Beat: Smith (hammy) might miss Week 7, DNP Fri.

When asked about Parsons’ chances of practicing next week, LaFleur said, “I sure hope so.” He followed that up with, “I’m saying there’s a chance.” Parsons opened the season on the PUP list after an ACL tear late last season. The Packers have a Thursday game for Week 8, leading to a mini-bye where Parsons’ door to practice is at least cracked open.

ESPN’s Rob Demovsky relayed LaFleur’s noncommittal response to questions on Golden’s status. LaFleur said the team hopes Golden plays, but the 23-year-old has been an estimated DNP for the first two practices of the week due to shoulder and foot injuries. With the Packers playing on a short week against the Panthers, Golden’s status will likely rely on the final practice report before a Week 8 Thursday showdown against Carolina.

It’s not the first time they’ve done so this season, so we’re not exactly sure that Demercado is done here. However he was a healthy scratch last night and the Cowboys are looking at activating some players off IR, so it’s possible if Demercado stays it’ll be as part of the practice squad.

He was deemed the best of a huge tryout with Ronnie Bell, Xavier Guillory, Jack Plummer and James Proche. Jones will work as a depth piece in Arizona, and for all you know that hasn’t always been the case.

Buckner exits the Colts the same day Quenton Nelson does. It’s a coup for a 49ers defense that has lacked some oomph in one-on-one situations on the defensive line. Buckner, who was with the 49ers early in his career before being traded to the Colts for a first-round pick, will run it back with his original team. The Colts simply weren’t in a position to ask much for the 32-year-old, as they were capped at receiving only a fifth-round compensatory pick for him due to his age. The 49ers are generating a pretty nice playoff-ready defense assuming (as is always the question in San Francisco) it can there healthy.

In other words, it wasn’t exactly an endorsement that Jaxson Dart is the franchise quarterback. Dart, out for the year with a meniscus repair, will enter the third year of his rookie contract as the likely favorite to start assuming Nine hasn’t just blossomed into a great quarterback overnight. But it sounds like the Giants are at least open to the idea that McCarthy could alter the calculus here.

It’s Tuesday, so we’re only 10 more Lamar updates from getting to the weekend. Rapoport believes according to people he’s spoken with that Jackson will play, and he is “believed to be as close to 100 percent as he has been.” Rapoport also noted that the Ravens weren’t “shocked” that Jackson didn’t play in Week 7, but with a Sunday and a Thursday coming up, wanted him ready for Week 8 and Week 9 badly.

This does not have us optimistic that Golden will play on Thursday night. If he’s sidelined, Savion Williams will be a candidate for more work on offense and perhaps a worthwhile FLEX streamer, while Tucker Kraft will likely ascend to the No. 2 role.

It was his last possible day to be reinstated in his 21-day window. The fact that Klint Kubiak spent much of Thornton’s 21-day window talking about how he had to go show us something makes us think Thornton will probably just be a depth piece for the time being. The Raiders waived Jonah Laulu to make room for Thornton.

He’ll miss at least the next four games. Taylor-Britt has played just 91 snaps for the Colts this year after coming over as a Lou Anarumo reclamation project. He has one sack, 13 tackles, and two passes defensed so far this year.