The New York Jets picked up Franklin County High School graduate Tarell Basham off waivers Friday, one day after he was cut loose by the Indianapolis Colts.
Basham, a former standout defensive end at Ohio University, was chosen by the Colts in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
As a Colts linebacker last season, he had two sacks and seven tackles in 15 games. Indianapolis moved him to defensive end this year. He played in only one game for the Colts this season.
The Colts waived Basham on Thursday, prior to their 38-24 loss to New England that night. His release was among several pregame roster moves the team made Thursday, along with the waiving of defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad; the return of formerly suspended running back Robert Turbin to the active roster; and the promotion of two players from the practice squad.
Jets DC dealing with ‘serious’ illness
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers is dealing with what coach Todd Bowles calls a “serious” illness and it’s uncertain if he’ll be on the sideline for the game against Denver.
Bowles made the announcement Friday to end his news conference after the Jets’ final full practice before facing the Broncos at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Bowles, a close friend of Rodgers, wouldn’t go into details about what is ailing the 49-year-old coach. Rodgers is in his fourth season as the Jets’ defensive coordinator.
Steelers’ Brown, Big Ben seek rhythm
PITTSBURGH — Antonio Brown insists he’s still in sync with Ben Roethlisberger even though their numbers together are down.
Roethlisberger and Brown are one of the most prolific quarterback-wide receiver tandems in NFL history, but the duo has struggled to find a rhythm through four games as Pittsburgh has stumbled to a 1-2-1 start.
They’ll seek consistency entering the Steelers’ home game Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
“It’s like Wi-Fi,” Brown said Friday. “Sometimes the connection is poor. Sometimes the connection is great. But it’s always connected.”
Brown eclipsed 1,500 yards receiving three of the last four years and is the only player in NFL history to have five straight seasons with at least 100 receptions. Last season, the four-time All-Pro averaged 15.2 yards per catch on 101 receptions and he led the league with 1,533 yards, but his statistics are down this year.
Brown’s 53 targets are second-most in the league, but he has just 29 receptions for 272 yards receiving .
Seau’s children settle suit over 2012 suicide
PHILADELPHIA — The family of the late NFL star Junior Seau has settled its wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL over the popular San Diego linebacker’s 2012 suicide.
The confidential settlement comes after the family opted out of the NFL concussion settlement covering more than 20,000 retired players. That plan pays up to $4 million to families of men like Seau, who were found after their deaths to have the brain deterioration chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE.
Jerry Jones responds to Bryant’s tweets
FRISCO, Texas — It’s probably about time to give up on that Dez Bryant rejoining the Dallas Cowboys dream.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he’s in agreement with the organization’s stance to move on from the wide receiver.
Bryant tweeted on Tuesday that he’d rather “be with the Dallas Cowboys” when asked by a fan on Twitter which team he plans to sign with.
“I agree where we are and his status right now,” Jones said Friday during a radio interview. “I agree with that. Is that a clear answer?”
Packers WR Cobb ruled out vs. Lions
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers will be without at least one of their starting receivers Sunday at Detroit.
Randall Cobb has been ruled out, a hamstring injury sidelining him for the second consecutive week.
Davante Adams, who injured a calf at Wednesday’s practice, will practice Saturday, coach Mike McCarthy said, and is listed as questionable. Also questionable is Geronimo Allison, who suffered a concussion in last week’s win over Buffalo and has not practiced this week.
Broncos considering practice squad punter
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Injured punter Marquette King missed another practice Friday and the Denver Broncos were considering promoting new practice squader Colby Wadman to take his place this weekend against the New York Jets .
“I’m very comfortable with him, if he has to go,” said coach Vance Joseph.
That confidence was echoed by kicker Brandon McManus and special teams coordinator Tom McMahon after King was listed as doubtful for Sunday.
Brady reaches 500 TD passes in Patriots’ win
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — On a night when he reached 500 career touchdown passes,
Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and also sneaked in for a rushing score as the New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-24.
Brady’s 500th went to Josh Gordon, recently acquired from Cleveland. Brady spread the wealth, hitting running back James White 10 times for 77 yards, and greeting the return of Julian Edelman from a four-game suspension by completing seven passes to him for 57 yards.
