NFL Player News

Edwards-Helaire (ankle) isn't in uniform ahead of Friday's preseason game against the Vikings, Nate Taylor of The Athletic reports.

Edwards-Helaire emerged from preseason Week 2 with a sprained ankle, which coach Andy Reid said didn't appear to be of the high-ankle variety, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. No matter, the injury kept Edwards-Helaire out of practice in the interim, according to Sam McDowell of The Kansas City Star. If both Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams (head) are sidelined Friday, the Chiefs will be down to RBs Jerick McKinnon, Darwin Thompson and Derrick Gore and FB Michael Burton out of the backfield.

Hubbard is slated to start Friday's preseason contest versus the Steelers, David Newton of ESPN.com reports.

With all of Christian McCaffrey (healthy scratch), Reggie Bonnafon (undisclosed) and Rodney Smith (undisclosed) unavailable, Hubbard should be afforded plenty of run with the rest of the No. 1 offense. Through two exhibitions, Hubbard, a rookie fourth-rounder, has turned 16 carries into 104 yards and hauled in three of six targets for 31 yards.

McCaffrey isn't expected to play in Friday's preseason game against the Steelers, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.

Coach Matt Rhule hinted Monday that McCaffrey would be "very, very limited" in the exhibition finale, if the running back got on the field at all, per Gantt. But it appears the Panthers will save McCaffrey for Week 1 against the Jets, when he'll receive his usual immense volume. Over the previous three seasons as the team's workhorse back, he averaged 23 touches for 135.2 yards from scrimmage per game while scoring 38 TDs in 35 contests.

In a statement released Friday, it was announced that Saturday's scheduled preseason game between the Saints and Cardinals has been canceled due to the impending impact of Hurricane Ida, eliminating what would have been Kamara's final chance to see preseason action.

Per ESPN's Mike Triplett, the contest was previously scheduled to kick off seven hours earlier than originally scheduled Saturday, but a decision was subsequently made to cancel the Saints' preseason finale. The team is next slated to face Green Bay in Week 1 of the regular season.

Kamara and the Saints are now scheduled to face the Cardinals at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday in their preseason finale, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

The game has been moved up seven hours to avoid a possible hurricane headed toward New Orleans. Kamara didn't play in the first two preseason games and isn't likely to play in the third, but he seems to have enjoyed a healthy summer while operating as the centerpiece of an offense that won't have WR Michael Thomas (ankle) for the early part of the season. Kamara should see plenty of targets from Jameis Winston, who coach Sean Payton has named as his starter for the Sept. 12 opener against Green Bay.

Barkley (knee) won't play in Saturday's preseason game against the Patriots, but he will dress in uniform and go through pregame warmups, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports.

It's the latest positive sign for Barkley, who took four reps in 7-on-7s and four more in 11-on-11s at Thursday's practice -- his first live drills since last September. He even caught three passes on the eight snaps, but he'll still need to ramp up his workload and shed his no-contact jersey before the Giants consider playing him in a game. The team opens its season Sept. 12 against the Broncos.

The Jets waived Walter (undisclosed) from IR with an injury settlement Thursday, independent NFL journalist Aaron Wilson reports.

Walter reverted to IR after going unclaimed on waivers last week, but his 2021 season won't officially have to come to an end. When healthy, the 25-year-old will be eligible to search for a depth role elsewhere.

The Cowboys restructured Elliott's contract Friday to convert $8.6 million of his salary for 2021 into a signing bonus, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

The move provides Dallas with increased salary cap flexibility for 2021 and 2022, but it doesn't notably impact Elliott's status for those seasons, as he was already effectively guaranteed to remain part of the roster. However, per Gehlken, Dallas does now have slightly increased financial incentives to keep Elliott around beyond the 2022 season, as cutting him in future years will now result in heightened dead cap penalties. In any case, Elliott will head into the 2021 campaign ready to play out the third season of his six-year, $90 million contract as the Cowboys' workhorse running back.

Barkley (knee) said he felt good Thursday in his return to live drills, adding that he didn't feel hesitant at all and "hated" wearing a no-contact jersey, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports.

Barkley took four reps in 7-on-7s and four more in 11-on-11s, catching a trio of passes in the process. A larger workload will be his next big step, followed by the ceremonial shedding of the no-contact jersey -- something that needs to happen before the running back is cleared to play in games, according to Giants coach Joe Judge (per the Associated Press). Both team and player have avoided commenting on a timeline or potential return date, but Judge at least has explained what needs to happen, even if he still won't say much about when he actually expects it to happen. Barkley thus remains uncertain for Week 1 against Denver, though he'll have 17 days to gear up between Thursday's return to live drills and the Sept. 12 season opener.

Jones says he'll enter the season healthy after dealing with a hamstring injury early in training camp, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Jones has been back at practice since Aug. 16 and likely would've been healthy enough to play in one or two preseason games if the Packers hadn't decided to rest their star players anyway. He should get plenty of touches Week 1 in New Orleans, though it remains to be seen if Jones benefits or suffers from the new backup situation with AJ Dillon replacing Jamaal Williams in the No. 2 role. Relative to Williams, the 247-pound Dillon seems like more of a threat to steal short rushing TDs but less of a threat to poach targets.