Team news: Seattle Seahawks | Page 18

The San Francisco 49ers have named their backup to starting quarterback Brock Purdy -- and it's not the player they once paid a fortune to trade up for. Sam Darnold will be named the 49ers' QB2 following a strong showing this offseason, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported on Wednesday. That means that Trey Lance is currently running third on the depth chart -- and what it means for his future with the team remains to be seen.

No potential teams have been named yet, but there were rumors that the team was involved in trade discussions before the NFL Draft. The 49ers could obviously just keep Lance, but if they can receive any draft compensation for their third-string quarterback, it's a no-brainer, regardless of what draft capital they once spent on him.

Kyle Shanahan said the competition between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold to be the San Francisco 49ers’ No. 2 quarterback could continue during the regular season.

Shanahan said he’d likely announce the pecking order prior to the team’s Week 1 game in Pittsburgh. After all, the so-called “third quarterback” rule allows teams to dress three passers on game days but they still have to designate which are the first two.

The story went on to say Shanahan indicated the quarterback order “definitely” could change during the season and that Darnold could run the scout team one week — which is typically the purview of the No. 2 quarterback — and Lance could run it in the next.

Seahawks’ first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba is undergoing wrist surgery today in Philadelphia, but still could have a chance to be ready for the start of the regular season, per sources.

Related players: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, D'Wayne Eskridge, Jake Bobo, Dareke Young

Schefter added that JSN broke a bone in his wrist on the play in which he almost scored Saturday night. Surgery will determine how long he will miss. Reading into it a bit, even if JSN misses games, it seems safe to conclude it may just be a couple of weeks to start the season. Metcalf and Lockett will remain the top-two targets but Eskridge, Bobo and Young are next up behind Smith-Njigba should he not be available. We'll continue to monitor his timeline.

Dolphins RB Devon Achane is also dealing with a shoulder injury. He's week to week and avoided serious injury.

QB Mike White is also in concussion protocol.

Related players: Jeff Wilson, Raheem Mostert, Myles Gaskin

Achane has been a highly-touted rookie RB who has gained a lot of traction, especially early on in dynasty leagues. Achane's biggest asset is his speed, and talk was building he'd have a significant role in the Dolphins offense because of HC Mike McDaniel's love of fast players. He still was going to lose touches to Wilson and Mostert, so it remained to be seen how much of the workload he could garner. This setback could end up costing him some work, at least to start the season. But the good news is he avoided a more serious injury.

Cooper Kupp and Derion Kendrick will practice against the Broncos, per Sean McVay.

There was hope Kupp would return for last week's joint practices but when the Rams said he would 't there were at least some alarm bells set off. But it looks like Kupp will be good to go this week with the hope of playing in Week 1. He's been sidelined since Aug. 1.

Rams receiver Cooper Kupp continues to be out of practice with an injury the Rams continue to downplay as “day-to-day.”

At one point, an impression was created that he would return for joint practices this week against the Raiders. On Sunday, coach Sean McVay created the impression that Kupp won’t be back.

“I would say it’s more likely that he will not, but I don’t have any clarity on that,” McVay said. “I would think Denver’s probably a more realistic goal but there is a chance. He’s feeling good and making good progress, but I don’t know if we’ll have him go this week.”

Hopefully the Rams are just playing it safe with Kupp, who missed the final eight games of the season a year ago. We'll likely know more next week when the Rams are scheduled to take part in joint practices with the Broncos.

Rams’ offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur on the status of WR Cooper Kupp, who hurt his hamstring this week: “He’s day-to-day. He'll be back in the right time and stuff like that. So he is just going through the rehab process, but he's day-to-day. He'll be alright.”

Related Players: Ben Skowronek, Van Jefferson, Puka Nacua

Kupp walked off the field earlier this week after he "came up a bit" during a red zone route. This is good news, though it wouldn't be surprising if the team shuts him down until closer to Week 1. If drafters are scared off of Kupp, and you find him past his 1.05/1.06 ADP, feel free to pounce.

LA Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp underwent an MRI on his injured hamstring after leaving practice early Tuesday night, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The source said the Rams will be cautious with Kupp's injury but that he could be back "for scrimmages in a few weeks."

Related Players: Ben Skowronek, Van Jefferson, Puka Nacua

Kupp walked off the field with the training staff about 30 minutes into a two-hour workout at UC Irvine. Matthew Stafford and other players didn't see exactly what happened, but coach Sean McVay said he was told Kupp "came up a little bit in a red zone route."

The immediate feedback around the injury is that it's of minimal concern regarding his Week 1 availability. If Kupp starts to fall back into the back-half of the first round he would remain a great bargain.

On the second day of camp Thursday, Kupp was busy, catching passes all over the field, including one he tipped to himself in traffic for a long touchdown from Matthew Stafford.

“This is my second day running full speed, like competitive stuff,” Kupp said after practice at the University of California, Irvine. “Being camp, things feel fast, like they're just moving a little faster than you're used to. But man, even just from the first day to second day, things definitely [starting to feel] like, OK, now we're back into the groove.

Related Players: Van Jefferson, Ben Skowronek, Puka Nacua

In eight full games last season, Cooper Kupp scored the second-most fantasy points and the first-most fantasy points per game (20.3). Kupp was the WR21 despite missing nine games in 2022, and with Matthew Stafford back on the field, his unworldly target% should return.

49ers GM John Lynch says Brock Purdy (elbow) has been cleared to practice. "The great news is Brock has worked his tail off and he's ready to go."

Kyle Shanahan says Purdy will throw two out of every three days initially, and he'll take the first rep the days he's out there.

Related Players: Trey Lance, Sam Darnold

This is incredible news, as a full-year QB option will be a giant positive to both himself and the skill position players in fantasy. This doesn't ensure that he is the Week 1 starter but it's clearly a step in the right direction.

Including the postseason, Purdy played 82% of the snaps in eight games. In those games, he averaged 232 yards, 8.43 yards per attempt, 2.0 touchdowns, and 0.38 interceptions. He added 0.25 rushing touchdown per game. The resulting 18.8 fantasy points per game would have been the seventh-highest last season.