NFL Notes: Bears, Browns, Jaguars, & Jets

Bears

Jeff Dickerson of ESPN writes that Bears first-round WR Kevin White (stress fracture/surgery) is expected to accompany the team on road trips following their bye.

According to Dickerson, there’s still a chance White will be medically cleared after Week 11, as his rehab remains on schedule.

Assuming White is healthy enough to return, Chicago would need to decide whether or not it’s worth it to activate him for the final five games of the season, or hold him out until 2016.

Either way, Dickerson notes that White is still viewed by the Bears as a “major part of their future.”

• Dickerson believes the Bears will probably consider investing a high draft pick next year in a cornerback.
• According to Dickerson, the Bears will no doubt listen to trade offers for key players ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.

Browns

Kevin Jones of SI.com spoke to Browns’ players who said that their defensive scheme is holding them back given that they’re too focused on keeping opposing offenses guessing, rather than reacting to what their up against.

“Rather than being assigned specific gaps, Cleveland’s defensive linemen play different techniques based on how their offensive counterparts are blocking them,” writes Jones. “The linebackers, then, are expected to guess what technique their teammates are using, scrape through the resulting mess and make the play. Opposing offenses have identified this flaw on film and are repeatedly, week-after-week, gashing the edge of Cleveland’s defense. It’s a completely chaotic approach to stopping the run, and players have said—off the record—they’re spending way too much timethinking, and not nearly enough time reacting.”

“It’s an entire guessing game,” Jones source said. “Imagine trying to define mud.”

• Regarding contract talks between the Browns and S Tashaun Gipson, a source tells Jones that negotiations between the two parties went sour over the summer, and it’s to the point where it would be hard to envision a fair long-term deal being reached if GM Ray Farmer is still in charge during the offseason.

Jaguars

Jaguars owner Shad Khan said that he still has a great deal of confidence in HC Gus Bradley and GM Dave Caldwell, despite the team’s struggles again this season.

“I have a huge amount of confidence in them,” Khan said, via Ryan O’Halloran of theFlorida Times-Union. “I’m really gratified to see Blake [Bortles] improving and gratified in how our offense has come together. I would like the defense to step up and we have to close out games.”

Khan explained that they’ve been close in some of their losses, which he’d prefer over blowouts.

“In the fourth quarter of the last three games, we were [in position] to win and obviously didn’t close them out,” Khan said. “It’s better to be close than to be blown out, but it’s still a loss. Obviously, I’m disappointed. But there is a lot of football to be played.”

Jets

• Lance Zierlien of NFL.com mentions that Jets GM Mike Maccagnan was in attendance for Thursday night’s game between California and UCLA, which happens to feature one of the best quarterback prospects in Jared Goff.
• Dane Brugler of CBS Sports notes that Maccagnan has been doing a lot of homework on quarterbacks in this year’s draft class.