NFL Player News

McKinnon (knee) will remain on the 49ers' preseason PUP list until at least Monday, Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

The running back will be reassessed at that time, but he'll continue to sit out the team's current block of practices. Coach Kyle Shanahan had previously expressed hope that McKinnon could return to practice soon, but the 49ers are wisely playing it safe with the 27-year-old, who tore his right ACL at the beginning of September last year. Once he's back on the field, McKinnon will compete for touches with fellow backs Matt Breida and Tevin Coleman.

Gordon's agent relayed to ESPN's Josina Anderson that his client requested a trade last week, ESPN.com reports.

Per the report, the request came after the Chargers stuck to their initial offer of approximately $10 million per season in contract talks with their top running back. At this point, the Chargers don't seem inclined to consider dealing Gordon, and his agent was not granted permission to contact potential trade partners. In any case, Gordon's training camp holdout is ongoing and has the makings of a prolonged situation that could affect his regular-season status.

Sanders, who injured his foot during Thursday's practice, is slated to undergo some tests, but Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that the running back "seems fine."

Supporting that notion is that Sanders was spotted doing post-practice work Thursday, Zach Berman of The Athletic reports. It's still possible that Sanders could be limited or sidelined the next time the Eagles practice, but at first glance, the running back appears to have avoided a major injury.

Sanders headed to the medical tent to be evaluated after sustaining a possible foot injury during Thursday's practice, Zach Berman of The Athletic reports.

The Eagles' backfield situation is pretty crowded at this stage, but the 2019 second-rounder is a lock to claim a role to start the season, if healthy. With Darren Sproles set to work in a pass-catching role, Sanders' prime competition for early down work is Jordan Howard. Corey Clement, Josh Adams, Wendell Smallwood, Boston Scott and Donnel Pumphrey currently round out the team's running back depth chart.

Jones (hamstring) sat out Wednesday's session due to precautionary reasons according to head coach Matt LaFleur, Stu Courtney of USA Today reports.

Jones has had a history of leg injuries that resulted in the back missing eight games over the last two seasons, so it's understandable that the team is playing it safe. "He's going to be an important part of our football team, so we need him to be fresh and healthy and so we were a little cautious with him (Wednesday)," LaFleur added when speaking with the media. It's unclear what this means as far as a potential return to practice for Jones, but at this time, it doesn't appear any lingering injury effects will have consequences that carry into the regular season.

Coach Ron Rivera said Wednesday that he hopes to have McCaffrey play fewer snaps in 2019 but still receive more total touches than he earned a season ago, David Newton of ESPN.com reports. "We want the ball in Christian's hands,'' Rivera said. "When he's on the field, there's no reason for him to be a decoy or swing guy. Why not figure out the best thing, and that's what [offensive coordinator Norv Turner] wants to do."

McCaffrey was on the field for 91.3 percent of the Panthers' offensive snaps last season, leading all running backs by a comfortable margin. That heightened involvement helped him amass 326 touches and 1,965 scrimmage yards en route to a second-team All-Pro selection. While Turner -- who doled out heavy workloads to Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson in the past -- aims to get McCaffrey's hands on the ball even more this term, he and Rivera have acknowledged a plan to pluck unnecessary snaps from the tailback's weekly count. If all goes well, that initiative would improve the efficiency of McCaffrey's usage while ideally strengthening his overall impact in a given game.

Gillislee worked out for Raiders on Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Gillislee has flashed at times in his career, most notably turning in a 577-yard, eight-touchdown effort on the ground in 2016. However, the past two years have been fraught with injuries and a lack of opportunity between stints with New England and New Orleans. The Raiders have a presumed one-two punch of rookie Josh Jacobs and pass-catching maven Jalen Richard plus two other veteran running backs (Doug Martin and DeAndre Washington) on the roster, but the team is still keeping an eye on other depth options with most of training camp and the entire preseason slate to come.

Penny has looked noticeably more agile early in training camp after slimming down to under 230 pounds during the offseason, Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic reports.

After reporting to his first NFL training camp out of shape and struggling with his conditioning early in 2018, Penny entered this year's camp with a new mindset. The 27th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft has been making plays during the first few days of camp and even worked as a slot receiver on a few occasions. Penny's versatility in the passing game could come in handy as he looks to maintain a steady snap count behind Chris Carson, who looks set to enter the campaign as Option 1A on the ground. Penny will still need to also improve his pass protection if he wants to earn opportunities on all three downs, however, as J.D. McKissic looms as a more established third-down option if Penny can't get the job done.

Williams (hamstring) didn't practice Wednesday, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports.

Williams has been held out of drills since Saturday. On this occasion, though, he was joined by fellow running back Aaron Jones, who is tending to a hamstring injury of his own. Per Demovsky, Williams' issue is more severe than Jones', leaving the former with an undetermined timetable for a return. With the duo on the sidelines Wednesday, 2019 sixth-round pick Dexter Williams got run with the first-team offense.

Jones stood out with two big plays in Tuesday's live-tackling practice session and remains a legitimate contender for the lead-back role, Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' official site reports. "He's an explosive player," coach Bruce Arians said of Jones. "He's going to be a happening player. He's going to make big plays like that."

Jones made waves with both a catch and run on third down and a big run up the middle during 11-on-11 work, plays that allowed him to flash both his trademark speed and the strength he's added over the offseason. The first play was particularly notable, with Smith relaying that Jones jumped over one defender and then broke two tackle attempts on his way to what appeared to be close to a 50-yard gain. The second-year back continues to receive plenty of accolades from the coaching staff, and after Tuesday's session, Arians made it a point to say that while he envisions a "1-2 punch" at running back with Jones and Peyton Barber, he's far from deciding which of the two will receive the larger share of snaps.