NFL Player News

Ekeler (chest) remained limited in Friday's practice.

The Commanders are dealing with injuries throughout the backfield, as Jacory Croskey-Merritt (foot) was DNP for a second straight day while Rachaad White continues to work back to 100 percent from his shoulder injury. Jeremy McNichols (quadriceps) also remains on injured reserve, though he's practicing fully this week. In two games back with Washington, Ekeler has rushed seven times for 28 yards, adding two catches for 26 yards on three targets.

Knight will bump up the Cardinals' RB depth chart in Week 6 with Jeremiyah Love (ankle) ruled out, Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com reports.

Knight still will be situated behind Tyler Allgeier, but the former nonetheless is the No. 2 back for as long as Love is sidelined. For his career, Knight has tallied 173 carries for 614 yards (3.5 YPC) and five touchdowns and hauled in 36 of 46 targets for 268 yards and another TD in 26 games.

Allgeier is poised for a leading role out of the Cardinals backfield Sunday at the Rams with Jeremiyah Love (ankle) sidelined in Week 6, Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com reports.

Despite Love being active for each of the first five contests of the season, Allgeier's snap share ranged from 36 to 64 percent weekly, and he averaged 9.4 touches for 32.6 yards from scrimmage per game while scoring one rushing TD. The overall workload thus will increase with Love out, and Allgeier's primary competition for RB reps will be Bam Knight, who has just three carries in 2026.

White practiced in a limited capacity Friday due to a shoulder injury.

White's downgrade from Thursday's full listing may be due to maintenance of the shoulder issue that sidelined him Week 4 against the Colts, but his status now bears monitoring to get a sense of his chances to play Monday at San Francisco, especially with Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin) not practicing this week. In the event Croskey-Merritt is inhibited or out in Week 6, White and Austin Ekeler (chest, LP on Friday) would be the beneficiaries in the Commanders backfield.

Croskey-Merritt (groin) didn't practice Friday.

Croskey-Merritt has yet to practice this week due to a groin injury that also impacted his on-field work last week. He was able to suit up last Sunday versus the Giants, handling a 36 percent snap share and accounting for 82 yards and one touchdown on his 11 carries. Saturday's session likely will be key for Croskey-Merritt's odds to suit up Monday at San Francisco, but if he's inhibited or sidelined for Week 6, Rachaad White (shoulder, LP on Friday) and Austin Ekeler (chest, LP) would be the primary candidates to man the Commanders backfield.

Johnson (hamstring) doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's game at Las Vegas, Sam Warren of The Athletic reports.

Johnson was a new addition to the injury report this week, listed as limited Wednesday and Thursday before upgrading to full participation Friday. He made a big impact in the Week 5 win at Los Angeles, catching each of his four targets for 72 yards across just 14 snaps (21.9 percent snap share).

Tucker (quadriceps) is listed as questionable and considered a game-time decision for Sunday's matchup with Pittsburgh, Brianna Dix of the Buccaneers' official site reports.

For fantasy purposes, Tucker's availability is mostly of interest because of how it impacts the short-yardage expectations for Bucky Irving. The reintroduction of Tucker at the goal line didn't stop Irving from having his best game of the season last week, but that was against the Cowboys' defense, not the Steelers'. Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay are schedule for a 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff Sunday.

Etienne (ankle) is listed as questionablefor Sunday's game against the Eagles.

Etienne was a full practice participant all week, while AJ Dillon (ankle) was absent and has already been ruled out for Sunday. Etienne might've taken over the No. 2 RB role even if Dillon had stayed healthy, so it remains to be seen how that play out if/when both are available at the same time. The Panthers will need to activate Etienne from injured reserve by Saturday evening to have him available for Sunday's game. If they don't do that, they'll need to look to the practice squad for depth behind Chuba Hubbard.

Dillon (ankle) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Eagles.

Meanwhile, RB Trevor Etienne (ankle) is listed as questionable and may be activated for injured reserve over the weekend. Either way, Chuba Hubbard figures to handle a large workload again.

Spears (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Colts.

After being limited Wednesday and then sitting out Thursday's practice, Spears now carries a questionable tag into the weekend. He returned to full participation Friday, which suggests he's on track to be active ahead of the 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff.