NFL Player News

Jacobs, who played last week on a pitch count, aggravated his knee injury against the Broncos in Week 15’s loss. “He’s battling through,” LaFleur told reporters. “This guy is as tough as they come. So I’ll never count him out of the fight, I’ll tell you that.” We’d expect another week of Jacobs playing through the injury on Saturday in a huge game against the Bears for the top of the NFC North. Emanuel Wilson would certainly be a playable fantasy football starter in Week 16 if it came to that.

While the team has yet to decide when Waller will make his 2026 debut, Waller said his readiness for the upcoming season is “night and day from last year to this year.” Last season, Waller was returning from retirement and needed a lot of time to ramp up. Now, it sounds like Waller could be in a position to at least be ready for the start of the season for a Panthers team that’s in need of help at the tight end position. While his days as a weekly TE1 are well behind him, Waller could have some upside as a matchup-based streamer once we get a better sense of his role in the offense.

Waddle missed an extended amount of time due to what was being classified as a muscle strain by head coach Sean Payton. The veteran receiver officially returned to the practice field on Monday, with Payton saying after practice that Waddle was “coming along really well.” We’ll see how things go for Waddle in the coming days, but hopefully this issue is behind him. Waddle is expected to play a big role in the Broncos’ passing game this season and profiles as a solid WR2.

It was a big day for Nabers, as the star receiver participated in 11-on-11s for the first time since suffering a torn ACL last season. While he may not be up to full-speed just yet, it has been a positive summer for Nabers overall. He managed to avoid the PUP list to open camp and has not suffered any setbacks since then. He’s still sporting the red non-contact jersey, but all signs continue to point to Nabers being ready for Week 1 if he continues on his current trajectory.

The Jaguars didn’t play any starters in last week’s preseason game against the Saints, but Coen said that because they couldn’t do a padded practice on Monday with the Panthers, he may consider playing his starters a bit on Friday in order to get some “good (players) on good (players)” facing one another. If the Jaguars do play their starters this week, it will be their only taste of preseason action, as Coen has already said he won’t be playing them in the third preseason game.

Nacua suffered a groin injury nearly a week ago and is still dealing with soreness. McVay said last week that he expects Nacua to return sometime this week, but the starting receiver was not on the field during Monday’s practice. McVay didn’t say which day he expects Nacua to be back, noting that the team prefers to “err on the side of caution” with soft-tissue injuries.

This comes just days after it was reported that the Buccaneers “are very optimistic” about Egbuka’s Week 1 availability. The second-year receiver has been dealing with a sprained toe that he suffered on Wednesday and hasn’t practiced since. The Buccaneers are 27 days away from their Week 1 game against the Bengals, which will hopefully give Egbuka plenty of time to heal up. Egbuka profiles as a solid WR2 for this season with Mike Evans now with the 49ers.

TreVeyon Henderson’s involvement in the offense could hinge heavily on his pass-protection performance, but Graff believes that if Henderson can hold up in those situations, he and Rhamondre Stevenson are looking at a 50-50 split. In his article over at The Athletic, Graff says the Patriots “want to take advantage of Henderson’s big-play ability, but they believe in Stevenson a bit more to get what’s blocked.” Henderson and Stevenson should both see plenty of work to have standalone fantasy value, but they could prove frustrating to roster in start/sit leagues if their roles become difficult to predict on a week-to-week basis.

Davenport reunites with current Bears DC and former Saints HC Dennis Allen. The 29-year-old vet spent the last two seasons with the Lions but appeared in only 10 games due to injuries. He totaled seven QB pressures and one sack last season and will likely work as a situational pass rusher this season for the Bears.

It’s hard to imagine Williams having a fantasy-relevant role given the fact that the Patriots went out and added A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs this offseason, but Graff believes the second-year receiver will have some sort of role in the offense this season. As a rookie, Williams caught 10 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns, and he went for 2-37-1 on three targets in last week’s preseason game against the Colts. Williams’ role in the offense could be worth monitoring in-season, but there’s no reason to rush to add him to your draft day plans.

Love is currently dealing with a sprained ankle he suffered in the preseason against the Raiders. Weinfuss said that, based on how he has seen Love used in training camp, Love might be used more as a feature back in “unique situations,” while also noting that Tyler Allgeier was signed to “be that short-yardage, bruising type of back.” This certainly isn’t what fantasy managers who invested third-round draft capital in Love want to hear. It also comes as a bit of a surprise given the 14 touches Love saw in Thursday’s preseason game. While it wouldn’t be surprising to see Allgeier vulture a few goal-line touchdowns, we would still expect Love to lead this backfield in touches by a wide margin while adding plenty of value in the passing game. Fantasy managers shouldn’t balk at whatever ADP slide he might see to his injury, as it could present a nice opportunity to scoop up the talented rookie at a discount price.