Eight months after tearing his Achilles in the 49ers Wild Card playoff win, George Kittle said he’s nearing a return to practice, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. Kittle also said he’s “very confident” he’ll be activated from the physically unable to perform list before the regular-season opener. Asked about playing in Week 1, he said, “I have a chance.”
The Athletic's Dan Duggan believes Giants WR Malachi Fields is making a push for the No. 2 WR job following his preseason debut on Saturday. Fields worked in with the first-team offense in that one, running a route on 4 of QB Jaxson Dart's 7 dropbacks. He caught all 3 of his targets for 34 yards, including a 15-yard TD from Dart.
After returning from a pinky injury, Jaylin Noel is now out with a hamstring injury, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. The injury is expected to keep him sidelined for a few weeks.
Ty Simpson showed plenty of promise in his preseason debut, completing 21 of 25 passes for 190 yards and 2 TDs. Afterward, Rams’ head coach Sean McVay praised Simpson’s “good command” of the offense and said he “...did a really good job overall,” per Sarah Barshop of ESPN.
Giants RB Cam Skattebo got workhorse usage when healthy last year, averaging 16.0 carries and 4.7 targets across Weeks 2 through 7. But that was under the old coaching staff. In his first preseason game under HC John Harbaugh and OC Matt Nagy on Saturday, Skattebo worked in a 3-RB committee. He got the start, but RB Tyrone Tracy replaced him on the third snap. RB Devin Singletary started the second drive before Skattebo and Tracy mixed back in.
Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur said Saturday that RB Jeremiyah Love's ankle is a "little bit more sore than we were anticipating." LaFleur downplayed the injury after Thursday night's preseason opener, but he sounded less optimistic Saturday and even sidestepped questions about Love's availability for the season opener.
Steelers WRs D.K. Metcalf and Michael Pittman will be "hard-pressed" to practice this week, HC Mike McCarthy said Saturday. Pittman went down with an apparent right leg injury a week ago, but we don't have any other details on his status. Metcalf's injury is a total mystery. We'll look for more info on both guys and let you know when they get back on the field. For now, we're not moving either in the WR rankings.
Dolphins rookie WR Caleb Douglas has “shot up the depth chart” in training camp, according to ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. His preseason usage backed up the buzz. Douglas played 100% of Miami’s first-team snaps during the starting offense’s lone 14-play drive.
We covered earlier this week how Jets rookie Omar Cooper Jr. might be in danger of Isaiah Williams passing him on the depth chart. Friday's preseason opener turned that into reality. Cooper played zero snaps with the starting offense, while Williams played seven of the 11 and ran five routes. That put him narrowly behind top-two WRs Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell. They each played all 11 snaps and ran seven routes.
The Broncos played their preseason opener Friday night without WR Jaylen Waddle (calf strain) and WR Marvin Mims, who left Friday's practice with an apparent injury. So we didn't get a full look at the WR depth chart. But we did see Courtland Sutton and Pat Bryant appear to operate as the top two. Bryant running ahead of Troy Franklin is what matters here.
The Falcons started Drake London and Jahan Dotson at WR in Friday night's preseason opener against the Broncos. London played just two snaps before ending his night, while Dotson played all eight of starting QB Tua Tagovailoa's snaps before they left. Interestingly, those two possessions found the QB seemingly only looking for TE Kyle Pitts.
Commanders backup QB Marcus Mariota suffered an apparent knee injury in Friday’s preseason win over Miami. Mariota took a hard hit, then appeared to be in discomfort after executing a handoff on the following play. Sam Hartman, Washington's QB3, replaced him against the Dolphins. We should have an update on Mariota's status within a couple of days.
Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka has been diagnosed with a sprained toe, The Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud reports. The team is "very optimistic" that Egbuka will be back for the start of the season, Stroud adds.
After getting drafted in the second round as the eighth wide receiver off the board, Germie Bernard caught four passes for 51 yards in his preseason debut. His performance included a 25-yard reception where he broke multiple tackles and had 22 yards after the catch.
What was hoped to be a dynamic start to Cam Ward’s second preseason fell a bit short. Ward completed five of 12 pass attempts for just 57 passing yards and no TDs.
De’Zhaun Stribling hauled in 6 catches for 67 yards in his first half of preseason action. It included an over-the-shoulder grab that went for 32 yards on a 49ers third-and-five.
The league has suspended Falcons Edge James Pearce Jr. for the first eight games for his offseason domestic-violence case. Assuming there's no adjustment to the ban, that would make Pearce ineligible to play until Nov. 8 against the Bengals.
Saints head coach Kellen Moore said rookie WR Jordyn Tyson will miss time with a right hamstring issue, per ESPN's Katherine Terrell. Moore wouldn’t give a timetable, but he did mention that “it could” potentially linger into Week 1 of the regular season.
Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic writes that Commanders QB Jayden Daniels "looks as good as he's ever been."
Per The Athletic’s Zac Jackson, Browns RB Dylan Sampson was “heavily involved in the pass game in the just-completed week of camp.” Jackson still calls Quinshon Judkins the “clear lead back,” as expected, but adds that Sampson “seems set for a pass-game role.”
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