NFL Player News

McKinnon gained 56 yards on eight carries and nine yards on two receptions (two targets) in Sunday's preseason game against the Chargers.

With Adrian Peterson rested, McKinnon dominated the first-half workload, getting 10 touches to Matt Asiata's two. However, the VIkings did sometimes use Asiata as a pass-blocker, which narrowed McKinnon's snap advantage to 21-15 according to Pro Football Focus. In any case, McKinnon is the clear handcuff to Peterson, though his Week 1 role probably won't involve much work on early downs.

Asiata gained eight yards on two carries in Sunday's preseason game against the Chargers.

With Adrian Peterson resting, Asiata served as Jerick McKinnon's backup throughout the first half, though the latter only held a 21-15 advantage in snap count, according to Pro Football Focus. Jerick did out-touch Asiata 11-3, leaving little doubt that the speedy 24-year-old is a valuable handcuff for Peterson owners. Even with Peterson healthy, McKinnon could see quite a bit of work on passing downs, along with the occasional early-down carry. Asiata will find touches hard to come by, so long as Peterson stays healthy.

Williams (unspecified reason) wasn't in uniform in advance of Sunday's preseason game against the Texans.

Per the report, Williams was "watched carefully by RB coach Stump Mitchell and trainers Tom Reed and Chad Cook early before the game," thus suggesting that the Cardinals' depth running back is dealing with an undisclosed injury.

Oliver was carted off the field during Sunday's preseason game against the Vikings with a right Achilles' injury.

At first glance, this doesn't look good for Oliver, who entered the game as the team's No. 3 back behind Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead. If he's forced to miss time, Dreamius Smith and Kenneth Farrow are next up on the team's depth chart, though with NFL cut-downs looming, there figures to be some other options for the Chargers to consider.

Pead (hamstring) will not practice Sunday, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports.

Pead suffered a hamstring injury on Thursday and despite original indications that it was only a minor ailment, he's unable to participate in practice Sunday. The Dolphins are likely just playing it safe with their 26-year-old running back and are attempting to avoid a setback, but it wouldn't be surprising if he was held out of the team's preseason finale versus the Titans on Sept. 1.

Vereen rushed six times for 11 yards and caught two passes (on two targets) for 18 yards in Saturday's preseason game against the Jets.

Vereen tied starting running back Rashad Jennings in leading the Giants with six carries Saturday, but like Jennings, found very little room to run. As a whole, the Giants' starting offense failed to produce, but Vereen's eight total touches is at least encouraging. While Jennings should see most of the heavy lifting, Vereen represents a versatile alternative going into this season.

Mathews carried three times for 31 yards in Saturday's preseason win over the Colts.

While Darren Sproles is on hand to contribute on passing downs and Kenjon Barner (who is currently listed as the Eagles' No. 3 RB) has had a good summer, Mathews is on track to head the Eagles' backfield out of the gate this season, something that should remain stable, provided the 28-year-old can avoid the injury bug. Draftee Wendell Smallwood is also in the mix, but he's been slowed by injuries and doesn't appear to represent much of a short-term threat to Mathews' workload.

Johnson was waived by the Buccaneers on Sunday, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Johnson was competing for a spot as the final backup in Tampa Bay, and it appears he lost out to fellow backs Mike James and Peyton Barber, who'll be competing for the No. 3 role.

Cunningham rushed six times for 22 yards in Saturday's preseason game against the Broncos.

Cunningham got the start with Todd Gurley being rested Saturday, but couldn't get much going on the ground. However, neither could Malcolm Brown, who finished with seven rushes for 21 yards. Brown seems to be Cunningham's biggest competition for whatever few spare touches come from being behind Gurley, so Cunningham can at least take consolation in his No. 2 pegging at the moment.

Williams will not play this week while he continues to deal with a rib injury, Joe Buscaglia of WKBW.com reports.

Williams left Friday's preseason matchup with a rib injury and despite original reports indicating he appeared fine after the game, he'll get the week off for further rest and recovery. The fifth-round pick of the 2016 NFL Draft is expected to play in a depth role during the upcoming season behind the likes of LeSean McCoy, Reggie Bush and Mike Gillislee, so he could struggle to see a significant amount of snaps early in the season barring any injuries higher up on the depth chart.