Bills RB James Cook totaled 57 yards on just 13 rushing attempts last week, adding three catches for 12 yards. Per Fowler, the Bills plan to use him a lot more in primetime this evening. Cook can be treated as a locked-in RB1 in what should be a fantasy-friendly game environment on Thursday Night Football. The Bills notably elevated RB Frank Gore Jr. from the practice squad, which could indicate that RB Ty Johnson (hamstring) will be inactive tonight.
Clowney is the type of veteran who can play without practicing, but at this point, he is firmly questionable to play. Fortunately, the Texans field a deep, talented pass rush and will be okay without him.
We knew Burrow was practicing, but we did not know whether he would upgrade to full participation. He remains limited, but beat reporters note that Burrow did far more today than he did yesterday. The Bengals’ quarterback skipped stretches before doing some light throwing on Wednesday. Today, he was suited up in pads and appeared to do everything up through individual drills. He likely sat out team drills, but that is not overly concerning. Burrow should be good to go as a QB1 this week. Hopefully, he upgrades to full participation tomorrow.
Murray logs his second limited session of the week. He has a chance to play, but we simply will not know his status until the team announces that he has passed the NFL’s concussion protocol. If Vikings QB2 Carson Wentz gets the start against the Bears, he would be a worthwhile QB2 in fantasy.
Harvey joined his teammates on the field for a limited session after sitting out on Wednesday. He has a chance to play. If active, it is unclear how effective he can be, and the Broncos do have a capable backup, rookie RB Jonah Coleman, who should be stashed where available. Hopefully, Harvey practices fully tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Mims seems to have aggravated the foot injury he suffered in the Broncos’ preseason finale. He practiced fully last week, but has not taken the field since Monday night’s loss to the Chiefs. He does not need to be rostered in 12-team leagues.
Okonkwo missed most of the second half of Week 1 and has not been spotted at practice since. There are probably better TE2 bets to lay for Week 2 even if he does suit up in some form on Friday.
In other words: He’s not actually practicing. It’s generally good news that McConkey has been spotted near the team, but we’re going to need to see a major turnaround on Friday to do better than a questionable tag for the 2024 second-round pick.
Swift should be good to go for the Bears’ Week 2 game against the Vikings, though ideally he will upgrade to full participation tomorrow. Swift has achieved borderline RB1/2 status at this point and could make the leap into the top-12. Bears coach Ben Johnson hopes to set the NFL’s scoring record this season and Swift should lead the team in touches each week.
Monangai’s continued participation is a good sign, but soft tissue injuries can be finicky. It would be really nice to see him practice in full tomorrow. If that is indeed the case, Monangai can be started as a high-upside FLEX. Continue monitoring his status. The Bears list RB Roschon Johnson as the next player up.
The midweek downgrade is never a promising sign, and the Jets were definitely hoping to have a full complement of pass-rushers against a beleaguered Packers offensive line in Week 2. Assuming this wasn’t a practice injury that spirals into an extended absence, we’d expect McDonald to be listed as questionable tomorrow.
Wright’s return and OT Ozzy Trapilo’s continued limited participation are both great signs. The Bears will need Wright against the Vikings’ aggressive, blitz-based defense on Sunday. Trapilo is working his way back from a season-ending patellar tendon rupture and has reportedly been making great progress.
Olave was added to the injury report after not being on it at all on Wednesday. Saints reporter Mike Triplett said that Olave was spotted during the option portion of media practice. This is fairly concerning, though we have scant information on the injury at this point. Friday’s status will be enormous for Olave.
As it was with Chris Olave, media reporters for the Saints witnessed Young practicing early, so this likely came on afterwards. A midweek downgrade is never a great sign, and Young struggled through a calf injury early last season that sidelined him for some time. Still, it’s not completely implausible he’ll suit up in Week 2. New Orleans Football’s Nick Underhill later added that Young experienced “some soreness in his calf,” but “initial opinions are optimistic.”
The back designation is new. He left practice with the training staff on Thursday. It seems likely that he reaggravated his existing back injury. Based on that, it wouldn’t be surprising if he remained sidelined for Week 2.
Underhill adds that Olave’s hamstring issue is not expected to be a “problem.” If this really is a non-issue, perhaps Olave just experienced cramping today and will be back out there on Friday, practicing in full. That said, soft tissue issues that pop up mid-week are typically not good. Saints No. 2 WR Devaughn Vele is worth adding if he is a free agent.
This is probably a bad sign regarding WR Zay Flowers’ (hamstring) Week 2 availability, though the Ravens also placed rookie WR Ja’Kobi Lane (wrist) on short-term injured reserve this week. A signing seems likely.
Every once in a while we’ll get a surprise limited session out of one of these, but it sure looks like Bowers is trending towards questionable-at-best on Friday’s final injury report. The star tight end is trying to come back from a meniscus trim. If he does not play, Michael Mayer will likely pick up the majority of the slack at tight end and be a reasonable streamer TE for Week 2 against the Chargers.
McDaniel was asked why Gadsden only played eight snaps in Week 1. The Chargers’ offensive coordinator said he expected Gadsden to get more involved last week, but the game “didn’t play out” that way. McDaniel closed by saying he expects Gadsden “to be more involved outside of an unforeseen situation where the game and the parameters with which you’re playing change — and therein lies the problem. Gadsden is not a full-time player. Projecting his weekly usage will be challenging. He is currently not worth starting in 12-team leagues, though that could change if McDaniel decides to feature him.
We’re not really seeing anything concerning about Coker’s status for Week 2 after he was spotted in a boot following Week 1’s loss to the Bears. He said he’d play and he’s been on the field for two limited sessions in a row. He’ll be in the WR3 tier for Week 2’s matchup against the Falcons assuming nothing calamitous happens on Friday.
Metcalf caught just 4-of-10 targets in Week 1 and was flagged twice for offensive pass interference while struggling to make contested catches. It wasn’t ideal. But Rodgers’ words should sooth any thought of bumping Metcalf down the ranks just yet. “I’m not worried about DK at all, man,” Rodgers said.
It looks like it’s just a routine day off, but we’ll check back on Friday. The Indianapolis Star reported that Pierce told reporters before the practice that the plan is “to put him on the field more in Kansas City” in Week 2 after he played just 59 percent of the team’s snaps.
He did not play behind Seth McGowan in Week 1 and neither of them have fantasy value while Jonathan Taylor is healthy.
The second-year player is headed to waivers. The Commanders correspondingly promoted CB Isaac Yiadom to the active roster. Barber could be re-signed to the practice squad.