NFL Player News

Anderson (knee) won't play in Saturday's preseason tilt against the Chiefs, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.

Anderson is only a day removed from being cleared to practice, so it's no surprise that he isn't yet ready for preseason action. The rookie sixth-round pick is coming back from a torn ACL, and it wouldn't be surprising if he were limited throughout the entire preseason. Anderson will focus his attention towards getting healthy for the regular season.

Anderson is getting work with the first-team offense during two-minute drills, Chris Burke of the Athletic reports.

The Kerryon Johnson hype train has all but left the station after the Lions' recent release of Theo Riddick, but not all signs point toward Johnson being thrust into a true workhorse role. Not only does head coach Matt Patricia hail from a Patriots organization that deployed a committee approach to the running back position, but Anderson seems to have turned heads in training camp and is now getting run with the hurry-up offense. While Johnson should nonetheless earn the lion's share of snaps in 2019, it's possible Anderson could play a bigger role than most people realize -- especially if Johnson continues to struggle in pass protection as he has in recent joint practices with New England.

Pollard has been one of the standout players of training camp for the Cowboys so far, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports. "[Pollard is] one of the most exciting players to me of this training camp,'' quarterback Dak Prescott said this week. "The things that he's been able to do running the ball, catching the ball out of the backfield. He's making plays."

The fourth-round pick out of Memphis has not only been able to showcase his speed and physicality on both offense and special teams, he's drawn significant praise for how quickly he's sponged up the playbook. Pollard's actual role and workload in new coordinator Kellen Moore's offense remains unclear, but if Ezekiel Elliott's holdout extends into the regular season, Pollard could be a lot more than just a replacement for Tavon Austin on jet sweeps and gadget plays.

Mack won't play Thursday in the Colts' preseason opener versus the Bills, Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star reports.

The Colts are unsurprisingly keeping several key starters out of the first preseason game. Since Mack enters 2019 with his role as the Colts' lead back already secure, there's a good chance that he only plays a few series throughout the entire preseason slate. Coach Frank Reich has said that Nyheim Hines will retain a role on obvious passing downs, so Mack won't necessarily be in store for a major uptick in his workload this season.

Homer (quadriceps) won't play during Thursday's preseason game against the Broncos, Curtis Crabtree of Sports Radio 950 KJR Seattle reports.

A timetable for Homer's recovery remains undisclosed. The rookie sixth-round pick will look to get healthy as soon as possible, as he could need to show well in preseason action in order to carve out a meaningful role in Seattle's crowded running back room.

Anderson (knee) was cleared to practice Wednesday after passing his physical.

Per Jay Morrison of The Athletic, Anderson is no longer eligible to land on the regular season PUP list now that he's been reinstated to the roster in training camp. As things currently stand, Anderson and fellow rookie Trayveon Williams are slated to back up Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard (hamstring), the clear top two backs on Cincinnati's depth chart. Anderson, who fell to the Bengals in the sixth round of April's draft as a result of tearing the ACL in his right knee last September, will likely need time to get back to full speed, so he may only be asked to handle limited snaps during the preseason. Once the injury is further in the rear-view mirror, the 6-foot, 224-pound Anderson has some upside, especially in the event that Mixon suffers an injury of his own down the road.

Thompson is among the running backs vying for backup duties behind projected starter Damien Williams (hamstring), Nate Taylor of The Athletic reports.

Thompson has received some sleeper hype this offseason, but in order for him to even slide into the No. 2 role, he would need to outperform Carlos Hyde and Darrel Williams, who were both listed ahead of him on the Chiefs' initial unofficial depth chart. The rookie out of Utah State hauled in 23 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 153 carries for 1,044 yards and 14 scores in his final season of college.

Williams remains a candidate for the top backup duties behind Damien Williams (hamstring), Nate Taylor of The Athletic reports.

Darrel rushed just 13 times all of last season, but he's seen plenty of reps in fall camp while Damien has been on the sidelines. The former Williams could gain some marginal fantasy value should he secure the backup spot and has proven he can offer some utility in the passing game as well, notching 23 receptions as a senior at LSU in 2017.

Snell is listed behind James Conner and Jaylen Samuels at running back on the Steelers' initial unofficial depth chart of 2019.

Per Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, the rookie fourth-round pick is "is a hard runner and a little quicker than expected, but [Snell is] a rookie out there making rookie mistakes." That's the sort of mixed review not uncommon for first-year players, but at 5-foot-10 and 224 pounds, Snell is the kind of power back who could make an impact as the season rolls along if either of the players ahead of him on the depth chart miss time. He's therefore among the group of rookie backs worthy of a late-round dart in fantasy drafts or as a late flyer in auctions, given how fluid NFL backfields can been once injuries hit.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Tuesday he doesn't expect the team to sign Elliott before training camp ends, Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News reports. "I don't see anything happening. I don't see any momentum," Jones said.

The reigning NFL rushing champ has indicated he won't report without a new contract, but even after camp ends Elliott would still have time to join the team and be ready for Week 1, as he's been staying in shape while holding out. There have been conflicting reports about the value of the Cowboys' latest offer to Elliott, but it likely lies somewhere between the deal Todd Gurley signed in 2018 that included a whopping $45 million in guaranteed money, and the contract Le'Veon Bell received from the Jets in March ($27 million guaranteed).