NFL Player News

Shipley rushed five times for 15 yards and caught all four of his targets for 31 yards in Thursday's 14-13 preseason win over the Patriots.

Kenneth Gainwell got the start Thursday with Saquon Barkley rested, suggesting Gainwell remains in pole position for the top backup spot. Once Shipley got into the game, he continued to show off his receiving skills after catching a seven-yard touchdown in the preseason opener against Baltimore. The rookie fourth-round pick will have one more preseason audition, Aug. 24 against the Vikings, in his bid to earn regular-season playing time.

Coach DeMeco Ryans said Thursday that the Texans' starters, including Mixon, will play in Saturday's preseason contest against the Giants, Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Mixon is over the hamstring injury that caused him to miss the Texans' first two exhibition contests, but he returned to practice last weekend and is ready to play a few snaps. It will be Mixon's first action since he was acquired from the Bengals back in March.

Evans is out for the season after suffering a torn patellar tendon during the Bengals' joint practice with the Bears on Thursday, Jordan Schultz of BleacherReport.com reports.

The running back was carted off the practice field and had his leg placed in an air cast. Evans was competing for a spot on Cincinnati's running back depth chart behind Zack Moss and Chase Brown. The Michigan product carried the ball twice for 12 yards in 2023.

Coach Shane Steichen said Thursday that Taylor won't suit up for Saturday's preseason game against the Cardinals, Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star reports.

The same can be said for the rest of the Colts' starters and No. 2 quarterback Joe Flacco. With Taylor in street clothes Saturday, Trey Sermon (hamstring, if available), Tyler Goodson, Evan Hull, Zavier Scott and Demetric Felton will be the candidates to work out of Indianapolis' backfield. As for Taylor, he's coming off back-to-back injury-riddled campaigns in which he averaged 90.4 yards from scrimmage per game and scored 12 total touchdowns in 21 regular-season contests.

The Giants signed Kelley on Thursday, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports.

Kelley spent much of the offseason as a free agent after his contract with the Chargers expired back in March. He wasn't retained by Los Angeles' new coaching staff after Kelley amassed a 320-1,148-6 rushing line across four seasons with the Bolts. It's less than ideal to join a team this deep into camp, but Kelley will try to impress the Giants over the next couple weeks ahead of the regular season.

Hull took the majority of No. 2 running back snaps during Wednesday's practice with Trey Sermon (hamstring) sidelined, Paul Bretl of USA Today reports.

Hull has a chance to build some momentum at training camp after an impressive showing in Indianapolis' preseason opener, the same game in which Sermon departed early due to a hamstring injury. Thus far Sermon had worked as the clear No. 2 man behind Jonathan Taylor, but Wednesday's practice seems like an indication that Hull, one of the better pass-catchers in the Colts' backfield, could be favored for the No. 3 gig over Tyler Goodson.

Mattison profiles as Zamir White's top backup at running back, Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports.

Following the free-agent departure of Josh Jacobs, White is the team's presumed lead back and figures to handle the bulk of the carries, likely leaving Mattison without much fantasy value unless the 24-year-old suffers an injury (or struggles and eventually gets benched). Meanwhile, Reed indicates that Ameer Abdullah and rookie Dylan Laube are still competing for third-down RB duties, although Mattison handled some of those snaps with the first-team offense in Vegas' preseason opener against Minnesota.

McCaffrey (calf) increased his activity level on the side field at practice Thursday and seems to be getting closer to a return, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

McCaffrey also ran some half-speed routes on the side Thursday, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. The star running back is expected to sit out all of San Francisco's preseason games while he works his way back from a calf strain suffered early August, but at this point there don't seem to be any serious concerns about his Week 1 status. McCaffrey still has over three weeks to get healthy before San Francisco's regular-season opener against the Jets on Monday, Sept. 9.

Tracy (ankle) resumed running and cutting with trainers to the side at Thursday's practice, Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reports.

Tracy suffered a right low-ankle sprain at Tuesday's practice, so it's encouraging to see him already getting some work in on the side field. Initially, due to the fact that he was carted off the field and taken to a hospital for examination, it was feared that Tracy had suffered a severe injury, but it now looks like he could resume practicing on at least a limited basis as soon as next week. Tracy does figure to sit out Saturday's preseason game against Houston, though.

Coach Dave Canales said Thursday that there were "big concerns" when Hubbard (knee) went down at practice "but initial testing looks good," Kassidy Hill of the Panthers' official site reports.

Hubbard was looked at by trainers after taking a hit at practice, per Steve Reed of the Associated Press, and while the fourth-year pro got up and remained near the field, he didn't resume handling reps. It looks like initial tests haven't indicated an overly severe issue, but that Panthers will doubtless continue to monitor Hubbard's health. He sat out last week's preseason opener against New England and figures to also be held out of Saturday's exhibition matchup against the Jets.