NFL Player News

Vaughn earned praise Thursday from coach Bruce Arians for both his toughness and superior vision as a runner, Scott Smith of the team's official site reports.

The rookie had a brief hiccup at the start of training camp with his placement on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but it appears he's starting to make up for lost time. Arians anointed Ronald Jones as the clear-cut lead back heading into camp, putting the onus on the rookie to progressively make a dent into the third-year pro's playing time with his own performance. As is usually the case for young running backs, one of the keys to snaps for Vaughn will be his consistency in pass protection, and to that end, it's worth noting Arians also remarked that the Vanderbilt product was quickly finding out how difficult "some NFL pass rushers are to block" in early practices. Smith separately reports Arians noted Friday that Vaughn is also a consideration for kickoff returns, especially with T.J. Logan (knee) slated to undergo surgery Saturday for a patellar tendon injury suffered in Thursday's practice.

Ekeler has shown impressive strength at training camp, holding his own in drills against linebackers, Daniel Popper of The Athletic reports.

Ekeler may have a reputation as a scatback, but he's listed at a respectable 200 pounds and owns a career average of 4.8 yards per carry. He's in good position to build on last year's career high 132 carries, now sharing a backfield with Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelley instead of Melvin Gordon. That's not to say Ekeler will be a 20-carry-a-game workhorse, but he does have some chance to match his volume from Weeks 1-4 last season -- 14.0 carries, 6.0 catches per game -- when Gordon was holding out.

Singletary had a tough practice Thursday, getting bottled up on runs between the tackles and even fumbling one time, Joe Buscaglia and Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic reports.

Meanwhile, rookie third-round pick Zack Moss thoroughly impressed, showing great vision and finishing explosive runs with his physicality. Moss has two inches and 20 pounds on the 5-foot-7, 203-pound Singletary, which could inhibit the latter from getting some early down work in 2020. In particular, though, Singletary's ball-control issues reared their head again. Last season, he was tied for second in the NFL with four fumbles, averaging one every 45 touches. With Moss swapping in for Frank Gore in the Bills backfield, Singletary may have a difficult path to average 15 touches per game, as he did as a 2019 third-rounder last season.

The Lions re-signed Hills on Thursday, Chris Burke of The Athletic reports.

Hills was waived by the Lions on Monday, but he now rejoins the team after just a handful of days. He drew one start for Detroit in 2019 due to a litany of injuries at the running back position, the only contest for which he was active. He'll now compete for a similar reserve role.

Moss has displayed his ability as a pass-catcher in practice of late, Maddy Glab of the Bills' official site reports.

It's already established that Moss, a tackle-breaking runner, could end up being in the mix to see work on short-yardage plays as a rookie, but if he continues to show receiving aptitude it can only help his chances of see added touches behind presumed starter Devin Singletary.

When asked if Kamara is expected to "carry a Kamara type load" in 2020, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael acknowledged, "Well, I think that, you know, obviously it's still early. And as we progress along here through the training camp, you know, as we get closer, we'll start putting together some game plans. But obviously, like every year, we expect him to be a big part of those game plans."

After posting career lows in total yards (1,330) and total touchdowns (six) in 2019, it was revealed that Kamara played through an MCL tear, an issue he's fully recovered from. It should be noted that Kamara's touches per game last season were nearly identical to those he posted in 2018, and it was clear that the difference in the two campaigns was a lack of explosiveness and big plays. If he remains healthy in 2020, Kamara should push for the 1,573 total yards and 11 total touchdowns he averaged in his first two years in the league.

Gordon was limited in practice after tweaking his ribs early on during Thursday's practice session, Ryan O'Halloran of The Denver Post reports.

Per Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com, coach Vic Fangio didn't have an immediate update on Gordon's rib issue, but if the running back is forced to miss any time, added reps will be available for Phillip Lindsay.

Chubb (concussion) hopes to be cleared to return to practice soon, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Supporting that notion is that Cleveland's running back coach Stump Mitchell noted that Chubb has been attending meetings and doesn't have any headaches at this stage. In the meantime, Kareem Hunt is handling first-team practice reps out of the team's backfield.

Harris has shown some receiving ability at training camp, Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston reports.

With Sony Michel (foot) and Lamar Miller (knee) both absent from practice and uncertain for Week 1, there's a big opportunity for Harris -- a 2019 third-round pick -- to step up as the lead runner in New England. It'll still be James White getting most of the work on passing downs, but any development as a receiving threat could help Harris retain playing time even after Michel rejoins the lineup. The 2018 first-round pick has caught only 19 passes in 29 regular-season games, with the Patriots running the ball on 76 percent of his snaps in 2018 and 66 percent in 2019. That degree of predictability is far from optimal, and it might be more easily fixed with Harris as the lead back rather than Michel. In any case, the New England backfield will be closely watched over the next few weeks leading up to the season opener against Miami.

Snell worked all offseason and has dropped 12 pounds, according to Teresa Varley of Steelers.com.

Working out on his own Snell is down from 224 to 212 pounds. After a solid rookie season rushing for 426 yards and two touchdowns on 108 carries expectations are high. Still, with no preseason games and a truncated training camp, Snell will not get an opportunity to show how much his new look will impact his game. He remains second on the depth chart behind James Conner, with plenty of upside this season.