NFL Player News

The Jaguars signed Brightwell to a contract Saturday.

Brightwell appeared in seven regular-season games with the Giants in 2023, registering 66 yards from scrimmage on 14 touches while playing 39 snaps on offense and 99 on special teams. He sustained a hamstring injury in Week 7 against the Commanders and ended the season on IR. He reached an injury settlement with the Giants in June, and he'll now compete for a depth running back spot on the Jaguars behind Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby.

Panthers coach Dave Canales said Saturday that Brooks (knee) won't play in the preseason and isn't expected to make his NFL debut until Week 3 or Week 4 of the regular season, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.

Brooks is still rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered last November, though the injury didn't stop the Panthers from picking him in the second round of April's NFL Draft. There was initially some optimism that the running back could be ready to practice at the start of training camp, but it's now apparent that he will be eased along cautiously and won't suit up for any preseason contests. It's possible that Brooks will begin the campaign on the PUP list, in which case he wouldn't be eligible to play until Week 5. With Brooks set to miss at least the first three games of the regular season, Chuba Hubbard's hold on the lead back role entering Week 1 may be cemented, though it's still possible that Miles Sanders gives him competition for those duties.

Fenwick was waived by the Patriots on Friday.

Fenwick will depart from New England after competing for a reserve running-back spot since being signed in April. The undrafted free agent running back rushed 96 times for 515 yards and five touchdowns in 13 games with Oregon State during his senior campaign.

Coach John Harbaugh noted Thursday that Hill will maintain a valuable role in the backfield rotation behind Derrick Henry, Clifton Brown of the Ravens' official site reports. "He is a high caliber running back. So, to have him along Derrick, along with the young guys, it's really great. He's going to give us a little different style than Derrick Henry," Harbaugh noted of Hill, adding "I think he's going to play a lot and kind of do it his way."

Though Henry profiles as the team's clear lead back, with Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins no longer in the mix and Keaton Mitchell still recovering from a knee injury, Hill is poised to have a key complementary role in Baltimore's backfield out of the gate in 2024. Also competing for depth touches behind Henry are fifth-round rookie Rasheen Ali and Owen Wright. In 16 regular-season contests last season, Hill carried 84 times for 387 yards and three TDs, while adding 28 catches (on 39 targets) for 206 yards and a receiving score.

Vaki returned to practice Friday, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell stated Vaki's shoulder problem is "nothing long term," Jeff Risdon of USA Today and John Maakaron of Sports Illustrated report.

Vaki left practice early on Thursday with shoulder problems, but it appears the injury won't be a problem moving forward as he returned to practice just a day later. The rookie running back will need as many reps as he can get ahead of Detroit's season as he focuses solely on the offensive side of the ball after playing both running back and safety in his collegiate career with Utah.

Robinson (toe) will return to practice for individual drills Friday, Mia O'Brien of 1010 XL 92.5 FM Jacksonville reports.

Robinson hasn't practiced in the recent days due to the same toe problems, but it appears he at least is moving in the right direction. Getting on the field and competing as soon as possible will be important for the rookie out of Texas, as he is battling against Tank Bigsby and D'Ernest Johnson to be Travis Etienne's backup this season.

Vaughn missed the past couple practices with a hamstring injury, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports.

Vaughn's absence during the second week of training camp may impact his chances of earning a spot on the 53-man roster. Early reports suggest Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle and Royce Freeman are all ahead of Vaughn, a 2023 sixth-round pick who barely played as a rookie.

Jacobs (groin) said Friday that he's healthy enough to play in a game and is dealing with a "tweak" more so than an actual injury, Zach Kruse of USA Today reports.

Jacobs isn't worried about the groin injury, and it sounds like he won't miss too many practices. He was held out Thursday for the first time during training camp, which freed up more reps for backups AJ Dillon and MarShawn Lloyd.

Lloyd was impressive during Thursday's practice and may have the necessary skills to replace AJ Dillon as Green Bay's No. 2 running back, according to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.

Lloyd is undoubtedly faster and shiftier than the 247-pound Dillon, who struggled in 2023 but then re-signed with Green Bay in the offseason and earned praise from coach Matt LaFleur for reporting to training camp in "the best shape I've seen him, hands down." As a third-round pick, Lloyd certainly is expected to be more than a No. 3 RB at some point, but there's risk of a slower-than-usual learning curve even if he looks good this summer, in part because he fumbled 10 times on 325 touches in college (about 3-4x the rate considered acceptable for a running back). It's possible Lloyd cleans that up in a hurry now that he has NFL coaching, but it'll be a tough thing to evaluate until he gets a lot of carries in actual games -- which isn't likely to happen this season if lead back Josh Jacobs (groin) stays relatively healthy.

Foreman (neck) is back with the Browns on Friday but isn't practicing, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

The team sent Foreman to a hospital in a helicopter Thursday after a hard hit in practice left him with neck pain. X-rays and CT scans didn't show any major damage, so the running back likely will get back on the field at some point during training camp to continue competing for snaps with Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong. Fellow Browns running backs Nick Chubb (knee) and Nyheim Hines (knee) haven't yet practiced this summer after suffering ACL tears last year.