Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 16

The Philadelphia Eagles have designated RB Miles Sanders (ankle) to return from IR.

Related Players: Jordan Howard, Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell Jr.

What is already a messy backfield will only get worse if/when Sanders returns in the next three weeks. Sanders may have lost his starting role with the emergence of Howard. The backfield touch distribution is going to be important to watch the first week Sanders is on the field.

Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) was designated to return from IR, giving him three weeks to play before being lost for the season.

Related Player: Chuba Hubbard

Good news for Panthers fans and fantasy players alike. The best news with CMC's impending return is that Hubbard is more than capable of handling a larger workload and can help ease McCaffrey back into his normal workload.

Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey hasn’t played since suffering a hamstring injury against the Texans in Week Three. But it’s sounding like he should be back on the field imminently.

“Hopefully we get Christian back soon. Hopefully, it’s this week. If not this week, then next week,” Carolina head coach Matt Rhule said in his Monday press conference. “Obviously, he’s one of the best players in football. He brings something.”

Related players: Chuba Hubbard

McCaffrey initially did not go on injured reserve after he went down against Houston. But the Panthers then placed him on IR on Oct. 16, which shut him down for an additional three weeks. If McCaffrey practices Wednesday, that would begin his 21-day practice window for returning from IR, the story said. It remains to be seen if he'll be able to play in Week 9, an early-afternoon home game against the Patriots.

Eagles RB Miles Sanders (ankle) was placed on IR Friday. He is expected back after the minimum three games missed according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

Related Players: Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott

Gainwell and Scott has set roles for the next few weeks. Sanders's injury looked a lot worse than a three-week injury so a short IR stint is good news.

It appears the Eagles have dodged a bullet with Miles Sanders’ injury, although Nick Sirianni said it’s unlikely the 3rd-year running back will play this weekend.

Sanders suffered an ankle injury during the second quarter of the Eagles’ loss to the Raiders Sunday in Las Vegas and was carted off the field.

Related players: Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott

Sirianni said Monday the Eagles haven’t ruled Sanders out for their game Sunday against the Lions in Detroit, but it sounds like the odds are against him playing. Scott really saw his first significant action of the season after Sanders went down, so it's expected Gainwell gets a majority of the work based on Scott really not being a part of the game plan through the first seven games. Gainwell should be a popular pickup off the wire this week, but keep in mind the Eagles are not running the ball a whole lot.

Miles Sanders is getting X-rays done on his ankle, Sirianni said. The HC doesn’t believe anything is broken.

Related players: Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott

Sanders appeared to be on track for a solid fantasy outing before the injury. After leaving, he gave way to Gainwell and Scott. Gainwell was more involved in the passing game and also caught a TD pass for the team's first score. The passing game is normally where Scott has been involved, although Scott has been the workhorse in the past when Sanders has been out. Based on the first six games however, it would appear Gainwell has the most fantasy value to gain if Sanders has to miss time, as Scott had not really been involved in the offense before this week.

Eagles RB Miles Sanders was carted off the field Sunday against the Raiders.

Sanders suffered was may be an apparent ankle injury. He was even starting to get some work, having six carries for 30 yards. Hopefully it’s not too serious, but we’ll certainly keep an eye out for any status updates on Sanders. Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott have been seeing work in place of Sanders.

Matt Rhule said we'll see a vastly different look from the Panthers moving forward.

Related players: Sam Darnold, Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, Chuba Hubbard

It sounds like the team wants to get back to running the ball. The tweet said Rhule added they won't throw 40 times a game. Rhule also said: "We're going to redefine who we are and we're going to run the football and protect the quarterback." It will help to get McCaffrey back in the fold, but Hubbard proved worthy in the run game against the Eagles in Week 5, rushing for over 100 yards. Hubbard ran just 16 times in Week 6 while Darnold threw 41 times.

Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) will miss Week 6 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Related Player: Chuba Hubbard

CMC increased his practice reps earlier in the week prior to late-week DNPs. Week 7 is another opportunity for the Panthers to get McCaffrey back.