First it was Redskins tight ends; now it’s Carolina wide receivers. With Stephen Hill already gone for the season with a torn ACL the Panthers didn’t have tremendous depth at the receiver position to begin with. So when Kelvin Benjamin was carted off with a non-contact knee injury and rookie Devin Funchess tweaked a hamstring on the same day, it was clear the Panthers were headed for a hell hole. Funchess should only miss a day or two of practice, but the word on Benjamin is decidedly more grim: he tore his ACL and will miss the entire 2015 season. Get ready to watch Cam Newton slide down your cheat sheet.
Andre Holmes suffered a fractured hand during Sunday’s practice, and the Raiders receiver is expected to miss three to four weeks. He’s been lapped on the depth chart by newcomers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree, so the fantasy ramifications of his absence are light.
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MRI results are in for LeSean McCoy. The lead back in Buffalo’s Ground ’N’ Pound left Tuesday’s practice with a hamstring injury, but the team believes he’ll be back for the start of the regular season. The Bills are confident enough in McCoy’s return—or Cierre Wood, whom the team signed with McCoy, Fred Jackson, and Anthony Dixon all battling injuries—that they aren’t pursuing ex-Raven Ray Rice, as reported earlier.
The news on Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is also good. Jeffery missed the exhibition opener with a strained calf, and while he’s expected to sit out this week as well Bears GM Ryan Pace told ESPN Chicago “this isn’t a long-term injury with Alshon. We don’t anticipate that [he’ll] miss the Green Bay game.” So the Bears should have at least one of their expected starting receivers for the regular season opener.
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The Dolphins removed DeVante Parker from the PUP list, which is good. However, the move is more about procedure and less about expediting the rookie’s timetable. Parker has yet to participate in training camp, which will make it extremely difficult for him to carve out meaningful playing time in the improved Miami receiving corps.
Finally, the never-ending Deflategate saga drags on, with the latest report being that Tom Brady will accept a reduced punishment in exchange for admitting he failed to fully cooperate with the investigation. However, NFL Media reports that Brady won’t accept a punishment that includes any sort of suspension, nor will he admit that he did anything wrong. Aside from not cooperating with the investigation, apparently.
