Vrabel: Patriots ‘confident’ in A.J. Brown’s knee

The second-year linebacker will be sidelined for the entirety of the 2026 campaign after suffering an ACL tear in training camp this week. Walker was carted off the practice field and later diagnosed with the torn ACL. The 15th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Walker last year had 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. His absence will be a blow to an otherwise solid Atlanta defense.

It will likely be a limited session for Dell, coming off a catastrophic 2024 knee injury that wiped out his entire 2025 campaign. Texans general manager Nick Caserio said in late July that Dell would be limited in practice for a few weeks as he works his way back from the career-threatening injury. Even if Dell avoids setbacks in the coming weeks, he’s a long shot to be anything more than Houston’s third or fourth pass-catching option to begin the season.

Rogers said Smith in a recent camp practice challenged the Jets secondary downfield enough to open up short-area opportunities for his pass catchers. “He wants to push the ball down the field to the WRs and hopefully that opens up the quick underneath throws,” Rogers said, adding that the Jets tight ends and rookie WR Omar Cooper were functioning as the main short-area pass catchers. Coming off a disastrous 2025 campaign in Vegas, Geno will look to bounce back with the Jets this season. During his run with the Seahawks, Geno was among the league’s most accurate passers.

Brown, according to Dehner, is “being used all over the formation, similar to the way Ja’Marr Chase has been deployed in recent years. Brown lines up in the slot and runs a slant one play, then takes a jet sweep the next. He’s part of 20 personnel with two running backs, motions into the backfield, behind a fullback and almost any other spot imaginable.” The Bengals are preparing to use motion at a much higher rate than they have during the Joe Burrow era, especially when Burrow is under center. It’s led to some early camp struggles, per Dehner. “We all got to prepare a little bit more, at least I do, a lot for the motions and playing F and wherever they are putting me takes a little extra study time because I haven’t really done that before,” Brown said. “It’s cool they trust me doing that and believe in my skill set enough. It’s been fun.” Dehner said the team’s “pre-snap eye candy and under-center emphasis have helped establish a refreshed run game” ahead of the 2026 season. Brown’s pass game involvement should give him every chance to be a top-5 back in PPR formats.

Johnson left practice early Tuesday to get treatment for an apparent strain. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said the 24-year-old wideout is dealing with a groin injury. The severity of the injury is unclear as Bowles said it’s too early to tell if any of the team’s top four wide receivers would miss next week’s joint practices with the Jets. Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan also missed practice out of maintenance and precaution. With Johnson and David Sills also exiting practice, rookie Ted Hurst saw a boost in practice reps.

Ertz tore his ACL in Week 14 last season with the Commanders. Schefter reports the 35-year-old is ready for football activities and was catching passes from Andrew Luck at Stanford on Tuesday. He caught 50 passes for 504 yards and four touchdowns last season, seeing at least 70 targets in each of the last two seasons with the Commanders. Ertz has expressed a desire to continue playing and Schefter reports the veteran is “expected to be ready to sign in mid-August.” His top-15 fantasy tight end days are behind him, but Ertz can certainly offer some help in the tight end landscape this season, pending his landing spot.

Fox Sports’ Greg Auman reported the three lead Buccaneers receivers got the day off Tuesday. For Godwin, it is a veteran maintenance day as he aims to open the season fully healthy; expect him to see more maintenance days heading into preseason. Egbuka and McMillan are dealing with lower-body soreness and were held out of practice out of precaution. Ultimately, no major injury concerns as the Bucs play it safe with their top three wideouts in training camp.

Wolfe said Browns head coach Todd Monken told him the team will start “one quarterback the first preseason game, the other one will start the second one, and most likely the leader of the competition is going to start the third.” It sounds like Monken is planning to give both Watson and Sanders a chance to compete and build chemistry in camp and preseason before determining a leader in the quarterback race. The Browns’ quarterback room is one of the few truly dead-even quarterback competitions occurring in camp and fantasy managers can stay tuned to preseason play to assess if Watson or Sanders has the edge to start Week 1.

Bonitto suffered a lower leg injury in drills Tuesday and did not return to practice. He limped off under his own power surrounded by the Broncos’ training staff. Payton said he had “no updates” on the 26-year-old pass rusher but that Bonitto will be “fine.” It is unclear how severe his injury is, but based on Payton’s response, it seems Bonitto will be fine in the long term and may only miss some camp time.

Witherspoon was placed on the reserve/retired list Tuesday, just a few months after initially signing with the Commanders. The 31-year-old entered the league with the 49ers as a 2017 third-rounder. Witherspoon tallied 60 passes defended and 13 interceptions over his career, spending four seasons in San Francisco, two with the Steelers, and the past three seasons with the Rams.