Texans QB Deshaun Watson returned to practice Monday morning. He had opened camp working out with the team but then sat out the next 5 days with what the team reported was a foot injury. This comes a few days after FOX's Jay Glazer reported that Houston isn't returning calls from potential trade partners. That paired with Watson's return to the field just might indicate that no deal is imminent. Of course, there are a lot of unknowns in play here, and the Texans aren't giving anything away. Watson remains a risk/reward pick in the later rounds of all draft formats for now.
The Buccaneers announced Monday that they have activated TE Cameron Brate off the PUP list. The team never announced what the injury was. Regardless, Brate figures to run 3rd at the position until and unless Rob Gronkowski or O.J. Howard goes down.
Multiple reports from the Eagles beat have had RB Boston Scott catching the ball well -- specifically in reps with QB Jalen Hurts. Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia writes that Scott has "looked very smooth as a receiver out of the backfield" and that he has been getting more 1st-team reps than any other Eagles RB besides Miles Sanders. The pass-catching talk is particularly noteworthy because it has accompanied multiple reports of Sanders continuing to drop passes. And rookie Kenneth Gainwell arrives with receiving ability as 1 of his strengths. For now, though, it sounds like Scott is on a path to be Philly's #2 RB. We wouldn't invest too heavily in any Eagles RB right now and aren't ready to plant a flag with Scott over Gainwell. But it'll be a situation to monitor as we see usage in the preseason games.
The Giants have officially activated RB Saquon Barkley off the PUP, according to The Associated Press. This falls in line with earlier reports. We'll see about his participation level and reports on how he looks in the coming weeks. We'll also keep tabs on his ADP. Barkley has often slipped to Round 2 in recent drafting.
Bills WR Emmanuel Sanders returned to practice on Monday. He missed just a few days of practice with a foot injury. With rave reviews coming out of Bills camp, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Sanders supply sporadic WR3 value this fall.
Chiefs RB Darrel Williams has a knee injury, HC Andy Reid said Monday. We don't have any other details on the severity or how long Williams will be sidelined. We'll monitor the situation. A healthy Williams is the favorite for the #2 RB job in Kansas City.
Giants HC Joe Judge said Monday that it'll be a "slow buildup" for RB Saquon Barkley (knee) in his return to practice. He'll be limited to individual drills to start. No surprise there. Judge also reiterated that Barkley's status for the start of the season remains uncertain. We'll closely track his progress over the next month.
The Athletic's Paul Dehner lists WR Ja'Marr Chase as 1 of the fallers of the first couple of weeks of Bengals training camp. "His skill set is that unique. You see flashes of that early, but you also see somebody tentatively getting used to a new offense, new league and not playing football since January 2020," Dehner writes. "He has endured a string of drops, on short and long passes, with another coming Sunday. He has not shown as much separation as you’d hope, and the contested balls haven’t gone his way much, either." It's not a major surprise that Chase is off to a slow start after opting out of the 2020 season -- but it is at least part of the reason that we have him as overvalued at his 4th- or 5th-round price tag.
A source tells Saints beat writer Mike Triplett that K Wil Lutz “could miss a little time at the start of the season.” He’s dealing with a groin injury. Given New Orleans’ questions on offense, Lutz is now an easy fade on draft day.
Update: Ian Rapoport tweeted that Lutz will "be evaluated for a potential core muscle surgery." If Lutz undergoes surgery, he'll be a lock to miss regular season games.
The Falcons signed RB D'Onta Foreman. The 89th pick of the 2017 draft was a promising prospect but hasn't done much since tearing his Achilles in November of his rookie season. He carried 22 times for 95 yards as a backup in Tennessee last year. We'll keep an eye on Foreman in a relatively wide-open depth chart in Atlanta, but he's a long shot for fantasy value.
Giants RB Saquon Barkley (knee) is expected to be activated from the PUP list and return to practice this week, insider Zack Rosenblatt reports. Barkley is now about 10.5 months removed from his multi-ligament knee injury and about 9.5 months removed from surgery. The Giants have taken a cautious approach bringing him back -- an approach that could continue into the season. ESPN's Jordan Raanan reported back in May that Barkley's workload could be limited early on. And NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said just a few days ago that Barkley might miss the first 2 games altogether. We'll see how he fares in practice over the next month.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry suffered a shoulder injury in Sunday's practice, ESPN's Mike Reiss reports. The injury isn't believed to be serious, but more will be known after Henry gets an MRI. "The injury is painful and Henry could miss time in the preseason," Reiss adds. We'll keep you updated on Henry's status.
49ers WR Deebo Samuel has had a healthy offseason and is in "great shape," according to The Athletic's David Lombardi. "It’s been the talk of camp around the 49ers’ building," Lombardi adds. "He’s lighter, faster and has already expressed eagerness to run more deep routes." Durability has been a problem for Samuel dating back to his South Carolina days. But he's been productive when healthy through 2 NFL seasons. Barring injury, he'll likely finish closer in fantasy points to WR Brandon Aiyuk than current ADP suggests.
Washington HC Ron Rivera said Sunday that there's no timetable for WR Curtis Samuel's return. Samuel opened camp on the PUP list due to a groin injury and then landed on the COVID list. Rivera did note that Samuel knows Washington's offense after playing under OC Scott Turner in Carolina in 2019 -- but he's never played with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. "Yeah, you'd love for him to catch a few reps maybe in the last preseason game, but we're not going to rush him out there," Rivera said. We'll see when Samuel is able to get on the field, but he's a candidate to get off to a slow start this season.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (shoulder) has resumed some "light throwing," HC Mike McCarthy said Saturday. McCarthy would not give a timetable for Prescott's return to practice. "We'll see how his progression goes," McCarthy said. "He's doing some things as far as throwing and everything is on a rep count." Prescott is reportedly on track to be ready for Week 1, but it'd be nice to see him get back on the field soon.
Jaguars WR D.J. Chark had surgery to repair a "minor" break in his hand, HC Urban Meyer announced. Meyer expects Chark to be ready for the start of the season. We'll see when he's able to get back on the field. But Chark will now miss valuable practice reps in a new offense and with a new QB. We nudged him down the WR rankings -- and nudged Marvin Jones up.
The Colts have agreed to a 5-year extension with LB Darius Leonard, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The contract will be worth $99.25 million in total, with $52.5 million guaranteed. We didn't need affirmation that Leonard belongs atop the hill at LB, but it's good to know his situation won't be changing for a while.
ESPN's Rich Cimini reports that LB Jarrad Davis has been calling the defensive plays in the huddle at practice lately. "Obviously, it could change," Cimini notes. But it this holds, then it would signal a near full-time role for Davis. We wouldn't bet on him playing more than C.J. Mosley -- who beats Davis significantly in both talent and salary -- but that looks like the Jets' lead duo at the position. And defenses across the league lean more on alignments with 2 or even 1 off-ball LB. Davis carries late-sleeper potential for your IDP draft.
ESPN's Mike Reiss says that through their 1st 2 padded practices, the Patriots' offense looks like it's "running two separate attacks" with its top 2 QBs. Cam Newton's version obviously features plenty of read-option, while rookie Mac Jones "looks like he's running the more traditional Patriots passing offense." Pat Kirwan of Sirius XM -- and a former NFL scout and front-office man -- adds: "He's more what Josh [McDaniels] wants to do, and how he's done it in the past. ... I wouldn't be surprised if by October we see [him] under center." According to Reiss, this all followed arguably Jones' best day of camp, and a pair of days in which he garnered significantly more reps than Newton. The rookie beginning to work his way past the vet -- whom Bill Belichick has called the starter -- doesn't make Jones attractive as a fantasy option. But the switch would certainly add upside to Patriots receiving options. Jones would also likely be better for RB Damien Harris' goal-line outlook.
Update: We should note here that Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes, "Anyone watching practice can tell Newton is the clear, unequivocal starter." Volin adds that Newton leads off every drill and that many of Jones' reps come with backups, rookies and scout-team players. We'll see where this situation goes.
According to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, Patriots TE Jonnu Smith is “on the short list of top-performing Patriots through 10 days of training camp.” Smith has bought into a versatile role with the Pats. “I’m just excited to be able to use my ability to its fullest potential. Even touch some areas where maybe I do some things I’ve never done before,” he said. "Kind of scratch the surface here and see what lies beneath.” Smith’s ability to play multiple spots makes the addition of Hunter Henry less worrisome. The former Titan is currently being drafted at a very fair TE15 in FFPC best balls.
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