NFL Player News

St. Brown caught both of his targets for 12 yards in Friday's 16-15 preseason loss to the Bills.

Detroit doesn't have much in terms of established weapons at wide receiver and is also dealing with injuries at the position, which has opened the door for St. Brown to build some nice early chemistry with quarterback Jared Goff. In addition to his two catches that counted, St. Brown also had a 13-yard catch-and-run erased by a penalty. The rookie made a nice first impression here and will look to build on this effort in Week 2 of the preseason against the Steelers.

Hopkins (undisclosed) isn't expected to play in Friday's preseason contest versus the Cowboys, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.

Per usual, Hopkins has received a veteran day off in training camp while also missing the occasional practice with an unspecified injury. Assuming he sits, he likely will be joined by Kyler Murray and A.J. Green (undisclosed), who also are in street clothes ahead of Friday's kickoff. Meanwhile, rookie second-rounder Rondale Moore (undisclosed) participated in pregame warmups, giving him a good shot to see a lot of reps in his potential pro debut.

Moore (undisclosed) caught passes and punts during pregame warmups, indicating he'll play in Friday's preseason game versus the Cowboys.

Moore missed some practices over the last week with a minor undisclosed injury, but the absences may all have been to ensure he was ready for the Cardinals' exhibition opener. If the rookie second-round pick is able to suit up, he may be the only available wide receiver among the team's expected top four, with all of DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Christian Kirk sitting out recent sessions with their own unknown health concerns.

Lamb is slated to play in Friday's preseason game at Arizona, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Lamb was held out of last Thursday's Hall of Fame Game, but considering he's in uniform during pregame warmups Friday, he should log some action for the first time in an exhibition. There's a good chance he doesn't see more than a series or two, though, with two more preseason games on the slate after Friday's contest.

Hodgins had to leave Friday's preseason game against the Lions due to a knee injury, Sal Capaccio of WGR Sports Radio 550 Buffalo reports.

Hodgins caught his only target for 13 yards before departing. This could potentially be a tough break for the second-year man, as he's competing with several others for one of the final receiving spots. Hodgins was said to be having a strong camp up to this point, and the hope is that the injury is minor and allows him to get back in action soon.

Bateman has been given a 6-to-8-week recovery timetable following core-muscle surgery Thursday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

Bateman limped off the practice field Tuesday, was diagnosed with a soft-tissue injury and initially was given a "week-to-week" prognosis. That all changed Thursday when he underwent the procedure. If the timeline to return is correct, Bateman seems to be a long shot to suit up Week 1 against the Saints, considering that game is four-and-a-half weeks in the future. More accurately, he may not see his first NFL action until late September or even October. The Ravens have a number of injured wide receivers at the moment, with Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin tending to hamstring issues. With the trio sidelined, Sammy Watkins, Devin Duvernay, Tylan Wallace and James Proche are the notable healthy members of the positional group.

Moore isn't likely to play in Sunday's preseason contest at Indianapolis, Alaina Getzenberg of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Coach Matt Rhule will rest most of the starters in the Panthers' exhibition opener but mentioned only Sam Darnold by name. Alas, Darnold's top skill-position teammates should join him, which includes Moore, Robby Anderson and Christian McCaffrey. Moore has produced the past two seasons no matter who was under center, to the tune of at least 1,100 yards and exactly four touchdowns in both campaigns. He'll look to keep it up with Darnold leading the way in 2021.

Anderson likely will be a DNP for Sunday's preseason game at Indianapolis, Alaina Getzenberg of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Coach Matt Rhule plans to sit most of the starters but specifically said only Sam Darnold by name. However, Rhule's list likely includes Anderson, DJ Moore and Christian McCaffrey as well. Anderson has been on the receiving end of passes from Darnold in the past when they were teammates on the Jets. The wide receiver fared modestly, putting up very similar stat lines in both 2018 (50-752-6 on 94 targets) and 2019 (52-779-5 on 96 targets). After moving on to Carolina in the 2020 offseason, he broke out with 95 catches for 1,096 yards and three scores working primarily with the departed Teddy Bridgewater, so the Panthers likely hope familiarity with Darnold will help Anderson carry over that success into the coming campaign.

The Saints could be open to trading Thomas (ankle), Larry Holder of The Athletic reports.

Reportedly, there is tension between Thomas and the team that may stem back to Week 1 of last season when the receiver injured his ankle while the Saints were comfortably ahead of the Buccaneers halfway through the fourth quarter. Thomas then allegedly "blew off" the New Orleans medical staff this offseason before finally agreeing to undergo ankle surgery in June, which head coach Sean Payton negatively commented on in public only for Thomas to seemingly fire back on social media. While Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports recently reported that Thomas and Payton may have met to reconcile their issues and that a trade is not coming, a divorce seems inevitable in Holder's opinion, noting the Saints' past willingness to move on from players who may be a distraction in the locker room even if they have to take a financial hit to do so.

Coach Pete Carroll said Friday that Eskridge (toe) will come off the PUP list next week, Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic reports.

The second-round pick was limited at June minicamp and still hasn't been cleared to practice at training camp. The Seahawks expect that clearance to happen within the next few days, and while Eskridge still has time to prepare for Week 1, the missed time could impact his standing on the depth chart. Then again, the Seahawks don't have much else behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, seemingly relying on Freddie Swain as their No. 3 at the moment.