Ravens WR Rashod Bateman "at the very least will be considered week-to-week" with the groin injury suffered in Tuesday's practice, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reports. "Evaluations are ongoing and it’s too early to know whether he’ll be sidelined to start the regular season," Garafolo adds. So the 1st-round rookie will, at minimum, miss a bunch of valuable training-camp reps and likely the entire preseason. And it sounds like there's a chance that he's not ready for Week 1. We'll keep an eye on Bateman's rehab, but you should only consider him a late-round flier in fantasy drafts now. WR Sammy Watkins might enter the season with a big role in this passing game.
Bears WR Darnell Mooney drew praise from HC Matt Nagy for his training camp performance. “Mooney is on fire with his route-running,” Nagy said via ESPN. “He’s running some routes right now that I really hadn’t seen him running. He’s putting his own spin and stamp on more routes.” Mooney’s already a speedster — he blazed a 4.38-forty in the 2020 pre-draft process. So improved route-running only adds to his 2021 breakout case. We love Mooney’s big-play potential, especially once Chicago makes the move to Justin Fields.
The Cowboys have activated WR Amari Cooper from the PUP list after he passed his physical Tuesday. That should clear the veteran WR to return to practice. We'll see about his participation level in the coming days.
The Athletic's Matt Schneidman notes that Packers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling's hands look much improved in training camp so far. Drops have been a problem for MVS through 3 NFL seasons. "Valdes-Scantling’s hands have been noticeably better so far in camp," Schneidman writes. "Not just on blatantly catchable balls, some of which he has dropped in the past, but on passes he has no business catching, too. If he keeps this up, he’s the clear-cut No. 2 wideout behind Davante Adams. Valdes-Scantling isn’t just a deep-ball threat anymore, and that’s scary for defenses that have largely been able to game plan for a one-dimensional receiver in the past." MVS built some momentum last year with 8 catches, 148 yards and a score in Green Bay's 2 playoff games and has seemingly carried that into 2021. He's a nice target late in drafts -- especially best balls.
Ravens WR Rashod Bateman left Tuesday morning's practice with an apparent leg injury. According to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic: "Bateman pulled up while running a slant against [CB Marcus] Peters and then fell immediately to ground. Walked to building with pronounced limp." We'll definitely keep watch for more on this developing situation.
Update: Bateman is dealing with a "soft-tissue injury," according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "He’ll have tests and the severity isn’t known," Rapoport adds. We'll pass along an update on the rookie when we get one.
Giants HC Joe Judge described RB Saquon Barkley's return to practice on Monday as "very encouraging." Judge added that Barkley's work is an "extension of his rehab" right now. The team continues to take it slow with its star RB coming off a multi-ligament knee injury. But it sure seems like Barkley is trending in the right direction.
Chiefs RB Darrel Williams (knee) returned to practice on Tuesday. He ended up missing just 1 practice with what was evidently just a minor knee issue. Williams remains the favorite to back up Clyde Edwards-Helaire in Kansas City.
The Dolphins have activated TE Mike Gesicki from the reserve/COVID-19 list. He ended up missing over a week of practice. The Fins are traveling north for a joint practice with the Bears on Wednesday, and Gesicki is expected to participate, per beat writer Armando Salguero. The 25-year-old remains a low-end TE1.
Eagles insider Eliot Shorr-Parks calls Quez Watkins the team's best WR since DeVonta Smith went down with his knee injury a little over a week ago. Philly would surely like former 1st-rounder Jalen Reagor to join Smith in the starting lineup -- but Reagor has reportedly been inconsistent in camp. We'll see if Watkins can carry his momentum into preseason action. For now, he's still more of a "watch list guy" than a target in fantasy drafts.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Patriots TE Hunter Henry is expected to miss "a couple of weeks" with his shoulder injury. Schefter adds, though, that it's "not serious." We'll see whether any more info comes out on the injury itself. But it's the Patriots, so don't hold your breath. Henry's absence can only help the opportunity for TE Jonnu Smith.
Cowboys WR Michael Gallup is spending more time on the inside of the formation so far in training camp, Pro Football Talk reports. “Everybody labels me as a deep-ball threat, but I know I can do a whole lot more,” Gallup said Monday. “So, me being able to come up on the inside and run some routes from there, short and intermediate game, can certainly show I’m more versatile than folks think.” The WR ran a career-low 6.3% of his routes from the slot last season, according to Pro Football Focus. At the same time, then-rookie CeeDee Lamb spent nearly all of his time (93.2%) inside. We've heard about Lamb spending more time on the edges heading into Year 2, so this shift for Gallup makes sense. We've always believed in Gallup the player. An increase in shorter-range work could help his fantasy-scoring consistency. It could also showcase some versatility as he heads toward unrestricted free agency in March. Gallup is going 6 to 6.5 rounds behind Lamb and Amari Cooper in ADP.
Lions WR Tyrell Williams missed some practice time in recent days with a dislocated pinky and "groin tightness," according to Benjamin Raven of MLive.com. Williams said he thought he had broken the finger when he sustained that injury last Tuesday, but he returned to practice the next day. As for the groin issue, HC Dan Campbell indicated the Lions were playing it safe. The veteran's return to Monday practice points to no real concern on this front. Of course, Williams' end-of-draft ADP leaves basically no risk for drafters.
Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports that Lions RB D'Andre Swift has "missed significant practice time while nursing a sore groin." According to Meinke, Swift has been on the field "almost every day" but generally sits out 7-on-7 and full-team work. Detroit clearly isn't too worried about the situation, or the team would have Swift sitting out altogether. But it'll certainly be an issue to monitor going forward. The Lions also watched rookie RB Jermar Jefferson leave Monday's practice with a leg injury. Meinke reports that Jefferson has been "having a nice camp." We'll see how long he's out and what role the rookie fills in preseason games.
Buccaneers TE O.J. Howard returned to the practice field at the end of July, but that doesn't mean he's all the way back physically, coming off the Achilles' tendon tear that ended his 2020 season. “He’s not there yet," HC Bruce Arians said in his Monday press conference. "He had a chance to make a couple grimy chances in the end zone today [and] didn’t come up with them. I expect him to make those. He’s still catching up to the speed of it and the physicality of it. He’s been out a long time, so he needs this camp.” Howard remains a later-round flier in all formats, so it's easy to take on the risk that he doesn't rebound all the way. The upside, of course, is that he does get back close to 100% of his previous level and takes the receiving lead among Tampa Bay TEs. We'll see how he progresses through the rest of camp and preseason.
Reports out of Eagles training camp have been up and down on 2nd-year QB Jalen Hurts. But ESPN's Tim McManus says the new starter has looked particularly good in 1 key area. "Hurts has been money on throwing the deep balls," McManus writes. "He has shown a knack for hitting his receivers in stride with touch, even from 40-plus yards out." According to McManus, Hurts also tied Tom Brady, Derek Carr and Deshaun Watson for most completions of 30+ yards from Week 13 on last season -- Hurts' starting stretch. The young QB has reportedly struggled more in the short and intermediate ranges. We can work with that combo in fantasy. Hurts' strong deep passing plus the speed of his top 2 WRs -- DeVonta Smith and Jalen Reagor -- only adds upside to a QB whose most attractive in fantasy for his rushing ability. Deshaun Watson rumors have knocked Hurts down some ADP boards recently, which could be a buying opportunity on a risk-reward fantasy QB.
Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury confirmed Monday what most of us expected out of his backfield. "We expect both guys to share the load for the most part," the coach told ESPN's Josh Weinfuss, referring, of course, to RBs Chase Edmonds and James Conner. "We'll play to their strengths," Kingsbury added. "James is obviously a bigger back. Chase, when he had [an] opportunity, did some great things, and we want to make sure we're calling plays that both those guys are comfortable with when they're in and kind of tailor to them." Kingsbury added that "they can both do it all," but it's pretty clear that Conner will hold the edge near the goal line and Edmonds in the passing game -- much like with Edmonds and Kenyan Drake last year. Both remain fine values in current drafting: Edmonds as RB27 in FFPC best-ball formats, Conner at RB38.
The Falcons activated EDGE Dante Fowler from the COVID list Monday. He had been out since July 29. Fowler now has some catching up to do in what needs to be a bounce-back season for him. Fowler managed just 3 sacks and 8 QB hits over 14 games after signing a multi-year deal with Atlanta in free agency in 2020.
The Cardinals released their 1st "unofficial" depth chart of the year Monday, ahead of Friday's preseason opener against the Cowboys. Unsurprisingly, the team lists DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Christian Kirk as the top 3 receivers. Kirk would have been the only 1 of the 3 in question, with Hopkins an incumbent and Green a veteran arriving on a sizable 1-year free agent deal. Kirk, meanwhile, has missed some practice time with a "minor" (though unspecified) injury, allowing rookie WR Rondale Moore to generate some buzz. We'll see where things go between these 2 the rest of the month. Moore certainly brings the higher ceiling. We'll see if he can push past Kirk before the regular season. Of course, it's also worth noting that these preseason depth charts can sometimes prove meaningless -- especially this early in the process.
Washington on Monday removed WR Curtis Samuel from the COVID list. That's 1 hurdle cleared. But Samuel remains on the PUP for his June groin injury. HC Ron Rivera previously said there's no timetable for Samuel's return from that. We'll keep watch.
Saints K Wil Lutz underwent core-muscle surgery and could miss 8+ weeks, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. We'll keep an eye on Lutz's rehab, but he's undraftable in fantasy now. New Orleans on Monday signed K Brett Maher, who now looks like the favorite to open the season as the starter.
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