NFL Player News

Ford was thrust into the lead role after Nick Chubb went down with a catastrophic knee injury early in the second quarter. He did not disappoint with the opportunity, amassing 131 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in the featured role. The highlight of his evening came on a 69-yard eruption down the sideline after it looked like he would be tackled behind the line of scrimmage, falling just short of his second touchdown of the game. Pierre Strong would take it in for an easy score two plays later. It remains to be seen how the Browns will choose to address their backfield with Chubb very likely to be done for the season, but it appears to be in good hands if they choose to stand pat with Ford as the featured back.

James has just one catch on the season, but has served as the Chiefs’ primary return man. With two-straight missed practices to open the week, it’s possible will need to replace James in the return game, and Kadarius Toney (toe) in the receiving game, as both are dealing with injuries. Skyy Moore or Justin Watson could be in line to fill in as return men, while Moore may see an uptick in the passing game if both receivers miss Week 3.

Toney and Richie James (knee) have both missed the first two practices to open the week, and are trending toward missing Week 3 against the Bears. If both receivers are sidelined, fellow receiver Skyy Moore could be in line for a high-volume day against one of the worst defenses in the league. Toney’s 2023 has gotten off to a rough start. The veteran receiver has already battled multiple injuries, and has just six catches for 36 yards through two games

Martin did not practice on Wednesday but was back on the field for a limited session on Thursday. The veteran lineman suffered an ankle injury in the second-half of Sunday’s Week 2 win over the Jets, and would be a tremendous loss for the Cowboys if he’s unable to go in Week 3. His status could be one to monitor up until game day.

Cooks is dealing with a sprained MCL that he suffered in the Cowboys’ Week 1 opener, and was sidelined for Week 2 against the Jets. However, that may be the only game Cooks misses because of the injury, as he’s now logged back-to-back practices. Cooks will have some FLEX appeal for his Week 3 matchup against the Cardinals if he’s able to suit up.

Knox has missed each of the Bills’ first two practices and is at risk of missing Week 3’s matchup against the Commanders if he’s unable to practice on Friday. If he’s unable to go, that could spell a big day for rookie Dalton Kincaid, who has caught 9 passes for 69 yards in his first two games while running 55.6 percent of his routes from the slot. Kincaid projects as a fringe TE1 if Knox is unable to go.

That makes two-straight practices for Tunsil, who missed Week 2’s matchup against the Colts with his knee injury. He’s trending on the right side of playing this weekend against the Jaguars, much to the delight of rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, who has been pressured a league-high 44 times through two weeks.

We don’t know if this was in a limited or full capacity, but Stroud being on the field for back-to-back days to start the week is a good sign. The rookie quarterback said earlier in the week that he feels “almost 100 percent” after being a late addition to last week’s practice report, so we’d assume he’ll be ready to go in Week 3 against the Jaguars. His 91 pass attempts through two weeks could make him a volume-based streaming option in a game that figures to feature a negative game script for the Texans.

Young has now missed two-straight practices to open the week and is at serious of missing the Panthers’ Week 3 matchup against the Seahawks. Young played throughout the duration of the Panthers’ Week 2 loss against the Saints on Monday night, making his ankle injury and the potential severity of it a bit surprising. Assuming Young is unable to go, the Panthers will look to Andy Dalton in a spot start. He’d be going up against a Seahawks defense that’s allowed the third-most passing yards, but the Panthers offense has also struggled to move the ball through the air as well. There are probably better options than Dalton in 1QB leagues, but he could have some 2QB/superflex appeal.

Ekeler missed all of practiced last week and was sidelined again to start this week. On his podcast, Ekeler said his injury is a “day-to-day, week to week type of situation,” and that he hopes to be back “sooner than later.” It’s not exactly an optimistic quote from Ekeler as far as his Week 3 status is concerned, but it doesn’t sound like he plans on missing much more time. The Chargers didn’t place Ekeler on injured reserve, which is a signal the team expects him back in no more than four weeks. We’ll see if he gets on the field before the weekend, but if he doesn’t, Joshua Kelley will be the lead back against the Vikings.

Maybe the Vikings haven’t lost confidence in Mattison, but it’s hard to imagine they love what they’ve seen so far. Through two games, the Vikings rank dead last in EPA per rush (-0.596) and Mattison has a mere 19 rushes for 61 yards (3.2 YPC) to show for his efforts. He’s also just one of two running backs (min. 15 attempts) to fail to record a missed tackle forced per PFF. The Vikings gave up nothing to acquire Akers, swapping future 2026 sixth-round picks with the Rams to get the deal done. Despite Phillips’ comments, it’s possible Akers gets every chance to takeover as the Vikes’ RB1, as Mattison has done little to prove he should remain in the role.