NASHVILLE, Tenn. — New England Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones will be out for one month after suffering a hip injury, according to a report by The Boston Globe.

Jones, the Patriots’ top pass rusher who was absent from practice on Tuesday, played 84 of 87 defensive snaps in Thursday night’s 27-25 over the New York Jets.

Throughout the season, Jones has dealt with a shoulder injury that has kept him on the team’s injury report.

The Boston Globe also reported the Patriots are expected to sign free-agent defensive lineman Alan Branch. Branch most recently played for the Buffalo Bills and has spent seven years in the NFL.

• Tennessee traded linebacker Akeem Ayers to the Patriots in what coach Ken Whisenhunt says gives the linebacker a fresh start.

The Titans traded Ayers and their seventh-round draft in 2015 to the Patriots and will receive New England’s sixth-round draft pick pending a physical, according to multiple reports.

Ayers had been scratched five of seven games this season in Tennessee where the Titans switched to a 3-4 scheme under coordinator Ray Horton. A second-round draft pick in 2011 out of UCLA, Ayers started 44 of 48 games his first three seasons. But he had surgery to repair the patella tendons in both knees this offseason.

COWBOYS: Dallas released defensive end Michael Sam from the practice squad, another setback as the NFL’s first openly gay player tries to make an active roster during the regular season for the first time.

Sam spent seven weeks with the Cowboys after signing to their practice squad on Sept. 3, four days after he was among the final cuts by the St. Louis Rams at the end of the preseason.

Bucs: The NFL suspended defensive end Da’Quan Bowers for two games without pay for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

JETS: Receiver Jeremy Kerley signed a four-year contract extension.

A hearing on Ray Rice’s appeal of his indefinite suspension will be held Nov. 5 and 6, two people familiar with the situation said.

Rice was suspended indefinitely Sept. 8 for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy after a video of Rice hitting his then-fiancee in an elevator was released publicly.

PANTHERS: Carolina released longtime defensive back Charles Godfrey and signed guard Chris Scott.

Godfrey joined the Panthers as a third-round draft pick in 2008 and played in 82 games with 75 starts.

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