Patriots RB Jeremy Hill tore his right ACL in Sunday's win over the Texans and will miss the rest of the season, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Hill's injury leaves even more immediate work available for Rex Burkhead, who handed 18 of 27 Patriots RB rushing attempts vs. Houston. It also removes competition for rookie Sony Michel (knee) whenever he's ready to be active on gameday. Should Michel continue to miss games, James White could also see more ground work. White carried 5 times against the Texans. Hill signed just a 1-year deal with New England. He turns 26 in October.

Patriots RB Jeremy Hill injured his right knee in the 3rd quarter of Sunday's opener against the Texans. He took a shot right to the knee trying to make a tackle after a Rob Gronkowski fumble. Hill was in obvious pain but was able to walk off the field with the help of trainers. We'll pass along an update when we get one.

UPDATE: Hill has been ruled out for the rest of the game.

Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) is inactive for today’s game against the Texans. The rookie has been limited in practice the past couple of weeks and seemingly has a shot to debut in Week 2. But it might be October before we can trust him in fantasy lineups. Rex Burkhead, James White and Jeremy Hill will handle backfield duties for the Pats today.

ESPN's Mike Reiss expects Patriots RB Rex Burkhead to be "eased into the mix" as he works back from his knee injury. Burkhead has been practicing for a few weeks now, so the report is a bit surprising. New England is also thin at RB, with Sony Michel (knee) iffy for the opener. James White is a pass-catching back, and Jeremy Hill is the only other RB on the roster. We're curious to see exactly what the Patriots offense will look like considering they're also razor thin at WR. Expect White, WR Chris Hogan and TE Rob Gronkowski to be super busy against Houston on Sunday. Burkhead is shaping up as a risk/reward RB2.

The Patriots have released RB Mike Gillislee. That figures to mean RB Jeremy Hill has made the team. He'll be 4th on a healthy RB depth chart behind Rex Burkhead, Sony Michel and James White. But Burkhead and Michel are already dealing with injuries. If either misses time this season, Hill could be a factor. He's a name to keep on your watch list.

The Athletic's Jeff Howe reports that Patriots RB Rex Burkhead has a "slight tear" in his knee. "But it’s been deemed a minor injury and something he’ll be able to play through," Howe adds. This remains a murky situation (as usual with the Patriots), and no other media members have reported on Burkhead's injury as of Friday morning. We'll continue to look for updates, but Burkhead obviously comes with plenty of risk in drafts right now. It's completely unclear what's torn in his knee, how effective he'll be playing through it and how long it'll hold up. New England, of course, is still without rookie RB Sony Michel, who had fluid drained from his knee a couple of weeks ago. That leaves Jeremy Hill and Mike Gillislee as the healthy early-down backs. Both guys saw time with the 1st-team offense in Thursday night's preseason game, but Hill again out-performed Gillislee. The former Bengal is averaging 4.8 yards per carry through 2 exhibitions vs. Gillislee's 2.8. Hill is looking more and more intriguing as a late-round flier by the day.

Patriots RB Rex Burkhead missed the preseason opener and the last 2 practices with an undisclosed injury. We'll see how long he remains sidelined, but it's worth noting after he struggled staying healthy last year. Burkhead missed 4 games with a rib injury and 3 more (including a playoff game) with a sprained knee. RB Sony Michel remains out with his knee issue, leaving James White, Jeremy Hill and Mike Gillislee as New England's healthy backs. Hill out-played Gillislee in the preseason opener and has reportedly gotten more 1st-teams reps since.

Patriots rookie RB Sony Michel will require a "procedure" for a knee injury he suffered in practice Wednesday, according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe. The recovery is expected to cost Michel the entire preseason and might keep him sidelined "into the start" of the regular season. That's obviously terrible news for the fantasy outlook of a rookie back, especially one competing with Rex Burkhead and James White for backfield snaps and touches. We'll see how sharply Michel's ADP falls. He'll likely need to get to the Round 8 range or so in 12-team drafts to be worth the risk. Burkhead, meanwhile, should climb from an ADP that has already been ascending. Don't be surprised if we start to see him regularly go in Round 4.

Update: ESPN's Mike Reiss reports that Michel had fluid drained from the knee and that the situation "is not expected to affect Michel's availability for a significant portion, if any, of the regular season." We've moved Michel down our RB rankings and Burkhead up, but we'll keep watching for any further updates on this issue.

The Patriots selected Georgia RB Sony Michel with the 31st overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. It’s the first 1st-round RB for New England since Laurence Maroney in 2006. That didn’t work out so well, but Michel has the potential to fare much better. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry across his 4-year college career and flashed pass-catching ability with seasons of 26 and 22 grabs. Michel is electric in the open field with surprising power. The biggest concern is a lengthy injury history that includes a torn ACL and a pair of ankle injuries. This is a exciting landing spot for Michel. New England’s backfield is crowded on paper, but Rex Burkhead, James White, Jeremy Hill and Mike Gillislee are all role players. Consider Michel the odds-on favorite to lead the 2018 backfield in touches.

The Patriots have signed RB Jeremy Hill. It's 1 of the few landing spots that could resuscitate his fantasy value. New England has ranked 5th and 6th, respectively, in rushing TDs over the past 2 seasons and just lost RB Dion Lewis in free agency. Hill totaled 27 scores over his first 3 seasons before last year's goose egg. Of course, he's averaged a pathetic 3.6 yards per carry across the past 3 years after going for 5.1 as a rookie. Hill won't be guaranteed anything in a Patriots backfield that also includes Rex Burkhead, Mike Gillislee and James White.

The Bengals have placed RB Jeremy Hill on IR, ending his 2017 season. We don't have any details on the injury, but there's no reason to believe it'll impact his 2018. Hill is set to hit free agency in March and is likely done in Cincinnati. Joe Mixon will continue to operate as something close to an every-down back the rest of the way.

Update: HC Marvin Lewis revealed that Hill had surgery on his ankle.

Bengals RB Jeremy Hill (ankle) is out for Sunday's game against the Titans. RB Joe Mixon played a season-high 71.8% of the offensive snaps and handled 88.9% of the RB touches with Hill out last weekend. Give him a slight bump for Week 10.

Bengals RB Jeremy Hill is inactive for today's game against the Jaguars. He hurt something in pre-game warmups, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Dehner. Hill has carried exactly 4 times times in each of the Bengals' last 3 games, so his absence is a slight boost to RB Joe Mixon's Week 9 outlook.

The Bengals have fired OC Ken Zampese, according to ESPN's Josina Anderson. Zampese's offense failed to score a TD in 2 games, although QB Andy Dalton has been just as much to blame as the play-calling. We'll see if this move sparks the offense. It might also help RB Joe Mixon, who's been mired in a 3-headed committee.

UPDATE: Zampese will be replaced by QBs coach Bill Lazor, who spent 2014 and 2015 as Dolphins OC. The 2014 Fins ranked 11 in points scored and 14th in total yards. They fell to 27th and 26th, respectively, in 2015.

Bengals RB Jeremy Hill (ankle) practiced on Wednesday. He was hurt in the 3rd preseason game but is on track to play in the regular-season opener against the Ravens. Hill will be part of a 3-man committee backfield in that one. He's a decent TD bet but should only be in fantasy lineups as a RB3 or flex in non-PPR.

Bengals RB Jeremy Hill exited Sunday's preseason game with an ankle injury. We didn't notice the injury, and Hill told the media afterward that he's fine, according to insider Jim Owczarski. We'll keep an eye on him going forward. Hill got the start against the Redskins and carried 5 times for 15 yards and a score before leaving.

RB Jeremy Hill started in the Bengals backfield in Friday night's preseason opener against Tampa Bay, but rookie RB Joe Mixon got in for touches starting with the 1st drive. Altogether, he carried 6 times for 31 yards and caught a pass for 11 more. Hill, meanwhile, ran for 26 yards on 7 rushes. Amid rumors that Hill could "start" all season, it's clear that Mixon will at least factor heavily into the backfield. We'll see where this work split goes. Of course, Mixon's late-Round 3 ADP has made him an expensive upside play in recent fantasy football drafts.

Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' official website expects RB Jeremy Hill to remain a factor this season. Specifically, Hobson believes that "Hill figures to always be a presence inside the 5." That makes sense. Despite disappointing the past 2 years, Hill has remained effective near the goal line. He's turned 14 of 28 carries inside the 5-yard line into TDs -- a 50% conversion rate that's more than 5 percentage points better than league average. That role could at least make Hill a factor in TD-heavy fantasy leagues. He also figures to put a dent in RB Joe Mixon's upside. We're as excited as anyone about the rookie's potential, but he might lose goal-line work to Hill and some pass-catching action to Gio Bernard. That'd make it tough to Mixon to pay off his current RB13 price tag.