Team news: Tennessee Titans | Page 34

The New England Patriots have re-signed Nick Folk on Monday after hosting him for a visit this weekend.

Folk, 35, becomes the second kicker on the Patriots' roster after New England selected Marshall's Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round of the draft.

Folk kicked in seven games for the Patriots last season as the team was forced to look for a replacement for Stephen Gostkowski, who had a hip injury that landed him on injured reserve. Folk was 16-of-19 on field goals and 13-of-13 on extra points.

The story added: Rohrwasser has barely kicked in practices attended by reporters. Rohrwasser was 3-of-5 on field goals at the end of a practice Monday but has mostly rode the exercise bike since, which could be an indication he is managing an undisclosed injury.

John Ross was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list when he left the team earlier this month in order to help care for his son and his son’s mother after they tested positive for the coronavirus. The Bengals announced on Sunday that Ross has been activated from the list.

Related players: A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd

Ross will look to be the speed threat in the Bengal offense behind Green and Boyd, but he's not seeing a lot of action in typical draft formats.

Justin Jackson and rookie Joshua Kelley are neck and neck in the race for the No. 2 running back job behind Austin Ekeler.

Jackson started the week with a sizable lead after making a handful of long rushing gains in Monday’s and Tuesday’s workouts.

On Wednesday, Lynn said Kelley’s head was swimming with learning the new offense. Lynn changed his tone after Kelley ended the week with three impressive practices to narrow the gap on Jackson.

The story said by the end of the week, Kelley was running with the first team. The story went on to say Kelley might have the edge because he fills the role of the power running back, but Jackson continues to churn out yards at a high rate. Jackson has displayed power between the tackles and Kelley has made catches from the backfield.

Noah Fant hopes to parlay the momentum he built over the second half of last year into 2020, as he’s the leading man in a deep tight end room that also features free-agent acquisition Nick Vannett, returnee Troy Fumagalli and rookie Albert Okwuegbunam. Fant put on about 5 to 10 pounds and is ready for a versatile role within new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur’s system.

Fant was quoted in the story as saying he'll be in the slot, in-line and outside as a wide receiver, adding he loves playing outside as a WR. However, Fant would be ranked higher if not for the Broncos’ offseason acquisitions of Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler, who are likely to pinch Fant’s targets, which weren’t that high to start with (4.1 per game in 2019). He was also a sub 60%-snap player in the final month of the season, which is a bit worrisome. Fant is ranked 20th on our TE list.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback called third year wide receiver Calvin Ridley elite: “But I think the people who know, the people who have to play against Calvin or try to guard him in man-to-man coverage, know he is elite. He’s exceptional. He’s really, really good.”

While calling Calvin Ridley elite may be a bit of a stretch (he has yet to hit 1,000 receiving yards in a season), there is no denying that he has been highly productive for the Atlanta Falcons. As per ESPN, the only four receivers in NFL history that finished their first two seasons with more than Ridley's 17 touchdowns are, in order, Odell Beckham Jr. (25), Larry Fitzgerald (18), A.J. Green (18), and Julio Jones (18). All four wideouts operated as their team's number one receivers. Matt Ryan was correct in his assertion that Ridley excels against man-to-man coverage, but Ridley will have to learn to deal with zone coverage to truly put his hat in the ring as one of the NFL’s top receivers. He was incredible against zone coming out of Alabama, but made waves early last season when he suggested that he could not get open because he was struggling against the Indianapolis Colts zone defense. An exceptional talent, Ridley is our 16th ranked receiver for the 2020 season.