ESPN's Jeremy Fowler confirms that Bucs WR Russell Gage will miss the entire 2023 season with the knee injury he suffered in Wednesday's practice. Gage was locked into Tampa's No. 3 WR job before this injury. The Bucs are now left with WRs Trey Palmer, Deven Thompkins, David Moore, and Rakim Jarrett to battle for that job. Palmer is an intriguing rookie and might be worth a look near the very end of best-ball drafts. Gage's injury should mean extra targets for WR Chris Godwin, WR Mike Evans, RB Rachaad White, and TE Cade Otton. We've adjusted all the Bucs in the 2023 fantasy football rankings.
Update: Gage suffered a ruptured right patellar tendon.
Panthers HC Frank Riech said Wednesday that RB Miles Sanders is "getting close" to returning from his groin injury. Reich added that Sanders probably won't play in either of the remaining two preseason games. But it sounds like he'll be ready to roll come Week 1. We haven't moved Sanders down the 2023 fantasy football rankings.
Bills RB Damien Harris returned to practice Wednesday after missing a little more than a week with a knee issue. He still has nearly a month to get ready for the regular-season opener but will need to battle Latavius Murray for the No. 2 job behind expected starter James Cook. Harris has moved down our 2023 fantasy football rankings since the beginning of training camp.
Bills WR Gabe Davis sat out Wednesday's practice, but Sal Capaccio of WGR 550 reports it's just "general soreness" and that the team considers Davis day-to-day. This doesn't look like anything more than a rest day, but we'll keep watch.
Raiders WR Davante Adams is "trending in the right direction" after going down with a lower-leg injury on August 11, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports. "Should be on the practice field soon, depending how Las Vegas wants to manage him," Fowler adds. It doesn't sound like Adams is in any danger of missing the start of the regular season, but we'll continue to keep a close eye on his status.
Update: HC Josh McDaniels says Adams is returning to practice Wednesday, per Tashan Reed of The Athletic.
Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown could be seen "trying to work out his injury" at Wednesday morning practice, according to Pride of Detroit. St. Brown had his right ankle taped, so there's likely a mild sprain. That he was still on the field at all indicates it's nothing we should worry about for our fantasy football drafts. St. Brown remains high in our 2023 fantasy football rankings.
Chiefs WR Justyn Ross returned to practice Wednesday after leaving with a leg injury the day before. The second-year wideout is clearly good to go.
The Seahawks have activated LB Jordyn Brooks off the physically unable to perform list, where he opened camp while working back from a Week 17 ACL tear. It's a pretty remarkable turnaround for Brooks to return to the field nearly a month ahead of the regular-season opener. And he's certainly moving up our IDP rankings as a result. But we'll remain cautious with Brooks' outlook in fantasy football drafts.
Buccaneers WR Russell Gage suffered a non-contact knee injury in Wednesday's joint practice with the Jets and needed to be carted off. NFL Network reports that "the belief heading into exams is that the severe injury will end his season." That's an especially big blow to Gage, who dealt with hamstring issues throughout last year, his first in Tampa Bay. We don't see much fantasy impact, though. Gage was set to be no more than the WR3 in what we expect to be a lackluster passing offense. His injury could mean more time in the slot for Chris Godwin. Deven Thompkins and rookie Trey Palmer look like candidates for the No. 3 WR role.
Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson will miss a couple of weeks with a soft tissue injury. HC Arthur Smith said he’d have a clearer picture of Patterson’s status following Week 3 of the preseason. Even if the veteran gets on track for Week 1, he’s only a fantasy factor for your best ball strategy.
Lions WR Jameson Williams exited practice on Wednesday with an apparent right hamstring injury. Williams walked to the locker room with team trainers, and we’ll pass along an update when we learn more.
Per The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf, Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson “has done nothing that would cause him to relinquish” the starting job. Rookie Luke Schoonmaker has enjoyed “some solid moments” since returning from a foot injury, but a big early-season role isn’t likely. Consider Ferguson a deep sleeper to star on your fantasy cheat sheet.
Falcons HC Arthur Smith used the phrase no fantasy owner likes to hear when discussing his 2023 backfield plans: "hot hand." Here's Smith: “We may have the idea that we want to get guys a certain number of carries and then all of a sudden [Tyler] Allgeier gets a hot hand and what you’re doing with him is working. Don’t be rigid. We have to win the game.” Drafters are clearly expecting RB Bijan Robinson, who has a first-round ADP, to dominate the backfield touches this season. But Allgeier might stay involved just enough to keep Robinson from hitting his ceiling. It's worth noting that The Athletic's Josh Kendall projects Robinson for 215 carries and 86 targets this year to Allgeier's 158 carries and 12 targets. Check out our projections for the Falcons backfield.
Ravens WR Zay Flowers' impressive August has continued in joint practices against the Commanders this week. “He showed me he can do it against anybody else, not just our team,” QB Lamar Jackson said after Tuesday's practice. “He was making some crazy moves, great route running, great in and out of his cuts, and he was catching the ball, so he was looking pretty good out there." It continues to look like Flowers is ready to make an immediate impact -- and potentially even lead Ravens WRs in fantasy points this season.
Saints offensive weapon Taysom Hill strained his oblique in Tuesday's practice, HC Dennis Allen said. Allen added that the injury isn't believed to be serious. We'll let you know when Hill gets back on the field.
Saints RB Kendre Miller (knee) will travel to Los Angeles with the team for joint practices with the Chargers and has a "chance" to play in Sunday's preseason game, HC Dennis Allen said Tuesday. It's excellent news after Miller went down with a knee injury in the preseason opener. Whether or not he plays in this weekend's game, he's clearly on track to be available for the start of the regular season.
Browns WR Elijah Moore (ribs) returned to practice on Tuesday. It sounds like he was limited to individual drills. But the fact that he's back on the field means that he's in no danger of missing the start of the season. Consider Moore's fantasy value unchanged.
Jets HC Robert Saleh said Tuesday he's "very confident" RB Breece Hall will be ready for Week 1, according to ESPN's Rich Cimini. This falls in line with everything else we've heard from Saleh about Hall, as well as his Tuesday activation from PUP. We'll obviously keep watching the RB throughout August and into the season. Hall did move down our RB rankings after the Dalvin Cook addition.
Chiefs WR Justyn Ross suffered a leg injury in Tuesday's practice. ESPN's Adam Teicher reports that HC Andy Reid didn't offer specifics afterward. We'll see how long the second-year wideout remains sidelined. He hasn't been worth consideration outside of the final rounds in a best ball draft anyway, though.
Colts HC Shane Steichen announced Tuesday morning that they've named QB Anthony Richardson the regular-season starter. It's not a surprising move, but it's noteworthy that Steichen announced it after just one preseason game. Whether that signals more confidence in how far along Richardson already is or just a desire to commit to him earlier doesn't really matter. Richardson also doesn't need to be as "good" at football as most QBs to contribute fantasy value. Even with sack yardage subtracted (per college stat practice), Richardson still averaged 54.5 rushing yards per game across 12 starts in his only full season as Florida's starter. Combine that with a big arm and displayed aptitude for throwing deep, and you have a QB with immediate upside into the top 12. Check our fantasy football QB rankings to see where Richardson lands after this announcement.
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