Team news: Buffalo Bills | Page 7

A good sign for the Commanders: WR Terry McLaurin (toe) was a full participant in practice today.

Related Players: Jahan Dotson, Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown

This is fantastic news, as a full Thursday participation hints that there will be a full workload for McLauren in Week 1. Sam Howell is a very intriguing streamer once more, as McLauren himself should be considered a fantasy WR2.

Sources in Washington are optimistic about Commanders WR Terry McLaurin (toe). He’s responded well to work on the field so far, with a few days of practice remaining before the sold-out home opener against Arizona.

Related Players: Jahan Dotson, Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown, Byron Pringle

This is a tough situation for fantasy managers who likely just drafted McLaurin last weekend. It's even worse for managers who took a running back-heavy approach who may even be relying on him as their team's WR1. Expectations should be limited right out of the gate, and McLaurin may end up on benches for teams with many other WRs on their team. His season-long outlook should remain very strong.

The Dolphins named Mike White as their backup quarterback, coach Mike McDaniel said Monday, after a monthslong competition with Skylar Thompson.

Related players: Tua Tagovailoa

On four occasions last season, the Dolphins were forced to turn to a backup quarterback after their starter was knocked out of a game. They signed White to a two-year, $8 million contract this offseason with $4.5 million guaranteed to operate as the primary backup to Tagovailoa and he competed with the 2022 seventh-round pick Thompson throughout the summer for the job. There was a point this summer where some who follow the team felt Thompson may pass White on the depth chart, but for now the team is going with White as the QB2.

With Mike White now in the concussion protocol and with second-year seventh-rounder Skylar Thompson looking pretty good against the Texans on Saturday, it’s fair to ask whether Thompson might leapfrog White.

Related players: Tua Tagovailoa

White has the second spot on the unofficial preseason depth chart, according to the story, but Thompson, who helped the Dolphins make things interesting in the playoffs against the Bills, looked good in Houston, completing 15 of 22 passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns. Normally there isn't a ton of hype around backup quarterbacks, but with Tua struggling with concussions last year, knowing his backup could be valuable, especially in deeper or two QB leagues.

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.

On one of the first few days, offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey even used the term “three-down back” when speaking about Cook’s potential should he realize it. In practices, Cook continued to provide the team with plenty of reasons to be optimistic about both his outlook and role in their 2023 season. Cook went coast-to-coast as their unquestioned top running back at camp, displaying excellent pass-catching skills and a good knack for finding running lanes between the tackles.

Related Players: Latavius Murray, Damien Harris

Buscaglia continued, "Cook also separated himself from backups Damien Harris and Latavius Murray, with Murray giving Harris a run for the primary backup duties due to his performance."

Cook looks more destined than ever to take a true three-down role, and the upside in this Bills offense would be fantastic, even if his target share is lessened by Josh Allen's legs. Cook is climbing into bona fide RB2 range.

It’s feared to be an Achilles injury for Broncos WR Tim Patrick, per Sean Payton

Related Players: Marvin Mims, K.J. Hamler

This likely means the end of the season for Tim Patrick. Mims will be the most intriguing name to be following throughout the rest of camp, and should be the favorite to find himself in 3WR sets.

Bills WR Gabe Davis said he felt like he “lost a step” when he suffered a high ankle sprain early in the 2022 season, and that impacted his whole year. Said it messes with your head. He added he feels fully back to normal and healthy now.

Related Players: Trent Sherfield, Justin Shorter, Khalil Shakir

Davis certainly had some off-weeks last season, much to the chagrin of those of us who were certain he would produce opposite Stefon Diggs. In 10 of his 16 games last year, he had three-or-fewer receptions and only bested 100 yards once (a monster 3-171-2 game in Week 5). Davis was more of a focal point in the Bills two playoff games (8-147-1 on 13 targets) and is back in the mix as a WR3 for fantasy purposes.

Gabe Davis projects as a very reasonable 2023 post-hype sleeper.

While talking with the Bussin' With the Boys podcast, Bills QB Josh Allen remarked, "The media has blown this so far out of proportion. We are in rookie or minicamp. We're not playing a game for four months. He doesn't show up for one day. He's still there. Coach asked him to go home. They're in talks. They're trying to resolve some things. It wasn't anything major. And (the) media blew it up. They're still talking about it. Let it go. There's no reason to continue talking about it."

In the doldrums of the first week of July, news is slow, and the back-and-forth regarding Diggs continues to sway from positive to negative. The situation is still worth monitoring, regardless of what Allen is saying here. Though we're still a long way away from regular season kickoff, we have seen multiple occasions in recent years in which an unhappy wide receiver pops back into the news throughout the year. Diggs is currently sitting as the WR5 in our WR rankings.

The ramifications of the Stefon Diggs minicamp drama could still be playing out, but a player who benefited from Diggs not taking part in OTAs and parts of minicamp was Sherfield, one of the Bills' acquisitions to add depth to the receiver room.

Related Players: Justin Shorter, Deonte Harty, Khalil Shakir

The article continues by saying, Sherfield got increased opportunities as the Z receiver for quarterback Josh Allen with Diggs not present and made an impression in that time, with Allen saying of Sherfield during OTAs, "I've loved what I've seen from Trent so far; the dude works extremely hard. He's one of the hardest-working guys on the team. Doesn't complain about anything. He's rolling right now."

Trent Sherfield is currently ranked in the stratosphere, all the up at WR148 in 4for4's most recent rankings update, but a steady drumbeat could move him into a more reasonable drafting range.