NFL Player News

The SEC coach, speaking to ESPN anonymously about the 2026 quarterback class, said he was surprised Simpson was the 13th player off the draft board but compared him favorably to Matthew Stafford, who will remain LA’s starter in 2026. “It’s a great fit for him from a system standpoint, and who he’s going to be behind for a year,” the SEC coach said. “There’s a lot of similarities [with Stafford]. [The pick] was the biggest [surprise], a guy who didn’t have a ton of starts, but when he played, he played well. His long game is going to be really good.” Not every college coach was bullish on Simpson’s NFL prospects. One SEC defensive coordinator said it was more difficult to prepare for Jalen Milroe than it was to get ready to face Simpson. “He’s not ready to go be a starter in the NFL right now, he’s got work to do,” the coordinator told ESPN.

He didn’t practice at any point this week after suffering a shoulder injury in Week 3. He has to be considered questionable for Week 5 at this point. ‘Bill’ Croskey-Merritt figures to shoulder the majority of the workload for the Commanders this week and is a reasonable FLEX play against the Colts. Freshly-signed Austin Ekeler figures to handle third-down work.

He was, grimly, a late add to the injury report on Friday with a hamstring issue. We’re sure will get more on this as the day goes on, but McLaurin-reliant managers should make sure to have a backup plan in place ahead of Sunday morning’s first European football game of the season.

Williams was never believed to have a real shot at playing, but the Bears officially ruled him out on Friday. Tyson Bagent has reportedly taken all of the first-team snaps in practice this week, but Ben Johnson may wait until kickoff to reveal who his starter will be on Sunday, with both Bagent and Case Keenum expected to be active. We’ll see if Williams’ status improves for Week 5’s game against the Packers.

Swift popped up as a DNP on Thursday’s injury report, but Johnson said his RB1 will practice on Friday. We’ll see where things go from here, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Swift drew a questionable designation entering the weekend. Swift has rushed 54 times for 253 yards and three touchdowns this season while also catching eight passes for 68 scoreless yards. If he is unable to play in Week 4, Kyle Monangai would be firmly on the fantasy radar as a strong RB2.

“The MRI revealed some good news,” per Rapoport, who added that the hope is these are not long-term injuries for the second-year lineman. While Graham does have two injuries he will need to work his way back from, it’s fair to say this is an encouraging sign after he was seen on crutches and sporting a knee brace after Week 4’s win over the Steelers. If Graham is placed on injured reserve, he would be required to miss at least the next four games. He has totaled 15 tackles, six TFLs, and four sacks thus far for the Browns in what is shaping up to be a breakout season for the former No. 5 overall pick.

Legette will miss a second straight game with his knee injury. He has caught just two passes for 64 yards on six targets this season and wouldn’t be on the fantasy radar even if he were active. In addition to Legette, the Panthers also ruled out OG Damien Lewis (elbow) for Week 4 against the Lions while OT Monroe Freeling (concussion), DT Lee Hunter (foot), and DT Cam Jackson (knee) were all listed as questionable.

After being a DNP on Wednesday, Coker logged back-to-back limited practices to close out the week. Coker played through an ankle injury in Weeks 2 and 3, and will likely play through his quad injury this week in a Sunday night matchup against the Lions. Hopefully we’ll get more clarity on his availability later in the weekend, but for now, we expect him to play. That said, managers would be wise to stash a Sunday/Monday night emergency option in the unlikely event Coker is ruled out when inactives are announced 90 minutes before kickoff.

Overshown will miss a third straight game with his hamstring injury, and has “a little ways to go” before returning to the field. Overshown was injured in the Cowboys’ Week 1 game against the Giants. We’ll see if he can get on the field for Week 5’s game against the Buccaneers, but with that game being on a Thursday night, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we learned Overshown would miss a fourth straight game.

Campbell didn’t say when he expects Branch to return, but said the fourth-year safety “looks really good” as he continues to recover from a torn Achilles he suffered in Week 14 last season. The Lions haven’t opened Branch’s 21-day window for return, which will be the first sign that he’s nearing a comeback. Branch totaled 75 tackles, five TFLs, and 2.5 sacks for the Lions in 12 games last season and will be a welcome addition to a secondary that has allowed the most passing yards in the league through the first three weeks.

We’re still waiting for the final injury report to drop, but Collins appears set to return in Week 4 after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury. Collins was listed as limited in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices and has been trending in the right direction all week. We’ll check back in when the Texans officially confirm Collins’ status ahead of the weekend.