NFL Player News

Loveland is listed as a starting tight end along with Cole Kmet on the Bears' unofficial depth chart.

The 10th overall pick in the 2025 Draft, Loveland had a slow start to his rookie season, coming out of Week 8 with 11 catches total on the campaign and one DNP due to a hip injury. From Week 9 through the Bears' divisional-round loss to the Rams, though, he ran roughshod over opposing defenses, hauling in 59 of 89 targets for 790 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games. Loveland capped that stretch with four consecutive contests with double-digit targets, indicating he finished last season as QB Caleb Williams' top option in the passing game. While Loveland still has to contend with WRs Rome Odunze and Luther Burden (groin) for the attention of Williams, the tight end is poised to make a leap to the NFL's best at the position.

Achane is set to lead a Dolphins backfield in 2026 that will also include Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon (ribs), based on Miami's initial 53-man roster.

The Dolphins traded for Jarquez Hunter shortly before cutdown day, but he ultimately didn't make the 53-man roster, though Hunter remains in the organization as part of the practice squad. Fullback D.J. Herman is also listed as a running back, but the team's backfield is otherwise unchanged from 2025, when Achane produced a career-high 1,838 scrimmage yards. The team around Achane went through an offseason overhaul, including the addition of mobile QB Malik Willis, but Achane projects to maintain a prominent role as the centerpiece of an otherwise unproven offense.

Coach Ben Johnson said Tuesday that Odunze has had no issues this summer with the foot injury that plagued him last season, Larry Mayer of the Bears' official site reports.

Odunze was able to play through listed ankle and heel injuries through Week 13 last season, but a stress fracture in his foot sidelined him Weeks 14-18 before he returned for Chicago's two postseason contests. In 14 appearances including playoffs, he posted a 48-749-6 line on 102 targets, recording 13 receptions of 20-plus yards along the way. As the ninth overall pick in the 2024 Draft, Odunze has a 51.3 percent catch rate (98 for 191) in his two-year career, but he's made up for it with 14.2 YPC. If the aforementioned foot injury is a thing of the past, Odunze will remain a key target for QB Caleb Williams along with TE Colston Loveland and WR Luther Burden (groin) in 2026.

Johnson is one of three running backs on Chicago's initial 53-man roster, along with D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai (knee).

Johnson beat out Salvon Ahmed, Brittain Brown and Coleman Bennett for a spot on the 53-man roster. Head coach Ben Johnson described Monangai as "week-to-week" Tuesday, per Chris Emma of 670TheScore.com, so Monangai's status for Week 1 remains up in the air. If Monangai isn't ready to face the Panthers on Sept. 13, Johnson could be in line for change-of-pace work behind D'Andre Swift, with no alternatives currently on the roster at running back.

Coach Ben Johnson lauded Williams' approach Tuesday as the quarterback enters his third NFL campaign, Larry Mayer of the Bears' official site reports. "He's executing at a much higher clip than he ever has, and I think it's going to continue to grow," Johnson said. "He's going to continue to elevate everyone around him, coaches included."

Williams played just one possession during exhibition season, leading the Bears to a Cairo Santos field goal to kick off preseason Week 2 at Cincinnati. The performance (2-for-5 passing for 28 yards, no TDs and no interceptions) was nothing to write home about, but Williams is set to take another step forward in his development in 2026. There are two question marks within Chicago's skill positions as Week 1 approaches: RB Kyle Monangai is attempting to put a hyperextended knee behind him, while WR Luther Burden is continuing his recovery from an early August groin injury. Having said that, Williams still has the healthy trio of RB D'Andre Swift, WR Rome Odunze and TE Colston Loveland at his services, so the QB's first 4,000-yard season through the air may be on the horizon.

Browns is one of six wide receivers on the Cowboys' initial 53-man roster, Tommy Yarrish of the Cowboys' official site reports.

The Cowboys seem to have found a diamond in the rough with Brown, who signed with the team as an undrafted free agent in May after recording 1,079 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns at Georgia Southern in 2025. Prior to that, Brown played at Auburn for three years. Brown's two-touchdown performance in the Cowboys' preseason opener helped him earn a spot on the team, but Ryan Flournoy remains the favorite to join CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens in three-receiver sets.

Foster is among the five wide receivers that made Seattle's initial 53-man roster, John Boyle of the team's official site reports.

Foster earned his roster spot with a strong training camp that carried over into a productive preseason, which included a touchdown catch in Seattle's first preseason game. The 25-year-old wide receiver finished the previous season on Seattle's practice squad but has yet to appear in a regular-season game. Foster will likely be limited to a depth role barring injuries to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp or Tory Horton (undisclosed), the last of whom isn't believed to have a long-term injury.

Henderson (ankle) wasn't present for Thursday's practice, Evan Lazar of the Patriots' official site reports.

Henderson has been sidelined for the last 10 days, and while there's been no indication he's dealing with a serious injury, it's starting to get close to the wire for Henderson to play in next Wednesday's regular-season opener against the Seahawks. Henderson will almost certainly need to return to practice before Monday to have a chance to face Seattle. If he can't go in Week 1, Rhamondre Stevenson would get a huge fantasy boost as a surefire RB2 based on volume projection.

Spears is among the four running backs that made the Titans' initial 53-man roster.

Based on preseason usage, Spears is firmly entrenched as the team's top alternative to Tony Pollard in the backfield. Spears produced 536 scrimmage yards in 2024 and 547 scrimmage yards in 2025 while filling such a role. His 838-yard rookie season in 2023 came prior to Pollard's arrival in Tennessee. Rookie fifth-round pick Nicholas Singleton didn't show anything during preseason action that would indicate he's an immediate threat to Spears' role, while Julius Chestnut is likely ticketed for a role on special teams.

Mitchell (undisclosed) remained a non-participant in Thursday's practice, Kris Rhim of ESPN.com reports.

With Mitchell now having missed six straight practices, his status for Week 1 against the Cardinals is starting to come into question. If he's unable to go against Arizona, Kimani Vidal would settle in as the likely RB2 behind Omarion Hampton. Mitchell will need to get back on the field in some capacity next week if he's going to have a chance to suit up for the regular-season opener.