Report: Patriots rookie Derek Rivers injured, may be lost for season

By August 18, 2017 4:56 pm

The New England Patriots may have lost rookie defensive end Derek Rivers for the year before the regular season even starts. ESPN and NFL.com is reporting the third-round choice out of Youngstown State tore his ACL and sprained his LCL,

Rivers had an MRI in Boston Thursday. He is awaiting a second opinion regarding a possible surgery.

The Patriots play at Houston on Saturday.

In other NFL news:

UNDATED (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens have signed center Jeremy Zuttah, who returns to the team that traded him to San Francisco in March. Zuttah started every game last year and made the Pro Bowl as an alternate. He was dealt to the 49ers so Baltimore could save salary-cap space and move up 12 spots in the sixth round of the NFL draft.

Zuttah was released by San Francisco last week, and the Ravens signed him today to join a depleted offensive line in dire need of a veteran presence in the middle. The Ravens were counting on John Urschel to play center this season, but he abruptly retired in late July. The 31-year-old Zuttah started 41 games in Baltimore over the past three years.

— The New York Giants have signed receivers Canaan Severin and Ed Eagan and waived-injured rookie receivers Keeon Johnson and Kevin Snead. The Giants announced the moves today. Johnson had a foot injury and Snead had a hamstring problem. Severin was signed by the Steelers as a free agent out of Virginia in May. Pittsburgh waived him Monday. Eagan spent most of the 2016 season on the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad.

— The Chicago Bears have signed veteran free-agent linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. The team announced the signing today and also waived rookie linebacker Hendrick Ekpe. Sheppard is entering his seventh season in the NFL. He had 50 tackles and made 11 starts for the New York Giants in 2016, a year after he had 105 tackles as a starter for Miami. Ekpe was an undrafted rookie free agent from Minnesota.

(KPUG portion – Doug Lange)