NFL Player News

Reporters asked Canales about Panthers players who began the season on injury-related reserve lists, including Brooks, LB D.J. Wonnum, CB Dane Jackson and LB Amaré Barno. Canales responded, “We’re ramping them up... Some last couple of hurdles for them to clear before we feel like we can put them out there in practice. But they’re all really close.” Should Brooks return in Week 5, he would be roughly 10 months removed since undergoing ACL reconstruction.

LaFleur elaborated that Kraft will have to hit all his benchmarks to get there, but that it’s squarely in play is great news for Kraft’s chances of being available for Week 1. We’d still expect him to be eased into camp practices, but this is trending in the right direction.

He was joined by James Robinson (remember him?) and former Seahawk Kenny McIntosh. The Raiders previously brought in Najee Harris for a visit earlier in the offseason, so it’s clear they want an element in their room they don’t have yet behind Ashton Jeanty and third-round pick Mike Washington Jr. Ogunbowale would seem to be a good fit as a passing-down back.

Gardner-Johnson was carted off with a scary-looking injury that appeared to be near his Achilles. It looks as if he’s avoided the worst-case scenario, though we still wouldn’t be surprised if he missed a lot of time. The team should have further updates soon.

It’s very early in training camp and we aren’t really concerned at this point, but it is a bit alarming that Monangai’s injury has kept him out this many practices in a row. Cronin points out that Monangai is the only player not practicing who isn’t on the PUP or NFI lists. We’ll keep an eye on this one.

Bates strained his hamstring in practice on Thursday. The veteran blocking tight end’s absence likely won’t change much as long as it doesn’t linger into the season. Ben Sinnott will likely get more opportunities in training camp.

Jim Harbaugh declined to answer when asked if Tuipulotu is holding in, saying only that it’s being “handled internally.” So, yeah, he’s almost undoubtedly holding in. Tuipulotu is coming off a career-high 13 sacks in 2025 and will be a free agent after the season, so it would behoove the Chargers to get something done here.

That could be very interesting news for James Cook’s value in PPR leagues. Cook caught 33 passes last year and has broken 40 catches once in four seasons. Ty Johnson has been the team’s third-down back for most of the last two years when healthy, but probably won’t get enough receptions for this to make him more fantasy-interesting.

In other words, he actually practiced on Saturday for the first time. Jacas missed the entire offseason activity program with a knee injury that prompted the Patriots to attach a waiver to his rookie contract. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports that Jacas was not yet participating in team drills. He’ll likely start the year buried on the depth chart barring some major steps in the next few weeks.

It’s hard to put too much stock into practice stats, but if there’s one thing coaching staffs won’t tolerate from the quarterback position it’s turnovers. “It’s multiple -- they’re doing all types of different stuff, showing us different things,” Watson said of Cleveland’s defense. Watson and Shedeur Sanders remain in competition for the No. 1 quarterback job at this point, though it certainly seems like Sanders (who has been picked once per Oyefusi) is off to a better start.

Taylor, who had been a rumored hold-in, has actually participated in camp — though he did take a rest day on Friday — and Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon said she would love it if Taylor “would be a Colt for life.” It seems like there’s positive momentum on an extension here, though it isn’t done just yet. Taylor is currently going off draft boards as RB4 and a top-10 pick.