NFL Player News

Croskey-Merritt isn't in line to suit up for Friday's preseason game versus the Dolphins.

Croskey-Merritt will be joined on the sideline by fellow RBs Rachaad White and Jeremy McNichols (quadriceps), leaving 2026 sixth-round pick Kaytron Allen, offseason pickup Jerome Ford and undrafted rookie Robert Henry to man the backfield in the Commanders' exhibition opener. As a seventh-round rookie last season, Croskey-Merritt was a rare bright spot in the offense, turning 175 carries into 805 yards and eight touchdowns and gathering in nine of 13 targets for 68 yards. Considering White has averaged 223.8 touches per 17 games in his four-year career, he poises a legitimate threat to Croskey-Merritt's workload in the upcoming campaign.

Smith won't play in Friday's preseason game against the Buccaneers due to a sore foot, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

On Tuesday, coach Aaron Glenn told Al Iannazzone of Newsday that Smith and the rest of the Jets' starters would log some snaps Friday. While an injury to Smith has quelled those plans, the team isn't concerned about it, and he'd play through it if it was the regular season. Instead, New York will take a cautious approach with its starting quarterback, meaning his next chance for exhibition action is next Friday at Pittsburgh.

Diggs isn't in line to play in Friday's preseason contest versus the Dolphins.

After the Patriots released Diggs in March, he finally found in a landing spot in the early stages of training camp, inking a one-year, $12 million contract to join the Commanders. While he has a week of practice under his belt with his new squad, he'll have to wait until at least Saturday, Aug. 22 at Detroit to get some in-game preseason reps with new QB Jayden Daniels and top WR Terry McLaurin. In 17 regular-season games for New England last season, Diggs put together an 85-1,013-4 line on 102 targets.

McLaurin isn't slated to play in Friday's preseason contest against the Dolphins.

QB Jayden Daniels and new WR Stefon Diggs also won't be in uniform for the Commanders' exhibition opener, meaning the trio will have to wait until at least Saturday, Aug. 22 in Detroit to get in some reps together before Week 1. McLaurin is looking to bounce back from a 2025 campaign in which he was limited to 10 regular-season appearances en route to posting a 38-582-3 line on 60 targets. Swapping out Deebo Samuel for Diggs may aid McLaurin's cause.

Tagovailoa has the "inside track" to be named the Falcons' starting quarterback ahead of Week 1, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

Helping Tagovailoa's cause so far in training camp has been his accuracy, though Michael Penix's ongoing recovery from the torn ACL he suffered Week 11 of last season has contained him to 7-to-7 drills, at best, in practice. Fowler noted that coach Kevin Stefanski "might wait this out until after the preseason to name a starter," so it appears he'll make Tagovailoa earn the role on his merits. Tagovailoa is slated to start Friday's exhibition against the Broncos, which may help him stake a claim to the eventual No. 1 role.

Daniels isn't slated to suit up for Friday's preseason game versus the Dolphins, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reports.

Other key skill-position players like RBs Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White, WRs Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs and TE Chig Okonkwo are in the same boat as Daniels. Because White, Diggs and Okonkwo all are newcomers to the Commanders this season, Daniel likely will see some exhibition action before Week 1, with his next chance to do so Saturday, Aug. 22 in Detroit.

Coach Mike Macdonald said Friday that Darnold won't suit up for Saturday's preseason game versus the Cowboys, Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle reports.

Darnold will have two more opportunities to log some exhibition action before the regular season, with the next such chance coming Sunday, Aug. 23 at Tennessee. While the Seahawks' receiving corps didn't experience significant changes in the offseason, the backfield lost Kenneth Walker to the Chiefs in free agency, while Zach Charbonnet remains in recovery mode from a January ACL tear. Darnold thus will be handing off to some combination of rookie first-rounder Jadarian Price (lower body), George Holani and Emanuel Wilson to kick off the regular season.

Price (lower body) won't suit up for Saturday's preseason game against the Cowboys, Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle reports.

Price has been tending to lower-body soreness since last Friday and hasn't practiced in the interim, but he was spotted running on a side field Tuesday and then took part in Wednesday's walkthrough, per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. Coach Mike Macdonald said Friday that Price is still "on the mend," so it remains to be seen when he'll mix back into at least individual drills. It also should be noted that Price was listed as the Seahawks' No. 2 RB on the team's first unofficial depth chart of training camp behind George Holani and ahead of Emanuel Wilson, so the rookie first-round pick may have some work to do to handle a larger share of the backfield work to begin the regular season.

Boutte logged 16 snaps in Thursday's preseason opener against the Colts.

Boutte wasn't targeted in the contest. However, what's more notable is that he suited up while A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and slot man DeMario Douglas, who are listed as first-teamers on New England's unofficial depth chart, were held held out of the game along with a number of other skill players, while Boutte, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams and Efton Chism all saw action in the contest. As long as Boutte -- who has been mentioned as a possible trade candidate -- stays with the Patriots, his path to targets looks murky, at least as long as Brown and Doubs are healthy.

Coach Matt LaFleur said Friday that Jacobs (groin) could potentially return to practice later next week, Weston Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official site reports.

Jacobs, of course, didn't play in Thursday night's preseason opener against the Steelers and has been sidelined for the past week. With Jacobs missing reps, MarShawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks have been seeing additional snaps with the first-team offense in Green Bay. Lloyd is shaping up as one of the better late-round fantasy fliers this summer after Jacobs battled nagging injuries during the 2025 campaign.