NFL

It’s a game that The Athletic’s Dan Duggan says “strengthened his push for the No. 2 receiver job.” His touchdown pass was from Jaxson Dart, but he was one of several receivers getting first-team snaps. It’s hard to believe Fields will be relevant early in 12-team redraft leagues unless Malik Nabers suffers a setback, but he’s squarely on the fantasy radar after a big camp.

It was his first game action in 20 months. The Panthers’ offense, playing their starters three series, looked dead on arrival against the Bills on Saturday. But Brooks did start with Chuba Hubbard sidelined, validating the training camp drumbeat that he’d be in the mix early. He’s at least an interesting bench option in standard leagues at this point, and could perhaps turn into more.

Brown made an impact in his exhibition debut, and he connected with Sam Howell on a 39-year touchdown in the second quarter. His second score was far shorter but even more impressive; a one-handed stab in the back of the end zone. There’s a long way to go and Brown is anything but a lock to make the roster, but he’s been one of the stars of training camp, and he showed why Saturday evening. At the very least, he’s worth monitoring.

Milroe and Drew Lock split time in the first game of the preseason, and Lock was much more effective with a touchdown and 40 yards on 9-of-13 passing. That’s more insult to Milroe than compliment to Lock, to be fair. The second-year signal-caller showed off his upper-echelon speed, but held onto the ball too long, and struggled to get the ball down field. Milroe would be a tantalizing fantasy play because of his ability to scramble, but just isn’t a good enough passer to believe that’s going to come to fruition.

Lane has impressed in camp, and he snagged a 16-yard touchdown from fellow rookie Joe Fagnano for his first score of the season. The 80th pick of last year’s draft, Lane’s 6-foot-4 frame makes him a potential threat inside the 20, and it appears he’s going to get a chance to win the No. 3 receiving job. At the very least, Lane is worth monitoring in deeper formats.

Stowers was somewhat involved in the first half but the rookie tight end had a long gain of just six yards in the first exhibition game of the season. The 23-year-old has significant long-term upside because of his athleticism, but it’s very clear — at least early on — that Stowers has work to do before he’s a fantasy option in 2026.

This comes a day after we learned that Tyson is seeking multiple opinions on the hamstring injury he suffered on Thursday. At some point, the Saints will have collected enough information to feel comfortable telling us about Tyson’s injury, but for now, we will continue to wait. The longer this goes on, the worse the news will feel. Hopefully this is something that will only sideline Tyson for a few weeks, but given his history of hamstring injuries, which slowed him during the pre-draft process, it wouldn’t be surprising if his absence extended into the regular season. Hopefully we’ll have a clear answer on his status soon.

Simpson played all but two drives for the Rams in this one, as Sean McVay gave his rookie first-rounder an extended first taste of NFL action. Simpson played about as clean of a game as one could have hoped for, avoiding sacks and turnovers while leading his team on three scoring drives. Simpson’s first touchdown pass came on a screen pass to running back Dean Conners, who took it into the end zone for the score. Later, Simpson connected with Conners on a two-yard score after he found a hole between two defenders to fit the ball into. We would expect Simpson to see another lengthy outing in next week’s game against the Saints.

Wilson took over in the second quarter for Spencer Rattler, who struggled mightily in his 2026 debut. Wilson, on the other hand, looked far more comfortable running the offense and completed four of his five pass attempts on distances of 10 or more air yards. He was a perfect 2-for-2 on passes of 20-plus yards. Wilson connected with tight end Oscar Delp on a one-yard pass for his lone touchdown of the day and led the Saints on two scoring drives. Given what we saw from both Wilson and Rattler today, it wouldn’t be surprising if Wilson pushes Rattler for the QB2 spot behind Tyler Shough.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise after O’Connell sounded disappointed when discussing Adams’ injury after halftime. The 10-year vet had made a switch to linebacker last season and signed with the Vikings last month in hopes of carving out a role in Brian Flores’ defense. Adams has an MRI scheduled for tomorrow, which will reveal the extent of the damage.