NFL Player News

Bradford (6'5/320) took official visits to both Tennessee and LSU this spring, though neither trip was widely reported. The Muskegon, Michigan, native is something of an old soul and does not maintain an active presence on social media. Nor does he own a cell phone. A big, long tackle prospect who shows plenty of moxie on his feet when moving laterally, Bradford could potentially play either guard or right tackle with the Tigers after he puts pen to paper. His upside position will likely come on the interior of the line, though. Rivals ranks him as the No. 186 overall prospect in the 2019 class.

Dell did not practice all week in the leadup to being inactive against the Jaguars on Sunday. It looks like we should expect some practice updates this week about him. The Bills have not been an easy passing defense to crack, but Dell will probably be on the WR3/FLEX line if he’s active next week.

Canales said the rookie back is in “the final stages” of returning from his ACL reconstruction. Brooks’ return to practice will also not necessarily mean that he is ready to play. It looks like the timeline for Brooks returning to play will be Week 6-Week 8. The Panthers will probably ease Brooks in when he does get back, as well.

That’s two linebacker injuries the Panthers were dealt in Week 4’s loss to the Bengals, although the injury to Jewell isn’t nearly as severe as the one to Shaq Thompson (Achilles). Jewell has totaled 30 tackles in four games with the Panthers this season and will be expected to take on a bigger role with Thompson likely lost for the season. It sounds like Jewell will almost certainly miss Week 5’s contest against the Bears but could return for Week 6 against the Falcons.

Even though it didn’t help out his target volume any, Brock Bowers did play a season-high 81 percent of the snaps with Mayer out in Week 4. If Mayer remains away — and Pierce did not elaborate on the issue — it stands to reason that Bowers will continue to be an easy TE1 next week against the Broncos.

Mattison rushed five times for 60 yards in Week 4, but had 36% of the snaps to Zamir White’s 59%. White had 17 carries. This is not great news for White’s fantasy football viability this week, though at the same time the dreaded running back by committee might not hold enough for Mattison to have standalone value either. White probably falls closer to an RB3/FLEX, and Mattison probably is still just a desperation FLEX.

After some hope that Engram would suit up for Week 4’s matchup against the Texans, the veteran tight end opening the week as day-to-day doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Engram did not practice last week, so there’s a chance he could still face an uphill battle to get on the field, but Week 5 has been his assumed return date after the team opted not to place him on injured reserve, which would have required he miss a minimum of four games. We’ll see how things look when the team releases its first injury report on Wednesday.

Parsons suffered a high-ankle sprain in the Cowboys’ Week 4 win over the Giants but hasn’t been ruled out for Week 5’s tilt with the Steelers. The star pass-rusher has played through injuries in the past and has never missed a regular season game due to injury. It seems like a stretch that he would play in the team’s upcoming game, but with fellow pass-rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) already ruled out for the foreseeable future, the need to have Parsons on the field becomes more amplified. We may not know about Parson’s availability until Friday or closer to game time.

Evans was a former first-round pick of the Titans back in 2018. Evans played in nine games for the Cowboys last season, totaling nine tackles in limited action, and was with the Falcons in 2022. He’s never lived up to the expectations that made him a first-rounder, but he’ll have a chance to restore his career under Raheem Morris once he gets up to speed. We’ll see if the team opts to elevate him in the coming days.

Corley has one target in three games and was inactive on Sunday behind Xavier Gipson and Irvin Charles. It doesn’t look like there will be a path to rookie-season relevancy for the Western Kentucky standout and he can be dropped in non-dynasty leagues.