NFL Player News

Mitchell isn't in line to play in Friday's preseason game in Las Vegas, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

A strained hamstring sidelined Mitchell for the first two exhibitions, and even though he returned to practice Wednesday, the 49ers will opt to keep him in street clothes two days later. He'll thus turn his focus to Week 1, when he's expected to serve as the primary backup to All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey (calf). In 27 regular-season games in his three-year career, Mitchell has averaged 4.7 YPC while scoring 10 total touchdowns.

The Bengals waived Cain on Friday, according to the team's official site.

Cain will hit the road as the running back room for the Bengals starts to slim down. He has not yet seen the field in an NFL game.

Reynolds left Thursday's practice with a leg issue but avoided a serious injury, Jared Ramsey of Detroit Free Press reports.

While Reynolds reportedly did avoid a serious injury, his leg problem could keep him out of Detroit's final preseason game against the Steelers this Saturday. The 5-foot-11 running back is looking to secure the RB3 spot over rookie fourth-round pick Sione Vaki ahead of the season, but Reynolds will need to stay healthy if he wants to be a part of the backfield at any capacity this season.

Hasty is making a push to secure a spot in the Patriots' backfield ahead of Week 1, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

While Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson are roster locks, Hasty and Kevin Harris could be competing for the team's No. 3 RB role. It's possible that the Patriots end up keeping four backs on their initial 53-man roster, but either way, the 5-foot-8, 205-pound Hasty remains in contention to secure a depth/change-of-pace role in the team's backfield.

White and other starters are scheduled to play in Friday's preseason game against Miami, Brianna Dix of the Bucs' official website reports.

The starting RB often plays less than other starters, but White figures to at least take a few snaps in the only action Tampa's first-team offense will get this preseason. He's locked in atop the depth chart again, although there's some thought rookie fourth-round pick Bucky Irving will have a bigger role than last year's group of backups ever managed. White led all RBs with 823 snaps in the regular season last year, tying for second in carries (272) and ninth in targets (70) despite averaging just 3.6 yards per carry. His 91.4 percent catch rate led all qualified pass catchers, and his 7.8 yards per target was the fourth-best mark among qualified RBs.

Sermon (hamstring) didn't play in Thursday's 27-14 preseason win over the Bengals.

James Boyd of The Athletic expects Sermon to have a spot on the initial 53-man roster despite missing the final two preseason games and the past couple weeks of practice. The running back was injured during the first quarter of the Colts' preseason opener, after reports out of training camp pegged him as a favorite for the second spot on the depth chart. It's a role that doesn't figure to entail many touches when Jonathan Taylor is healthy, and there's some chance Sermon's absence will lead the Colts to turn to Evan Hull and/or Tyler Goodson instead. The team may even put Sermon on injured reserve if he won't be ready for Week 1, in which case he'd be ruled out for the first four games of the season.

Wheeler suffered a knee injury in Thursday night's preseason win over the Chiefs, Scott Bair of the Bears' official site reports.

Coach Matt Eberflus said after the game that Wheeler would need further evaluation. Prior to leaving versus Kansas City, Wheeler recorded five carries for five yards, wrapping up the 2024 preseason with 12 carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns.

Hull had nine carries for 30 yards but lost three yards on one reception in Thursday's preseason win over the Bengals.

Hull was the third running back to enter the game after Jonathan Taylor and Tyler Goodson, but also got time with the first-string offense. Goodson rushed 13 times for 57 yards and caught two of three targets for 10 yards, so the two backs competing for the No. 3 running back job had another similar preseason outing. Trey Sermon hurt his hamstring in the preseason opener, and if he still isn't ready to play by the Sept. 8 regular-season opener against the Texans, Goodson and Hull would likely split change-of-pace duties behind Taylor.

Prince rushed three times for minus-1 yard and brought in his only target for three yards in the Chiefs' 34-21 preseason loss to the Bears on Thursday night.

Prince saw both Carson Steele and Keaontay Ingram -- the latter his primary competition for a reserve running back spot -- fill larger roles in the preseason finale. Prince appeared in two regular-season games as an undrafted rookie in 2023, but it remains to be seen where he'll slot in on the depth chart come Week 1, with Isiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire also in the team's backfield mix.

Steele rushed four times for 50 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs' 34-21 preseason loss to the Bears on Thursday night. He also returned one kickoff for 29 yards.

The undrafted UCLA product got a nice chunk of his team-high rushing yardage total on a 31-yard scamper, but he was impressively efficient overall with his few opportunities. Steele is listed as a fullback on the Chiefs' unofficial preseason depth chart, but he's looked good with the ball in his hands and has arguably made a case for a 53-man roster spot, especially with no other player listed at his position. Nevertheless, Kansas City's ground game will naturally be dominated by Isiah Pacheco come the regular season, with Clyde Edwards-Helaire (illness) and Deneric Prince likely also in the mix for complementary snaps.