NFL Player News

The Falcons signed Matthews on Monday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

Matthews impressed the Texans after going undrafted last offseason, but he unfortunately tore his ACL and missed all of 2023. The San Diego State product has now made a full recovery from his ACL tear and has agreed to terms with Atlanta following a successful workout. Expect Matthews to compete for a depth role in the Falcons' wide receiver room as the offseason progresses.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Monday that Cowing is expected to miss another week or so with his hamstring injury, David Lombardi of The Athletic reports.

If Cowing misses one more week, he will have missed a total of 10 days of 49ers practice. However, it seems as if he'll definitely be ready for to go for the beginning of San Francisco's 2024 campaign. The 2024 fourth-round pick out of Arizona is expected to play a depth role in the 49ers' wide receiver room throughout his rookie season.

The Falcons are slated to sign Washington, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

Washington last saw NFL regular-season action with the Cowboys in 2022, but the 2018 second-rounder did manage to record 114 catches for 1,629 yards and 11 TDs over four years with the Steelers (2018-21). With the Falcons, the 28-year-old will compete for depth slotting in a wideout corps currently led by Drake London and Darnell Mooney that also includes Ray-Ray McCloud, Rondale Moore and KhaDarel Hodge.

Coach John Harbaugh indicated that the unspecified issue that forced Bateman out of Monday's practice early is nothing serious, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports.

Per Zrebiec, it looked like Bateman absorbed a hit in the rib/stomach area prior to his exit Monday, but Harbaugh described the wideout's issue as just soreness. With that in mind, consider Bateman, who's poised to play a key role in Baltimore's receiving corps this season, to be day-to-day.

McCloud has been getting regular first-team snaps and "seems to have the inside track on the slot receiver role" in Atlanta's offense, according to ESPN's Marc Raimondi reports.

Multiple Atlanta beat reporters have McCloud working ahead of Rondale Moore, not only during training camp but dating back to spring practices. It sounds like McCloud has even seen a good number of targets from Kirk Cousins, including passes deep downfield. That's somewhat surprising given that McCloud played for four different teams over the past six seasons and amassed more punt returns (138) and kickoff returns (108) than receptions (90). He did have a couple stints as a No. 3 receiver, including most of the 2021 season in Pittsburgh and a chunk of 2022 for the 49ers. There's a good chance McCloud factors in on punt/kick returns even if he's a significant part of Atlanta's offense.

Atwell is competing with Demarcus Robinson for the No. 3 WR role but may ultimately fall further down the depth chart, Cameron DaSilva of Rams Wire reports.

Atwell lost said role to Robinson down the stretch last season, despite starting the year strong while Cooper Kupp was sidelined by a hamstring injury. Atwell had 246 receiving yards Weeks 1-3, and then just 237 yards over 13 subsequent regular-season appearances (though he did score a 38-yard TD on his lone target in a playoff loss to Detroit). The 2021 second-round pick now seems likely to land in a depth role for the final year of his rookie contract, with some risk of falling behind not only Robinson but also sixth-round pick Jordan Whittington.

Davis went down with a thigh injury at Monday's practice, Sheena Quick of Fox Sports reports.

The undrafted wide receiver out of Western Kentucky, who posted an impressive 41-446-5 line with the UFL's Memphis Showboats this past spring, signed with Carolina earlier this summer after missing all of 2023 with a concussion, and it now appears that he's dealing with another injury. There's no word on the severity of Davis' injury at the moment, but this could definitely hurt the 25-year-old's chances of making Carolina's 53-man roster.

Chase (contract) isn't practicing Monday and isn't likely to practice Tuesday, James Rapien of SI.com reports.

Chase continues to "hold in" due to his desire for a new contract, watching from the sidelines rather than participating. He's coming up on a full week of missed practices, and it's hard to get a good read on the situation given that he's not discussing it with media (or even acknowledging that his absence is contract-related). Bengals owner Mike Brown said last week that it might take a while to finalize an extension, perhaps setting the table for Chase to remain absent from practice into August. The Bengals typically have avoided extensions with players that have multiple years remaining on rookie contracts, but Chase would be a sensible exception in light of three straight 1,000-yard seasons to open his career. He's currently under contract through 2025 via the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.

Pearsall (hamstring) has been activated from the active/non-football injury list.

As a result, Pearsall, who the 49ers took 31st overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, is in uniform for the team's first padded training camp practice, per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Now that the Florida product is back on the field, he figures to compete with Jauan Jennings for slotting behind top WRs Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, the latter of whom has been present for practice but not participating as he seeks a new contract.

Dell (leg) is participating in training camp, DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN.com reports.

Dell thus appears fully past both the broken fibula that he sustained last December, as well as a minor leg wound he sustained during an April shooting incident. With training camp underway, Dell has been working with Houston's first-team offense, per Bien-Aime, while in the process seeing his share of looks from QB C.J. Stroud along with fellow wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins. During his rookie campaign, Dell racked up 47 catches (on 75 targets) for 709 yards and seven TDs in 11 regular-season games, and if the 2023 third-rounder is able to stay healthy, he'll remain firmly on the fantasy radar, despite having to share WR targets with both Diggs and Collins.