NFL Player News

Johnson was a limited participant in practice Wednesday due to a toe injury.

The injury might explain why Johnson didn't play in any preseason contests after the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 1. It's unclear what his role will be when healthy, but the limited practice participation suggests he at least stands some chance to play this Sunday against the Titans. D'Andre Swift is expected to lead Chicago's backfield, and Khalil Herbert could sub in for some carries, which may leave Johnson as a passing-down specialist or out of the picture entirely.

Henry is set to lead Baltimore's backfield Thursday against the Chiefs, despite not playing in the preseason, Ryan Mink of the Ravens' official site reports.

Henry will be making his Ravens debut Thursday, and Baltimore understandably didn't want to add any unnecessary tread to the 30-year-old running back's tires during the preseason after he handled 1,529 regular-season carries over the past five years with the Titans, leading the NFL in rushing attempts four times in that span. Justice Hill should fill a change-of-pace role behind Henry on Thursday in a Baltimore backfield that may not have any other options with Keaton Mitchell (knee) on the PUP list and Rasheen Ali (neck) listed as doubtful.

Reynolds (leg) was not listed on the Lions' estimated injury report Wednesday.

Reynolds' absence from the report is good news for the Kutztown product. Although it is worth noting that Detroit did not hold a practice Wednesday, so his participation in practice was just an estimate. It should confirm previous reports that he was expected to be ready Week 1. He'll likely compete with Sione Vaki for a limited number of snaps Sunday against the Rams, behind the Lions' backfield duo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.

Tracy (ankle) wasn't listed on the Giants' practice report Wednesday, Dan Salomone of the team's official site reports.

During an Aug. 13 session, Tracy initially suffered what was believed to be a serious injury to his lower right leg, which spurred the Giants to encase it in an air cast, cart him off the field and transport him to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Eventually, the 2024 fifth-round selection was diagnosed with a low-ankle sprain, and within a week, he was back on the practice field. Now that he's back to 100 percent, Tracy will serve as the No. 2 back behind Devin Singletary to begin his rookie campaign.

Strong (ribs) wasn't listed on Cleveland's injury report Wednesday, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

Strong practiced fully heading into Sunday's season opener against the Cowboys. He's likely to play a rotational role alongside D'Onta Foreman in a Browns backfield that will be led by Jerome Ford in the absence of Nick Chubb (knee), who will miss at least the first four games after opening the season on the PUP list. The speedy Strong is also listed as the top kickoff returner on the Browns' unofficial depth chart.

Sermon (hamstring) wasn't listed on the Colts' injury report Wednesday.

Sermon has evidently moved past the hamstring issue that sidelined him last month, and as a result is in line to be available to back up starting running back Jonathan Taylor in Sunday's season opener versus the Texans. Tyler Goodson is also on hand as a reserve option, though neither Sermon or Goodson is likely to garner a high volume of weekly touches as long as Taylor is available.

The nature of Cincinnati's backfield split between Brown and Zack Moss remains somewhat unclear ahead of Sunday's game against New England, Paul Dehner of The Athletic reports.

Both running backs are expected to be heavily involved, and the good news for fantasy purposes is that there may even be room for both to thrive Week 1 with the team opening its season at home as a heavy favorite. The Bengals won't always be favored by more than a touchdown, of course, and there will be plenty of weeks in which wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins comfortably outproduce the running backs. With that in mind, it will be important to keep close tabs on how the Bengals deploy Moss and Brown in various situations, although there's some chance it's more of a hot-hand approach than anything else. Brown is much faster and more dangerous in the open field, but Moss is viewed as a superior blocker and could thus take on more playing time in pass situations even if he's less threatening on screens and dumpoffs. And while Moss is a logical favorite for goal-line carries, it's possible even those opportunities are split between the two backs to some degree.

Gibbs (hamstring) wasn't listed on the Lions' injury report Wednesday.

Although the Lions didn't hold a session Wednesday, Gibbs wouldn't have been inhibited in his on-field work if the team had done so. As a result, he's good to go for Sunday's contest against the Rams after sustaining a hamstring injury in an Aug. 12 practice. Gibbs again will split Detroit's backfield with David Montgomery in 2024, which amounted to 1,261 yards from scrimmage and 11 total touchdowns on 232 touches in 15 games in 2023.

Warren (hamstring) was a limited practice participant Wednesday, Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com reports.

Warren missed a couple weeks of practice after injuring his hamstring Aug. 17 during a preseason game. He said Aug. 26 that he anticipated playing Week 1, and he reiterated as much Monday after returning to practice. His consistent optimism is a good sign, but fantasy managers will feel even better if Warren progresses to full practice participation Thursday and/or Friday.

Hall described himself as "better than ever" heading into his third NFL season, the Jets' official site reports.

Hall has been simulating star 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in practice to help the Jets defense prepare for Monday's season opener in San Francisco. He's one of the few running backs with comparable versatility and explosiveness to McCaffrey, as Hall's 1,585 scrimmage yards in the 2023 season were second among NFL running backs behind McCaffrey's 2,023. Hall's impressive production came despite his workload being managed to begin the season as he worked his way back from a torn ACL suffered in October 2022, but he has no such physical limitations heading into the 2024 campaign.