Vita Vea ‘out’ with ‘back injury’

Taylor published his story on Saturday morning. Allen suffered a bone bruise in his shin a few hours later. The Chiefs’ first padded practice takes place on Monday. If Allen is ready to go, he will huddle up alongside QB Patrick Mahomes. If not, we expect the team to hold his seat until he’s ready. Per Taylor, Allen entered camp competing against Nikko Remigio and Jalen Royals for the WR4 role. Taylor states Allen has already surpassed both players, and his performance “has the Chiefs dreaming and recalculating what he could be in the NFL.” Taylor highlights Allen’s performance against man coverage and his crossing route running before noting that Chiefs receivers struggled in both departments last year. If Allen can heal up and continue making plays when pads go on, he seemingly has a chance to earn a role in the Chiefs’ offense. Stay tuned.

PFF charts the Patriots’ use of tempo at just 2.4 percent last season, tying for dead last in the NFL. The league average was 6.27 percent and the Saints led the league at 19.2 percent. The Patriots averaged 64.6 offensive plays per game, just 0.28 above average. Playing faster leads to more plays, and more plays lead to more opportunities to score fantasy points. Hopefully, McDaniels’ preseason play-calling confirms his intended offensive change is being implemented.

Mason stands 5'11 and his weight is variously listed between 223-230 source-to-source. He hits the latter figure on the Vikings’ website. That’s fairly hefty for a running back. The Vikings’ starter, RB Aaron Jones, is 31 years old and took a pay cut to stay with the team this offseason. Mason, 27, might have a chance to challenge for the primary rushing role this year, though Jones will likely remain the primary player on passing downs.

We know this is getting into the weeds, and we apologize to the editor, but it is worth noting. Reed’s weekly range of outcomes will be somewhat dependent on his access to heavy personnel packages. Through three NFL seasons, Reed has taken just 31 snaps in 12 personnel, so even a mild increase would boost his target-earning opportunities. Packers QB Jordan Love confirmed that second-year WR Matthew Golden is replacing WR Romeo Doubs as the X-receiver when speaking with the media today, so Golden and Watson (Z-receiver) will likely take the majority of 12 personnel reps this season. Hopefully, Reed can at least send Golden to the sideline for a decent share of those opportunities, though.

This is unfortunate. Snowden was an effective rotational pass rusher for the Raiders last season. The Cowboys signed him in June. He was suspended for three games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy in July. The Cowboys put an injury designation on his release. Perhaps he will be brought back at some point. They correspondingly signed OT Sebastian Gutierrez.

Phew. Nolen suffered a surgery-worthy meniscus injury in his left knee last season, ending his rookie campaign prematurely. Nolen left practice early last Friday and appeared to be in considerable pain, indicating to team trainers that something was wrong with his left knee. Apparently, this is more so a mental hurdle than anything else. Speaking to the media before practice, LaFleur explained that sometimes when a player is returning from a serious injury, discomfort can, understandably, cause a scare. The Cardinals’ promising youngster will take the practice field with his teammates this afternoon.

Per Popper, the Chargers really like Mitchell’s ability to “press the edge and get explosives to the outside.” That said, Popper believes Vidal will “give Mitchell a push” for the role. He also believes that both players will make the final roster, regardless. If this is how the depth chart shakes out, one wonders whether Vidal could sneak onto the field in certain passing situations, potentially reducing Mitchell’s standalone viability. Mitchell was seen working in the passing game last week, though, so it is too early to tell.

McVay adds that there is “nothing to worry about,” although Garrett will also miss his fourth consecutive practice on Monday. McVay expects Garrett to resume practicing in time for the Rams’ next practice block. They have a scheduled day off on Tuesday, before returning for a two-day slate on Wednesday and Thursday, which are the last two training camp practices that Rams fans can purchase tickets to. We should have an update by Wednesday at the latest. ESPN’s Sarah Barshop later quoted McVay as saying Garrett has “had checkups” and that his expected four-day absence is about keeping him as fresh as possible for Week 1 against the 49ers, five weeks from now. Hopefully, they are just being overly cautious and there really is no issue here.

Jenkins intercepted one pass and totaled 27 solo tackles and one TFL last year. The Steelers correspondingly released S Darnell Savage despite signing him in March.

Saunders notched one sack with the Jets late last year. The Titans also signed OL Laki Tasi, formerly of the Raiders, and waived S Hudson Clark, DE David Ebuka Agoha and DT Cam Horsley.