NFL Player News

Davis is at odds with the team over how to handle his injury, but this sounds like a slap on the wrist for trying to fight Brandon Marshall, who reportedly “talked trash and crossed the line.” Merling has fallen down the depth chart and already missed a game for disciplinary reasons. Davis still isn’t anywhere near 100 percent, and if he can’t return before the season’s end the Dolphins’ No. 27 pass defense will attempt to become the league’s worst.

Cooper entered the game on the Jets’ second drive, after the established starters called it a night. The usage meant Cooper played behind WR Isaiah Williams, who played 7-of-11 snaps on the first drive. Cooper continued playing through the Jets’ sixth drive. According to Rotoworld’s own Kyle Dvorchak, the last non-quarterback first-round rookie to play that late is former Titans WR Treylon Burks, back in his 2022 rookie season. This does not bode well for Cooper’s early-season usage.

The Buccaneers rested their established starters, which takes a little shine off of Hurst’s start. Regardless, he led the team in targets through three drives and nearly hauled in a deep target after helpfully getting open during a scramble drill. The third-round rookie appeared to slip while diving for the catch, and he was unable to fully secure the pass before he and the ball hit the ground. Still, it was a decent start for him. He remains a worthwhile late-round dart throw.

Allen stole one snap from starting RB Breece Hall on the first drive. Allen then stayed on the field for all of the second drive, breaking off a beautiful 31-yard touchdown run to put the Jets up 10-0 at the end of it. On his scoring play, Allen broke left at the snap before cutting it back and exploding through the line between the right guard and right tackle. It was a foot race to the end zone after that. The performance should solidify his grip on the RB2 role.

Douglas is worth a late-round pick. Dolphins QB Malik Willis attempted five passes tonight, sending two his way. Both of Douglas’ targets were downfield throws. Douglas erred on the first. After managing to get wide open, running toward the right sideline, the rookie wide receiver experienced a blip in his spatial awareness and ended up securing the pass while stepping out of bounds. Willis gave him another chance on a vertical route from the slot, firing a long ball to the lanky receiver downfield. Willis fought contact with his right hand while high-pointing the pass with his left, and critically retained possession as he landed hard on his back. The third-round rookie looks good.

Willis’ lone incompletion was not his fault. His intended receiver stepped out of bounds during the catch. The Dolphins’ new quarterback was not afraid to push the ball downfield and scrambled twice in Commanders territory. One carry occurred in the green zone, and Willis managed to break an attempted horse-collar tackle before being pushed out of bounds at the four-yard line. Willis won’t fool you into thinking he is an elite quarterback, but his dual-threat profile should yield QB1 spiked weeks this season.

Spring and summer reports indicated that the Dolphins’ new coaching staff wanted to operate a run-heavy offense. Those reports weren’t lying. Achane took run after run up the middle until he punched one in from one yard out. Questions remain as to how efficient this offense might be, but Achane is seemingly set to handle a large workload again this season. Backup RB Jaylen Wright was the RB2 tonight, taking his first carry for 13 yards up the middle.

Coleman took a few snaps with tonight’s starters after replacing RB RJ Harvey on the second drive. Coleman picked up two first downs on the ground, barreling through contact on both plays. He earned one target as a receiver out of the backfield and took it for a five-yard gain. Unfortunately, the play was erased by a penalty, but it was good to see him get involved through the air regardless. Coleman looks like a capable player. He is worth speculatively stashing on fantasy benches at this time.

The report comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Bisontis is expected to miss most of the season and could end up missing all of it. Rapoport ambiguously adds that “only the MCL will be repaired,” leaving room for interpretation as to whether Bisontis’ knee took more damage in the injury. This is a very unfortunate situation for the second-round rookie. Hopefully, he makes a complete recovery and returns to form without issue.

Mariota appeared to injure his knee when he turned to hand the ball off to his running back, and immediately started limping. He was seemingly patting his right knee while sitting on the field, talking to trainers after the play. He was able to leave the field under his own power, but we do not expect him to return. He was replaced by QB Sam Hartman.

Coen discussed both RB Bhayshul Tuten and RB Chris Rodriguez during his presser. Regarding Tuten, Coen said the second-year back has shown that he has “bought in” over the past year, and complimented his ability to take “hard coaching” while noting his 4.28-second 40 speed. Coen adds that Tuten has to continue working on making his reads and not overthinking things. Regarding Rodriguez, Coen complimented his recent downhill running and blitz pickups. Coen loves consistency at the running back position. This looks like it will be a committee to start the year. That said, if one player separates, things can change quickly. Tuten remains the high-upside pick, although Rodriguez can be productive in his own right.