NFL Player News

McCaffrey may get on the field during Friday's preseason game against the Steelers, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports. "He'll be very, very limited as he's been pretty much every preseason," coach Matt Rhule said Monday.

There's really no need for the Panthers to chance it with their top skill-position player, who made just three appearances last season due to ankle, shoulder and knee injuries. McCaffrey declared that he was 100 percent during the offseason program, but the team so far has kept him shuttered through two exhibitions. But if McCaffrey gets the all-clear to play Friday, Rhule's comment that the running back would be "very, very limited" implies he likely wouldn't see more than one series. Since breaking out in 2018, McCaffrey has averaged 135.2 yards from scrimmage per game and scored 38 TDs in 35 contests, making him one of the premium fantasy options out there.

Leake was waived by the Lions on Monday.

Leake spent last season on Washington's practice squad, and he'll hope to earn a practice squad role somewhere again in 2021, as the 23-year-old running back is unlikely to make a roster at this point.

Kamara isn't expected to play in Monday's preseason game against the Jaguars, John Hendrix of SI.com reports.

Coach Sean Payton revealed late last week that certain unnamed starters who didn't play in the exhibition opener would make an appearance in preseason Week 2. Kamara was among those players, but because he isn't suited up in pregame warmups he doesn't seem like a candidate to take the field Monday. Payton is on the brink of revealing the Saints' starting quarterback for Week 1, and when that decision is made a key skill player like Kamara likely won't risk getting nicked up in the preseason finale Saturday versus the Cardinals.

Swift (groin) seemed to be moving well during Monday's practice and is on track to be ready for Week 1, Chris Burke of The Athletic reports.

The Lions had a light practice Monday, and Swift reportedly caught a few passes during 1-on-1 drills. While the running back probably won't see any preseason snaps for the third week in a row when Detroit takes on Indianapolis on Friday, there doesn't seem to be any concern over Swift's availability for the regular-season opener.

Barkley (knee) appears on track to do more in practice this week than he did last week, but coach Joe Judge isn't ready to outline exactly how much work and in which drills the running back will participate, Darryl Slater of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

With Barkley's participation level in this week's joint practices with the Patriots TBD, it seems improbable that he'll see any action in the Giants' preseason finale Sunday. The larger question that lingers is whether Barkley will be deemed fit by the team to suit up Week 1, and if so what his role in the offense might be at that stage.

Williams had 10 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's preseason win over the Panthers. He added two catches for 15 yards.

Williams continues to make the most of his opportunities in light of Justice Hill's injury. He had one of the highlights of the game -- an impressive 20-yard touchdown run -- and was solid with his other carries as well. Williams is still not a lock to make the 53-man roster, but he continues to make a strong case.

Rountree carried the ball eight times for 12 yards and also caught all four of his targets for 15 yards in Sunday's 15-10 preseason loss to the 49ers.

Rountree was more effective than Darius Bradwell and Joshua Kelley, but only by a slim margin as the Chargers offense as a whole struggled to do anything of note. It's becoming increasingly clear the 2021 sixth-round pick has played his way onto the 53-man roster, but it's entirely possible Rountree's excellent training camp may have pushed him into the frontrunner role for the No. 3 job ahead of the aforementioned Kelley and Bradwell. Justin Jackson, the presumed backup to Austin Ekeler, has missed over a week with a groin injury and remains without a timetable for return, which only complicates the depth chart order further. At the very least, Rountree has emerged as an intriguing backup to monitor in the coming weeks.

Hasty rushed 19 times for 58 yards and secured all three targets for 21 yards in Sunday's 15-10 preseason win over the Chargers.

Hasty had a rough go of things on the ground, struggling to find room to operate despite getting a team-high 19 carries. It didn't help that Wayne Gallman, one of his competitors for a roster spot, ran the ball with consistent effectiveness against the same defense. Hasty still does bring his receiving skills to the table -- which he flashed Sunday -- so this shouldn't doom his roster bid chances. The competition for the backup job will continue into next week's preseason tilt against the Raiders on Sunday.

Vaughn rushed nine times for 18 yards, secured his only target for nine yards and ran back two kickoffs for 31 yards in the Buccaneers' 34-3 preseason loss to the Titans on Saturday night.

With Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette idle, Vaughn comfortably paced the Buccaneers in carries but could hardly get anything done with them. He did capitalize on his only opportunity as a receiver, but his 15.5 yards per return average on kickoffs also left plenty to be desired. Vaughn received praise from head coach Bruce Arians after the preseason opener against the Bengals for his overall play, particularly on special teams, but the second-year back still looks like a clear-cut No. 4 option who will struggle to see many opportunities from scrimmage as long as all of Jones, Fournette and Giovani Bernard are healthy.

Henry may see snaps during Saturday's preseason finale against the Bears, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

Coach Mike Vrabel said during Sunday's media availability that the Titans will move from the varied training camp schedule to a more rigid regular-season one, in essence to get a test run before Week 1. That could mean the likes of Henry, A.J. Brown and Ryan Tannehill get in-game reps before the regular season, but Vrabel might not make his decision known until closer to Saturday's 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff.