This article is part of our Training Camp Notes series.
As of Thursday, we are just a month away from the first full slate of NFL regular-season games. While that may still seem too far for some, it at least offers time for injuries to heal and jobs to be won. We discuss the latest news on those two topics herein.
Injury Notes
- George Kittle is scheduled to miss about a week due to an adductor strain. That means the 49ers star won't suit up for Saturday's preseason game against Las Vegas, but the injury shouldn't cost him any regular-season time.
- Jets coach Robert Saleh said Thursday morning that Garrett Wilson (ankle) would return to individual work, but the second-year receiver surprised by also joining team drills. He missed roughly two weeks but seems on track for Week 1.
- Miles Sanders suffered a minor groin injury Wednesday, which probably will cost him the chance to play in the Panthers' preseason game against the Jets on Saturday. Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear will garner extra first-team reps in the meantime, but Sanders' injury seems unlikely to impact the regular season.
- Freshly off the PUP list, Rashod Bateman continued individual drills for a second consecutive day. Expect the Ravens to bring their 2021 first-round pick along slowly as he recovers from Lisfranc surgery last November, but coach John Harbaugh said Thursday that the 23-year-old wideout is making promising progress. This would seem to leave open the possibility that Bateman could be on the field in Week 1 in at least some capacity.
As of Thursday, we are just a month away from the first full slate of NFL regular-season games. While that may still seem too far for some, it at least offers time for injuries to heal and jobs to be won. We discuss the latest news on those two topics herein.
Injury Notes
- George Kittle is scheduled to miss about a week due to an adductor strain. That means the 49ers star won't suit up for Saturday's preseason game against Las Vegas, but the injury shouldn't cost him any regular-season time.
- Jets coach Robert Saleh said Thursday morning that Garrett Wilson (ankle) would return to individual work, but the second-year receiver surprised by also joining team drills. He missed roughly two weeks but seems on track for Week 1.
- Miles Sanders suffered a minor groin injury Wednesday, which probably will cost him the chance to play in the Panthers' preseason game against the Jets on Saturday. Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear will garner extra first-team reps in the meantime, but Sanders' injury seems unlikely to impact the regular season.
- Freshly off the PUP list, Rashod Bateman continued individual drills for a second consecutive day. Expect the Ravens to bring their 2021 first-round pick along slowly as he recovers from Lisfranc surgery last November, but coach John Harbaugh said Thursday that the 23-year-old wideout is making promising progress. This would seem to leave open the possibility that Bateman could be on the field in Week 1 in at least some capacity.
- Kenneth Walker's groin injury continues to heal, and the 22-year-old is back to running full speed in practice. He obviously won't play for the Seahawks on Thursday against the Vikings, but the second-year back is scheduled to add cutting to his routine in the coming days and therefore appears to be on track for Week 1 barring any setbacks.
Job Battles
- Anthony Richardson will start the Colts' preseason matchup in Buffalo and continues to dominate the first-team reps in camp ahead of Gardner Minshew. Preseason games don't often mean a lot, but an extreme performance by either signal caller could have ramifications for the rest of camp and into the regular season.
- In an unforeseen development out of Denver, Adam Trautman is listed ahead of Greg Dulcich on the team's preseason depth chart as the Broncos' No. 1 tight end. While coach Sean Payton praised Trautman for his blocking and pass-catching ability Wednesday, Dulcich remains the better fantasy prospect of the two despite possibly losing snaps as an inferior blocker.
- Skyy Moore has dominated reps with the starters in Chiefs' two-wide sets alongside Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Rashee Rice and Justyn Ross have "overwhelmingly" been confined to second-team work. Although Kadarius Toney (knee) is reportedly on track for Week 1, he has yet to play more than 10 games in either of his two NFL seasons, so Moore, in his second NFL campaign, would seem to be set up for ample opportunity to catch passes from Patrick Mahomes.