PFT PM: Jalen Hurts ruled out; Troy Aikman's future at ESPN; Week 6 Nuggets

PFT Live with Mike Florio Thursday edition of PFTPM. It's been a hectic day, and I squeezed in a two-pay adjustment between the end of PFT Live and the start of the weekly Thursday afternoon PFTPM nuggets. Although before we get to some of the statistical points of interest from the games to come, there are a few things that we need to address, some things that have come up since PFT Live went off the air this morning. And the first one relates to the news that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, his cap injury, blood clot, he's out for Sunday's game. I started working this a little harder after the show ended, reached out to the Eagles, and I knew right away there was something there. They provided a statement just before 1 o'clock Eastern, announcing and explaining what had transpired. And if you look at the statement, there are some questions that would arise. They said they were in touch with the league throughout the process. How is there not questionable attached at some point to Jalen Hurts? If there is a blood clot and you fly across the ocean, isn't there at least a 1% chance he's not going to be able to play because he has a blood clot in his leg? This gets back to what Chris was saying earlier about gambling, the integrity of the inside information. How much inside information is there? Who really knows? Who's taking that information and using it to make more informed bets? And the public is in the dark. Anybody that bet the over on Jalen Hurts rushing yards for Sunday may not have done that if they had known he had a blood clot in his leg and that he was questionable for the game, even if he ultimately plays. These are things that need to be buttoned up, and these are things that will come from more active, and I can't say more active because there is none, any regulation of the gambling industry in the United States. We are still in the early stages, even though it's lasted eight years, of this reality where it's the Wild West, anything goes, and the people involved who are making the money are just grabbing as much money as they can, waiting for the day when regulation happens, and also actively using the money they've made to lobby against regulation, to stave it off as long as possible. This is a prime example of where the customers, you, the people out there who are choosing to wager your hard earned money on sports are at a disadvantage. It's already hard enough when you have accurate information. It's even harder when you're being kept in the dark. And we don't fault the Eagles for keeping this quiet for strategic reasons. That's the problem. The teams are going to be inclined to only say so much to keep the opponent in the dark. The problem is it keeps the public in the dark. And if the NFL is going to lean fully into the world of gambling, the NFL needs to beef up its injury reporting requirements. And that's where, again, this gets a little weird. When we're in touch with the league, why didn't the league say, you need to list them as questionable? You need to provide more information than calf. So that's where we are. And obviously we wish Jalen Hurts nothing but the best as he deals with a medical condition. It can be potentially serious. They say it's a superficial blood clot, but still it's enough to keep him from playing. And this all gets back to why I'm glad I make my email address available, because we get some interesting tips. And the tip that we got that I alluded to at the start of PFT Live on Wednesday was that Hurts had to go to the hospital in London for something, possibly a blood clot. Now we didn't say that part of it. That's what I was told. And the Eagles admitted that he went and got an ultrasound to check on the status of the blood clot before the game. So now they turned to Tanner McKee. Andy Dalton's gone. They've only got 52 roster spots because they're carrying Lane Johnson on the roster for the rest of this season. And they'll keep him on the 90 man roster until after June 1, when they can process his retirement in a way that doesn't wreak havoc on their salary cap for 2027. What do you do? What do you do now? Well, you're not going to release Lane Johnson and take the cap charge next year. They could try to put him on the non football injury illness list that could get challenged. I'm surprised they didn't do that in the first place, but they're short handed. And now Jalen Hurts is not going to be able to play on Sunday in a very important game against the Carolina Panthers. We'll talk about that game when we get to the Nuggets coming up. The Green Bay Packers will play on Sunday night without Josh Jacobs, who continues to be on the commissioner exempt list, fancy name for paid leave. This will be game number six. There's been some thought that maybe after six games, he'll come back and then if he's eventually suspended, he'll get credit for the games he missed. Six is the baseline number of a suspension for a domestic violence situation. He pleaded no contest to battery for an incident that happened on May 23rd. And because he had cameras in his house, the camera captured video of the altercation that resulted in the no contest play. The NFL wants to see the video. The public wants to see the video. It's a matter of public interest. How strong of a matter of public interest? I don't know, but it's at least an easy argument to make, that it's something the public should be interested in because he's a player on a publicly owned team. It would be true if he's on any team, but he's on a publicly owned team in Green Bay. There's definitely an enhanced public interest, but the NFL has a specific interest in seeing this evidence so it can make a good decision as to what the punishment should be. And it's important that the NFL sees it before reaching a decision because what happened in 2014 with Ray Rice? The NFL suspended him two games and then the day after the regular season began, the day after the first Sunday, the regular season all hell broke loose because TMZ got the video. And then the AP reported that the NFL actually had the video before TMZ reported the video and the commissioner spent, I would say, anywhere from 7 to 10 days wondering whether or not he was going to have to resign or be fired because of this situation, which just became a gigantic mess for the NFL. They don't want that again. They want to see that video. So the development that's happened since the show ended, Josh Jacobs has filed a lawsuit seeking a court order preventing the video from ever being released. And the arguments made, they make sense on the surface, wants to protect the identity of the victim. Even if the face is blurred, there's enough there that artificial super intelligence don't want to be regarded as the enemy. Super intelligence could discern the identity of the victim. And this is a legitimate concern for Josh Jacobs. The video shows some things about his garage. Could allow thieves who know when he's not in town to figure out which house is his, which house to target, et cetera. But it also has the practical effect of keeping the NFL from seeing the video. And I think at some level, he wants to keep the NFL from seeing the video. And the NFL's response should be very simple. You don't play until we see the video. And there has to be a way to craft a court order that would allow the NFL to have the video subject to a court order, that it can't be disclosed. It can only be used for internal purposes in an effort to determine the appropriate punishment under the personal conduct policy. And it can't be disclosed to anyone else. That would be very simple to do. It feels like Jacobs doesn't want the NFL to see the video. And that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the video may do to his career what the Ray Rice video did to his. Because Rice never played again after that video came out. There's a difference between knowing what happened and seeing it. So Jacobs is risking the NFL saying, well, you're just not going to play until we see the video. Well, if he knows, if they see the video, I'm not going to play anyway. The last ditch effort, the Hail Mary play is to say, hey, Judge, hey, Judge, don't let them see the video. I think the video should at least be available to the NFL, at least with the appropriate safeguards against public release. They have to, they have to see it in order to make a good decision about whether or not Josh Jacobs will be suspended six games more, less, whatever, or permanently banned. The ultimate punishment under the personal conduct policy is a permanent ban with the ability to apply for reinstatement after a year. The PR eventually takes over, though. If this thing gets out, he becomes, depending upon what it shows, but if it's anything like the Ray Rice video, he becomes untouchable. And that's just the end of it. All right, one more before we get on to the nuggets. The situation is escalating quickly between ESPN and Troy Aikman. Now, back in August, there was an article suggesting that Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, who had been together for 25 years and who both jumped from Fox to ESPN in 2022, that they were essentially a package deal as they entered the final year of their five-year contracts. So, okay, strengthen numbers. We're going to lock arms and we're going to do the best deal possible for both of us by making it clear it's both or neither. Well, then Joe Buck does his deal and Troy Aikman doesn't have a deal. And when Troy Aikman first addressed the situation after the news that he had urged a Buck's deal, he seemed to be as nonchalant as he could be. He said he was surprised. He's never been in the final year of a contract before. But basically, control what you control, move forward with the season, and then we'll get it worked out after the year ends. Something's happened since then. Most specifically, there was the report from Ryan Glass, Bigelow Front Office Sports, on Wednesday that there's tension between Buck and Aikman, that Buck tried to break the ice on the tension, and it led to an argument between the two analysts. And there was a Aikman radio interview in Dallas on Thursday where he didn't deny that part of it. And then we started talking about the future with ESPN. It sure sounds like he's leaving. He talked about finishing his contract, becoming a free agent, and we'll see what my next step is. Well, if you're staying put, that's not your next step. Your next step is somewhere else. And it becomes fascinating for those of us who watch games on TV because we're going to have this game of broadcast or roulette that happens after the season because CBS is going to have a vacancy at the number one spot. ESPN is going to have a vacancy at the number one spot. Prime Video has signed Kirk Herbstreet to a placeholder deal that allows Prime Video to go hire somebody else if they want to. Greg Olson, according to Richard Dyche of Sports Business Journal, has had no negotiations with Fox on an extension, so he's in play. Aikman's in play. Travis Kelsey will likely be in play. It's going to completely overhaul the way that they consume the top games for CBS, ESPN, potentially Prime Video. So it's going to be an interesting off season. And based on our traffic to stories like this, even though it's not about football, it is because it's so tied to our football viewing experience, who we're getting it from is almost as important as what we're watching. And we'll be watching to see how that plays out. On to the nuggets. Now, for those of you who haven't seen this specific approach, these come from a lengthy research document that NBC Sports circulates on Wednesday. I read through the whole thing. I lift out the ones that really stand out to me. It's all very good. It's all very useful. I'm not going to read the whole thing. I just look for the stuff that makes me say, oh, I did not know that. So some general things before we get to the games. Both the AFC North and the NFC North have winning records for every team entering Week 6. In NFL history, there have only been three times that an entire division had a winning record through Week 6. And you got two teams now. You've had three all time. There are two divisions now that have all four teams with a winning record. The 2025 NFC North through six weeks, all teams had a winning record. Also 2024 NFC North and 2005, 2005, 20, 20, 25 NFC East. Those are the three divisions that have had it in the past. Two entering Week 6, possibly two exiting Week 6. We move on to Thursday Night Football. The Seahawks take on the Broncos in the Sean Payton, Mike McDaniel, Spygate allegation, weird story that came up a few weeks ago game, although that has largely subsided. Jackson Smith and Jigba had that big drop at the end of the game against the 49ers, but he's still having a big year. 100 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in four of the teams in the first five games. Only Elroy Crazylegs Hirsch with the 1951 Rams managed to do it in five of his teams' first six games. That's in all of NFL history and back in 1951. They weren't throwing it like they are now. Also, the Seahawks have a turnover problem. Chris and I talked about this on PFT Live. They had four in the week five loss to the 49ers. They have allowed 44 points off of turnovers this season. That is tied for the most in the NFL with the LA Chargers. They are 15 and 0 under McDonald, Mike McDonald, the head coach, when they win the turnover margin. So, newsflash, it's important to protect the football. But the stats bear it out. The teams that can protect the football are more likely to win. And the Seahawks, especially in this most recent game they lost, they don't turn the ball over four times. They win that game by two scores. They have a great team. They just need to protect the football. Sometimes you try to do too much. Is Sam Darnold trying to become a top-five franchise quarterback? Should he just be what he was last year? Along with a great defense and a running game that you hope will improve, maybe that's enough. The Broncos offense also has struggled. Sean Payton took over the play calling duties last week against the Chargers. As we know, the Broncos for the season have scored only 23 points in the first half of their game. That is the least in the NFL tied with the winless Tennessee Titans. So somehow they're three and two. And the loser of this game is going to be three and three. And three losses going to match the total losses that the losing team had for all of 2025. They both were the one seed. They both were 14 and three. The loser of this game is going to already be six weeks in with as many losses as they had all of last year. Sunday morning, London, third straight weekend in London, first game at Wembley Stadium, second game in a row for the Jacksonville Jaguars. They are currently four and one. With a win, they will tie their best start through six games in franchise history. They were five and one in 1999. They finished that year 14 and two, lost to the Titans in the AFC Championship game. That's the closest the Jaguars have ever come to a Super Bowl. But for the 2017 game against the Patriots that they were leading by 10, it should have been 17. Bad call on a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. Patriots came back and won. Jaguars have been to the AFC Championship game twice. The way they're playing this year, it could be number three. However, the opponent this weekend gives them trouble. They give Trevor Lawrence trouble. He is three and seven in his career against the Texans. He has eight touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. Since entering the league in 2021, no player has thrown more interceptions against a single opponent than Trevor Lawrence against the Houston Texans. Also under their head coach, D'Amico Ryan, the Texans are 15 and five in division games. That's the best record in the NFL since D'Amico Ryan took over back in 2023. To the 1 o'clock games, Eastern time, noon central, 11 Mountain, 10 Pacific, we've got the Bears and the Falcons. And these are the two best running teams in football. The Bears lead the league with 173.2 rush yards per game. The Falcons have 166.8. Last week, the Falcons allowed 208 rushing yards to the Ravens. They had allowed 193 in the four prior games combined. So they had a bad day against the run against the Ravens. And now we're gonna have to contend with the Bears. The Bears need to do better in the red zone. They rank dead last in red zone touchdown percentage this season. They've got nine touchdowns on 21 red zone drives. That's 42.9%. That is last in red zone touchdown efficiency. To Cleveland we go. As the old Browns, visit the new Browns. And that's just one of those comments that pisses off everyone. It pisses off Browns fans. It pisses off Ravens fans. I got a hostile email from a Ravens fan. This just shows how much you hate the Ravens. I like facts. And the facts are, this Ravens franchise is the Browns team that was in Cleveland through 1995. That team moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. And a new Browns team popped up in 1999. There's two Browns teams and they get together on Sunday. The Browns, and obviously the new Browns have all the records of the old Browns, even though the old Browns are, the Browns are trying to seek their fourth straight division win for the first time since 1987, back when they were members of the AFC Central. For the Ravens, Derrick Henry, or Henry, Derrick Henry, Henry, what are you doing, Henry? Henry enters the game with 13,494 career rushing yards. He needs 169 to pass Jerome Bettis for eighth on the all-time list, and 191 to pass LeDanian Tomlinson for seventh. May not happen in this game, but you get the feeling it's coming. Also, also, there have only been three instances of a player having 130 or more carries through a team's first six games since 2023. Instances of it happening. 130 plus carries through six games. It was Derek Henry in 2022. It was Derek Henry in 2021. It was Derek Henry in 2020. And he just keeps rolling. Titans at the Colts get together in Indianapolis. The Titans are looking for a win. The Colts are looking to stay within striking distance of the Jaguars. They play them coming up here in a couple of weeks. The Titans have lost 11 straight division games. That's the longest active streak in the NFL. Jonathan Taylor in his last three games against the Titans. 510 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns. He scored three touchdowns in each of the last three games against the Titans. He's the only player to have three straight games with three or more touchdowns scored against a single opponent in NFL history. If he does it again, he'll get to four. The only other players to do it in an entire career, four games in a career, not consecutive, but four in a career against a single opponent. LaDani and Tomlinson against the Broncos and Don Hudson against the Rams. They both did it four times over the course of their career. Henry is the only one to do it. Three straight games, three touchdowns or more, and he can extend that record to four and tie the all-time career. Interrupted non-consecutive achievement. Jets at the Patriots, how about this one? The Patriots are 18-2 against the Jets since 2016. It's the best winning percentage by any team against a single division opponent. Over that span, that's obviously 90% win rate. Last time they played, Drake may had five touchdown passes against the Jets. Patriots, after snapping out of their funk following the first three games, beat the Bills, romped over the Raiders. Patriots seem to be hitting their stride. It's not going to be easy for the Jets, who are surprisingly 2-3. When you think about it, the Patriots are 3-2, Jets are 2-3. The gap between the two teams seems a lot wider than one game, and it could go to two games this weekend. David Bailey, second overall pick in the draft, he's off to a great start. He had three sacks last week against Cleveland. He's the second Jets rookie with three sacks in a game. Hugh Douglas did it in 1995. He would win defensive rookie of the year. Also, David Bailey has five sacks on the year. That's fourth most in the NFL this season and the most among rookies. With a sack on Sunday, Bailey becomes the first rookie with six or more sacks through his first six games of a season since Vaughn Miller had six sacks in his first six games with the Broncos in 2011. New Orleans Saints placed on notice by owner Gail Benson. It's time to turn things around. They are surprisingly one in four after almost beating the Lions, upsetting the Ravens. They have lost three straight at home. They go on the road to MetLife Stadium to face the Giants who are three one in one. Jameis Winston is getting it done. He's had 250 plus passing yards and three touchdown passes in each of his last two games. He has never done three touchdown passes or in three straight games in his career. And he can tie the longest streak of games in a row with three or more touchdown passes for the Giants franchise history if he does it again and gets to four and the record is held by YA. Tittle, who did it four times, Fran Tarkenton, who did it in 1967, and Eli Manning, who did it in 2011. Also, the Saints trying to avoid one in five for the second straight season under Kellyn Moore. They had not started one in five or worse since 1999. This could be two straight years of one in five for the Saints, who I thought would turn it around. I thought that momentum end of last season would carry into 2026, but obviously it has not. Panthers at the Eagles, we already talked about Jalen Hurts. Tanner McKee is going to be taken over. This is unprecedented, or at least it's a rarity. John Breach of CBS Sports pointed this out. You've got a team coming off of an international game and a team coming off of a bye week playing the following weekend. The Eagles were in London against the Jaguars, the Panthers were off. That's happened four times ever. The team coming off of the international game is winless at 0-4. Carolina, however, under Dave Canales is winless coming out of the bye week. They're 0-2, so something's got to give. The Eagles are trying to avoid their first four-game losing streak ever under head coach Nick Sirianni. And Philadelphia has been outscored 43-3 in the second half during this three-game losing streak. And obviously, it becomes much more difficult to end that losing streak without your starting quarterback Jalen Hurts available for the game. To the last of the one o'clock Eastern games on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Aaron Rodgers. Last week, tied Terry Bradshaw for the all-time Steelers record with three straight, three touchdown passing games. Aaron Rodgers enters the game with 537 career touchdown passes. He needs three to leapfrog Peyton Manning on the all-time list for third most in NFL history. And he could, could catch Drew Brees at 571. Could. It's going to take some work and he's made it clear. It's his last year. He's not going to catch Tom Brady at 649. But the Steelers also, Jalen Warren, he's got 640 scrimmage yards this season. That's third most in the league entering week six. In week five, he became the first player in Steelers history with a 50 plus yard touchdown run and a 50 plus yard touchdown pass in the same game. He has two career touchdown runs of 50 yards or more, one shy of tying the great Frank O'Harris for the most in Steelers franchise history. Cardinals and the Rams get together. Mike LaFleur, who had been with the Rams for multiple seasons as offensive coordinator most recently, he is now the head coach of the Cardinals and started well for Arizona. They beat the Cardinals, the Chargers, excuse me, Chargers lost to the Cardinals. Cardinals beat the Chargers back in week one. That one has not aged well. That win's not nearly as impressive. Neither teams won a game since then. Chargers are still winless and the Cardinals have lost four in a row. For the LA Rams, Matthew Stafford, he is five touchdown passes short of passing Roman Gabriel for the most in franchise history. When Matthew Stafford throws his fifth touchdown pass from this point forward, he will become the first player in NFL history to hold the all-time touchdown passing record for two different franchises, the Lions and once he passes Roman Gabriel, the Rams. Puginacua had 17 catches for 138 yards on Monday night with 13 catches. And does that sound like a lot? Well, not for a guy who just had 17. With 13 catches, he would set the record for the most receptions over a two-game span in NFL history. The record is held by, and I wouldn't get this with a million guesses, Clark Gaines of the Jets set the record with 29 catches over two games in 1980. He was a running back. So with 13 catches, the record falls. With 12 catches, the record is tied. One more on the Falcons. They've allowed 36 or more points in three straight games. That is one shy of tying the longest streak in a season by any team in NFL history. It has happened six other times. So with two more in a row, games of allowing 36 or more points, the Cardinals will have the record all to themselves. Chargers and the Chiefs, with a victory, Andy Reid will have taken his team to 5-0 for the sixth time in his career. He did it in 2004 with Philadelphia, and he also did it in 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2024, all with Kansas City. If he accomplishes it again, he'll tie Paul Brown. For the second most 5-0 starts, George Hallis has the record with 10. Also, on the other side, the 0-5 Chargers, they're trying to become the fourth team since the merger to enter a game with an 0-4 record or worse and beat a team with a 4-0 record or better. It has only happened three other times. More specifically, for the Chiefs, Kenneth Walker III, one of the best free agent signings in recent years, if not ever, he needs 109 rushing yards to pass Eric Dickerson for the most rushing yards in a player's first five games with a team in NFL history. Eric Dickerson had 645 rushing yards in his first five games with the LA Rams in 1983. And with 179 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, Kenneth Walker III would join Jim Brown 1958-1963 and Priest Holmes in 2002 as the only players in NFL history with 800 or more scrimmage yards and eight or more touchdowns through a team's first five games. Rare company, Kenneth Walker III. Great move by the Chiefs to get him, great move by the Chiefs to use him the way that they are. The Bills stayed out on the West Coast all week after beating the Rams on Monday night. They faced the Raiders in Las Vegas. There's always going to be a Josh Allen entry in this Nuggets edition of PFTPM. He leads the NFL with 15 total touchdowns this season, seven passing and a league high eight touchdowns rushing. Let's be clear on that. Josh Allen, quarterback, is the leading touchdown scorer on the ground so far this season. Only two quarterbacks in NFL history have led the league touchdown runs in a season. Daryl LaMonica did it in 1964 with six, and Johnny Lujak did it for the Bears in 1950 with 11. For the Raiders, Brock Bowers has a touchdown catch in all three of the games he's played this year. If he catches another one on Sunday, he'll be the first tight end with a touchdown catch in each of his team's first four games of a season. Since Julius Thomas did it for the Broncos in 2014, and obviously Bowers missed some time with a knee injury, but he could go four for four. Julius Thomas did it in the first five games he played for the Broncos in 2014. Sunday Night Football, Lambeau Field, Cowboys and the Packers. The Packers have scored 30 or more points in each of their last six games against the Cowboys. That's the longest streak by any team in Cowboys history. No team has scored six straight games, 36 or more points other than the Green Bay Packers. Dak Prescott, the Cowboys quarterback, he's stuck on 85 career wins, one more, and he passes Roger Staubach for second all-time franchise history, and he's not that far behind Troy Aikman with 94. Also, we got statistically the two best receiving duos in this game, Christian Watson and Matthew Golden have combined for 871 receiving yards through five games. CD. Lamb and George Pickens have combined for 862, and Watson and Golden put on a show last week against the Bears. Finally, Monday Night Football, the commanders, an extra day to process the clock debacle from Sunday. The 49ers, 5-0. Take that substation. The 49ers are trying to start 6-0 for the fifth time in franchise history. They did in 1948 when they finished 12-2 in the All American Football Conference. 1984, they did it in their Super Bowl winning year. That was their second Super Bowl, the year they went 15-1. Only lost that year, by the way, to the Steelers. 1990, they started 6-0. That was the year that they had the epic NFC Championship game against the Giants who would go on to win the Super Bowl. And then 2019, they started 6-0. They made it to the Super Bowl, and they were leading by 10 points with 7 minutes to go, and we'll just leave it at that. Jaden Daniels, who got plenty of flack, as he should. Dan Quinn got plenty of flack, as he should. David Blau, so far, has managed to keep his head low and his mouth shut. He should get some flack, too. Everybody's at fault. Ultimately the head coach, but everybody's at fault. Jaden Daniels is 0-6-1 in his last seven starts for the Washington Commanders. And I still think if it goes badly on Monday night, as the Commanders then enter their bye week, that could be the moment that Dan Quinn is relieved of his duties as head coach for the Washington Commanders. There's no better time to do it if you're going to do it during the season than entering your bye week gives the interim head coach the most time possible to get himself ready for the assignment. And either way, it won't be easy, especially if they lose another one and they lose in ugly fashion. And they still didn't lose last week. They won three in one. It feels like a loss because they had that win within their grasp. All right, that's it for the week six PFT PM Nuggets plus some other stuff on the front end. We will have another edition of PFT Live bright and early on Friday morning at 7 a.m. Eastern. And we will be posting more content around the clock until then at profootballtalk.com. Have a great day. Enjoy the game tonight between the Seahawks and the Broncos. And we will see you on Friday morning.