NFL Player News

The 49ers designated Wilson (knee) for return from the reserve/PUP list Wednesday.

Wilson has reached the final stages of his recovery from May surgery to repair a torn meniscus. He'll now have three weeks to practice and put himself in a position to return to game action. The 49ers backfield has been bombarded by injuries this season, with Raheem Mostert ruled out of the season after he suffered chipped cartilage in his left knee Week 1, Elijah Mitchell missing Weeks 3 and 4, and JaMycal Hasty spending time on IR from Weeks 3 through 5. Mitchell didn't practice Wednesday due to a rib injury, so Hasty, Trey Sermon and Trenton Cannon are the healthy backs on the active roster.

Jacobs, who sustained a chest contusion in the Raiders' Week 7 win over the Eagles, is not listed on the team's Week 9 injury report.

The Raiders were on bye last week and the time off evidently allowed Jacobs to recover from his chest issue. As a result, he's in line to retain his lead RB role Sunday against the Giants. In five games thus far this season, Jacobs has logged 60 carries for 204 yards and five TDs while adding 14 catches (on 16 targets) for 110 yards.

Edmonds was limited at Wednesday's practice due to a shoulder injury, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports.

Edmonds left last Thursday's eventual loss to the Packers after a six-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but he was back on the field three plays later and finished out the game. He paced Arizona runnings backs with a 59-percent snap share and 10 touches, while James Conner was on the field for 37 percent of the Cardinals' plays and logged five touches. Such a breakdown has been the norm for this backfield this season, but it'll be interesting to see if Edmonds' injury will result in role reversals for the two, which happened back in Week 6 when Edmonds was banged up.

Murray (ankle) didn't practice Wednesday, Ryan Mink of the Ravens' official site reports.

Murray hasn't practiced since being forced out of the team's Week 6 win over the Chargers, so his absence from Wednesday's session isn't especially encouraging with the team coming off a Week 8 bye. That said, head coach John Harbaugh suggested Monday that Murray still has a chance to play this weekend against the Vikings. If that doesn't happen, Devonta Freeman, Le'Veon Bell and Ty'Son Williams would once again form a committee backfield for the Ravens.

The Giants placed Barkley on the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday after he tested positive for the virus, Aaron Wilson of Sportstalk 790 Houston reports.

Due to an outbreak among 13 Giants players and staffers, retesting was done to see if there were any false positives. With Barkley's placement on the list, he thus is subject to league protocols before he can return to team facilities, let alone the practice field. He was listed as a non-participant anyway Wednesday due to his left ankle sprain, which he told Lisa Salters oF ESPN still was too swollen and sore to allow him to play in Monday's loss to Kansas City. Barkley may be in store for a fourth consecutive absence this weekend against the Raiders, only this time for a different reason.

Evans (hamstring) was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Evans' ability to begin Week 9 on the field in any capacity is a promising sign, but he'll likely need to graduate to full activity by Friday to avoid taking an injury designation into Sunday's game against the Browns. While Evans was sidelined for the Bengals' Week 8 loss to the Jets, Samaje Perine had the No. 2 running-back reps all to himself, but he played only 26 percent of the offensive snaps while Cincinnati leaned more heavily than usual on top option Joe Mixon (76 percent).

Robinson (heel) didn't practice Wednesday.

Adam Schefter of ESPN previously noted that Robinson escaped a serious injury in the Jaguars' Week 8 loss to the Seahawks, but added that the running back is viewed as day-to-day ahead of Sunday's game against the Bills. Also on Jacksonville's initial Week 9 injury report is No. 2 back Carlos Hyde, who was limited by a calf injury Wednesday.

Carolina head coach Matt Rhule classified McCaffrey (hamstring) as a limited participant at Wednesday's practice, David Newton of ESPN.com reports. "I would probably say he was pretty limited, not a ton of plays," Rhule said, when asked about the extent of McCaffrey's activity. "Just trying to begin the process of working him back. We'll see how he looks [Thursday] in terms of this weekend and his availability. See how he responds to this, but no setbacks."

The Panthers officially designated McCaffrey for a return from injured reserve Wednesday, but because he hasn't been activated to the 53-man roster, the team doesn't have to include him on its Week 9 injury report. Rhule at least helped give fantasy managers an idea of where McCaffrey stands in his recovery by labeling him as a limited participant in his first practice since aggravating the injury in a Week 6 workout, after he initially tweaked his hamstring in the team's Week 3 win over the Texans. Carolina isn't ruling McCaffrey out from putting an end to his five-game absence Sunday against New England, but the star running back presumably will need to increase his practice activity the next two days to have a realistic shot at making that a reality. McCaffrey's return to practice Wednesday opened a 21-day window for Carolina to either bring him back from IR or shut him down for the remainder of the season.

Mitchell (ribs) won't practice Wednesday, Matt Barrows of The Athletic reports.

Barrows notes that the hope is Mitchell gets some practice in during the week, so we'll revisit the running back's status no later than Thursday. In the 49ers' Week 8 win over the Bears, Mitchell was on the field for 36 of a possible 56 snaps on offense en route to carrying 18 times for 137 yards and a TD.

Mack wasn't moved to another team ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline, despite he and the Colts mutually agreeing to seek a deal elsewhere, Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star reports.

A quiet market for running backs was ultimately a major factor in Mack remaining in Indianapolis once the deadline passed. After playing just one snap on offense in last week's loss to the Titans, Mack will likely continue to fill a small role on offense unless Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines were to miss time. Mack hasn't given any indications that he'll ask for his release after not being traded.