Team news: New England Patriots | Page 3

Dolphins tight end Darren Waller (hip) did not participate in Thursday’s practice for the portion of the work the media watched. What does that mean?

Related Players: Julian Hill, Tanner Conner

The recently un-retired Waller hasn't seen much of the football field this summer, which makes him a complete stay-away until we get some good news on that end. If he doesn't suit up, receiving work would presumably fall to Julian Hill, though he's earned only 26 targets through his first two years in the league, so this situation is best to avoid for now.

Patriots WR Stefon Diggs, coming off a torn ACL, isn't listed on the team's initial injury report, confirming he's on track to play Sunday vs. Las Vegas.

Related Players: DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte

Looks like it'll be all clear for Diggs to.head out there and operate as a fringe WR2/3 in his first game as a Patriot.

C Elgton Jenkins back at practice for #Packers after missing Monday. LaFleur said he’d be limited.
CB Nate Hobbs went thru stretch but did not have pads on for practice.
WR Jayden Reed also not practicing.

Related Players: Matthew Golden, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, Tucker Kraft

It's not looking promising for Reed in Week 1, which is a disappointment, as he has a shot to lead this team in targets. As it stands, Golden should be the best bet for fantasy production on his progressional debut. Consider him a WR3 and consider fading Reed this week, even if he does suit up.

WR Christian Watson among the players placed on the Reserve/PUP list.

Related players: Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, Savion Williams

Watson will miss the first four games but it could be longer. We reported the Packers say Watson will be ready to go after the four weeks, but it remains to be seen if he's cleared. The Packers are pretty loaded at the WR position, at least when everyone is healthy, so Watson not only has to overcome his injury but probably climb the depth chart a bit as well.

Eliot Wolf on Stefon Diggs: “He’s ahead of schedule injury wise.”

Related players: Kyle Williams, Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins

Diggs tore his ACL back in Week 8 last year, and so far seems to be on track to start the season, not suffering any setback as far as reports have indicated at least. Diggs is poised to be the Pats top target this season among a group of relatively young WRs. At least on our depth chart, rookie Williams is second followed by Douglas and Boutte. Overall we have Diggs 37th on our WR list and he should be available starting late in the seventh round of drafts.

Romeo Doubs is getting medical attention after nearly coming up with a deep ball.

Related players: Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Dontayvion Wicks, Christian Watson

Demovsky went on to post Doubs was crouched over for a few minutes and walked off holding his lower back. It's significant because Watson is likely to be placed on the PUP list to start the season and the team is practicing without Wicks and Reed, leaving only the rookie Golden among their top WRs. On top of that, it was reported today that QB Jordan Love had surgery on his left thumb.

Brian Gutekunst says Christian Watson will likely start the season on PUP. After those four games are up? Gutekunst says Watson will “chomping at the bit” to return then.

“It’s gonna take a lot of us to hold him back.”

Related players: Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks

It's possible Watson's injury keeps him out longer than four weeks however. The Packers are a bit banged up on offense. As we just reported, Jordan Love is getting surgery on his left thumb and Reed's status for Week 1 is up in the air due to his foot injury. The rookie Golden has been a bright spot in camp and it's possible he starts Week 1 as the team's WR1. It's a pretty fluid situation for the Packer offense right now, so we'll all have to continue to monitor as we get closer to Week 1.

Darren Waller has yet to practice for the Dolphins and it's a "tricky" situation, according to head coach Mike McDaniel.

Wednesday was the Fins' final home practice before embarking for the Midwest, as Miami will have a joint practice with the Bears ahead of the teams' preseason opener on Sunday. Thereafter, it's on to Detroit, where more joint practicing awaits before a preseason Week 2 matchup with the Lions

Related Players: Julian Hill, Pharaoh Brown

Fantasy drafters are also in a "tricky" situation, as Waller was quite literally done playing football a couple months ago before his un-retirement. He'd probably be a pretty easy stay-away if it weren't for Jonnu Smith's monster TE4 performance in Miami one short year ago. Even with the fantastic opportunity, Waller is best viewed as a streaming option in 2025.

There's a lot of excitement within Patriots' circles about rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson. Everyone knew about his home-run speed and explosiveness, but multiple team sources have also emphasized his elite pass-catching and pass-protection abilities.

Related players: Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson

Schultz went on to say words like "special" and "difference-maker" have been used to describe Henderson and added that it feels like New England has a super dynamic young back for Drake Maye to lean on. Right now, Henderson is a late fifth to early sixth round pick in drafts, but we think he could quickly leapfrog Stevenson and push for lead-back duties. For now, Henderson profiles as a high-end, upside RB3 with the potential to be a weekly RB2 if he grabs the top spot in what should be an improving offense.

Running back order of touch during rush period: Pacheco, Mitchell, Hunt, Smith, Steele

Related Players: Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Brashard Smith, Carson Steele

We'll see if this is just to get the team some more looks at Mitchell or if this will last into the season, but it's a good sign nonetheless. Smith is likely to start off as an explosive passing-down option and nothing else, while we all know what Hunt is at this point in his career.

Mitchell would be an RB5 option if he ends up leapfrogging Hunt.