NFL Player News

Per Rapoport, Love suffered an MCL sprain between grade one and grade two in the final seconds of Green Bay’s Week 1 loss to the Eagles. Now all eyes are on the Packers’ backup situation. Malik Willis, who the Packers traded for late in the summer, opened the season as Love’s backup. He took two snaps to end the game on Friday. His second rep was a game-ending sack on a failed hail mary play. An inability to handle pressure plagued Willis in Tennessee and appears to have followed him to Green Bay. Sean Clifford, on the other hand, was waived when the Packers cut down to their 53-man roster and then landed on the team’s practice squad. Neither option looks good and the Packers could ultimately land a free agent addition as their best bet.

McNichols will likely get a chance to replace Austin Ekeler (Achilles) as the Commanders’ passing game specialist. He was terribly inefficient as a receiver last season, averaging just 0.20 yards per route run. He can be stashed in PPR leagues by those willing to roll the dice on a likely low-ceiling player.

Tuten’s continued limited participation puts him on track to suit up in Week 3 against the Texans. The red non-contact jersey is a bit concerning, though. Hopefully, Tuten practices in full tomorrow and can safely be started as a high-upside FLEX option, operating as the Jaguars’ oft-used backup running back.

Interpreting downgrades can be tricky. It’s entirely possible that the Jaguars’ coaching staff is just managing Thomas’ reps. It’s also possible he experienced irritation and/or a setback. The latter scenario seems unlikely, given the lack of alarm bells from Jaguars beat reporters. We expect Thomas to practice in full tomorrow, but this is clearly worth monitoring. Stay tuned.

Royals’ tendinitis has responded positively after a few weeks of rehab and he is now on track to at least be available for the Chiefs’ Week 3 game against the Giants. He can be speculatively stashed on fantasy benches this week, to see how things shake out. Kansas City’s passing offense is in need of reliable weapons.

It would be nice to see Worthy graduate to full practice participation, but he has at least logged four straight limited sessions, dating back to last week. We expect the Chiefs to require him to practice in full before he retakes the field on game day, but it’s possible they ease him in on a limited snap count.

Goedeke is expected to return later this season. He will be eligible to do so after missing four games. It’s a brutal development for a Buccaneers offensive line that also lost RG Cody Mauch to a season-ending knee injury. Buccaneers LT Tristan Wirfs (knee) has not yet suited up on game day. He remains limited in practice.

It doesn’t sound like there’s much concern that Jacobs will miss Week 3, and he’ll be an easy RB1 against the Browns should he suit up. Backup runner Chris Brooks played on only 13 snaps and 11 of them were passing routes. Emanuel Wilson would likely be the head of a committee on running downs if Jacobs, for whatever reason, did not play in Week 3.

Wednesday absences often become non-issues. Thursday absences have a much worse track record. It’s possible the Buccaneers are just exercising an abundance of caution, but fantasy managers should expect to be without Egbuka in Week 3. If the talented rookie wide receiver can somehow practice in full tomorrow, he can be started as usual. If he graduates to limited participation, this could come down to being a game-time decision.

He was officially limited. That doesn’t necessarily mean we should expect Kraft to play this week — what is long-term, anyway? — but at least it’s not as serious as it could have been. Fantasy managers reliant on Kraft should start making alternate plans at tight end, or at least scouring the wire thinking about who they’d pick up, if in fact this does keep Kraft out of Week 3’s game against the Browns.

NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, ever the optimistic reporter, said there is “not much doubt” about Waddle’s availability despite being questionable with a “minor shoulder injury.” We expect Waddle to play in a likely pass-heavy effort against the Bills this evening, although he has been expected to be a big factor in the Dolphins’ offense for quite some time now, yet he has just 11 targets through two games. Waddle is best treated as a borderline WR2/3 in what should be a favorable game script.