NFL Player News

This was expected to be the case, but Moore confirmed it at his introductory press conference on Thursday. The first-time head coach made a name for himself as an offensive play-caller and is fresh off leading the Eagles’ offense to 33 points in the team’s Super Bowl win over the Chiefs. Moore and the Eagles leaned heavily into the ground game last season, but during his 2023 campaign with the Chargers and his four-year run with the Cowboys (2019-2022), his offenses were ranked in the top-15 in early-down pass rate. How Moore decides to run his offense with the Saints could depend on how their off-season goes. While Alvin Kamara isn’t getting any younger, it’s hard to imagine any coach trusting Derek Carr to lead a high-volume passing attack.

According to Moore, this is not related to the previous hamstring injuries Tyson has dealt with, and the team is gathering more information before determining a recovery timeline. Moore also said the possibility of Tyson missing Week 1 can’t be ruled out. It’s not exactly encouraging news, but we’re holding out hope that, at worst, this is a short-term absence for Tyson, whose pre-draft process was hampered by hamstring injuries. Tyson profiles as a decent WR3 play in fantasy if/when he is on the field this season.

Thornton has missed nearly a whole week of practice, paving the way for Jack Bech and rookie Malik Benson to see more reps. Kubiak said Thornton has “been banged up a little bit” this training camp, but did not go into further detail on his situation. Thornton caught 10 passes for 135 scoreless yards last season after generating plenty of camp hype. He is not on the fantasy radar at this time.

Kubiak didn’t come right out and say Mendoza could see more first-team reps, but it feels like things are trending that way. His response came after he was asked if Mendoza specifically deserved more first-team reps after a nice outing in his first taste of preseason action, to which Kubiak said the team will put together a plan to ensure all three QBs get first-team reps, which feels somewhat evasive and unrealistic, given that we know career backup Aidan O’Connell isn’t contending for a starting job in camp. Kubiak went on record after Thursday’s game, saying that the battle for QB1 remains Kirk Cousins’ to lose. It wouldn’t be surprising if Mendoza did see more first-team reps in the coming days, but we would be surprised if O’Connell began working in with the first team. That said, it will be worth monitoring Mendoza’s first-team reps going forward, as he could still push Cousins for the starting role before Week 1.

LaFleur said Beck would have been well enough to throw if it were seven-on-seven drills, adding that the team “didn’t want to risk it” when it came to starting the rookie in Thursday’s preseason game. Beck already has some preseason experience under his belt. He threw for 188 yards and a touchdown in the Hall of Fame Game last week against the Panthers and will hopefully have a chance to suit up in next week’s preseason game against the Cowboys on Saturday.

Cousins played on just one drive in Thursday’s loss. He went 5-for-6 on his pass attempts and capped his lone drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Michael Mayer. Rookie Fernando Mendoza, who looked sharp at times in his debut, is still positioned to open the season as Cousins’ backup, as Kubiak reasserted his decision to open the year with Cousins as the starter as of right now. Cousins has worked primarily with the starters in training camp and has received mostly good reports. It seems highly unlikely he would lose the starting job before Week 1’s game against the Dolphins.

Richardson’s interception came on a play in which the ball bounced off his receiver’s hands and into a defender’s arms. The former No. 4 overall pick was mostly solid on Thursday, making quick and decisive throws to his receivers while going a perfect 6-for-6 on pass attempts of 10-plus air yards. Richardson also lost a fumble on a 10-yard scramble in the second quarter, but made up for it later on a one-yard touchdown run on a QB sneak. His days as a Colt are likely numbered. Richardson stringing together a nice preseason could draw the interest of several QB-needy teams before the start of the season and position him to eventually see the field sometime in 2026.

The rookie fourth-rounder wound up leading the Raiders in both rush attempts and rushing yards on Thursday, with his most notable run coming on a 53-yard burst that saw him evade multiple defenders on the play. Washington is competing for the Raiders’ RB2 spot behind Ashton Jeanty and should have the inside edge over third-year back Dylan Laube, who totaled 11 yards on five carries in Thursday’s loss.

Two of Bech’s three receptions came with Fernando Mendoza under center. Mendoza threaded the needle twice to get the ball to the second-year receiver, with his first target to Bech resulting in a nine-yard gain to convert a third-and-eight. Mendoza would later find Bech for a short six-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders their second touchdown of the night. Bech spent a significant amount of time playing with the backups, and his 20 snaps led all Raiders receivers on Thursday. Bech looked solid in this one and could be in line for a more meaningful role after a disappointing rookie year that saw him catch 20 passes for 224 scoreless yards.

The No. 34 overall pick and projected starter appeared to be in a heap of pain upon going down in the third quarter. It’s a potentially brutal break for this woebegone franchise, though Friday’s testing could come back less severe than expected. If Bisontis is looking at a multi-month or season-ending absence it will likely force the Cardinals to dip into the free agent or back-end trade market.

Cam Ward played three series, but Tate was most active on the opening drive, playing 10-of-11 snaps (via NFL Network’s Michael F. Florio). The goose egg looks disappointing, of course, but it is utterly inconsequential. Slightly more concerning has been a hype-free start to Titans camp for the No. 4 overall pick, though he has been lauded for a few highlight plays of late. Emphasis on “a few,” we guess. It’s hard to muster too much concern, but then again, this was always likely to be a bumpy road for the Titans’ revamped offense this season. Tate is a WR3/4 with plenty of upside but “slow start” risk to match.