Buffalo Bills outside linebacker IK Enemkpali suffered a “major knee injury” in Saturday night’s preseason opener and is expected to miss the entire 2016 season.
An MRI on Sunday confirmed that Enemkpali suffered a torn ACL and will miss the season, a source told NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
Enemkpali, 25, was carted off the field late in the second quarter of the 19-18 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
“It looks like a major knee,” Bills head coach Rex Ryan said after the game. “So that’s a tough thing right there. I don’t know the extent of it yet. But they said it looks like a major knee injury.”
Enemkpali twisted his right leg awkwardly as he was engaged with a blocker while rushing quarterback Scott Tolzien.
–The Los Angeles Rams are expected to sign head coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead to contract extensions.
League sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Rams are trying to wrap up the extensions before the regular season kicks off.
The 58-year-old Fisher joined the Rams in 2012. He has only had two winning seasons since 2000, both of which came with the Tennessee Titans. He went 142-120 and led the Titans to the 1999 Super Bowl, losing to the St. Louis Rams. Fisher has had six winning seasons in his coaching career.
Fisher has compiled a 27-36-1 record in four seasons with the Rams, going just 7-8-1, 7-9, 6-10 and 7-9, but owner Stan Kroenke apparently doesn’t want to make any major changes after the team’s move from St. Louis to Los Angeles.
Snead also has been with the Rams since 2012 after stints with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons.
–The New England Patriots released offensive lineman Kyler Kerbyson on Sunday to open a roster spot ahead of safety Nate Ebner returning to the team after competing for the U.S. Olympic rugby team in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The 27-year-old Ebner, entering his fifth NFL season, was placed on the reserve/did not report list last month so he could participate in the Olympics.
Ebner missed the first three weeks of training camp to be with Team USA Rugby. Ebner scored a five-point try in a 26-0 win last week, the only win of the Rio games for the Americans, who finished in ninth place.
Ebner was an All-American rugby player at Ohio State before the Patriots selected him in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Ebner, an unrestricted free agent before being re-signed by the Patriots in May, had 13 tackles in 15 games last season. He also had 11 special teams tackles, which ranked third on the team. He has played in 57 games over his four NFL seasons.
Kerbyson, 23, was signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent on July 24. He was a two-year starter at the University of Tennessee.
–Patriots team president Jonathan Kraft calls quarterback Tom Brady “an exceptional human being” who was treated unfairly by the NFL over Deflategate.
Last month Brady opted to drop his legal fight against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, and accept his four-game suspension.
Kraft said he is upset with the way the league handled the long legal battle against the four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.
“I think I want to start by saying Tom Brady is exceptional,” Kraft said on 98.5 The Hub prior to Thursday night’s preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints. “We’ve talked about it a lot, but he’s an exceptional human being. From our perspective, he’s the type of professional athlete that you want to celebrate, hold up as an example, not only to other players in the league but hold up to kids that are playing the game, and just as somebody you want to model your life off of, not only as a professional athlete but how he is as a father to his children, a husband, a son to his parents, a brother to his sisters. He is as good of a human being as you can get. …
“And that will always be a frustration that spurs anger here. Not having him play on the field, there will be an emptiness and you really feel for Tom, because you know how badly he wants to be out there.”
Kraft’s father, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has consistently defended Brady and questioned the NFL’s judgment against Brady.
–Embattled Los Angeles Rams running back Tre Mason was involved in an incident with police in Palm Beach, Fla., in late July, according to TMZ.
The discovery of the Florida run-in continues a troubling pattern for the former Auburn star, who hasn’t communicated with the Rams in more than seven months.
Officers in Palm Beach County attempted to speak to Mason on July 27 when they saw him spinning the tires of an ATV at a public park. Reports indicate Mason drove off and police followed him to a home in Lake Worth, Fla.
Mason locked himself in the house and was eventually convinced by family members to speak to the police. He received a citation for the ATV incident.
According to reports, the recent ATV incident marks the sixth time since Mason was arrested during a traffic stop on March 5 that authorities have been to the Lake Worth home.
The Rams placed Mason on the reserve/did not report list when he didn’t show up for training camp in late July.
–The Cleveland Browns signed wide receiver Ed Eagan after receiver Rannell Hall was waived with an injury designation.
The 5-10, 192-pound Eagan is a rookie out of Northwestern State. Originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent on May 6, he was waived on Aug. 10.
Hall, a first-year player from Central Florida, will be out for the season with a fractured fibula suffered in Friday night’s 17-11 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He was injured during the third quarter after catching a 19-yard pass over the middle from quarterback Austin Davis.
–The Green Bay Packers signed center Kyle Steuck and placed long snapper Jesse Schmitt on injured reserve with a broken hand.
The 6-2, 310-pound Steuck, an undrafted rookie out of Northern Michigan University, participated in the Packers’ rookie minicamp in May.
Schmitt, who was signed by the Packers last week, broke the fourth metacarpal in his right hand during his first practice. He was a long snapper at Purdue from 2012-14.
–The Arizona Cardinals signed defensive tackle Iosia Iosia and reached an injury settlement with linebacker Zack Wagenmann.
The 6-5, 297-pound Iosia, 24, entered the NFL in May with the Tennessee Titans as a rookie free agent out of West Texas A&M. He was released by the Titans on May 16.
Wagenmann, 24, was on the physically unable to perform list with a foot injury. He signed as an undrafted free agent out of Montana in 2015 but suffered a broken foot and spent last season on injured reserve.