TEXANS
Watt placed on PUP list
HOUSTON — Houston has put defensive end J.J. Watt on the physically unable to perform list less than a week before training camp begins.
The move, which was expected, comes after Watt recently had back surgery after leading the NFL in sacks last season with 17½. He is expected to be ready for the season opener. The 27-year-old Watt played last season with a herniated disk and underwent surgery to repair a groin injury in January. Last season, Watt helped Houston gain its first playoff berth since 2012 and was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season
The Texans also placed tackles Duane Brown and Jeff Adams, safety Lonnie Ballentine and cornerback Cleveland Wallace III on the PUP list.
Camp for Texans veterans opens this weekend.
RAIDERS
LB Smith investigated
The NFL is investigating whether a video linked to an account from suspended Oakland linebacker Aldon Smith shows him using illegal drugs.
A video on a Periscope account that has shown Smith in the past features an unidentified man off camera discussing a rolled cigarette with an unidentified woman. It’s not clear what’s in the cigarette and who the man is. Smith sent out a tweet Monday after CSNBayArea.com reported on the video saying, “Good try, not me.”
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is investigating.
Smith is serving a one-year suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy that ends Nov. 17. He can apply for reinstatement in September. He gets regularly drug tested while on suspension.
REDSKINS
Safety Jarrett released
ASHBURN, Va. — Washington released Kyshoen Jarrett after the safety failed his physical before training camp. Jarrett sustained nerve damage to a shoulder against Dallas in the regular-season finale and didn’t participate in any offseason activities. Redskins Coach Jay Gruden said in May the 23-year-old was seeing a specialist in Denver.
Jarrett, a Virginia Tech product, appeared in all 16 regular-season games during his rookie year, starting six, and finished with 58 tackles.
Jarrett’s release leaves 88 players on the roster. The Redskins open camp Thursday in Richmond, Virginia.
CARDINALS
Dockett walking away
TEMPE, Ariz. — Darnell Dockett, the big, boisterous defensive lineman who overcame a rough childhood to thrive in the NFL, said goodbye to the league the way he wanted — as an Arizona Cardinal.
The 35-year-old signed a one-day contract with the team Monday and announced his retirement at a news conference.
Dockett, never at a loss for words, said he’s “very thankful” and “beat the odds” to make it in the NFL.
Dockett played 10 seasons with Arizona after the Cardinals selected him in the third round of the draft out of Florida State.
He signed a two-year $7.5 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers, with $2 million guaranteed, but was released before the 2015 season started. “I’m never going to talk about the other team that I went to,” Dockett said, “because my heart never was there. ... and everybody knew that. This is where I belong.”
A three-time Pro Bowl selection, he finished his career with 40½ sacks. Dockett tied a Super Bowl record with three sacks against Pittsburgh in the 2009 game.
JAGUARS
DB Ramsey cleared
JACKSONVILLE — Rookie defensive back Jalen Ramsey has been cleared to practice and will be on the field when the team opens training camp Thursday. Jacksonville General Manager Dave Caldwell said Monday that Ramsey, the fifth overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, will be full go less than three months after tearing a meniscus in his right knee. Offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum also is expected to practice for the first time since tearing ligaments in his left knee last season. Beachum signed a five-year, $45 million contract with Jacksonville after spending the first four years of his career in Pittsburgh.
Defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks, who missed the final seven games last season with a torn right triceps, also will participate in camp.
All eyes will be on Ramsey, though. The former Florida State standout injured his knee during drills in May. He finished practice without any problems, and neither he nor the Jaguars have been able to figure out what exactly caused the small meniscus tear. Ramsey said it could have been a “progressive” injury.
Ramsey opted for surgery after getting a second opinion, started running a little more than two weeks later and insisted he would be ready for camp.
PANTHERS
Australian player signed
Carolina has signed tight end Eric Wallace, a former college basketball and Australian football player who played the NFL version of football at age 14.
The team announced Monday that the 6-6, 260-pound Wallace signed a threeyear undrafted rookie contract worth the league minimum.
The Winston-Salem native played one year of basketball at Ohio State and three years at DePaul. While looking into basketball options overseas, he was approached about playing Australian Rules Football, where he eventually spent three seasons playing in Australia. Earlier this month, Wallace approached Panthers wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl at the team’s training facility. After running the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds, the Panthers signed him. To make room on the 90-man roster, the Panthers waived wide receiver Cobi Hamilton (Arkansas Razorbacks).
VIKINGS
Loadholt calling it quits
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota right tackle Phil Loadholt has decided to retire from the NFL after seven seasons with the Vikings.
Minnesota placed Loadholt on the reserve/retired list Monday, four days before training camp begins. Loadholt, a second-round draft pick by the Vikings out of Oklahoma in 2009, missed the entire 2015 season because of a torn Achilles tendon. He missed the last five games of the 2014 season due to a torn pectoral muscle.
Loadholt took a pay cut to return for the final year of his contract and went through spring workouts and minicamp without obvious problem, but he said Monday that he suffered a left leg injury in the past few weeks that steered him toward the end of his career.
“I just figured that my body was telling me that it was time for me to go ahead and transition out of the game,” Loadholt said, adding: “Basically I couldn’t go into training camp with it like that.”
NFL
Jennings set to retire
Wide receiver Greg Jennings is retiring after a decade in the National Football League.
“Football is over, I’m done,” Jennings said in a video posted Monday on social media.
The 32-year-old Jennings finishes his career with 571 catches for 8,291 yards and 64 touchdowns. He spent last season with Miami, catching just 19 passes for 208 yards and 1 touchdown while playing in all 16 games.
“Physically I know that I can do it, I can still play. I’m in shape, I’ve been training hard,” Jennings said. “But I feel as though I would be going back to football versus moving forward.”
Jennings also spent two seasons with Minnesota, but he’s best known for his seven years with Green Bay, who drafted him in the second round of the 2006 draft. Jennings caught two touchdowns from quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the Packers’ 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV in 2011.
“I think of great memories for his time here, particularly in [the Super Bowl] and he made some huge plays in the football game,” Green Bay Coach Mike McCarthy said.
Jennings caught 53 touchdowns in Green Bay before the Packers let him go as a free agent after the 2012 season.
New concussion protocol
The NFL and the players association have announced a new policy regarding game-day concussion protocol and discipline for clubs that violate the procedure.
Under the new policy jointly announced Monday, the NFL and NFLPA “will follow a strict and fair process to investigate incidents and determine appropriate discipline, including club fines and possible forfeiture of draft picks.” The league and the players union will each designate a representative to monitor the implementation of the protocol and investigate potential violations. The probe won’t reach medical conclusions; it will only determine if the protocol was followed. An arbitrator will handle cases where the league and union disagree and report to the commissioner.
Commissioner Roger Goodell retains sole discretion in determining penalties for violations of the game-day concussion protocol.