Buffalo receiver Stefon Diggs was added to the injury report this week with an oblique issue. Buffalo plays Indianapolis on Saturday night. Jeffrey T. Barnes/Associated Press

 

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The playing status of the Bills’ two top receivers, Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley, is uncertain for Buffalo’s wild-card playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.

Coach Sean McDermott provided no definitive update whether either will be able to play in speaking before Buffalo’s practice on Thursday.

“Still not sure. We’ll just have to see,” he said, referring to Beasley, before adding: “And I can tell you the same with Diggs.”

Beasley has already missed one game after hurting his knee in the fourth quarter of a 38-9 win at New England on Dec. 28.

Diggs, who led the NFL with 127 catches for 1,535 yards, was added to the injury report this week with an oblique issue. He was listed as limited in practice Tuesday and did not practice Wednesday. Diggs on Wednesday said he felt fine and jokingly added, “Don’t believe everything you read,” in referring to the injury report.

Advertisement

McDermott acknowledged Diggs’ comments by saying: “I appreciate where he’s coming from. But at the end of the day, I’m always concerned when guys are in the training room.”

JETS: The New York Jets interviewed former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis on Thursday for their head coaching vacancy.

Lewis is currently on former Jets coach Herman Edwards’ staff at Arizona State as the Sun Devils’ co-defensive coordinator.

The 62-year-old Lewis is the second known candidate with whom the Jets have completed a video interview. The team also spoke to Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Wednesday.

General Manager Joe Douglas said earlier this week that the Jets would “cast a very wide net” in their search for a new coach after firing Adam Gase on Sunday night after two seasons. New York has asked for permission to speak to several more candidates, so this is just the beginning of what will be a comprehensive process for the team that has the NFL’s longest playoff drought at 10 seasons.

PANTHERS: Carolina has interviewed five more candidates for their vacant general manager position in the last two days, bringing the total number of front office executives interviewed to 11.

Advertisement

As of this point, there doesn’t appear to be a leading candidate.

Carolina on Thursday interviewed Kansas City director of football administration Brandt Tilis and Bears assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly. That came after the team interviewed Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds, 49ers vice president of player personnel Adam Peters and Chiefs assistant director of player personnel Ryan Poles on Wednesday.

Earlier in the week the Panthers interviewed Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen, Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort, Saints assistant GM and college scouting director Jeff Ireland, Browns vice president of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and former Giants GM Jerry Reese.

Caserio has since been hired by the Texans as their new general manager.

RATINGS: Regular-season ratings for NFL games declined this season following two straight years of increases. But in a year that saw the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and a presidential election, the 7% decrease isn’t as bad as the league and its broadcast partners feared before the season began.

Games averaged 15.6 million television and digital viewers, according to the league and Nielsen. The league averaged 16.5 million regular-season viewers last season after posting 5% gains in both 2018 and ’19.

Advertisement

49ERS: Offensive assistant Katie Sowers, the first female coach to make it to the Super Bowl, will not be returning to the San Francisco 49ers in 2021.

A person familiar with the situation said Sowers, 34, will be leaving Coach Kyle Shanahan’s staff, where she worked closely with receivers coach Wes Welker. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hadn’t made an announcement.

The Bay Area News Group first reported Sowers’ departure and said she is looking for an expanded role on another team.

Sowers posted a message on Instagram, writing: “I think it’s important to understand that the path you were meant to take is more often than not … the path that was least expected … but that is the beauty in your story and YOU will always control the narrative.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.