NFL Player News

Henry (calf) won't play in Thursday night's preseason opener against the Eagles, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

The report adds that change-of-pace back Dion Lewis could also be rested, or limited, which sets the stage for Jeremy McNichols, Dalyn Dawkins and Alex Barnes to battle for backup slotting in the Tennessee backfield Thursday night.

McKinnon, who is dealing with soreness in his knee, is slated to receive a platelet rich plasma injection, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Wagoner adds that coach Kyle Shanahan relayed that McKinnon -- who tore his right ACL last Sept. 1 -- could potentially be back at practice in a couple of weeks, but the team's prime goal and hope is to have the running back ready for Week 1. Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, McKinnon can't go back on the team's PUP list, so if he's "slow to recover, the only option would be to start season on IR and come back later in the season." That's something the team would prefer to avoid, but Shanahan added that if if McKinnon isn't recovered by the start of the season, "we'll be patient with him." For now, Matt Breida and Tevin Coleman are the team's top two healthy backs.

Mixon and Giovani Bernard are not in line to play in Saturday's preseason opener against the Chiefs, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.

Per Ben Baby of ESPN.com, both backs could play if needed, but coach Zac Taylor indicated that the Bengals plan to use Saturday's contest to evaluate their depth options. For now, Mixon remains the team's undisputed top back, while Bernard remains entrenched as Cincinnati's primary change-of-pace option.

Anderson (knee) won't play in Saturday's preseason tilt against the Chiefs, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.

Anderson is only a day removed from being cleared to practice, so it's no surprise that he isn't yet ready for preseason action. The rookie sixth-round pick is coming back from a torn ACL, and it wouldn't be surprising if he were limited throughout the entire preseason. Anderson will focus his attention towards getting healthy for the regular season.

Anderson is getting work with the first-team offense during two-minute drills, Chris Burke of the Athletic reports.

The Kerryon Johnson hype train has all but left the station after the Lions' recent release of Theo Riddick, but not all signs point toward Johnson being thrust into a true workhorse role. Not only does head coach Matt Patricia hail from a Patriots organization that deployed a committee approach to the running back position, but Anderson seems to have turned heads in training camp and is now getting run with the hurry-up offense. While Johnson should nonetheless earn the lion's share of snaps in 2019, it's possible Anderson could play a bigger role than most people realize -- especially if Johnson continues to struggle in pass protection as he has in recent joint practices with New England.

Pollard has been one of the standout players of training camp for the Cowboys so far, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports. "[Pollard is] one of the most exciting players to me of this training camp,'' quarterback Dak Prescott said this week. "The things that he's been able to do running the ball, catching the ball out of the backfield. He's making plays."

The fourth-round pick out of Memphis has not only been able to showcase his speed and physicality on both offense and special teams, he's drawn significant praise for how quickly he's sponged up the playbook. Pollard's actual role and workload in new coordinator Kellen Moore's offense remains unclear, but if Ezekiel Elliott's holdout extends into the regular season, Pollard could be a lot more than just a replacement for Tavon Austin on jet sweeps and gadget plays.

Mack won't play Thursday in the Colts' preseason opener versus the Bills, Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star reports.

The Colts are unsurprisingly keeping several key starters out of the first preseason game. Since Mack enters 2019 with his role as the Colts' lead back already secure, there's a good chance that he only plays a few series throughout the entire preseason slate. Coach Frank Reich has said that Nyheim Hines will retain a role on obvious passing downs, so Mack won't necessarily be in store for a major uptick in his workload this season.

Homer (quadriceps) won't play during Thursday's preseason game against the Broncos, Curtis Crabtree of Sports Radio 950 KJR Seattle reports.

A timetable for Homer's recovery remains undisclosed. The rookie sixth-round pick will look to get healthy as soon as possible, as he could need to show well in preseason action in order to carve out a meaningful role in Seattle's crowded running back room.

Anderson (knee) was cleared to practice Wednesday after passing his physical.

Per Jay Morrison of The Athletic, Anderson is no longer eligible to land on the regular season PUP list now that he's been reinstated to the roster in training camp. As things currently stand, Anderson and fellow rookie Trayveon Williams are slated to back up Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard (hamstring), the clear top two backs on Cincinnati's depth chart. Anderson, who fell to the Bengals in the sixth round of April's draft as a result of tearing the ACL in his right knee last September, will likely need time to get back to full speed, so he may only be asked to handle limited snaps during the preseason. Once the injury is further in the rear-view mirror, the 6-foot, 224-pound Anderson has some upside, especially in the event that Mixon suffers an injury of his own down the road.

Thompson is among the running backs vying for backup duties behind projected starter Damien Williams (hamstring), Nate Taylor of The Athletic reports.

Thompson has received some sleeper hype this offseason, but in order for him to even slide into the No. 2 role, he would need to outperform Carlos Hyde and Darrel Williams, who were both listed ahead of him on the Chiefs' initial unofficial depth chart. The rookie out of Utah State hauled in 23 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 153 carries for 1,044 yards and 14 scores in his final season of college.