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Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman may not be ready for the start of the team's offseason program, but he is more relieved that he will not need surgery on his knee. Freeman told profootballtalk.com that he went for a second opinion after playing with sprained posterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee at the end of the season
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"Thank God I didn't have to get surgery," said Freeman. "So now I just have to rehab and get it back stronger and be ready for next season."
Freeman rushed for only 7 yards on 10 attempts in a 15-10 playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He said he injured the knee in Week 17.
After rushing for more than 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns in both 2015 and 2016, Freeman finished with 865 yards and seven scores on the ground this past season. He missed two games and most of a third due to a concussion.
--Matt Bryant will turn 43 in May and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, but the veteran kicker has no plans to walk away from the game anytime soon.
Why would he?
Bryant tied his career high by nailing 34 field goals (on 39 attempts) during the regular season and converted all five attempts in the postseason for the Atlanta Falcons.
"I know I am capable," Bryant said, per the Falcons' official website. "I've proven it. I am ready to play -- I'll play two, three more years in this league. There's obviously some curious times ahead to see where those two, three years happen."
--Adrian Peterson has heard the whispers that his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals could be coming to an end.
While Peterson is not convinced the Cardinals will remove him from their roster, he has no doubts he'll be on the field for next season -- and many more after that.
"I think I would want to play maybe four more years, four to five more years," the 32-year-old Peterson told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Peterson, the 2012 NFL MVP, was back in Minneapolis in advance of Sunday's Super Bowl LII, greeting fans at the Mall of America in the city where he starred for a decade with the Minnesota Vikings.
"It feels good always coming home and getting a warm welcome," said Peterson. "I was here for 10 years. ... At the end of the day, I'll always bleed purple. So just coming back here, I was hugging fans like people I see in training camp every year that supported me and that continue to support the Vikings."
--Alex Smith is receiving a going-away show of support from fans of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Shortly after Tuesday's report that the Chiefs agreed to trade Smith to the Washington Redskins, Kansas City fans began a move to donate money to the veteran quarterback's foundation, the Kansas City Star reported.
The grassroots movement got underway early Wednesday and generated nearly 2,500 donations worth a total of $47,000 for the charity in the first two days, said Pam Smith, the quarterback's mother.
"We are very grateful and amazed," Smith wrote to the newspaper in an email.
--Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor has flu-like symptoms but should be able to play in Sunday's Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, according to a report.
Agholor had IVs on Saturday morning after "feeling sick and weak," according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
In a tweet, Rapoport wrote that Agholor is "already feeling better and should be fine for the game."
The Eagles did not add Agholor to the injury report, a strong indication that he is expected to play Sunday.
--A number of NFL MVP and player-of-the-year awards will be announced in the coming days, with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady expected to walk away with most of those honors.
But he was not selected as one of the FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Year, which is determined by an online vote of fans.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who has not played since suffering a torn ACL on Dec. 10, and Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley were named the FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Year.
FedEx will donate $50,000 to the USO in the name of each player, a total donation of $100,000.
--Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor does not seem willing to restructure his contract again this year.
A year ago, Taylor was set to make $30.75 million guaranteed in 2017 but agreed to a restructured deal that lowered his income as new head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane tried to keep Taylor while having enough money to improve the Bills' roster.
Taylor again enters the offseason with questions about his contract. This time around, he is not likely to make the same contract concessions.
"Definitely not part of my mindset," Taylor said, according to the Buffalo News. "I've done that before. I don't think there's a need to do that again. That's definitely not part of my mindset."
--Veteran quarterback Josh McCown wants to be back with the New York Jets next season.
That's hardly a surprise after McCown enjoyed the best season of his 15-year career with the Jets in 2017, but the journeyman quarterback said he would like to return even if New York uses a high draft pick to select a quarterback.
"It's hard to say, 'Hey, I want to go somewhere else' after you had the best year of your career," McCown said in Minneapolis, per the New York Post. "I liked being there and loved the organization and the guys in the locker room. I think there was a good foundation laid, something special and something that can be built."
--A former employee of the Houston Texans filed a lawsuit against the team, claiming its former director of football operations sexually harassed her.
Kristen Grimes, a former suite sales account executive with the Texans, is suing the team and Jason Lowrey for negligence, civil assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation, KHOU.com reported. She is seeking $1 million in damages.
The lawsuit alleges that Lowrey pursued a relationship with Grimes in 2013, the first year she began working for the team. Grimes charged that Lowrey "publicly demeaned" and groped her during a work trip.
