NFL Player News

Mims (undisclosed) left Friday's practice with an apparent injury, Nick Kosmider of The Athletic reports.

With Jaylen Waddle dealing with a muscle strain and Mims having left practice Friday, the Broncos' top healthy WRs at the moment are Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant. Following the high-profile offseason addition of Waddle to work alongside Sutton, however, Mims' path to steady volume is murky as he competes with Franklin and Bryant for slotting behind the top duo.

Thornton (undisclosed) exited Friday's practice early, Sam Warren of The Athletic reports.

Thornton, who is coming off a 2025 season in which he caught 10 passes for 135 yards on 30 targets over 15 games, is competing with Jack Bech and Malik Benson for slotting in a Las Vegas WR corps that's led by Tre Tucker and Jalen Nailor. Any missed time won't help his cause, but in any case the team's No. 3 option at the position may not see heavy volume in 2026, with two-TE sets featuring Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer likely to be used frequently this season.

Despite Williams' modest role in training camp to date, coach Mike Vrabel says that the Patriots want to find ways to keep the 2025 third-rounder involved in the offense this season, Zack Cox of the Boston Herald reports.

"I really, really know that Kyle is going to help us," Vrabel noted Friday. "His speed is going to help us...we're going to find ways to get him the ball, and it may be outside of just the normal installation plays." As a rookie, Williams caught 10 of 21 targets for 209 yards and three touchdowns in 17 regular-season contests in 2025, but it's notable that those three scores all came on big plays. For now, Williams seems to be facing an uphill battles in terms of earning steady playing time in a crowded WR room, but if transactions or injuries change the composition of the unit, the Washington State product could make his mark as a complementary target alongside top options A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs.

Colts coach Shane Steichen said Thursday that Pierce (ankle) is "doing great" with his rehab but doesn't have a concrete timetable to resume practicing, James Boyd of The Athletic reports.

At the start of training camp, Colts GM Chris Ballard said Pierce was a "week or so away" from practicing. The team is now a week and a half into camp, with no sign of an imminent return for Pierce, who underwent ankle surgery this spring. He initially hoped a long-lingering injury would heal with rest over the winter, but he ended up needing surgery not long after signing a four-year, $114 million contract in March. The Colts are left with Ashton Dulin, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Deion Burks and others to compete for first-team reps alongside Josh Downs at wide receiver this summer.

Concepcion said Friday that his shoulder has felt fine since returning to practice earlier this week, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Concepcion was diagnosed with an AC joint sprain after a hard fall at Monday's practice, but it was apparently only a minor sprain, considering he returned to team drills Wednesday. The report notes that he made a leaping catch at Thursday's practice without any visible aggravation of the injury. Concepcion is competing for a top-three role at WR and looks on track to make at least one appearance during the NFL preseason.

Austin looks to be the Giants' top slot receiver, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic.

Duggan relays that Austin was a standout at the offseason program but hasn't carried his early momentum to the start of training camp. That might be expected for one of the smallest players in the league, but Austin nonetheless appears on track for a Week 1 role, regularly taking slot reps with the starters. The Giants will frequently use a fullback and/or multiple tight ends on early downs, so the No. 3 WR role might only amount to a few targets per week.

Worthy (shoulder) didn't practice Friday, Pete Sweeney of The Kansas City Star reports.

Meanwhile, fellow Chiefs wideout Cyrus Allen (shin) returned to practice Friday after missing the past few days. Worthy shouldn't be too far behind, as he's considered day-to-day with a shoulder sprain. That said, fantasy managers should keep an eye on the situation, given that Worthy had surgery on the same shoulder at the beginning of the offseason. The Chiefs don't seem worried, but it's still not the best sign.

Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley suggested Friday that Bell (knee) might have a chance to play this preseason, David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

It doesn't seem likely, given that Bell remains on the Non-Football Injury list through the first week of August. He'll presumably ease into practice once he's activated, and there would still be some chance of opening the regular season on an injury list. Still, it's a good sign that Bell's head coach isn't ruling out the possibility of a preseason appearance. The rookie third-round pick should get playing time at some point this year, though perhaps not early on.

Coleman missed Friday's practice due to an undisclosed injury, David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

The rookie sixth-round pick doesn't seem to have made much noise early on at training camp, while third-round pick Caleb Douglas reportedly was one of the standouts at Friday's session. There's still time for Coleman to make his case for a role this summer if the injury he's dealing with doesn't turn out to be serious.

Metchie is competing for a depth role in Carolina, Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer reports.

With rookie third-round pick Chris Brazzell (knee) ruled out for the season, Metchie might have a chance to push Xavier Legette for the No. 3 job, though this report suggests Metchie is also on the roster bubble. Metchie and Legette offer contrasting styles, which could work in Metchie's favor on a team where the top two wide receivers (Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker) look a lot more like Legette. At 5-foot-11, 187 pounds, Metchie figures to take a lot of snaps in the slot if he ends up earning a role in the Carolina offense. He recorded three receptions on six targets for 38 yards and a 36-yard kick return Thursday night in the Hall of Fame Game against Arizona.