NFL Player News

Carson (5’117/199) is a physical man-coverage corner with a harassing demeanor at the line of scrimmage and jolting hands that jam opposing wideouts in press coverage. He has good field awareness, is consistently peaking in the backfield and isn’t afraid to lay the heavy hit on the ball carrier. Primarily lining up outside, 521 of his 650 reps this year were on the boundary, Carson possesses notable ball hawking tendencies, having swatted away seven or more pass breaks up the last three seasons. Despite grading in the 72nd percentile or higher in coverage each of his four years at Wake Forest, he only recorded three interceptions. He displays advanced straight line speed which allows him to give space pre-snap and close quickly, but he can get turned around at the top of routes. He didn’t test at the Combine, but Carson flashes educated footwork and can get in and out of breaks with haste. He will take some bad angles in run support, which accounts for his 68th percentile PFF run grade in 2023.

He’ll form a committee with RJ Harvey, who was also cleared for Week 3, against the Rams. Dobbins is a low-end RB2 at best in this role against a tough Los Angeles defense.

Darnold upgraded to full participation yesterday, so today’s news tracks. In an interview on the Rich Eisen Show earlier today, Seahawks WR Smith-Njigba basically let slip that Darnold would be back, but Eisen let him out of the situation with only a soft follow-up. Darnold can be started as a borderline QB1/2 against a fantasy-friendly Commanders defense in Week 3.

Fitzpatrick did not practice at all this week. Starting EDGE Joseph Ossai (foot) is questionable to play, though rookie EDGE David Bailey (elbow) is good to go. This looks like a potentially high-scoring game.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn said Mitchell got his finger caught in a jersey on Thursday, but he shared no further details. ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported that there is “some concern” regarding the injury, and Mitchell was seen practicing with some sort of all-encompassing wrap around his hand, index finger and middle finger. The speedy wide receiver is firmly in the questionable camp. If active, he must be viewed as a boom-bust WR3/FLEX, though this matchup against the Lions is very favorable.

Kahlil Benson draws another start. Simmons has not been spotted at practice since the regular season started.

It sure didn’t seem like he had great chemistry with Jameis Winston on Monday night, leaving Nabers feeling more like a mid-range WR2 than someone you’d really want to count on to carry you to victory in what will be a windy Week 3 game against the Titans. Still, he’s fully healthy and got in full practices in each of the last two days of the week to clear the injury report.

It feels like an aggressive questionable as Burns officially missed all three days of practice this week, but it’s likely a good sign for his availability for Week 4. Joining Burns as questionable are CB Deonte Banks (calf) and S Tyler Nubin (calf) as the Giants try to right the ship with Jameis Winston under center.

Stanley didn’t practice at any point this week and is clearly worse off than he was last week, when he at least made it to the questionable line. Carson Vinson replaced Stanley towards the end of Baltimore’s Week 2 loss to the Saints and would seem to be the fill-in.

Questionable with this ailment last week, Hendrickson played in Week 2 with a cast. It seems like that will be the plan going forward. Hendrickson got in a full session today. Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) was also not on the injury report and is slated to make his season debut in Week 3.

Ravens head coach Jesse Minter was vaguely optimistic about Flowers’ status when asked; Flowers returned in a limited session as the Ravens did a walkthrough. This will be one to monitor on Sunday, but Flowers is probably still on the pessimistic side of questionable at the moment.