NFL Player News

Montgomery sustained a neck injury during Sunday's game against the Giants, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports.

While attempting to leap over a pile on a first-down play early in the second quarter, Montgomery landed on his head, came off the field under his own power and visited the blue sideline tent. Deemed questionable to return, he'll yield running back reps to Tarik Cohen and Ryan Nall.

Barkley (undisclosed) won't return to Sunday's game in Chicago.

Barkley was injured on the first play of the second quarter, grabbing at his right leg before needing a cart to get to the locker room. Around the time Barkley was ruled out, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reported the running back was getting X-rays on his right knee. With Barkley out, the Giants are down to one active RB (Dion Lewis).

Barkley (undisclosed) was carted to the locker room during Sunday's game at Chicago, Adam Jahns of The Athletic reports.

Over the course of a few plays in the first half, Barkley went to the sideline after an 18-yard run to have his left arm or wrist examined, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. Then, Barkley grabbed at his right leg after a play a short time later, according to Raanan. The nature of the injury that knocked Barkley out isn't known, but Dion Lewis will serve as the Giants' running back for the time being.

Akers left Sunday's game at Philadelphia due to a rib injury, Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com reports.

Akers played 24 of the Rams' 73 offensive snaps Week 1 against the Cowboys, turning 14 carries into 39 yards and his sole target into a four-yard catch. The 2020 second-round pick opened his second career game with three rushes for 13 yards before heading to the sideline on the team's first possession. With Akers questionable to return, L.A.'s backfield has been whittled down to Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson.

Huntley (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game versus the Rams.

Huntley made his NFL debut in Week 1 against Washington, but with Miles Sanders returning from a hamstring injury, Huntley will watch from the sidelines Sunday.

Perine (ankle) is active for Sunday's game against the 49ers, Chris Ryan of NJ.com reports.

Perine's nagging ankle injury prevented him from playing in last week's loss to the Bills, but the rookie fourth-round pick will make his NFL debut Sunday. Though top back Le'Veon Bell (hamstring) is now on injured reserve, it's unclear how extensive of a role Perine might have behind Frank Gore, who is slated to start in Bell's stead. The Jets are keeping their other reserve running backs (Kalen Ballage and Josh Adams) active Sunday, so those two players in addition to Perine will all be vying for change-of-pace work behind Gore.

Sanders (hamstring) is active and starting Sunday's game against the Rams, Chris McPherson of the Eagles' official site reports.

After sitting out Week 1 due to a lingering hamstring injury, Sanders put in full practices in advance of this contest and declared himself 100 percent healthy Friday. It appears the aforementioned absence was precautionary, but it'll be interesting to see if he'll handle a similar workload to the second half of the 2019 season, when he received at least 70 percent of the offensive snaps in six of the final eight games (including playoffs). During that stretch, he totaled 763 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns. If Sanders yields work, Boston Scott and Corey Clement are the candidates to fill in out of the Eagles backfield.

McFarland will make his NFL debut in Sunday's game versus the Broncos, Dale Lolley of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

McFarland -- a rookie fourth-round pick -- was a healthy scratch in the season opener, a game in which James Conner sustained an ankle injury. Conner is healthy and expected to start against the Broncos, but McFarland will add depth and could serve as a change-of-pace back.

Conner is expected to split carries with Benny Snell on Sunday in the Steelers' game against the Broncos, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Though Conner was surprisingly able to avoid an injury designation heading into Week 2 after exiting with a sprained ankle in the season-opening win over the Giants, he may not reclaim the clear lead role out of the backfield that he's enjoyed for much of the past two seasons. While Conner sat out much of the Week 1 win, Snell turned heads with a 19-carry, 113-yard outing, which should earn the latter a more elevated role in Week 2. Coach Mike Tomlin hasn't specified what the distribution of carries between the two might look like, as the Steelers may be inclined to roll with the hot hand as the game goes along. Of the two backs, Conner still probably projects as the better option for Week 2 fantasy lineups, given his superiority to Snell as a pass catcher.

Gordon is expected to serve as the Broncos' clear lead back for at least the team's next two games with Denver expecting Phillip Lindsay to miss 2-to-4 weeks with a sprained toe, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Lindsay had already been ruled out for Sunday's game in Pittsburgh, but following the results of a second opinion on his injury, he's now expected to miss the Week 3 game against Tampa Bay as well. Before Lindsay departed in the second quarter of the Broncos' Week 1 loss to the Titans, he held a 7-5 carry advantage over Gordon, who ultimately shouldered the brunt of the backfield snaps the rest of the way to finish with 78 yards and a score on 15 carries to go with three receptions for eight yards. Meanwhile, Royce Freeman played only 10 percent of the offensive snaps, suggesting that he won't be nearly as big of a threat as Lindsay to steal reps and touches from Gordon. While Gordon should thus take on a sizable workload Sunday, a tough matchup versus a Pittsburgh defense that limited the Giants' Saquon Barkley to six yards on 15 carries Week 1 may cap Gordon's overall fantasy upside.