NFL Player News

The Lions waived Small on Wednesday.

Small suffered a concussion during the Lions' preseason loss to the Commanders on Aug. 22. The running back was waived without an injury designation or settlement, meaning he has fully recovered from the injury. If Small clears waivers, he will become a free agent able to sign with any organization.

Barkley didn't see any action during the Eagles' three-game preseason slate.

At this point in his standout career, Barkley doesn't require exhibition reps to be his usual self once the games begin to count, so it's understandable that coach Nick Sirianni opted to rest Philadelphia's No. 1 RB and other key starters. After reeling off 2,005 rushing yards in 2024 and winning a Super Bowl, Barkley took a step back last season, but he still notched 1,413 yards from scrimmage and nine total TDs on 317 touches in 16 regular-season games. Sirianni has passed off play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, so it remains to be seen how effective Barkley will be in the new scheme.

Davis (knee) did not participate in Wednesday's practice, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic reports.

Davis continues to recover from a knee injury that he sustained in a training camp practice in early August. He's been limited to side work and has yet to be cleared for team drills, and his practice participation next week will provide a better sense of whether he'll be available for the Jets' regular-season opener against the Titans on Sunday, Sept. 13. Breece Hall (groin) is also nursing an injury, leaving Braelon Allen and Kene Nwangwu as the two healthy running backs on the Jets' 53-man roster.

Head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday that Dobbins is "moving well" and on track to play Week 1 against the Chiefs on Monday, Sept. 14, Chris Tomasson of The Denver Gazette reports.

Dobbins' practice participation in training camp was limited by a soft-tissue injury, which also caused the veteran running back to be held out of all three of the Broncos' preseason games out of caution. There's no indication that the issue is long-term, and Dobbins heads into Week 1 leading a backfield group that also consists of RJ Harvey, Tyler Badie and rookie fourth-rounder Jonah Coleman. Dobbins signed a two-year deal with the Broncos in March following his 2025 campaign with the Chargers, when he turned 153 carries into 772 yards (5.0 YPC) and four touchdowns while adding 11 catches (on 14 targets) for 37 yards across 10 regular-season games.

Robinson said Thursday that he's noticed an emphasis from the Falcons' new coaching staff in scheming up ways to create running room and help him reach the second level more quickly, Will McFadden of the team's official site reports. "We have a lot of different variations," Robinson said. "But, for me, it's to create space for yourself. [Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees] does a really good job of being intentional in trying to get us to the second level as fast as possible because when we get to the second level, I feel like that's where we're super dangerous as runners."

Robinson led the NFL with 2,298 scrimmage yards in 2025, with the 24-year-old doing much of his damage on outside runs in former offensive coordinator Zac Robinson's wide-zone running scheme. The Falcons won't completely abandon those zone concepts during the upcoming season, but the new coaching staff plans to implement more gap and power-style run plays that it believes will help Robinson to maintain effectiveness while still allowing him to put his explosiveness in the open field on display. Rees and head coach Kevin Stefanski also plan to keep Robinson heavily involved in the screen game, after he led all running backs with 20 receptions on screens last season. While working with a less talented Browns running-back room in 2025, Stefanski and Rees helped Cleveland generate 413 yards on screen plays, second-most in the NFL.

Fellow RB D'Andre Swift said Monangai (knee) "looked good" while running Wednesday, Adam Hoge of AllCHGO.com reports.

Since hyperextending his right knee in practice Aug. 16, Monangai has been described as "week-to-week" on multiple occasions by coach Ben Johnson, including as recently as Tuesday, according to Chris Emma of 670TheScore.com. Swift's view of Monangai one day later likely means the latter ran on the side versus in any drills, but it's at least the first positive sign that he's making progress in his recovery. If Monangai ends up being limited or even sidelined to begin the season, Swift likely would be a bellcow in the Bears offense, with Roschon Johnson on hand for any RB reps that linger.

Taylor was rested for the Colts' 25-16 loss to the Lions in Saturday's preseason finale.

Prior to the game, head coach Shane Steichen said that he planned on having all of the team's offensive starters minus Taylor and quarterback Daniel Jones take the field for 8-to-12 snaps, per JJ Stankevicz of the Colts' official site. Taylor didn't play in the prior two preseason contests either, as the Colts didn't want to risk an injury to their lead back in advance of the regular season. After missing at least three games every season from 2022 through 2024, the 27-year-old played a full 17-game slate in 2025, playing north of 70 percent of the offensive snaps in all but one of those contests while accounting for 20 touchdowns, amassing 1,585 yards on the ground and setting career highs with 46 receptions and 378 receiving yards. He'll be primed for another hefty workload in 2026, and the Colts are hopeful that Jones' return from a torn ACL can help Taylor avoid the decline in efficiency that he experienced after the Colts' Week 11 bye last season (3.3 yards per carry in his final seven games).

Brown is looking forward to an elevated role in the Bengals offense in 2026, Landon Belote of SI.com reports.

In particular, Brown cited the scheme's efficiency while running the ball under center and also how much he's been lining up in the slot in the passing game during training camp. After earning just 58 touches as a fifth-round rookie in 2023, his usage increased to 283 touches in 2024 and 301 touches last season. In 17 regular-games in 2025, he matched or set career highs across the board, tallying 1,456 yards from scrimmage and 11 total TDs. Considering Brown was one of seven RBs with at least 50 receptions last year (69, to be exact), his stature in fantasy has never been higher.

Coach Dave Canales said Wednesday he's "very optimistic" Brooks (soreness) will be available for Week 1 against the Bears, Sheena Quick of Fox Sports Radio 1340 reports.

It's unclear if Brooks' soreness is in his surgically-repaired knee or elsewhere, but he's worked off to the side with trainers at practice each of the last two days. While Brooks has drawn a substantial amount of summer hype, Chuba Hubbard (hamstring) is expected to maintain a large role in the Carolina backfield. Neither running back may be a reliable fantasy bet out of the gates against Chicago.

Walker (ankle) was a full participant in Wednesday's practice, Pete Sweeney of The Kansas City Star reports.

Walker dealt with some swelling around his ankle last week due to some cleat issues, but the star running back is back in action Wednesday with 12 days to go before the Chiefs open their season at home against the Broncos on Monday, Sept. 14. After splitting duties with Zach Charbonnet (knee) in Seattle, Walker is expected to operate as a three-down workhorse with Kansas City this season. Only fifth-round rookie Emmett Johnson and 2025 seventh-rounder Brashard Smith round out the depth chart behind Walker.