Rivers, LA Chargers agree to turn page
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Philip Rivers’ 16-year career with the Chargers has come to an end.
The franchise announced Monday that Rivers will enter free agency and won’t return to Los Angeles for the upcoming season. General manager Tom Telesco said in a statement that as they talked through various scenarios with Rivers, it became apparent it would be best for both “to turn the page on what has truly been a remarkable run.”
Rivers’ future in powder blue was the main storyline late in the season after the Chargers were eliminated from postseason consideration. He said during the final weeks that he intended to play in 2020, even if that meant going to another team.
The 38-year old Rivers was emotional and in a reflective mood after the Chargers’ 31-21 loss to Kansas City in the season finale. He acknowledged it would be weird to be in another uniform but didn’t think it would be much of an adjustment.
Los Angeles made the playoffs in 2018 but was 5-11 last season with nine losses by one score. The sevenwin decline was the worst dropoff in the league in 2019 and the second biggest in franchise history. Rivers’ 4,615 passing yards were fourth in the league, but his 20 interceptions were third most and just one off
tying a career high.
“I am very grateful to the Spanos family and the Chargers organization for the last 16 years,” Rivers said in a statement. “In anything you do, it’s the people you do it with that make it special. There are so many relationships and memories with coaches, support staff and teammates that will last forever, and for that I am so thankful. We had a lot of great moments, beginning in San Diego and then finishing in LA.”
Los Angeles has quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and Easton Stick under contract.
VIKINGS: Minnesota hired longtime NFL coach Dom Capers on Monday as a senior defensive assistant on an already experienced staff.
The 69-year-old Capers will start his 33rd season as a coach in the league, after serving last year as a senior defensive assistant for Jacksonville. Capers was an NFL head coach for eight seasons, with Carolina (1995-98) and Houston (2002-05). He was a defensive coordinator for four teams, totaling 16 seasons, with Pittsburgh (1992-94), Jacksonville (1999-2000), Miami (2006-07) and Green Bay (2009-17). Capers will help co-defensive coordinators Andre Patterson (defensive line) and Adam Zimmer (linebackers), both of whom also coach a position group.
RAMS: Los Angeles has hired Denver outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley as their new defensive coordinator.
The Rams also announced the hirings of offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell and special teams coordinator John Bonamego on Monday.
The 37-year-old Staley is an unorthodox choice to replace NFL veteran Wade Phillips, who was fired by McVay last month after the Rams missed the playoffs despite finishing 9-7.
Staley has only three years of NFL experience and has never held a coaching position with nearly as much prominence as his new job with the Rams. Before he spent last season with the Broncos and the previous two seasons in the same job with the Chicago Bears, he was a defensive coordinator at Division III John Carroll and FCS school James Madison.
GARRETT: Suspended Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett met Monday with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his possible reinstatement, a person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press.
Garrett, who was banned indefinitely for ripping off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet and hitting him over the head with it during the closing seconds of a Nov. 15 game, discussed his situation with Goodell and other league officials in New York, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the meeting.
There is no timetable for Garrett’s return. However, he has expressed remorse for his conduct, and his meeting with Goodell was a necessary step in order to get back on the field in 2020.
TUA UPDATE: Tua Tagovailoa, the standout Alabama quarterback, received some encouraging news in his road to recovery from a severe hip injury two months before the 2020 NFL draft.
NFL Network reported Monday, citing sources, that Tagovailoa’s threemonth CT scan on his hip “was as positive as possible.” His hip fracture has healed, and his range of motion is good, according to the report.
“It’ll likely be another month before he’s cleared for football activities,” the report also stated on Tagovailoa’s hip, which he dislocated and suffered a posterior wall fracture in mid-November.
The injury update bodes well for Tagovailoa, who hopes to perform a pro day workout for NFL teams in either late March or early April before the draft, which begins on April 23 in Las Vegas.