NFL Player News

The Rams placed Rivers (knee) on injured reserve Wednesday, Greg Beacham of the Associated Press reports.

Rivers will be out for at least four games, and with the Rams on bye Week 10, he won't be eligible to return from IR any earlier than Nov. 26 against the Cardinals. He's dealing with a PCL injury, while fellow running back Kyren Williams has an ankle injury and could still make it back before the team's Week 10 bye. At least for Sunday's game against the Steelers, the Rams appear set to proceed with a backfield of Zach Evans, Royce Freeman and Myles Gaskin.

Rams head coach Sean McVay confirmed that Williams (ankle) won't play Sunday against the Steelers, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

Earlier reports suggested Williams likely would miss multiple games and return either Week 9 or Week 11, with the Rams being on bye in the week in between. McVay didn't elaborate much on Williams' outlook beyond this week, but the Rams' top back will miss his first game of the season Sunday. Meanwhile, Williams' top backup, Ronnie Rivers (knee), is headed for injured reserve, leaving the Rams with Zach Evans, Myles Gaskin and Royce Freeman as their available options out of the backfield.

New England signed Taylor to its practice squad Wednesday, Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald reports.

A little over a week after being cut by Green Bay, Taylor has now found a new opportunity to make an impression with the Patriots. Over four games with the Packers this season, Taylor took 11 carries for 31 yards and caught five of 10 targets for 28 yards.

Reynolds was held out of Wednesday's walk-through practice due to hamstring and toe injuries.

With Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) sidelined for a second consecutive contest Sunday in Tampa Bay, Reynolds served as the Lions' top reserve running back until David Montgomery went down with a rib injury in the second quarter. The situation allowed Reynolds to rack up 12 touches for 43 yards from scrimmage on a 61 percent share of snaps. On Monday, head coach Dan Campbell revealed that Montgomery was in line to miss time, while Gibbs was trending in the right direction to return this Sunday at Baltimore. Indeed, Montgomery didn't practice Wednesday, and Gibbs was a limited participant, but Reynolds joined Montgomery as a non-participant. As a result, the backfield situation will need to be monitored as the week continues to see who among the trio may be able to play this weekend.

Stevenson (ankle) was listed as a limited participant at Wednesday's practice.

Stevenson is one of 20 New England players who appears on Wednesday's injury report, but the running back's limited listing nonetheless makes his status worth tracking ahead of Sunday's game against the Bills. In this past weekend's 21-17 loss to the Raiders, Stevenson was on the field for 39 of a possible 60 snaps on offense, exiting with both head and ankle injuries during the contest. He checked back into the game and finished with 46 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries to go with five catches for 24 yards.

Gibbs (hamstring) was a limited participant at Wednesday's walk-through practice.

After sitting out the last two games due to a hamstring issue, Gibbs has a glimmer of hope to return Week 7. First and foremost, there's an expectation that the team's top running back David Montgomery will miss time due to a rib cartilage issue that he sustained this past Sunday at Tampa Bay. Additionally, head coach Dan Campbell told Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site on Monday that Gibbs was trending in the right direction ahead of Sunday's contest at Baltimore. Gibbs may have to log a full session by Friday in order to avoid a designation for that game, but even if he doesn't, he appears to be the healthiest back on the active roster with Craig Reynolds (hamstring/toe) joining Montgomery on the sideline Wednesday.

Montgomery (ribs) was a non-participant during Wednesday's walk-through practice.

Montgomery was knocked out of the Lions' Week 6 win over the Buccaneers with what eventually was termed a rib cartilage issue, which head coach Dan Campbell told Colton Pouncy of The Athletic on Monday likely will result in at least one missed game. Meanwhile, No. 2 running back Jahmyr Gibbs was listed as a limited participant Wednesday, and reserve Craig Reynolds sat out due to hamstring and toe issues. With all three of Detriot's backfield options banged up at the moment, the overall situation will be one to watch as the week goes on to see who may be able to play Sunday at Baltimore.

Williams (hamstring) is listed as questionable for Thursday's game against the Jaguars.

The Saints designated Williams to return from injured reserve this week and listed him as a limited participant for each day of practice. A return for Week 8 against Indianapolis seems more likely than playing Thursday, but the Saints at least are leaving open the possibility of activating Williams prior to the Week 7 contest. If Williams suits up this week, he may be in store for only a handful of carries behind lead back Alvin Kamara.

Barkley (ankle) was listed as a limited practice participant Wednesday, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports.

After sitting out three contests due to a right high-ankle sprain, Barkley returned to action this past Sunday in Buffalo, garnering 79 percent of the offensive snaps and turning 28 touches into 98 yards from scrimmage. Clearly, he's able to handle anything the Giants give him on game days, but he likely will continue to have a cap on his practice reps until the injury is well in the rear-view mirror. Barkley may need to log a full session by week's end to head into Sunday's outing against the Commanders without an injury designation.

Luepke didn't log any carries or targets while playing seven of the Cowboys' 64 snaps on offense in Monday's 20-17 win over the Chargers.

The Cowboys have kept the undrafted rookie fullback active for each of their first six contests, but he's failed to record any offensive statistics outside of Weeks 3 and 4, when he carried three times for 13 yards and a touchdown and added a 12-yard reception. He'll continue to function mostly as a blocker on the handful of snaps he gets in a given week.