The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Higher marks for NFL hiring
Report: Diversity most improved at league office level.
The NFL received a high grade for its racial hiring practices and a C+ for its gender hiring efforts in 2016, according to a diversity report released Wednesday.
The annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave the league its seventh consecutive A on racial hiring practices and a combined grade of B for hiring minorities and women. The second straight C+ indicates the NFL still has a long way to go in improving hiring opportunities for women.
The NFL’s greatest gains in both categories have come at the league office level, while the teams have been slow to become more diverse.
“The league itself is setting a kind of model for the teams that the teams haven’t fully followed and embraced,” said Dr. Richard Lapchick, the report card author.
Lapchick, who is the director of TIDES, said the NFL received a C+ in gender hiring again largely because of its continued efforts to improve the hiring of women in decision-making roles.
The biggest gains for hiring women has come at the league level, where there are now 35 women at the vice president level, up from 31 last year and 21 in 2014. Cathy Lanier, the former police chief in Washington, D.C., was named the NFL’s senior VP for security in August.
The number of people of color in the league office who serve at the vice president level or higher rose from 21 in 2015 to 24 this year. But at the team general manager level, it went from seven a year ago to five in 2016.
For the second year in a row, the NFL has six men of color who are head coaches.
Miami playing third road game in first four . ... Dolphins trying for their first back-to-back wins since Oct. 18-25 last season vs. Tennessee and Houston . ... Ryan Tannehill has won both starts vs. Bengals with 92.4 passer rating . ... Tannehill threw for 319 yards and three TDs vs. Browns. He’s thrown for more than 300 yards in each of his past two games . ... WR Jarvis Landry leads AFC with 314 yards receiving and is tied for NFL lead with 24 catches. ... Cincinnati is 6-4 at home in the past two seasons, including playoff loss to Pittsburgh . ... LB Vontaze Burfict returns after serving three-game NFL suspension for illegal hits . ... TE Tyler Eifert also might return after recovering from offseason ankle surgery.
Texans: J.J. Watt is out until at least December and could miss the rest of the season with an injured back, leaving the Texans searching for ways to deal with the loss of the NFL’s best defensive player. Watt was placed on injured reserve Wednesday, which means he’ll be out for a minimum of eight weeks.
Cowboys: Dez Bryant has a slight hairline fracture in a bone in his right knee, though coach Jason Garrett said the receiver might not miss a game. Bryant didn’t practice Wednesday, three days after getting hurt in a win over Chicago, and the same day the team got back results of an MRI.
Seahawks: Russell Wilson, who sprained his left MCL last week, was a full participant in practice and indications are he will be able to play Sunday against the Jets. Coach Pete Carroll said he needs to see how Wilson recovers from practice but as of now he’s expecting his quarterback to play.
Meantime, veteran running back C.J. Spiller, who was released by the Saints after Week 1, was signed to a one-year contract.
Bears: Quarterback Jay Cutler returned to practice on a limited basis after missing a game because of a sprained right thumb. His status for Sunday’s game against the Lions is uncertain.
Chiefs: Running back Jamaal Charles could make his season debut Sunday night at Pittsburgh, though coach Andy Reid said it would depend on how he practices this week.
Jets: Coach Todd Bowles said wide receiver Eric Decker was “probably” going to have an MRI on his ailing shoulder and his availability for Sunday’s game against the Seahawks is uncertain.