NFL Notes: Bengals, Lions, Rams, Vikings

Bengals

• Katherine Terrell mentions that CB Adam Jones, who was placed on injured reserve (NFLTR) on Saturday, has no guarantees in the final year of his contract and wouldn’t cost anything against the team’s cap if they were to release him.
• Terrell writes that Jones’ $6,666,668 cap figure for 2018 would be the eighth highest on the team, despite the fact that the veteran corner will be 35-years old next season.

Lions

• Michael Rothstein writes that if the Lions end up dropping the final four games of the season, it would be hard to see HC Jim Caldwell surviving to coach another year.
• If the Lions do, in fact, make a change at quarterback, Rothstein expects Detroit to have interest in Patriots coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, due to their ties to GM Bob Quinn.
• Other options that could make sense for the Lions, according to Rothstein, include DC Teryl Austin and Seahawks DC Kris Richard.
• As for Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh, Rothstein doesn’t think he’ll be a realistic target for the Lions.

Rams

• The Los Angeles Rams have LB Connor Barwin (forearm), LB Alec Ogletree (elbow), WR Robert Woods (shoulder) listed as questionable for Sunday’s game and CB Dominique Hatfield (hip) down as being doubtful.

Vikings

• Courtney Cronin of ESPN writes that Vikings OC Pat Shurmur is already generating “a ton of buzz” as a head-coaching candidate for the job he’s done with Minnesota’s offense.
  Despite losing QB Sam Bradford and RB Dalvin Cook, the Vikings rank No. 5 in offense and have turned Case Keenum into a legitimate starting quarterback.
  Shurmur’s contract is set to expire after the year and if he ends up remaining with the Vikings, Cronin believes he’ll be able to “name his number” in negotiations.
  As for the Vikings’ quarterback position, Cronin is confident that the team won’t re-sign both Keenum and Teddy Bridgewater next year.
  Should Shurmur return, Cronin writes that it’s possible they bring back Keenum as their starter. However, her gut tells her that Bridgewater will be the team’s quarterback in 2018, considering how much they’ve invested in his return.
• The Minnesota Vikings officially ruled out TE David Morgan (concussion) and OT Mike Remmers (back) for Sunday’s game against the Panthers and have C Pat Elflein (shoulder) down as being questionable.