NFL Player News

Burden (groin) returned to practice Wednesday, but he was contained to individual drills, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com reports.

Since exiting practice Aug. 8 due to a groin injury, Burden was given a prognosis of roughly one month, meaning preseason action was off the table. However, his ability to mix back into some drills Wednesday generally is a positive sign in his recovery. The Bears open the regular season Sunday, Sept. 13 at Carolina, a contest for which Burden will continue to ramp up for.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday that Tagovailoa will start Friday's preseason game at Miami, Josh Kendall of The Athletic reports.

Fellow QB Michael Penix recently was cleared for team drills in practice as he continues to ramp up his activity level following last season's torn ACL. Stefanski relayed that Penix won't play preseason Week 3, which will give Tagovailoa another chance to stake a claim to the Falcons' starting quarterback gig. Stefanski also told Kendall that he'll name a starter "whenever they tell me I have to," so the competition appears to be a toss-up at the moment.

Love (ankle) was spotted doing some light agility work with trainers ahead of Wednesday's practice, Theo Mackie of The Arizona Republic reports.

Love emerged from his only action of the preseason Aug. 13 with a high-ankle sprain that has sidelined him from practice and one exhibition in the meantime. While his ability to get in some work Wednesday is an encouraging step in his recovery, he's likely still some time away from mixing back into drills. Tyler Allgeier will continue to handle the bulk of the first-team RB reps until Love is healthy.

Flowers (undisclosed) is being held out of practice "for precautionary reasons" and should be ready for Week 1, Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner reports.

Flowers missed a couple days of practice this week with an unspecified injury, but head coach Jesse Minter did not express any concern about his availability when asked after Wednesday's practice, so it appears Baltimore's top wideout is not facing any sort of extended absence.

Downs said his calf injury is "very minor" and believes he will resume practicing soon, Jake Arthur of Roundtable.io reports.

The injury prevented Downs from practicing both Tuesday and Wednesday, but it does not appear he is facing any sort of extended absence. With Alec Pierce (ankle) still sidelined, Keenan Allen, Ashton Dulin and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine figure to get more reps with the first team for the time being.

Chase (knee) is not participating in Wednesday's practice, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports.

Chase downplayed the injury that forced him from Tuesday's session, but he will get at least one day to rest and recover. The report notes that Chase "was not sporting any protective equipment," which backs up his stance that he is dealing only with a minor setback.

Kraft (knee) will participate in team drills during Wednesday's joint practice with the Cardinals, Ryan Wood of USA Today reports.

Kraft has been participating in team drills for over a week, and he has advanced enough to get some work in against an opposing team. It's still not certain that Kraft will be ready for Week 1, and it was reported earlier in August that he could open on a snap count even if he is ready to go, but the chances of him both being out there and filling a key role continue to rise.

Downs is not practicing Wednesday due to a calf injury, Mike Chappell of Fox 59 News Indianapolis reports.

Downs sat out Tuesday's practice with an undisclosed injury, and the reason for his absence is now known. The extent of his setback is uncertain, but the Colts are down their top two options at wide receiver for the time being.

Flowers isn't practicing Wednesday for the second consecutive day while he tends to an apparent undisclosed injury, Cordell Woodland of 105.7 The Fan Baltimore reports.

Flowers contended with a bruised quadriceps earlier in camp, but it's unclear if his consecutive absences from practice are related to that injury or if he's nursing a new health concern. Though Flowers isn't in uniform Wednesday, he was at least in attendance for practice and was working out off to the side, which bodes well for his chances of being available for the Ravens' Week 1 game against the Colts on Sept. 13. Flowers will likely miss Friday's preseason finale versus the Commanders, though that might have been the case even if he was 100 percent healthy.

McMillan (knee) didn't travel with the Buccaneers to Jacksonville for Wednesday's joint practice with the Jaguars, PewterReport.com reports.

The Buccaneers will reconvene with the Jaguars on Friday in Jacksonville for the preseason finale, and McMillan would appear safe to rule out for that contest after not making the trip north from Tampa. McMillan hasn't played at all in preseason while managing a lingering knee injury, and though he appeared to make some progress last week by returning to practice in a limited fashion, he may have since taken a step back in his recovery. He didn't practice in any capacity Tuesday in the first of the Buccaneers' two joint sessions with the Jaguars.