This article is part of our Training Camp Notes series.
We're now less than a week away from the regular season kicking off. Rosters are set for Week 1, but news is still trickling in with injury updates and clarity on some roles. Fortunately, we didn't have any big news Friday, but it's still important to be caught up with the latest reports heading into a big draft weekend.
Injury/Transaction Notes
- Joe Burrow continues to ramp up from his calf injury, and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said the next step in his recovery will be participating in "intense team periods." Callahan also said that he believes Burrow will be in a good place come Week 1. The signal-caller has gotten off to some slow starts in his career, and that could be the case again this season, but he appears almost certain to take the field against the Browns.
- Since the Vikings released Dalvin Cook, the team has been rumored to be in the market for a running back. Alexander Mattison remains the top back without much question, but the addition of Myles Gaskin does raise some questions about Ty Chandler's potential role in the offense. We'll need to see how things play out in Week 1 and perhaps longer to see how touches behind Mattison will be allocated.
- Tre'Quan Smith is likely to miss Week 1 with a groin injury. Assuming Rashid Shaheed (groin) is healthy as projected, he should serve as the team's third receiver. Shaheed had 28 receptions as a rookie in 2022 and four went for more than 40 yards. He should be a big-play threat in the offense.
- It won't affect his performance to start the season, but Mike Evans' agent announced that the wideout won't negotiate a contract extension once the season begins. If the Buccaneers fall out of contention, he could be a trade candidate before hitting free agency in the offseason. In theory, that would be good for his value as he'd likely go to a superior offense. On the other hand, changing offenses midseason will likely prove difficult. The potential for a trade is currently too remote to act on, but it is an interesting note to keep an eye on.
Job Battles
- The Chargers were presumably set to play Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Quentin Johnston in three-receiver sets this season. However, Daniel Popper of The Athletic recently projected that Joshua Palmer would begin the season in the third receiver role ahead of Johnston. That's not official word from the team, but Palmer could have some surprise value early on before presumably giving way to Johnston at some point.
- We'll blend together some injury news and job battles to take a look at the Patriots receiving corps. DeVante Parker missed practice both Wednesday and Thursday with an undisclosed issue. He's expected to be fine, but one glance at his game log throughout his career should be reason for at least some concern. He's played in every game in a season only once in his , and he's played in 37 games combined across his last three seasons. Tyquan Thornton (shoulder) is on injured reserve, which should leave Juju Smith-Schuster, Parker (If healthy) and Kendrick Bourne as the top three receivers in Week 1. If Parker is out, Demario Douglas (shoulder) or Kayshon Boutte could surprisingly step up.
- The Browns traded for Pierre Strong from the Patriots on roster cutdown day. Jerome Ford was expected to be the clear backup to Nick Chubb, though he missed nearly all of training camp with a hamstring injury. He's now healthy again, and should be considered the favorite to be the handcuff to Chubb, but now that's slightly less clear.
- The Bengals are another backfield where the depth roles are unclear. Chris Evans looked to be in control of the third-down role, but now he's dealing with an undisclosed injury. Trayveon Williams has also missed nearly the entirety of camp. He claims he will be back to full health next week, and he could be a darkhorse to overtake rookie Chase Brown as the primary backup to Joe Mixon if Evans remains sidelined.
