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NFL notebook: Luck still not throwing regulation footballs

[April 10, 2018] Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is onto the next stage of rehab from shoulder surgery but still is not throwing a regulation football.

Luck, who missed the entire 2017 season recovering from the operation last January, said he is working mostly on his throwing motion to recalibrate the motion to not depend solely on his arm strength.

Luck said he is now throwing a smaller, lighter football but not yet using the NFL game-day ball.

"I have not picked up The Duke and started throwing it yet. I don't want to skip steps. I'm trusting the process I'm in now very, very much," Luck said Monday.

--Odell Beckham Jr. was present for roll call to begin the offseason program with the New York Giants.

Speculation that Beckham could be traded picked up during NFL owners meetings last month when general manager Dave Gettleman made a mild attempt to hush reports by saying he doesn't "give up on talent."

All the while, first-year coach Pat Shurmur maintained the Giants felt confident Beckham would be in the building for offseason workouts and well beyond.

--The Buffalo Bills may be interested in moving up in the draft with the aim of landing one of the available marquee quarterbacks.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the team's "top evaluators and coaches" will be in Los Angeles on Friday for a private workout with USC quarterback Sam Darnold.

Buffalo currently holds the 12th pick in the draft, but there is no lack of speculation that the team is looking to move up, perhaps as high as No. 2. The Giants currently hold the second pick.

--As the Oakland Raiders begin their first offseason workout with perhaps the biggest acquisition in the NFL, one of their most important veterans was an apparent no-show.

According to Rapoport, pass rusher Khalil Mack was absent from the team's headquarters Monday, the first day for voluntary workouts under new head coach Jon Gruden. While attendance is not mandatory, Rapoport stated the move is nonetheless an unusual one for the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and two-time first-team All-Pro.

Mack is entering the final year of his rookie contract, a fifth-year team option in which he will earn nearly $14 million. If he is looking to become the highest-paid edge defender in the league, he would need to top the $19 million the Broncos' Von Miller makes annually.

--For the first time this offseason, free agent safety Eric Reid's name is in the news for his football-playing prowess instead of his protests.

According to multiple reports, Reid was scheduled to meet Monday with the Cincinnati Bengals. It was believed to be his first meeting with any team since becoming an unrestricted free agent following five seasons in San Francisco.

Despite intercepting 10 passes in 70 career games and making the Pro Bowl as a rookie, Reid is best known as the first teammate to kneel beside Colin Kaepernick when the then-49ers quarterback began kneeling during the national anthem in the 2016 preseason. Last month, Reid made headlines when he tweeted out his belief that teams were not expressing interest in him because of his protests, not his talent.

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--According to a Boston Herald report, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick "chastised" tight end Rob Gronkowski last season for his work with Tom Brady's body coach and business partner, Alex Guerrero.

The Herald's Karen Guregian also reported that Gronkowski is down to 260 pounds, below his usual 265-pound playing weight, as he works on his flexibility in an attempt to combat the injuries he has dealt with in recent years.

Last month, NBC Boston's Mike Giardi reported that some Patriots players, including Brady and Gronkowski, were "miserable" last season. His source added that the players "don't feel appreciated for the sacrifice they make," and that of lot of the tension "ties back to the Alex Guerrero stuff."

--Former Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski will visit the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday, according to an ESPN report.

Janikowski, who turned 40 earlier this month, did not play in 2017 after being placed on injured reserve with a back injury shortly before the season began.

The Raiders released Janikowski in February, ending an 18-year tenure with the team that began when Oakland drafted him 17th overall in the 2000 draft. The Polish lefty made 80.4 percent of field-goal attempts and 98.9 percent of extra-point attempts during his 17 seasons with the Raiders. The Seahawks are looking for a replacement for Blair Walsh, who was not re-signed.

--Former Atlanta Falcons cornerback Jalen Collins has been suspended by the NFL for 10 games, according to an ESPN report, his fourth known suspension during his career.

The report did not specify which policy was violated to incur the suspension.

Collins, 25, was suspended for four games in 2016 and then for 10 games in 2017 for separate violations of the league's performance-enhancing substances policy. Upon the end of his 10-game suspension in November last year, the former 2015 second-round pick was waived by the Falcons and went unclaimed through waivers. In early December, Collins was suspended for four additional games for an unknown policy violation.

--Green Bay Packers wide receiver Trevor Davis was charged with making "criminal threats" at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday.

Davis, 24, was arrested after allegedly asking his female travel companion if she "remembered to pack the explosives" while waiting at the Hawaiian Airlines ticket counter.

Davis, a fifth-round pick in 2016, has a May 3 court date.

--Field Level Media

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