Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports that the Giants plan to "evaluate" TE Evan Engram "for a few days before making a decision" on whether to place him on IR. Engram hurt his left calf in the preseason finale. Sending him to IR would keep the TE out for a minimum of 3 games. So it sounds like the team is trying to decipher whether he can comfortably get back onto the field sooner than that. We'll keep an eye on the situation. Engram has dipped in our TE rankings, but there remains PPR upside whenever he's all the way back.
Giants HC Joe Judge said Tuesday that TE Evan Engram's status for Week 1 is uncertain. We still don't have any details on Engram's calf injury, and Judge said there's “gray area” with the situation. It at least sounds like Engram avoided a serious injury. But it's never good when a guy who's struggled with injuries is hurt before the season even begins.
The Jaguars on Monday activated DE/OLB Josh Allen from the COVID list. That comes 7 days after he landed on it, indicating that Allen never tested positive. He should be good to go for the regular-season opener.
Patriots QB Mac Jones capped off an impressive preseason by going 10 of 14 for 156 yards and 1 TD over 5 series in Sunday night's finale vs. the Giants. That came after QB Cam Newton got the start and struggled, completing just 2 of 5 passes for 10 yards and an INT on 2 series. Jones finishes the preseason with a 92.2 Pro Football Focus passing grade -- 2nd highest among 101 QBs that threw a pass. Newton finished 13th with a 78.0 grade. HC Bill Belichick declined to name a starter after the game. Newton might still get the Week 1 nod out of veteran deference. But expect to see Jones in there sooner than later. He looks ready.
Giants TE Evan Engram left Sunday's preseason finale against the Patriots with a left calf injury. It was a non-contact injury, and the team ruled him out for the game. That's not a good sign. We'll see about the official diagnosis. Pass on drafting Engram if your league drafts tonight. Kyle Rudolph would be worth later consideration if Engram is set to miss significant time.
Update: HC Joe Judge said after the game there is "optimism" that the injury is minor, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Engram will undergo testing Monday to determine the extent of the damage, so we should know more by Monday night.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Jaguars RB Travis Etienne will have surgery to repair a Lisfranc tear in his left foot and "likely" miss the entire season. That obviously delivers a big boost to James Robinson, who had been coming off the board well into RB3 range. It also brings Carlos Hyde into late-round view in fantasy football drafts. Robinson now looks like a RB2 with RB1 upside -- which he showed last year -- for fantasy.
Update: The Jaguars have put Etienne on IR, officially ending his season. A player must be on the 53-man roster as of 4 p.m. on Aug. 31 to be eligible for short-term IR.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Jaguars RB Travis Etienne suffered a mid-foot sprain in his left foot Monday night and is "out indefinitely." ESPN's Stephania Bell adds that recovery time for the injury can vary widely, so there's more to learn about the specifics of Etienne's situation. For now, the rookie should drop into the double-digit rounds of fantasy football drafts. James Robinson, meanwhile, becomes a solid-to-good RB3 with upside well into RB2 range. We'll see how much his ADP spikes this week. Carlos Hyde also becomes a late-draft consideration.
Jaguars RB Travis Etienne left Monday night's preseason game against the Saints with a foot injury and is officially questionable to return, according to ESPN's Field Yates. Jacksonville obviously has no reason to push him back into the exhibition. We'll see how serious the issue is beyond that.
The Jaguars placed DE/OLB Josh Allen on the COVID list Monday. It's not yet clear whether he tested positive or was merely a close contact.
The Jaguars started rookie QB Trevor Lawrence in the preseason opener and plan to do so again Monday against the Saints, but OC Darrell Bevell says that doesn't mean they've decided on their regular-season starter. “We’re still going to handle it that way until we end up making the final decision,” Bevell said, via the Florida Times-Union. “Right now, they are still status quo. We’re trying to make everybody better. We want competition at each and every position. Both guys are getting better because of it.” It's still hard to imagine Jacksonville actually going with Minshew in the regular-season opener. But we have to consider it a possibility. We'll all be watching this situation over the next few weeks.
The Cardinals released their 1st "unofficial" depth chart of the year Monday, ahead of Friday's preseason opener against the Cowboys. Unsurprisingly, the team lists DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Christian Kirk as the top 3 receivers. Kirk would have been the only 1 of the 3 in question, with Hopkins an incumbent and Green a veteran arriving on a sizable 1-year free agent deal. Kirk, meanwhile, has missed some practice time with a "minor" (though unspecified) injury, allowing rookie WR Rondale Moore to generate some buzz. We'll see where things go between these 2 the rest of the month. Moore certainly brings the higher ceiling. We'll see if he can push past Kirk before the regular season. Of course, it's also worth noting that these preseason depth charts can sometimes prove meaningless -- especially this early in the process.
ESPN's Mike Reiss says that through their 1st 2 padded practices, the Patriots' offense looks like it's "running two separate attacks" with its top 2 QBs. Cam Newton's version obviously features plenty of read-option, while rookie Mac Jones "looks like he's running the more traditional Patriots passing offense." Pat Kirwan of Sirius XM -- and a former NFL scout and front-office man -- adds: "He's more what Josh [McDaniels] wants to do, and how he's done it in the past. ... I wouldn't be surprised if by October we see [him] under center." According to Reiss, this all followed arguably Jones' best day of camp, and a pair of days in which he garnered significantly more reps than Newton. The rookie beginning to work his way past the vet -- whom Bill Belichick has called the starter -- doesn't make Jones attractive as a fantasy option. But the switch would certainly add upside to Patriots receiving options. Jones would also likely be better for RB Damien Harris' goal-line outlook.
Update: We should note here that Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes, "Anyone watching practice can tell Newton is the clear, unequivocal starter." Volin adds that Newton leads off every drill and that many of Jones' reps come with backups, rookies and scout-team players. We'll see where this situation goes.
Jaguars RB Travis Etienne has been busy and effective in the passing game early in camp, according to Sports Illustrated's John Shipley. The rookie "has shown terrific hands and burst after the catch," Shipley adds. It's still unclear how carries will be divvied in Jacksonville between Etienne and James Robinson. But Etienne is the clear favorite to lead the way in targets after catching 85 balls over his final 2 seasons at Clemson.
Jags rookie QB Trevor Lawrence (shoulder) will be a “full-go” for training camp, per NFL Network’s Judy Battista. "Remember they were holding him back a little bit in OTAs and minicamp because he was recovering from the offseason shoulder surgery," Battista said. "It was his non-throwing shoulder, so that's the good news, but they were still restricting him. No restrictions anymore when he gets to training camp. It is going to be full-go." The Jags open up training camp on the 27th.
After watching spring practices, The Boston Globe's Ben Volin believes Patriots QB Mac Jones still has "a long way to go" to beat out QB Cam Newton for the starting job. Even with Newton sidelined the past week with his hand injury, Jones worked behind QBs Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. “There’s a lot going on in my brain,” Jones admitted. “You’re trying to see everything; sometimes you see too much or whatever, and then you see nothing. I have to figure out in this offense how I can break down the plays, what’s my job, what I have to do on this specific play and slot the plays individually. I did that obviously good in college or whatever, but this is the pros and I have to figure out how to do it here. So that’s what I’m going to do.” We'll see how much ground Jones can make up in training camp and preseason action, but bet on Newton being under center for New England come Week 1.
The Cardinals selected Texas A&M WR Christian Kirk with the 47th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Kirk’s most impressive college season came back in 2015. As an 18-year-old true freshman, he led the Aggies with 80 catches, 1,009 receiving yards and 7 TDs. His yardage totals tailed off over the past 2 years, but he still totaled 149 catches and 19 scores. Kirk was also a special-teams dynamo, scoring 1 kick-return and 6 punt-return TDs. A 5’10, 201-pounder who ran the majority of his routes at A&M from the slot, Kirk has shades of Golden Tate in his game. He averaged 6.8 yards after the catch during his college career, according to Pro Football Focus. Arizona is a strange short-term fit with slot maven Larry Fitzgerald still around. We’ll see how Kirk fits in this season. Long term, he should be the Fitz replacement.
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