LDN - Sports

NFL Notebook: Patricia reportedly prefers Giants over Lions

[January 11, 2018] Signs reportedly are pointing to New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia becoming the next head coach of the New York Giants.

Peter King of TheMMQB.com reported that while the Detroit Lions want to hire the 43-year-old Patricia to fill their head-coaching vacancy, Patricia favors the Giants.

Patricia and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels interviewed separately on Friday in Foxborough, Mass., with a group from the Giants led by president and co-owner John Mara, new general manager Dave Gettleman and assistant general manager Kevin Abrams.

Patricia has been a member of the New England coaching staff since 2004 and the team's defensive coordinator the past six seasons. He has been with the Patriots for three of their five Super Bowl victories, as well as their losses to the Giants in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.

--Tennessee Titans running back DeMarco Murray was ruled out on Wednesday for the divisional playoff game at New England on Saturday.

Derrick Henry, who rushed for 156 yards to help the Titans upset the Kansas City Chiefs last week, will start against the Patriots.

Murray was injured in Week 16, and the grade-three sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee caused him to miss the playoff opener in addition to the regular-season finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

--Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was back on the field Wednesday after missing practice Tuesday for personal reasons.

The Falcons visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday. The Eagles claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC in the regular season but enter the game as underdogs.

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn described Ryan's absence as a non-issue. Ryan came to the team's Flowery Branch, Ga., facility on Tuesday before practice and went through all aspects of game-plan installation with offensive coaches. He did not participate in any on-field work before returning Wednesday.

--Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier made his first appearance at practice since sustaining a spinal injury more than a month ago.

On his Instagram account, Shazier posted a picture of himself sitting in a wheelchair in the Steelers' indoor practice facility.

"I want to thank the Lord for the first downs that he has been allowing me to achieve," Shazier wrote on Instagram. "The touchdown is going to come in his timing, but today was a first down. I was finally able to make it to practice with my teammates."

--The Green Bay Packers reportedly are set to name former Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin as offensive coordinator and former Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine as defensive coordinator.

Philbin will return to Green Bay after spending the past two seasons as an assistant head coach and offensive line coach of the Indianapolis Colts. He served as the Packers' offensive coordinator from 2007-11 before leaving to join the Dolphins.

Based on multiple reports, Pettine agreed to a contract and will replace Dom Capers after an extensive search by head coach Mike McCarthy. Last season, Pettine worked as a consultant for the Seattle Seahawks.

--Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll made massive changes to the coaching staff after his team missed the playoffs in 2017.

Darrell Bevell is out as offensive coordinator after seven seasons. The team also fired assistant head coach and offensive line coach Tom Cable.

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There is a chance the Seahawks will not retain defensive coordinator Kris Richard. According to the Seattle Times, Richard was being encouraged to find work elsewhere. Richard has worked only for Carroll since joining his staff at Southern California.

--The Carolina Panthers are finalizing a deal with Norv Turner to be the team's next offensive coordinator, according to a report by ESPN.

Per the report, the Panthers will also hire Turner's son, Scott, as quarterbacks coach.

The moves come a day after Carolina fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula and quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey, who had held their positions since 2013. Shula had been among head coach Ron Rivera's initial hires in 2011, serving as quarterbacks coach for two years before his promotion to coordinator.

--The Los Angeles Chargers will bring back defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt to coach Anthony Lynn's staff.

Bradley landed a three-year deal to stay with the Chargers, multiple media outlets reported. The length of Whisenhunt's deal was not specified.

--Former Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians sparked Nick Saban-to-the-NFL rumors when he said the legendary Alabama coach "covets" the Giants' coaching job.

Less than 24 hours after the Crimson Tide came back from a 13-point second-half deficit to stun Georgia 26-23 in overtime in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night, Saban's name has surfaced again for job openings around the NFL.

Arians, who retired after the 2017 season, told Colin Cowherd on FS1 that he wouldn't be surprised if Saban liked the Giants' opening "because they're the New York Giants. When we grew up, they were the thing."

--Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre told reporters during a conference call that he played through a concussion during the 2009 NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints when he was with the Minnesota Vikings.

The call took place ahead of Favre's documentary "Shocked: A Hidden Factor in the Sports Concussion Crisis," which is set to air at 6:30 p.m. ET Thursday on Stadium Network.

"A concussion doesn't necessarily have to be knocked out cold and removed from a game, although the new protocol is in place to remove you from a game even if you're not walking sideways or your arm goes stiff or whatever," Favre said.

--The Browns hired former Packers front-office executive Eliot Wolf as the team's assistant general manager.

Wolf, the Packers' director of football operations and 35-year-old son of Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf, interviewed for Green Bay's GM job that went to Brian Gutekunst as the team reorganized the front office and came up with a new personnel management structure.

--Former Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon told 95.7 The Game on Wednesday that he turned down an opportunity to be the team's quarterbacks coach under Jon Gruden.

Gannon played three seasons (1999-2001) for Gruden during the coach's first stint with the Raiders. He was one of many former Raiders to attend Gruden's introductory news conference Tuesday.

--Field Level Media

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