NFL Player News

Benjamin is poised for a bigger role in the Cardinals backfield after Chase Edmonds was diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain, Darren Urban of the team's official site reports.

When Edmonds made an early departure Sunday in San Francisco, James Conner took on the lion's share of the running back reps, turning 21 carries into 96 yards and two touchdowns and gathering in all five of his targets for 77 yards and another score. Meanwhile, Benjamin stepped in as the No. 2 RB en route to nine carries for 39 yards and one TD. On the aforementioned score, he trucked a 49ers defender on his 21-yard scamper to the end zone. It should be noted the 2020 seventh-round pick only had four offensive snaps and two rushes in two career appearances prior to Week 9, but the Cardinals haven't been shy about keeping two backs involved each week, meaning Benjamin should have some type of role behind Conner during Edmonds' likely multi-week absence.

The Texans placed Phillips (leg) on injured reserve Tuesday.

Phillips had seen his role out of the Houston backfield increase over the past two weeks following the trade of Mark Ingram to the Saints. After he was active just once over the first seven weeks of the season, Phillips logged 19 snaps on offense between Weeks 8 and 9 and carried six times for 13 yards. He picked up the leg injury in Sunday's loss to the Dolphins, and the Texans determined it was serious enough to keep him sidelined for at least their next three games. Phillips won't be eligible to return to the 53-man roster until the Texans' Week 14 matchup with the Seahawks on Dec. 12.

Freeman was claimed off waivers by the Texans on Tuesday.

The six-foot, 238-pound back will move on to his third team this year, having joined the Panthers prior to Week 1 after being cut by Denver. Freeman was buried on the depth chart in Carolina and was unable to find much work even while top back Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) was sidelined for multiple weeks, managing 21 carries for 77 yards and three catches for 15 yards in eight appearances for the team. He'll likely start out fourth on the depth chart with the Texans, but Freeman should have a better opportunity to push for playing time in Houston in light of how poorly the three other running backs on the roster have performed this season. Rex Burkhead paces the group with an average of 4.1 yards per carry, while David Johnson (3.6 YPC) and Phillip Lindsay (2.7 YPC) lag further behind.

Felton (illness) was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday.

As expected, Felton lands on the COVID-19 list after testing positive for the virus Tuesday. In addition to Felton, Nick Chubb and John Kelly both also tested positive for the virus, leaving D'Ernest Johnson as the only remaining running back on the Browns' active roster who isn't in the NFL's COVID-19 protocols. Both Felton and Chubb are fully vaccinated, so they haven't been ruled out for Cleveland's Week 10 matchup with the Patriots yet, but they will need to submit two negative test results at least 24 hours apart if they are going to be active.

The Browns placed Chubb on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday.

The transaction was fully expected after Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Chubb tested positive for the virus earlier Tuesday. Because he's vaccinated, Chubb is eligible to rejoin the Browns as soon as he turns in two straight negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart, so he'll still have a chance to be available for the team's Week 10 game in New England on Sunday. If Chubb can't gain clearance, D'Ernest Johnson would likely step in as Cleveland's lead back against the Patriots, assuming Kareem Hunt (calf) isn't activated from injured reserve this week.

Kelly did test positive for COVID before being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Kelly joins Nick Chubb and Demetric Felton as Browns running backs who have tested positive for COVID, leaving D'Ernest Johnson as the only healthy running back on the current roster. Kelly's absence wouldn't normally be much of an issue, as he's only played three offensive snaps all season, but with the void the Browns now have in the backfield every body counts.

Murray (ankle) wasn't spotted taking part in Tuesday's practice, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports.

After missing the Ravens' last two games, Murray's absence from a second straight practice in a short week doesn't bode well for his chances of suiting up for Thursday's game against the Dolphins. Barring an upgrade in his participation during Wednesday's session, Baltimore will likely turn to Devonta Freeman (13 carries last week) and Le'Veon Bell (11 carries last week) as its primary backs again in Week 10.

Rountree carried the ball one time for one yard in Sunday's 27-24 win against the Eagles.

Rountree tallied just one of the team's 21 carries as Joshua Kelly took most of the backup workload. The rookie was unable to make the most of his singular carry, continuing to show his ineffectiveness on the ground as he has averaged only 2.5 yards on 29 carries over the 2021 season thus far. With Austin Ekeler back healthy and Justin Jackson (quad) set to return from injury in the coming weeks, Rountree will continue to see a minimum workload going forward.

Barkley (ankle) was spotted working off to the side under the supervision of the Giants' training staff during the team's informal practice session Tuesday, Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports.

New York is on bye this week, but the team is holding a workout Tuesday to get reps for less-established members of the roster as well as rehabbing players like Barkley, who has sat out each of the Giants' last four games. Though Barkley's presence at the practice facility is a decent sign, the fact that he wasn't mixing in for team drills means he likely would have been listed as a non-participant if the Giants had to release an official injury report for Tuesday. Because of the bye week, New York won't have to provide an official update on Barkley's practice activity until Nov. 18, three days before the Giants' Week 11 game in Tampa Bay. Given his long layoff, Barkley will need to practice in full at some point next week in order for the Giants to sign off on him playing.

Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears relayed Tuesday that Stevenson has been placed in the NFL's concussion protocol, Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com reports. "We're on the wait-and-see program," Fears said of Stevenson.

In addition to Stevenson, lead back Damien Harris is also following the five-step concussion protocol, putting both players' statuses in question for Sunday's game against the Browns. In all likelihood, both Stevenson and Harris will be limited or non-participants in practice when the Patriots begin Week 10 prep Wednesday, leaving Brandon Bolden and J.J. Taylor as the only current healthy backs on the roster. Stevenson received the call over Taylor to serve as the Patriots' third back in last week's 24-6 win over the Panthers, carrying 10 times for 62 yards and adding two receptions for 44 yards before departing with the head injury.