2026 NFL camp status board: Austin's ACL, Biadasz to IR and Jeanty's ankle
A verified Aug. 19–26 preseason board for fantasy managers: Calvin Austin and Jayden Higgins are season over, Tyler Biadasz hits IR, Alvin Kamara’s month-long MCL absence is confirmed, and Ashton Jeanty’s ankle still needs a return date.
The regular-season injury-report machine is still off. This week's board covers the Aug. 19–26 preseason window, so a cart ride, a season-ending IR move, a coach's Week 1 comment, or a return to team work is a signal for draft plans—not an Out, Doubtful, or Questionable designation.
The short version
- Calvin Austin III's season is over. The Giants wide receiver tore his right ACL in Tuesday's practice and will miss 2026, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. 1
- Tyler Biadasz is done for the year. The Chargers confirmed ACL damage and additional left-knee injuries, then placed him on season-ending injured reserve. Rookie Jake Slaughter is next on the depth chart. 23
- Alvin Kamara's month-long absence is now on the official board. NFL.com relayed Schefter's report that Kamara sprained his MCL and is expected to miss at least the next month, with Travis Etienne in line for the bulk of the Saints' running-back work. 4
- Ashton Jeanty's injury looks short of a season wipeout. NFL Network and Schefter described a sprained ankle that is not considered long-term, though the return date is unknown. Coach Klint Kubiak later said Jeanty is "on the mend." 56
- Keon Coleman is still in a walking boot; Breece Hall's Week 1 path still holds. Coleman missed Buffalo's latest joint practice and preseason game while still booted for a foot/toe issue. Jets coach Aaron Glenn again said Hall is on track for the Sept. 13 opener. 78
Status board: the names that changed this week
| Player | Latest verified status | Fantasy and lineup read |
|---|---|---|
| Calvin Austin III, NYG WR | Torn right ACL in Tuesday practice; out for the 2026 season. Braxton Berrios took first-team slot work; Odell Beckham Jr. remains a depth option. 1 | Drop Austin from redraft boards. Do not promote Beckham or Berrios into a locked starter role until Giants first-team snaps settle after cuts. |
| Tyler Biadasz, LAC C | ACL damage plus additional left-knee injuries; placed on season-ending IR. 23 | This is a Chargers-offense environment risk for the season. Watch Jake Slaughter and the first-team interior before adjusting Herbert-adjacent skill players. |
| Alvin Kamara, NO RB | Sprained MCL; expected to miss at least a month. Etienne should receive the bulk of RB reps in the interim. 4 | Draft Kamara with a delayed-start plan. Raise Etienne in early-season drafts, but wait for Week 1 usage before treating the split as permanent. |
| Jayden Higgins, HOU WR | Torn ACL; out for 2026 and placed on IR. Houston signed Sterling Shepard and Zay Jones after tryouts. 910 | Remove Higgins from 2026 redraft. The Texans WR2/3 path is unsettled; Nico Collins remains the clear lead, while Shepard and Jones are depth-chart noise until camp snaps show otherwise. |
| Ashton Jeanty, LV RB | Believed to be a sprained ankle; not considered long-term, timeline unknown. Kubiak said he is "on the mend." 56 | Keep Jeanty in the draft pool with a Week 1 contingency. Mike Washington Jr. is the named short-term lead if Jeanty misses early games. |
| Keon Coleman, BUF WR | Still in a walking boot as of Aug. 24; missed the Browns joint practice and preseason game with a foot/toe injury. 7 | Leave Coleman in the monitor tier. A return to team work is the next useful evidence; the boot keeps a second Bills receiver option necessary. |
| Breece Hall, NYJ RB | Still on track for Week 1 against Tennessee, per coach Aaron Glenn. Isaiah Davis is also on track for Week 1 after a knee issue. 8 | Keep Hall in the draft pool. The team language still supports a Week 1 path, while early workload limits remain possible after the groin absence. |
| Christian McCaffrey, SF RB | Returned to practice Sunday after missing multiple weeks with tightness; looked healthy in Tuesday work. 1112 | Move McCaffrey out of the acute-absence tier. The next checkpoint is preseason or Week 1 workload, not the return itself. |
| George Kittle, SF TE | Activated off the PUP list Sunday after rehabbing an Achilles tear. Activation opens practice; it does not guarantee Week 1. 13 | Raise Kittle's Week 1–4 probability. Leaving PUP before cutdown day keeps him eligible before Week 5. |
| Mike Evans, SF WR | Groin tightness; did not practice Tuesday. Kyle Shanahan hopes to have him back next week. 12 | Hold the current valuation and watch the next practice. This is a short-term monitor, not a season rewrite. |
| Kenneth Walker III, KC RB | Foot issue; not expected to practice Tuesday, per team reports carried by NFL.com and Chiefs beat notes. 614 | Keep Walker drafted with a one-week contingency. Severity is undisclosed, so do not crown a replacement from one missed practice. |
| Ja'Marr Chase, CIN WR | Left practice Tuesday after landing awkwardly, then told local radio he was "good" and called it a hyperextension. 6 | Leave Chase at the top of drafts unless a later practice absence appears. His own update is the current team-adjacent evidence. |
| Tyler Warren, IND TE | Minor groin injury; expected to miss about a week, with no Week 1 concern, per Ian Rapoport. 15 | Hold Warren's draft cost. A short camp absence with a Week 1 clearance note is not a fade. |
| Sam LaPorta, DET TE | Hip injury; sat out Wednesday practice. Coach Dan Campbell said the Lions feel good about him long term. 15 | Keep LaPorta in the TE1 conversation and watch the next full practice. |
| Chuba Hubbard, CAR RB | Hamstring; expected ready for Week 1, per coach Dave Canales. He has not played a preseason game. 8 | Draft Hubbard with a contingency for early-season snap share. The Week 1 readiness note preserves his role more than a preseason absence erases it. |
| Brian Thomas Jr., JAX WR | Apparent shoulder injury in Tuesday practice; coach Liam Coen said he is "all right" and Jacksonville will likely hold him until Week 1. 6 | Leave Thomas in the draft pool. The hold-to-Week-1 plan is precaution language, not a new diagnosis. |
| TreVeyon Henderson, NE RB | Left Monday practice after slipping; Patriots were still evaluating the injury and said he would "probably not" practice Tuesday. 6 | Monitor only. Wait for a team diagnosis before moving him or a handcuff. |
| Michael Penix Jr., ATL QB | Cleared to return to 11-on-11 work. He will split first-team reps with Tua Tagovailoa, and his preseason finale status was still TBD. 816 | Raise Penix's availability confidence. The Falcons still have not locked the Week 1 starter in this window. |
Secondary notes worth tracking: Cardinals TE Tip Reiman (ankle) will not be ready for Week 1, with a PUP decision still open. Washington DT Jer'Zhan Newton had surgery on a torn pec and will miss a significant amount of time. Commanders RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt has a lower-body injury and is due back at practice next week. Rachaad White's hamstring was framed as short-term. 4815
Confirmed lineup and depth-chart signals
The Browns named Deshaun Watson the Week 1 starter over Shedeur Sanders for the Sept. 13 opener against Jacksonville. That is a real depth-chart decision for fantasy managers who need a Cleveland quarterback plan. 17
The Saints traded for running back Zamir White from San Francisco in exchange for linebacker Deion Jones, adding another body behind Kamara and Etienne. The trade creates roster competition, not an assigned snap share. 11
Washington signed veteran tackle D.J. Humphries to a one-year deal while Laremy Tunsil remains out with a triceps injury. Humphries is a depth-chart addition; Brandon Coleman remains the previously projected internal left-tackle candidate until first-team work shows otherwise. 6
Several PUP activations matter for September readiness rather than fantasy roles by themselves: Josh Sweat (Cardinals), Jalen Ramsey (Steelers), Maliek Collins (Browns), and George Kittle (49ers) all moved off the list during the window. 813
Community leads to verify
r/fantasyfootball circulated Schefter's Tuesday report that Calvin Austin was carted off with a "serious knee injury," then Wednesday's follow-up that MRI results confirmed a season-ending torn ACL. ESPN's published Schefter sourcing now matches that second claim, so the community lead has closed into a verified absence. 118
A separate Reddit thread said Ja'Marr Chase described his knee issue as a little hyperextension and said he could have kept practicing. NFL.com's roundup already carries that self-report, so treat Chase as monitored rather than downgraded. 619
A Reddit post also relayed that Ashton Jeanty's ankle was believed to be more of a low ankle sprain than a high ankle sprain. NFL.com's verified language is a sprained ankle that is not considered long-term, with no low-versus-high distinction from the team. Prefer the NFL Network / Schefter framing until Las Vegas publishes a more specific diagnosis. 520
What to do before the next draft room
Act now:
- Remove Austin and Higgins from 2026 redraft boards.
- Treat Biadasz as a season-long Chargers interior risk and Kamara as a delayed starter with Etienne as the early-season contingency.
- Keep a second Bills wide receiver option while Coleman remains in a boot.
Monitor:
- Jeanty's first practice return and any Week 1 availability comment from Kubiak.
- Evans' next 49ers practice and Kittle's first full-team work after PUP activation.
- Walker, Henderson, and Thomas for a diagnosis or a return to team periods.
- Penix's first-team share now that 11-on-11 work is cleared.
Hold off:
- Do not convert Jeanty's community "low ankle" label into a multi-week absence.
- Do not promote an unnamed Chargers skill-player winner solely because Biadasz is on IR.
- Do not attach Out, Doubtful, or Questionable tags to these camp updates. The regular-season report will supply those labels when the game-week window opens.
The next checks that matter
- Team drills: Coleman, Evans, Walker, Henderson, and LaPorta need a return to practice or a stated restriction.
- First-unit reps: The Chargers need to show Slaughter with the starters; New Orleans needs to show Etienne's share with Kamara out.
- Diagnosis and timetable: Jeanty still needs a return date; Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White need the next Commanders update.
- Cutdown and Week 1 plans: Watson's starter tag is locked; Penix's Atlanta job is still a shared-rep story until Stefanski names it.
The board's main distinction this week is simple: a season-ending IR move closes a draft slot; a short camp absence still needs the next practice.
References
- 1
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- 4NFL: Aug. 19 news roundup
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- 6NFL: Aug. 25 news roundup
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- 7Democrat and Chronicle: Bills injury update Aug. 24
democratandchronicle.com
- 8NFL: Aug. 24 news roundup
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- 9
- 10NFL: Aug. 21 news roundup
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- 11NFL: Aug. 23 news roundup
nfl.com
- 12Yahoo Sports: 49ers injury updates Aug. 25
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- 13
- 14Yahoo Sports: Chiefs share Kenneth Walker injury update
sports.yahoo.com
- 15NFL: Aug. 20 news roundup
nfl.com
- 16NFL: Aug. 22 news roundup
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- 19
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