:30 a.m. CT Tuesday. Coach Mike McCarthy canceled practice Tuesday, and Wednesday’s session ran roughly 75 minutes, which was considered to be close to normal, given the circumstances.

Paul joined the Cowboys in 2018 as an assistant to Mike Woicik and was named the strength and conditioning coordinator upon McCarthy’s arrival as coach.

“We extend our love, strength and support to Markus’ family during this most challenging of times and ask that their privacy be respected moving forward,” McCarthy said in a statement. “Markus Paul was a leader in this building. He earned the players’ respect and attention because he cared so much and was a naturally gifted communicator — both on the personal and professional levels. He handled every situation, sometimes with a smile and a pat on the back and sometimes with tough love.

“He had innate toughness in a job that requires that quality, and he was admired throughout the NFL by his peers and the players he coached. It was a privilege to work with him as a coach and laugh with him as a friend. Markus did everything the right way.”

Several Cowboys players took to Twitter to pay tribute to Paul, including linebacker Jaylon Smith and cornerback Jourdan Lewis.

Paul played five years in the NFL as a defensive back with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, from 1989 to 1993, after four seasons at Syracuse, where he was a two-time All-American.

Washington coach Ron Rivera and Paul were teammates with the Bears from 1989 to 1992, before the end of Rivera’s playing career.

“The passing of Markus Paul is a true loss to the NFL community and anyone who had the privilege of knowing him,” Rivera said. “Markus was a tremendous teammate during my time with the Chicago Bears and a good friend to me over the years. He was just a great man and will be missed by many.”

Paul entered the coaching ranks in 1998 with the New Orleans Saints and then spent five seasons with the New England Patriots’ strength staff under Woicik from 2000 to 2004. In 2005 and 2006, Paul was the director of physical development and head strength and conditioning coach for the New York Jets.

He spent 11 seasons with the New York Giants as an assistant strength coach before joining the Cowboys.

The Jets expressed condolences on their Twitter account Wednesday, describing Paul as “a kind man who made a lasting impact on those fortunate to have crossed his path.”

The Giants also tweeted about Paul, calling him “a beloved member of our organization for several years” and saying, “He will be greatly missed.”

The Saints said in their statement, “While Markus’ time in New Orleans was relatively brief nearly two decades ago, he left a lasting legacy as a family first, hardworking individual that cared deeply for the players and the rich history of the NFL.”

In 2012, the Cowboys experienced the loss of a player one day before playing the Cincinnati Bengals, when practice-squad linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in a car crash in which teammate Josh Brent was the driver. The Cowboys had Brown’s jersey displayed on their bench and won the game.

By all accounts, Paul was a great and caring man.

He was a teammate of Daryl Johnston’s at Syracuse.

@DarylJohnston

It was amazing how many times I would see a clock and it would say 10:32. That meant Markus Paul was with me at that moment. During the course of a tough game, tough day he was by my side. Even though he’s left us I know he will still be by my side. Miss You, Love You MP

If you can’t see the photo, Paul wore 10 at Syracuse, Johnston 32.

So many players and other NFL personnel who knew him have tweeted.  Here is Pat Hanlon, PR guy of the New York Giants:

@giantspathanlon

My heart is so heavy right now. Not a better being walking God’s green earth than #MarkusPaul … so thankful we, the #Giants, had the good fortune to work with such a wonderful, thoughtful, determined person. Rest in Peace, Coach Paul! Lotta love going you and your family’s way!

NEW YORK GIANTS

Steve Serby of the New York Post with an uplifting piece for Giants fans on a team in the thick of a playoff spot race with reasons for thanks and optimism:

In no particular order:

Daniel Jones

Let the Jets fan dream about Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields. This is your quarterback today, and this is your quarterback tomorrow. After losing Saquon Barkley, and losing the football on a weekly basis, he is beginning to master Jason Garrett’s offense and growing as a player and leader and dual threat (slide, Daniel, slide) and there is reason again to believe the best is yet to come.

“I think Daniel’s just done a good job of really growing in this system, I think he’s done a really good job of growing as a player right now,” Judge said. “There’s a lot of things you guys don’t see behind the scenes that we’re not always gonna share, but the way this guy is outward with his teammates, or the reception he gets at team meetings or locker rooms and things like that, you could really see the team growing around him. We all have confidence in him, and we love putting him on the field on Sunday, letting him go out there and compete.”

Joe Judge

A head coach for John Mara and Steve Tisch to be thankful for. I have extolled his virtues as a CEO with a Parcellsian ability to understand what makes each player tick, for being a fearless leader who demands that everyone in the building is rowing in the same direction, for being both unyielding in his Coughlinesque obsession with team and being compassionate at the same time, for building a football factory culture where egos are left at the door and the white noise is not allowed to infiltrate, that fosters a resolute army of true blue believers. And most recently, for connecting with fawning, socially distanced season-ticket holders over Zoom on a video on the team’s website … hashtag TogetherBlue.

“I think what gets lost in the shuffle sometimes is the connection that we have with the fans, and this has definitely been a year we haven’t been able to have that connection,” Judge said, “so any opportunity I had to be able to just interact or speak with any of the fans, look, that to me is critical, and it’s critical for our team. … Listen, it’s been a very tough year around the country for a lot of people, and the fact that we have people willing to invest their own hard-earned money in this time, into us, it’s important they understand that we’re invested in them as well and the product we want to put on the field had to reflect them and what they’re fighting through as well.”

Judge is restoring Giants Pride. Scout team players of the week were given the honor of wearing jerseys of Honor Giants on Wednesday: Carter Coughlin selected Lawrence Taylor. Colt McCoy opted for Frank Gifford.

Big Blue ‘D’

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has been a grandmaster chess player. The imminent return of second-round safety Xavier McKinney will give him a play-making pawn to join Ryan and Jabrill Peppers. “We have a lot of versatile players,” Ryan said, “and we’re getting healthier, we’re getting better.”

Big Blue has showed the first encouraging signs that it has learned how to finish, and the Dave Gettleman All-Stars — Leonard Williams, Blake Martinez, James Bradberry, Peppers and Ryan — have led the way. “We’re gonna disguise a lot,” Logan said.

Offensive Line

Still not fixed, still a work in progress, but the worst should be behind Andrew Thomas. It’s yet to be determined how the rotation strategy will work, and it will be up to Judge and new O-line coach Dave DeGuglielmo to quell the aftershocks from the firing of Marc Colombo.

 “I know those guys up front will be playing hard and playing well,” Jones said.

Wayne Gallman

After years of being The Forgotten Man, this is his moment. He has been reborn under this coaching staff, which clearly trusts him when he can smell paydirt (five touchdowns over the last four games). The Wayne Train (275 yards) is running angry, and it would be optimal if he could at least challenge Jones (384 yards) for the team rushing lead. His rejuvenation has come at a critical time in place of Devonta Freeman. “I told him straight up, ‘This is an opportunity of a lifetime, go get it,’” Sterling Shepard said.

Six-game season.

Pass the cranberry sauce. And then, pass the Eagles, pass the Cowboys, and pass the Washington Football Team, too.

PHILADELPHIA

The Eagles feel they must simplify the offense for their fifth-year quarterback as if he were some stiff off the street signed to play in short notice in an emergency.

Well, maybe that’s not in the Thanksgiving spirit, but read this about QB CARSON WENTZ from Samantha Previte of the New York Post:

The Eagles are doing their best to try to help Carson Wentz succeed within his limitations.

A confidential source close to the Eagles told NJ Advance Media that the Philadelphia coaching staff has been fruitlessly trying to design simpler plays that lessen the load on their struggling signal-caller, whose performance this season has become a liability to the team.

“Carson is a broken quarterback,” the source said. “Even when he throws a good ball, he’s skittish and unsure.”

The 27-year-old fifth-year QB has completed 220 of 377 attempts this season (58.4 percent) for 2,326 yards, 24 touchdowns and a NFL leading 14 interceptions, which ties his career high (2016) through just ten games. He has led the team to a 3-6-1 record. The three wins came against a Nick Mullens-led 49ers team, the Giants and the Cowboys.

Their strategy aims to ensure a receiver is open immediately so Wentz will not have to run through progressions — which has been a pain point this year — and will minimize the time he spends in the pocket. The Eagles’ offensive line is allowing an average of four sacks per game, which ranks last in the NFL and has visibly impacted his confidence.

The team had been ravaged by injuries early with Miles Sanders, Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, Jalen Reagor, Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson all missing time this year. Ertz and Jackson are still on injured reserve, but the others have returned, which seems to have made little impact on the Eagles’ offense. Wentz has actually begun to favor his veterans pass-catchers of late, namely tight ends Dallas Goedert and Richard Rodgers, over Travis Fulgham and Jalen Reagor.

“[Wentz] trusts his tight ends more than his wide receivers,” the source said.

In spite of Wentz’s struggles, head coach Doug Peterson has remained steadfast in his decision to not make the switch to 2020 second-rounder Jalen Hurts while the team is in first place.

“If you get to that spot, whether you don’t start him or bench him, you are sending the wrong message to your football team that your season is over and that is a bad message,” Pederson said after the Eagles’ Week 11 loss to the Browns. “We have to work through this. When times get tough, sometimes (changing quarterbacks) might be the easy thing to do. .. Jalen is preparing himself each week to play and that’s what a backup quarterback should do.

“With the way the game was going and the elements and we were just really a score from putting ourselves back into this, I did not consider [making a quarterback change]. No questions about it, [Wentz is] our starter.”

WASHINGTON

Good news for the WFT.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin‘s practice workload kept going up over the last three days and that’s set the stage for him to play in Dallas on Thursday afternoon.

McLaurin went from being listed as out with an ankle injury on Monday to a limited workout on Tuesday and a full practice on Wednesday. He was listed as questionable and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that he is expected to be in the lineup against the Cowboys.

That should be a plus for the Football Team’s passing attack. McLaurin is the team’s leader in targets, catches, and receiving yards by a large margin.

Kicker Dustin Hopkins is also listed as questionable due to a groin injury and Rapoport notes the team did not call up another kicker, so he is set to play as well.

Even as QB DWAYNE HASKINS sits on the bench, Washington is signaling a return of QB ALEX SMITH.  Ian Rapoport of NFL.com:

Alex Smith’s comeback would have been impressive had he never stepped back on the field. A broken fibula and tibia and 17 surgeries thanks to an infection left him barely able to walk.

Just fighting his way back to normal was miraculous.

Now the starting quarterback for the Washington Football Team heading into today’s game against the Cowboys, the team wants more of the 36-year-old Smith.

Coach Ron Rivera and his staff want Smith back for the 2021 season, sources say. A nod to not only his leadership in the quarterback room, but also simply how he’s played. Smith has not said publicly or privately whether he wants to play in 2021, but he is under contract through 2022.

Smith is set to make $19 million next season, a perfectly reasonable rate for a bridge quarterback as WFT continues its search for its next franchise QB — whether it’s Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen or someone acquired in a trade or the draft.

Over the past two games, Smith has gone 55 of 80 for 556 yards with one touchdown and an interception. A close loss to the Lions included a fourth-quarter drive that nearly won the game, and that was followed by a cruise control victory over the Bengals.

His performance in mid-November led Rivera to declare, “he’s back as a player.” The team would like that to continue.

The Washington quarterback room has Smith and Haskins now, though Haskins could be dealt this offseason for a fresh start. Allen is currently on injured reserve but expected to make a full recovery.

The team wants the high-character Smith to return, both to serve as a mentor to whoever the future is and because his play warrants a shot at being the starter himself.

NFC SOUTH

ATLANTA

The Falcons are home schooling after two people in the organization – neither a player or coach – test positive for Covid.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Thanksgiving Day will be a virtual day of work in the Falcons organization.

The team announced that they have called off all in-person activities at their facility on Thursday. They were informed that two non-coaching staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, the teams said that contact tracing is underway and that the decision to work remotely was made after consulting with the NFL. The team also said that Sunday’s home game against the Raiders is not affected by this development.

The Falcons activated defensive end Dante Fowler from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday. Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell remains on the list.

NFC WEST

LOS ANGELES RAMS

DT AARON DONALD responds to doing nothing – on the stat sheet that is – to help the Rams beat the Buccaneers on Monday night. Adam Maya of NFL.com:

Sometimes Aaron Donald’s impact can’t be measured by the box score so much as the extra attention he draws from opposing offenses. Such was the case this past Monday night when Donald regularly drew an extra blocker as the Rams’ defensive front shut down the Buccaneers’ run game and kept Tom Brady uncomfortable in a prime-time win.

In the end, Donald wasn’t frustrated with registering zero tackles, much less a sack, in a winning effort. What bothered him was the lack of attention he feels he’s getting from the officials.

“In my opinion, they hold every play,” Donald told reporters Wednesday, per ESPN.com. “… There was some blatant holds that we didn’t get the call for.”

One no-call in particular, and it made the rounds on social media, came in the third quarter just prior to Brady getting hit in the end zone while releasing the ball. The play was ruled an incomplete pass, stirring up Tuck Rule vibes. Fumble or not, Donald appeared to be pulled back near his neck by Donovan Smith’s arm.

The two-time Defensive Player of the Year admitted he’s resorted to lobbying to officials “all the damn time.”

“I feel like [Morgan] Fox got the ball out, so that should have been a sack anyway, and if it wasn’t, it should have been a holding call and a safety because [Smith] held me in the end zone,” Donald said. “So I thought was going to get the flag, I looked around, there was a lot of chaos, didn’t, but it is what it is, so just got to keep playing ball.”

Stats included or aside, Donald is still playing at an extremely high level. His nine sacks on the season led the league two weeks ago and still rank third after a pair of games in which he didn’t even record a tackle. As The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue pointed out, the perennial All-Pro has been putting as much pressure on the QB as anyone.

Donald himself sounds content with his production, if not with how he’s being officiated.

“At the end of the day I don’t think I’m playing bad football,” Donald said. “I feel like I’m disruptive, I’m still almost making plays, getting quarterbacks to get the ball off last minute, whatever the case may be. Guys around me making plays, too, so it’s not nothing that I’m mad about.”

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITY

QB PATRICK MAHOMES says he is not QB TOM BRADY, yet.  Adam Teicher ofESPN.com:

Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers features two of the NFL’s marquee stars, quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.

Mahomes, however, said Wednesday he doesn’t consider himself to be on Brady’s level just yet.

“He’s someone that’s a global star,” Mahomes said. “For me, I just try to be myself and go out there every single day and put in the work and try to win football games. All that other stuff kind of comes with it. For me, I just try to be a normal guy and live it up with my teammates and have fun doing it.”

Brady won six Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots before he signed with the Bucs this spring. Mahomes can’t match Brady’s accomplishments, but he does have one Super Bowl victory and a regular-season MVP, and he only recently turned 25.

The two faced each other three times while Brady played for the Patriots, with New England winning twice. One of those victories was a 37-31 overtime triumph in the AFC Championship Game in January 2019.

Mahomes said he was still struck Wednesday by what Brady told him after that game.

“He just grabbed me after the game,” Mahomes said. “I was kind of leaving the stadium, and they had obviously been celebrating going to the Super Bowl. He just talked about how he respected how I did everything the right way and stuff like that. It’s just cool to have a guy of that stature who’s won championships it seems like year in and year out that has respect for your game as much as you have respect for his. It was definitely a cool experience that I was able to know that I was doing things the right way early in my career.”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Wednesday he is grateful for Brady’s gesture toward his young QB at the time.

“[Brady] came by the locker room, and I just can’t tell you how much I appreciated that. And Patrick did, too,” Reid said. “It was a respect thing. I just really thought that was great. That was a tough game. He just said, ‘Hey, keep being you and things are gonna work out.’ And I think that just those simple words — that’s big for a young guy to hear, especially from somebody that great.”

Mahomes and the Chiefs (9-1) faced the Brady-less Patriots in Week 4 this season. He said that experience was strange, like playing against Brady with the Bucs (7-4) will be this week.

“I think I was as surprised as everyone was when he wasn’t going back to New England and he was going to Tampa Bay,” Mahomes said. “But he’s in a great spot. They’ve got a lot of weapons there and Coach [Bruce] Arians is a great coach, and they’re winning a lot of football games. For us, we’re just going with the same mindset as if we’re going to play any other great football team and we’re going to have to battle every single play.

“I don’t think it’s going to feel very much different. It’s still a very good football team that’s playing really good football and winning a lot of football games. So we know it’s going to be a great challenge for us, and we’re excited for it.”

LAS VEGAS

Clark County, which has been in the news lately for other things, also can’t pay for the new stadium.  Brendan Coffey of YahooSports.com on how a lack of tax revenue from barely-occupied casinos has crippled the stadium financing plan:

While the Las Vegas Raiders plot to stop Matt Ryan and Julio Jones in Atlanta on Sunday, Nevada officials are scrambling to avoid defaulting on the NFL team’s stadium.

Clark County floated $645 million in bonds to help fund the construction of the Raiders’ state-of-the-art Allegiant Stadium. Less than two years after issuing the bonds, a steep drop-off in tax revenue means that taxpayers have had to draw funds from a reserve account to make the pending Dec. 1 bond payment of $16.06 million. The county disclosed today that it has pulled $11.55 million from a rainy day account—specifically, the Reserve 2018A Bond Proceeds Subaccount—leaving $57.28 million left in the bond’s reserve account.

That means there is less than two times the annual debt service reserve held, the minimum amount the bonds promised to reserve when issued. However, the county reminded bondholders in the disclosure that failure to maintain this reserve level “does not constitute a default under the Bond Ordinance.” The county owes debt service of $34.7 million next year, stepping up every year to $59.2 million in 2048.

The bonds have various hotel taxes that are pledged to fund the stadium payments. However, Clark County issued the bonds as “general obligation” bonds, which means that, ultimately, the taxpayers of Las Vegas pledge to make sure the football team’s facility is paid for.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

The Ravens outbreak is getting worse – and one of the team’s strength and conditioning coaches defied sacred protocols and spread it like a modern day Typhoid Mary.

Ted Holmlund of the New York Post:

The Baltimore Ravens disciplined a strength and conditioning coach on Wednesday for not reporting symptoms and not consistently wearing a mask or tracking device, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

This came in the wake of the postponement of Thursday night’s primetime Ravens-Steelers game because of Baltimore’s rash of COVID-19 cases.

“The Baltimore Ravens have disciplined a staff member for conduct surrounding the recent COVID-19 cases that have affected players and staff at the Ravens,” the team said in a statement.

The team did not reveal what exact discipline the staff member would be facing.

NFL network previously reported that seven players, including running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins, tested positive for the coronavirus. According to the report, center Matt Skura, guard Pat Makari and defensive end Calais Campbell also tested positive.

The NFL announced earlier the Ravens-Steelers game will be played Sunday at 1:15 p.m. on NBC.

The Ravens may have preemptively made this announcement in the hopes of reducing any penalties the league could hand down.

In October, the Titans were fined $350,000 for COVID-19 protocol violations. The Raiders also were docked $500,000 and a sixth-round draft pick, and coach Jon Gruden was fined $150,000 earlier this month for violations related to offensive tackle Trent Brown’s positive test last month, according to multiple reports.

For now the miscreant has somehow been granted anonymity as if he were a victim and not a culprit.

Eight months into the outbreak and nearly three months into the season, anyone associated with the NFL should understand the importance of abiding by protocols, no matter how nonsensical they might seem or how benign most Covid infections might prove to be.

The fact is, games will be imperiled based on positive tests and excessive interactions.  If you can’t abide, you should not be allowed to participate.

And – HE HAD SYMPTOMS!

Why is he still employed?

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com smells something fishy:

So who’s the person who sparked the outbreak in Baltimore? The Ravens decline to say.

“There will be no names released,” Ravens spokesman Chad Steele told PFT on Wednesday night.

NFL Media has reported that it was a strength and conditioning coach. The Ravens have two of them. So both will be under suspicion until one is either identified by the team or owns up to it.

Players see the failure to name names as a double standard. As Steelers cornerback Joe Haden tweeted on Wednesday, “They always got our NAMES BLASTED Across the TV screen when we break the rules! Put a face on it.”

The other question is whether the Ravens’ affirmative move to announce that the unnamed staff member will be disciplined will insulate the Ravens from the full helping of discipline that would have been imposed by the league. And that’s a murky, vague question, given the apparent inconsistency and randomness of enforcement when it comes to COVID-19 protocols.

Although it can be argued that the unnamed strength and conditioning coach went rogue, it also can be argued that the Ravens have automatic responsibility for the outbreak based on the failure to properly supervise a critical member of the coaching staff who has repeated and regular contact to all players, often in the confined space of a weight room.

Apparently, throwing the staff member under the bus could help the Ravens from being run over by the 345 Park Avenue train. But the damage already was done; the idea that the Ravens may experience lesser consequences because they self-reported instead of circling the wagons seems odd.

Then again, that’s the least odd aspect of this situation, by far.

The Ravens roster lists Steve Saunders as the head strength and conditioning coach, assisted by Anthony Watson.

At some point, will one of them say, “It wasn’t me.”

Jamison Hensley with the Thursday update:

The Baltimore Ravens learned that at least three members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, a source told ESPN, marking the fourth day of a coronavirus outbreak among the team that led to the postponement of Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The new positive tests came from one player, one position coach and one staff member, the source said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Ravens had seven players who tested positive for COVID-19 or were identified as close contacts. Members of the Ravens’ coaching staff and support staff have also tested positive.

THIS AND THAT

JIM HANIFAN

Tough day in the coaching ranks with the death of Jim Hanifan at age 87 along with Cowboys strength coach Markus Paul.  Grant Gordon of NFL.com:

Jim Hanifan, an NFL coach in parts of four decades and most notably had a six-season run as head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1980-1985, died on Wednesday. He was 87.

A cause of death is currently unknown. Hanifan’s daughter Kathy Hinder told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday night that doctors were still trying to determine a cause, but it was not related to COVID-19.

Hanifan is viewed as one of the greatest offensive line coaches of all-time.

A native of California who went on to be an All-American at UC Berkeley, Hanifan would coach with several NFL franchises, but he was a favorite and mainstay in St. Louis with the Cardinals and Rams franchises.

Hanifan’s days in the NFL began as an offensive line coach for St. Louis in 1973.

After a one-season move to the San Diego Chargers as an assistant head coach/offensive line coach in 1979, he headed back to St. Louis.

In 1980 he returned to the Cardinals as their head coach and would go on to produce a 39-49-1 record, highlighted by a playoff berth in the strike-shortened 1982 campaign.