Team news: Los Angeles Chargers | Page 8

Bears rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze played his first regular season game on Sunday and he’s having his first regular season MRI on Monday.

Head coach Matt Eberflus told reporters at his Monday press conference that the first-round pick is going to have imaging done on his knee.

Related players: D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Caleb Williams

Odunze caught one pass for 11 yards in Sunday’s win over the Titans but he played 43 of the team’s 56 offensive snaps. The story went on to say Eberflus said it’s not clear when the injury happened as Odunze played through the end of the game, but whatever issue he reported was serious enough to send him for tests. The story added the Bears are in Houston for Sunday Night Football in Week 2, but we may not know until later this week about Oduzne and his status.

Chargers QB Justin Herbert (plantar fascia) is off the injury report -- for real this time -- and good to go for Sunday's opener vs. the Raiders.

WR D.J. Chark (hip) is out.

Related Players: Easton Stick, Taylor Heinicke

Good news for Herbert and the Chargers in general, but we don't want to touch this passing attack as we head into what could be a slog against the Raiders. Leave the QB on your bench or waiver wire until we find him in a better spot.

Steelers RB Jaylen Warren (hamstring) said he did individuals and special teams work in practice today, and he anticipates joining team periods on Wednesday.

He said he'll be good to go for the season opener Sunday.

Related players: Najee Harris

Warren should find himself complementing Harris, taking on change of pace and third down and passing duties. Warren (RB24) finished two spots ahead of Harris (RB26), and if we just look at the back half of the season, Warren was the fantasy RB19 from Week 10 to Week 18. His touches increased from 10.6 to 13.9 when comparing the first half of the season to the second half. That increased workload may or may not carry over now that there’s a new offensive coordinator (Arthur Smith) in town. Smith is known to use his players in frustrating ways from a fantasy perspective. Interestingly, Warren’s increased usage did not come at Harris’s expense. Harris saw his touches increase from 14.4 to 18.8 from the first half to the second half of the season. (Harris/Warren combined to average 25.0 touches from Week 1 to Week 8 compared to 32.7 touches from Week 9 to Week 18, so Pittsburgh was much more RB-oriented in the back half of the season.) The Steelers figure to be very run-heavy under Smith so there should be room for both Warren and Harris in 15+ touch roles.

Jaylen Warren says he expects to play Week 1 against the Falcons.

Related players: Najee Harris, Cordarrelle Patterson

Warren says his hamstring is feeling much better. Owners will still want to hear this team from HC Mike Tomlin or from the team before counting on Warren in Week 1. However, it's good news he feels he's trending in the right direction. Warren should continue to have a role, but still share time with Harris in the Steelers offense. The addition of Patterson could complicate things in terms of fantasy, especially in terms of pass catching and third down work.

At the start of training camp, Browns General Manager Andrew Berry said that running back Nick Chubb still had “a little ways to go” before being fully cleared to return from last year’s season-ending knee injury.

Chubb reportedly still has a bit more to do before he gets that green light. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Chubb is expected to remain on the physically unable to perform list into the regular season.

Related players: Jerome Ford, Pierre Strong, D’Onta Foreman, Aidan Robbins, Jacob Saylors, Nyheim Hines

As the story points out, this would make Chubb ineligible to play in the first four games of the regular season and he would not count against the 53-man roster until he is activated from the list. Ford should have a pretty big role in the running game to at least start the season while Strong looks like a change of pace back. Foreman could get his share of carries as well, however, and has been a thorn in the side to fantasy owners over the last three years with the Bears, Panthers and Titans. Foreman has scored a total of 12 rushing TDs over that span, stealing work from the likes of Chuba Hubbard and Khalil Herbert.

Justin Herbert practicing for the first time since July.

Last week reports said Herbert was out of his walking boot and today there was a video of him throwing in warmups. Herbert is dealing with plantar fascia, but hopefully looks to be back on track to play in Week 1. We'll likely know more based on his activity in practices going forward, but for now seems to be heading in the right direction.

I left Kimani Vidal off my 53-man roster projection after Week 1 of the preseason. My grade at that stage was “incomplete.” He had missed a week of practice, including the joint session with the Rams, before not playing in the preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks. You have to earn your spot in the NFL, and that will especially be the case under Harbaugh. Vidal had a strong week of practice last week. He followed that up with a solid performance in his first game action. I have moved him ahead of Isaiah Spiller and onto the 53-man in my running projection.

Related players: Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, Jaret Patterson

If you remember, we reported on this a few weeks ago when this writer left Vidal off the team's 53-man roster. Vidal was at least a popular dynasty selection up to this point, given the Chargers state at RB. However, Vidal looks to be making a move up the depth chart with solid, recent practices and preseason game showing. Edwards and Dobbins appear to be leading the way at the position with Patterson also having a nice camp. Vidal looks like he still has a lot of work to do to at least be the team's RB3.

Bengals RB Chris Evans suffered a torn patellar tendon during today’s practice, and he will miss the entire regular season.

Just a devastating blow for the former Michigan star, who was having a strong camp with Cincinnati.

Related Players: Zack Moss, Chase Brown, Trayveon Williams

It seemed as if Evans were on the outside looking in on the roster bubble, but this injury will clear the way for Williams to presumably lock in a spot. Hopefully Evans has a smooth recovery and finds a team for the 2025 season.

Jaret Patterson has impressed the coaching staff, and he appears to have grasped the RB3 role right now.

Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, Kimani Vidal, Elijah Dotson, Isaiah Spiller

Much like they did in Baltimore, Edwards and Dobbins will look to form the 1-2 punch. While Patterson seems to be in the lead for the RB3 role, the author of this story seems to think rookie sixth rounder Vidal could be left off the roster. He said of the four backs competing behind Edwards and Dobbins, Patterson has gotten the most reps with the first team in practice. He was also the first running back in the game Saturday, ahead of both Spiller and Dotson. The story went on to say Vidal was in uniform for warmups but did not dress for the game. Vidal has also been dealing with an injury and missed four full days of practice earlier this month, according to the story, including the joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams. The author ended by saying this competition is still wide open and things could change by the end of camp.

Browns RB D’Onta Foreman is back with the team after his scary neck injury yesterday and being flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital. Again, X-rays and scans were negative.

Related Players: Nick Chubb, Jerome Ford, Nyheim Hines

Good news all around after a big scare yesterday. Foreman is looking to carve out an early-season role with Jerome Ford as Nick Chubb continues to recover from his knee injury.