NFL Player News

Love will enter a crowded backfield alongside trusted veteran James Conner and free agent signing Tyler Allgeier. Love’s draft capital and his standout ability will give him a good shot at taking on lead back duties to start the 2026 season, though Allgeier and Conner will be involved. Love will be running behind one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines. A two-year starter for the Fighting Irish, 21-year-old (in May) Love (6’0/212) was without peer in this year’s running back draft class. Totaling 40 touchdowns in 28 games over the past two seasons, Love’s explosiveness is unmatched. His 52.9 percent breakaway rate in 2025 ranked No. 1 in the power four conferences, while his average 4.50 yards after contact trailed only one player nationally. Those fancy stats underscore a rare blend of vision, burst and contact balance. Although Love is indeed a home run hitter, he’s also a complete offensive weapon. His final year in South Bend saw him add to his ground statistics with 27 receptions for 280 yards and three scores, posting a superb 1.83 yards per route run. It was production that stressed linebackers in space. Love’s overall elusiveness spike from 2024 to 2025 reflects a runner who not only dodges the first hit but finishes with authority, combining lateral twitch with downhill violence.

The Saints will be without their gadget wide receiver and return specialist. His absence should allow WR Bryce Lance to consolidate routes in the No. 3 wide receiver role, but Lance is only a 14-team dart throw. Hopefully, Brown is back at it next week.

We do not yet know today’s participation level, but Etienne logged two limited sessions to begin the week. Hopefully, we get a report pre-game revealing the injury’s severity, so we can better assess his potential usage. Given the Saints’ prior backfield workload splits and Etienne’s soft-tissue strain, he should probably be viewed as a low-end RB2/FLEX starter right now.

He practiced in full all week and will return to his third-down role against the Chargers.

He didn’t practice at any point this week and should be regarded as questionable for Week 4 at this time. Thompson played just 22 snaps in LA’s first two games, so his absence won’t necessarily free up more snaps for anyone else.

Rashawn Slater (groin) and Cole Strange (pectoral) were removed from the injury report on Friday. The end result of these moves will likely be Trevor Penning starting at guard. Nobody ever said life was easy for Justin Herbert.

He practiced in full all week and will presumably be more involved than he was in Week 2, when he was on a snap count. McConkey can be started as a mid-range WR2 despite Los Angeles’ struggles so far against a Bills defense that has allowed 30 points in each of their first two games.

Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer maintained the beat’s skepticism of Flowers’ availability for Week 3’s game in Rio by saying it “still seems unlikely” he’ll play. At the very least, Flowers’ appearance is probably a good sign for his chance for Week 4. We’ll grab a fresh update once the Ravens drop statuses; it seems likely Flowers will not be better than questionable.

Nacua will not practice today, either. The bad news comes straight from Rams coach Sean McVay. With Nacua sidelined, WR Davante Adams must be treated as a fantasy football WR1 and TE Terrance Ferguson can be expected to operate as the team’s No. 2 pass catcher. He is a worthwhile TE1 starter.

Oliver was a surprise scratch in last week’s game against the Lions after suffering an injury in pre-game warmups. It was reported on Sunday that Oliver was day-to-day with “a chance” to play against the Chargers. After being limited in back-to-back practice to close out the week, it’s fair to assume he’ll have a chance to suit up on Sunday barring any setbacks.

Coleman didn’t practice on either Wednesday or Thursday, but made some movement on Friday by showing up to a practice even if media reporters weren’t truly sure if he was giving a lot of effort. Josh Palmer would be a reasonable FLEX play if Coleman were ruled out.