NFL Player News

The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider writes that Estimé is expected to push Javonte Williams for the starting job in camp. Estimé, who was selected by the Broncos in the fifth round of this year’s draft, is a 5-foot-11, 233-pound bruiser who averaged 6.2 YPC in his three seasons at Notre Dame. Despite missing much of the team’s offseason programs, Kosmider believes he’ll have a chance to unseat Williams, the incumbent, who is a second year removed from a devastating knee injury that ended his 2022 season. Williams averaged just 3.6 YPC last season while totaling 1,002 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns, but he should still find a role in Payton’s offense — even if it’s a reduced one. We’ll see how things play out in camp, but it will likely take an impressive performance from Estimé for him to be viewed as the Week 1 starter.

The team announced in a statement that the injury is to Herbert’s right foot and is just the second lower-body injury of his career. He will protect the injury with a boot for the next two weeks before initiating a gradual return-to-play ramp-up period. Herbert has been going later than usual in fantasy drafts under a Jim Harbaugh/Greg Roman regime that’s expected to take a more run-centric approach this season. It’s possible his ADP drops even more in the coming weeks with this injury, creating a nice buying scenario for fantasy managers. Despite the injury, the team is hopeful that Herbert will return in time for Week 1’s matchup against the Raiders.

Purcell has spent the last five seasons with the Broncos, starting in 37 of the 65 games he appeared in over that span. The veteran lineman is set to enter his ninth season as a pro and is coming off a year in which he totaled 25 tackles and one TFL. He’ll likely serve as added depth along a Patriots line that includes Davon Godchaux and Christian Barmore.

This is great news for Foreman, who was carted from the field on a backboard and then flown to a nearby hospital for evaluation. Foreman was injured on a helmet-to-helmet injury on special teams that resulted in an injury to his neck. Despite the scary scene, early reports were that Foreman was in good spirits and had movement in all of his extremities. It appears Foreman has dodged the worst. It wouldn’t be surprising if he missed a few days of practice following the injury, but it doesn’t sound like there is anything to be concerned about at this time.

Hill says he plays on “practicing every day” while leaving the contract negotiations to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Hill said discussions for a new deal have been “positive” and that he believes a new deal is coming down the line. Hill said at the start of July that he was looking for a new deal after the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Justin Jefferson reset the receiver market earlier this year. Hill caught 119 passes for 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Dolphins last season and has a 238-3509-20 line in two seasons with the team. Still, at the top of his game, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Hill get paid as such sometime in the near future.

Jacobs attended practice but was unable to participate in team drills. This is Jacobs’ second lower-body soft tissue injury since the Packers signed him to a four-year, $48 million contract this offseason. He missed the first week of OTAs due to a late-May hamstring strain. Jacobs has plenty of time to recover in time for Week 1 kickoff but a ramp-up period is necessary. It is an injury worth monitoring.

Watson had been battling a minor injury during the early parts of training camp but is now back with the team. The rookie UDFA is competing for a spot in a deep Broncos backfield that features incumbents Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin, and Samaje Perine, and rookie Audric Estime. He faces an uphill climb to make the 53-man roster unless he can stand out in training camp, but he would be a priority candidate for the practice squad if he doesn’t make the original roster.

Judon is seeking a new or reworked contract from the Patriots and did not practice with the team on Monday or Tuesday. Head coach Jerod Mayo said he and Judon had a “great meeting” recently and that both sides are “moving forward,” with Judon expected to re-join the team on Thursday. We don’t yet know if Judon and the Patriots have reached an agreement on a new/revised deal, but we’d expect that something is in the works if he takes to the field on Thursday.

In a statement released by the Browns, the team said, “During practice today, Browns RB D’Onta Foreman sustained a direct blow to the head that resulted in neck pain. The Browns athletic training staff deployed their standard emergency action procedures to immobilize Foreman.” Foreman was carted from the field and taken by helicopter to a medical center in Roanoke, Virginia. The team also reported that he had movement in all of his extremities. Foreman was signed this offseason by the Browns and is competing for a role in the Browns’ backfield with Nick Chubb still rehabbing from last year’s knee injury.

Golden spent all of last season with the Steelers, appearing in 16 games while totaling 20 tackles, six TFLs, and four sacks. The veteran linebacker is entering his 10th year in the league and is likely being brought on to play a role similar to last season. Golden didn’t start a game for the Steelers in 2023, playing on just 230 defensive snaps as a role player. This doesn’t look like anything more than a depth signing at this time.

We don’t know the severity of Diaby’s injury at this time, but his absence for any length of time would be a tough blow to the Buccaneers defense. As a rookie, Diaby totaled an impressive 12 TFLs and 7.5 sacks in 17 games on 515 snaps. The former third-rounder set the bar high heading into his second season and is expected to offer more contributions to a defense that finished as the fifth-best defense in points per game while ranking 10th in sacks. We’ll provide more on his injury when we have an update.