Injury Expectations | Wednesday Update | Week 2

Photo: USA Today Sports

KEY WEDNESDAY MEDIA UPDATES

***The Giants play on Monday night and won't release an official practice participation report until Thursday. But today's reporting on Odell Beckham is 180 degrees different from last week's pessimistic locker room interview. Multiple media sources reported "lots of optimism" Beckham will play this week. After traveling with the team and briefly appearing in pre-game warmups Sunday night, Beckham should be more likely to do some individual work in practice this week. It's still not clear whether Beckham will be able to return for a full complement of snaps. It's more likely he'll be limited to higher leverage situations and see fewer targets than usual in his first week back. But the trend looks positive for now.

***LeSean McCoy (wrist) and Jay Ajayi (knee) are both listed on the practice participation report but both were full participants and should be fine. McCoy has a wrist contusion that should be a non-issue this week. Seeing Ajayi on the report with a knee concern raises eyebrows after the pre-draft concern for a bone-on-bone condition. And it's odd for Ajayi to be given a rest day when he's yet to play in a regular season game. It's worth watching closely on Thursday but a consecutive full practice should allay any worries.

***John Brown is back on the injury report with the quad issue that plagued him during the preseason and led to some grumpy answers to reporter questions from Bruce Arians. Brown played 63 of 75 snaps last week. The Cardinals didn't comment on his status on Wednesday. Tomorrow's practice participation will inform us whether the team is pacing Brown's practice participation or there's been an aggravation.

***Thomas Rawls and T.J. Yeldon were full practice participants and will return this week.

***Andrew Luck didn't practice today as expected. That puts his return in Week 4 out of the question and makes a Week 5 return unlikely, too.

THURSDAY NIGHT INJURY EXPECTATIONS

Here are the key offensive players listed on the practice participation or game status report for Thursday Night Football:

This is an odd week. There aren't many question marks here. The Texans have a number of players already declared out -- but every other player who was listed on the practice report this week is not listed on the game status report and will play.

Texans OUT: Alfred Blue (ankle), Brian Cushing (concussion, now suspension), Will Fuller (shoulder), Ryan Griffin (concussion), C.J. Fiedorowicz (concussion > injured reserve)

Texans NOT LISTED: Deshaun Watson (ankle), J.J. Watt (finger), Jadeveon Clowney (foot), DeAndre Hopkins (wrist), Benardrick McKinney (knee), Kevin Johnson (knee)

I expect all the Texans in the "Not Listed" category to play with minimal limitation. Watson's ankle injury is minor and will not keep him from starting. Watt's finger injury is painful but should not hinder his pass rush. Were the Texans concerned about Clowney, McKinney, or Hopkins, I believe they'd have listed them questionable. All should see their usual workload.

The Bengals have listed John Ross and Shawn Williams as questionable. Both fully practiced all week and are expected to return. Williams will start at safety. Ross will see a limited package of plays as the team assimilates him into the offense.

EARLY WEEK PRACTICE PARTICIPATION REPORT AND EARLY EXPECTATIONS

The Wednesday and Thursday practice participation reports are our first chance to see which players each NFL team are limiting in practice after the previous week's games. Players limited in mid-week practice aren't necessarily in danger of missing that week's game. But they all need to be watched closely.

*Note: Monday night players with asterisk practice Thursday/Friday/Saturday

*Note: Monday night players with asterisk practice Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

Follow me on Twitter @JeneBramel for breaking injury news and analysis throughout the week.