Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga (ankle) is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Panthers.
Hufanga had a second consecutive limited practice on Friday after missing Wednesday’s session. Until Thursday, he had played or practiced since his injury in Week 5 against the Chargers.
Wide receiver Pat Bryant (ankle) is also listed as questionable, but he was listed as a full participant for the third consecutive day. Bryant had his 21-day return-to-practice window opened this week.
The Broncos will have to activate him from injured reserve on Saturday to make him eligible to play this week.
He has not played since Week 4 against the 49ers.
Outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman (hip) was added to the team’s practice report on Friday as a full participant. He is also questionable for the game.
Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine (ankle), safety Brandon Jones (hamstring) and defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike (shoulder) were all ruled out after they missed practice all week.
Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (chest) was a full participant Friday, and he did not receive a game status.
Panthers Clips
The Panthers ruled four players out for Sunday’s game against the Broncos.
The team will be without outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips (hamstring), left guard Damien Lewis (knee), linebacker Bobby Okereke (foot), and rookie cornerback Will Lee III (hamstring). None of those four starters practiced this week.
Complicating matters in the offensive line, offensive tackle Corey Bullock (quadriceps) and offensive guard Torricelli Simpkins III (ankle) are questionable, though both were full participants on Friday.
Otherwise, the only other player on the roster with an injury designation is offensive lineman Brady Christensen (hamstring).
Christensen’s 21-day return-to-practice window opened this week, but he has to be activated to the roster first.
The Broncos got a starting safety back on the practice field Thursday.
Talanoa Hufanga took part in practice as a limited participant. Hufanga has missed the last three games with an ankle injury and the Broncos will issue any injury designation for Sunday’s game against the Panthers on Friday.
Hufanga had 23 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, an interception return for a touchdown and a forced fumble in the first five weeks of the season.
Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine (ankle), safety Brandon Jones (hamstring), and defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike (shoulder) remained out of practice. Defensive lineman Zach Allen (rest), wide receiver Pat Bryant (ankle), wide receiver Courtland Sutton (rest), and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (chest) were all full participants.
Bryce Young was listed with a knee injury on the Panthers’ practice reports over the past four weeks. The quarterback was listed with an ankle injury Wednesday.
Young, though, was estimated as a full participant.
The Panthers did not practice Wednesday.
Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips (hamstring), left guard Damien Lewis (knee), linebacker Bobby Okereke (foot) and rookie cornerback Will Lee III (hamstring) were listed as non-participants.
Phillips has missed the past two games, and Lewis missed last week’s game against the Packers.
Offensive linemen Corey Bullock (quad) and Torricelli Simpkins III (ankle) were limited.
Several players taken in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft have gotten their second contracts. The first two players picked that year still have not.
Halfway through their fourth seasons, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud continue to play under their rookie deals.
As to Stroud, a subpar third season complicated negotiations. A decision was made to proceed with his fourth season, without a second deal.
A Tuesday article from ESPN took a close look at the respective preseason positions of player and team. The key facts: (1) the Texans offered a contract with a new-money value in excess of $50 million; and (2) Stroud did not ask to be the highest-paid quarterback in the league. (Patrick Mahomes currently leads the way at $63.093 million.)
Although the Texans have slumped to 2-5 in 2026, Stroud’s play has improved significantly. A new deal — closer to the top of the market — becomes likely after the current season. It remains theoretically possible that the two sides could work something out sooner than that.
For the player, there’s always an urgency to shift the injury risk to the team. Especially when the player will be assuming 60 minutes of injury risk, 17 times over.
As to Young, we’ve recently caught wind of chatter that the Panthers are “far down the road” toward signing him to a second deal in excess of $50 million per year.
Both are under contract through 2027, with their fifth-year options already exercised. For both, the guaranteed salary in 2027 will be $25.904 million. The franchise tag becomes an option for 2028, absent new deals.
Most teams prefer to make a final decision before then. Up or out. New contract, or find a new quarterback.
Again, both Young and Stroud are eligible for new contracts at any time. Both teams seem to want to keep them around. The only questions at this are when the deals will be one, what the new-money value will be, and (most importantly) how the payments will be structured — especially as to guarantees.
Veteran offensive lineman Brady Christensen will be back at Panthers practice this week.
The team announced that they have designated Christensen for return from injured reserve on Tuesday. Christensen injured his hamstring during the summer and has yet to play this season.
The hamstring injury occurred as Christensen was working his way back from the torn Achilles he suffered during the 2025 season.
“He’s healthy, he’s strong, he’s fit, he’s ready to go,” Panthers head coach Dave Canales said on Monday, via the team’s website. “But we’ve got to get some football under his belt here, so that’ll be a good addition to the group to evaluate where you can help us potentially.”
Christensen has played 59 games over the last five seasons. He has seen time at both guard and tackle.
Thursday Night Football continues to draw larger audiences, generally. Specifically, there will be some peaks and valleys.
In Week 7, Patriots-Bears racked up 19.86 million for Prime Video. In Week 8, the number for Panthers-Packers fell to 16.56 million.
While it was a 26-percent bump over the Chargers’ 37-10 blowout of the Vikings in Week 8 of the 2025 season (13.13 million), it also landed a full one million below the season-to-date average of 17.56 million for TNF.
This week, a Jaguars-Ravens game that looked very good on paper as of Sunday morning has become a much more questionable endeavor, given the injuries to Baltimore quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley. It could be undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano under center for the Ravens.
Which won’t be good for business. But will be good for the Jaguars.
The Panthers dismissed a couple of defensive coaches last week and they are bringing back one of their former assistants to help out in the secondary this week.
Jonathan Jones of TheAthletic.com reports that the Panthers will hire DeAngelo Hall. The three-time Pro Bowl cornerback will work with the team’s cornerbacks.
Hall was an assistant defensive backs coach for Carolina on head coach Dave Canales’s first staff in 2024. He also held that position in 2023.
Hall played 14 seasons in the NFL and made Pro Bowls while with Atlanta and Washington.
The Panthers fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley after last Thursday’s loss to the Packers. Todd Wash is now the interim defensive coordinator.
UPDATE 8:54 a.m. ET: The Panthers have announced Hall’s return to the staff.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley less than 12 hours after Thursday night’s loss to the Packers, and Canales said on Friday afternoon that he wants his players to be confident in their defense.
“I take that responsibility very seriously as the head coach. I know it’s my responsibility to put the players in a position where they feel confident, they feel ready to go,” Canales said. “I just want to see the guys connected. I want to see them excited about going out there and executing the plan, playing fast, playing physical. The effort has been there. Those things are right, but I know we can make strides with being able to get everybody on the same page.”
Canales said he “took in a lot of information” before firing Evero and Cooley and discussed it with owner David Tepper and General Manager Dan Morgan. But he added that he made the decision himself.
“Ultimately, this is my decision. This falls squarely under the responsibilities of the head coach,” Canales said. “Ultimately it had to come from me.”
Todd Wash, who had been the Panthers’ defensive line coach, has been promoted to defensive coordinator. Canales said Wash is great at bringing players together.
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Canales said. “His connection with the players, he knows these guys, he knows their stories, he’s connected to their lives. He pushes them hard and trains them hard, and he does a great job of earning the right to be able to push guys because of the emotional equity that he pours in. I appreciate that and I’m excited about what happens with the whole group when they get connected and play together.”
The Falcons will be without running back Brian Robinson against the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Robinson has been ruled out for the second straight week with a hamstring injury. He had 53 carries for 211 yards and four touchdowns while working behind Bijan Robinson in the first six games of the season.
Khalil Herbert was elevated from the practice squad to serve as the backup running back last week and will likely be brought up again this weekend.
The Falcons also listed eight players as questionable for Sunday’s divisional matchup.
- Defensive back Billy Bowman (hamstring), linebacker Divine Deablo (forearm), defensive end Samson Ebukam (hamstring), defensive end Charles Snowden (back), cornerback Avieon Terrell (illness), and wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus (shoulder) were all limited participants in Friday’s practice. Wide receiver Beaux Collins (hip) and offensive tackle Cameron Williams (ankle) were full participants.
