NFL Notes: Jaguars, Lions, Patriots, Ravens

Jaguars

Jaguars executive VP Tom Coughlin singled out first-round RB Leonard Fournette as a player that has really impressed him in practice up to this point.

“Powerful, strong, better hands than I ever thought,” Coughlin said of Fournette, via ESPN.com. “Good kid and a good worker. Came in, right after the draft, came in a little heavy, and we talked about it, and he comes in here at 227. He’s a guy that seems to practice well. I think he’s one of those guys that, if you’re in a circumstance, one up or one down in the fourth quarter, he can make a big difference. I think he’s still going to have a lot of gas in his tank, maybe be able to get some of those tough yards at the end of the game.”

Lions

• The Lions officially activated S Don Carey from the PUP list on Tuesday and he returned to practice. (Tim Twentyman)

Patriots

• Doug Kyed of NESN takes a look at five free agent pass-rushers the Patriots could consider now that they Rob Ninkovich has retired from the NFL.
• Kyed’s list includes notable players such as Dwight Freeney, Mario Williams, Trent Cole, Jared Odrick and Paul Kruger.
• We have all of them featured in our Top 50 Available Free Agents list.

Ravens

Ravens HC John Harbaugh said he’s “anxious” to see how things play out for free agent QB Colin Kaepernick.

“I’m as anxious as everybody else to see how it plays out,” Harbaugh said, via Jamison Hensley.

According to Harbaugh, it’s not just one issue that has gone into Kaepernick still being available.

“In life, everything’s linked,” Harbaugh said. “People want to draw big, bright lines and say, ‘It’s about this and it’s not about that.’ It’s always about everything. It’s never one thing. We’ll just have to see where it goes and try to do the best thing for our football team.”

Harbaugh added that they’re considering all of their available options including Kaepernick and possibly trading for a quarterback.

“I would pay attention to every quarterback that isn’t signed at this time,” Harbaugh said. “They’re all options for us right now and there’s probably some guys we could trade for, too, if we wanted to.“