Saints sign K Daniel Carlson

The news has leaked. The Browns will ride with Deshaun Watson for Week 1.

Related players: Shedeur Sanders

As the story pointed out, Saturday it seemed like the Browns could never put Watson in uniform again. Sunday the vibe changed when HC Todd Monken wasn’t troubled by the booing of Watson against the Bills, nor by Watson’s postgame remarks about his relationship with Browns fans. Monken hinted he may be willing to give Watson a two-week audition, since both games are on the road. If the Browns return home in Week 3 at 0-2, odds would be Sanders gets that start. Watson has some nice, young weapons to work with but he'll have to at least win one game in Jacksonville or Tampa Bay, and look the part, in order to play in front of the home fans in Week 3. For now, Watson is a lower-end QB2 because of his surrounding cast, but it's hard not to imagine the team turning to Sanders at some point sooner than later.

Christian McCaffrey returned to practice on Sunday, his first time on the field with his teammates since Aug. 8. The 49ers’ terming his injury as “tightness” raised some eyebrows given he had calf tightness during the 2024 training camp that carried into the season. His absence has some others wondering whether it had anything to do with his contract.

The running back said Sunday the time away was planned as part of his load management.

“This was kind of part of the plan from the jump,” McCaffrey said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “Was to ramp up pretty big, get 9, 10 practices in, kind of come back down, and then ramp back up so we’re fresh for the duration.” That would have been nice to know a week or so ago... Eyebrows get raised with it comes to CMC and tightness. The star RB played only four games in 2024 when his tightness turned into Achilles tendinitis. So if we can take the 49ers for their word, CMC looks like he should be good to go, and, ramping back up for the start of the season.

Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty needed help off the practice field on Sunday after injuring his right leg.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Jeanty was diagnosed with a sprained ankle.

Big relief for Jeanty, the Raiders and his fantasy owners. The initial reports about Jeanty's injury didn't sound great, so a sprained ankle is certainly good news. We do know it's not considered a long-term injury, but we do not know what kind of sprain it was, or how much time the team expects Jeanty to miss. After that scare, owners may want to pick up rookie Mike Washington Jr. if at all possible, or be sure to draft him as a handcuff.