NFL Player News

The Patriots may still activate Harris (finger) for Week 4's potential matchup against the Chiefs, Zack Cox of NESN.com reports.

News broke Saturday that players on both the Patriots and the Chiefs have tested positive for COVID-19, which led to the postponement of Sunday's game between the two teams. The league hopes it can fit in the game Monday or Tuesday. If the game had been played Sunday, the Patriots would've been required to activate Harris from IR by Saturday at 4 p.m. ET, but now they have until 4 p.m. ET on the day of the game, whether it's Monday or Tuesday.

The Buccaneers have elevated Barner to the active roster, per the NFL's official transaction log.

Barner will likely be active for Sunday's game versus the Chargers, but even with Leonard Fournette (ankle) ruled out, he'll likely stick to special teams.

The Cardinals elevated Ward to the active roster Saturday, freelance NFL writer Howard Balzer reports.

For a second straight week, Ward has bumped up from the practice squad. He played exclusively on special teams Week 3 and likely will handle a similar workload Sunday against the Panthers.

The 49ers promoted Hasty to the active roster Saturday, Matt Barrows of The Athletic reports.

This move was expected with Raheem Mostert (knee) ruled out and Tevin Coleman (knee) still on IR. Hasty suited up in Week 3 against the Giants and recorded nine yards on two carries and caught his lone target for nine yards. He'll once again be considered the third-string running back behind Jerick McKinnon and Jeff Wilson during Sunday's game against the Eagles.

Edwards-Helaire and the Chiefs will not play their scheduled matchup Sunday against the Patriots after players from both teams tested positive for COVID-19. The NFL hopes to reschedule the game for Monday or Tuesday.

The league's initial plan appears to be to merely delay the game by a day or two, in which case it would still count as part of Week 4. That was the initial plan regarding the Steelers/Titans game, which was affected by positive COVID-19 tests within the TItans organization, but the league eventually decided to call off that game and reschedule it for a later date. Whether or not that will happen in this case as well remains to be seen.

Mixon (chest) was added to the injury report Saturday and is listed as questionable for Sunday's contest against the Jaguars, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports.

This comes as a bit of a surprise considering Mixon was not even listed on the injury report all week. There are not many details regarding the severity of the chest injury, so fantasy managers will want to pay extra close attention to his status closer to Sunday's 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff. If Mixon is deemed healthy enough to play, the star running back figures to be in an optimal fantasy spot against the Jaguars.

Washington signed Williams to the practice squad Friday, Ben Standig of The Athletic reports.

The Lions cut Williams from their practice squad last week, but he'll have a new opportunity in Washington following news that Bryce Love (knee) has been placed on IR. Last season with the Colts, Williams rushed 49 times for 235 yards (4.8 YPC) and a touchdown.

Harris (finger) took part in all three practices this week but has yet to be activated off injured reserve by the Patriots, Zack Cox of NESN.com reports.

Harris is eligible to return to action this week after missing the Patriots' first three games, but the team has until Saturday afternoon to make a call on his Week 4 status. Whether New England elects to activate Harris in advance of Sunday's game against the Chiefs could well hinge on whether it's felt that Sony Michel will be able to play through a quad injury that has him listed a questionable this week. Harris had a strong training camp before suffering his finger injury and has a chance to make an impact in New England's backfield down the road, but with James White, Rex Burkhead and J.J. Taylor also in the mix, his initial path to carries is muddled.

Freeman ran for six yards on three carries and added two catches for six yards during Thursday's 37-28 win over the Jets.

Despite an offensive explosion -- by Denver's standards -- Freeman was not heavily featured as RB2. Melvin Gordon racked up 25 touches. Freeman remains a solid pass protector and receiver, but it's hard to see his role expanding in the near future as Phillip Lindsay (toe) may be ready for Week 5's matchup against New England.

Akers (ribs) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Giants, Adam Caplan of SiriusXM NFL Radio reports.

Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic notes that Akers did some work on a side field with the training staff during Friday's practice, so he at least seems to be making a degree of progress. A return to practice with his teammates would be the next step, perhaps setting him up to play Week 5 against Washington. The Rams figure to use Darrell Henderson as their lead runner against the Giants on Sunday, with Malcolm Brown also in line to get some playing time. The backfield could get messy again once Akers is able to return from his rib cartilage injury.