NFL Week 2 news: Injuries, fantasy, more (2024)

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Week 2 is underway following the Chiefs' 27-24 win over the Chargers on Thursday Night Football. Check in with The Athletic to recap all of Sunday's action and where things stand heading into Week 2.

Complete Week 2 schedule can be found here.

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(Top photo of Lamar Jackson: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)

I think it was the great Britney Spears who once said you can’t dance with too much choreography in your head.

So, let’s give Derek Carr a break after a sloppy start to the season last week in Los Angeles. Carr had three interceptions (and two fumbles that were recovered by his linemen) in the 24-19 loss to the Chargers.

Receiver and Carr’s BFF Davante Adams had said picking up Josh McDaniels’ offense is like learning Mandarin.

So, Carr has Mandarin choreography in his head! No wonder he underthrew some passes and wasn’t as decisive in the pocket as he has been in recent years.

Carr lives to please his coaches, and McDaniels is his sixth in nine years with the Raiders.

“I got a lot of philosophies in my head and I’m trying to get rid of them all to make sure it’s only what Josh wants,” Carr said after practice Wednesday. “I fought through that a little bit in OTAs and try to clean it up as we keep going. Our discussions from the last game, they were good, they were positive. And then the most important thing is that I do them today in practice.”

There are two big adjustments this season for Carr — and these are not major when you are throwing the ball to talented, quick-twitch guys like Adams, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow. I would be shocked if Carr is not a lot sharper Sunday in the home opener against the Cardinals.

Mike McGlinchey’s brow furrowed and a grimace moved across his face like a shadow. He couldn’t believe this was even a question.

One of the video clips that made the rounds following the 49ers’ loss in Chicago shows Trey Lance being spun to the ground by defensive end Dominique Robinson and no one rushing in to help him to his feet. After the sack, McGlinchey runs off the field while fellow tackle Trent Williams glances at Lance but makes no move to help him up.

The clip turned into sports radio — and, of course, social media — fodder this week, with the armchair inference being that the 49ers weren’t rallying to their young quarterback’s side. They would have helped up Jimmy Garoppolo, right?

McGlinchey called that notion ridiculous. He couldn’t recall the specifics of the post-sack sequence but guessed, “I was probably just pissed off at myself for giving up a sack” and wanted to get off the field as quickly as possible. The way he drops his head in the clip bolsters that scenario.

Did the 49ers fail to offer their young quarterback a hand?

I studied every instance in which Lance was knocked to the ground in Chicago. (It took a while!) Yes, there were a few instances late in the fourth quarter when no one helped him up, including a rather awkward moment when he was lying on his back in the Soldier Field bathtub. But the 49ers were in their two-minute offense at that point and his teammates were intent on getting back to the line of scrimmage, and at 22 years old, Lance tends to hop to his feet fairly quickly.

The Jets have lost 12 straight games in September, with the last win coming in Sam Darnold’s first career start. Sunday, they’ll try to break that spell in Cleveland against the Browns, who just beat the Panthers … for whom Darnold is a backup quarterback.

The NFL is weird.

And maybe that is the best hope for a Jets win in Week 2 — they are heavy underdogs on the road, and there were unexpected winners all over the NFL to start the season. Coach Robert Saleh insists the Jets are a better team than they showed in a 24-9 loss to the Ravens in Week 1.

Is he right?

Here are eight final thoughts, observations and a prediction heading into Game 2.

It used to not even matter all that much. Teams would stack eight defenders in the box and the Baltimore Ravens would still find a way to run the ball successfully. When you set team and NFL records in 2019 and lead the league again in rushing in 2020, it’s not like you’re taking anybody by surprise. You’re succeeding in running the football against defenses designed to stop it.

Even in 2021, when significant late-summer injuries robbed the Ravens of their talented duo of J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, along with reserve back Justice Hill, the team still finished the season third in the NFL in rushing yards per game (145.8) and fifth in yards per carry (4.8). That was despite relying on four different backs (Devonta Freeman, Latavius Murray, Ty’Son Williams and Le’Veon Bell), none of whom are currently on an NFL 53-man roster.

Dobbins and Edwards still aren’t back in the lineup, although the hope is that Dobbins will return very soon, if not Sunday against the Miami Dolphins at M&T Bank Stadium. “We’ll see,” Dobbins said Friday, flashing a wide smile when asked if he was planning to play.

However, with or without Dobbins, the Ravens believe they have enough juice in the backfield with Kenyan Drake, Mike Davis and Hill to run the ball successfully. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is healthy again and he’s the player most responsible for making the run game dangerous. The offseason additions of rookie center Tyler Linderbaum and veteran right tackle Morgan Moses solidified the offensive lin

The Chargers lost to the Chiefs, 27-24, on Thursday night in Kansas City.

Here are some final notes, stats and quotes as the Chargers enter their mini-bye at 1-1.

The Falcons placed RB Damien Williams, who started last week against the Saints, on the reserve/injured list Saturday, meaning he will miss at least four games. Williams suffered a rib injury in the game. He returned in the fourth quarter and said in the locker room after the game that he expected to be fine, but he didn’t practice at all this week. Williams was an offseason free agent pickup.

Atlanta used a standard practice squad elevation to bring up RB Caleb Huntley this week to help offset Williams’ absence. It also elevated DL Abdullah Anderson.

The Commanders added DT Jonathan Allen (groin) to the injury report as "questionable." Expection is he will still play.

Also elevated G Wes Martin and DT Benning Potoa’e from the practice squad.

Wherefore art thou, Allen Robinson?

The Rams’ $46.5 million receiver was all but absent from their 31-10 loss to the Bills in Week 1. Robinson was targeted twice, once on a 12-yard pass in the second quarter and again in garbage time.

What happened? Is it fixable? Upon further study this week, it’s clear that multiple issues surfaced for the Rams regarding Robinson’s looks — but multiple solutions are also possible. (All statistics provided by TruMedia unless otherwise noted.)

It’s funny, how the biggest moment of your life, something you’ve been working toward and willing into existence for so long, can also induce nerves when it finally arrives.

That was the case for Lions rookie linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, as he pondered what was ahead late Saturday evening. He spent the night before his first NFL game tossing and turning, thinking about situational football, trying to prepare himself for what was to come. He squeezed in only a handful of hours of sleep, no more than four or five tops. Reality had begun to sink in.

“It’s one of those things where it’s hard to sleep at night,” Rodriguez said. “You’re overthinking too much. You get more jitters for a big game, you know, an NFL game — especially the first one. It’s definitely not the night before Christmas.

“It’s just one of those things where, at the end of the day, you just gotta go out there and play ball.”

Read more here.

The NFL world remains fascinated with quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

The two sides couldn’t agree to a new deal last week before the self-imposed deadline, meaning their negotiations are expected to remain on hold until the offseason. But rival front-office executives can’t help but keep tabs on the unique situation.

“That’s a really interesting one,” said an NFL executive, who spoke to the The Athletic on the condition of anonymity. “Someday, I hope to be in the situation to have to make decisions like that, but right now, I’m glad I’m not.”

There are several complexities within these negotiations, which date back to the 2021 offseason. First, the quarterback market has exploded over the past two years, and it’s expected to continue reaching unprecedented levels with disproportionate rises to the salary cap. Second, Jackson is a rare player without any truly comparable peers, which creates the challenge of using other contracts as jumping-off points. And third, Jackson is attempting to negotiate a potentially historic deal without an agent.

(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)

Following the Buffalo Bills’ opening night win over the Rams, a simple stroll into the locker room revealed a smiling and laughing A.J. Epenesa. There was something a bit lighter, maybe freer, about him than in his first two seasons.

Of course, he was quick to credit the entire defensive effort for the team’s thorough shutdown of the high-powered Rams attack. But they wouldn’t have been able to do it without Epenesa.

“It makes you feel good,” he said. “It makes you feel like the work you put in is worth it. To come out and get 1.5 (sacks) today, make a couple of plays and then for the whole D-Line to eat, the best opening day you could ask for, really.”

With those 1.5 sacks, the defensive end nearly doubled his career total in one evening. But his productive night went beyond just those two plays, and teammates took note.

“A.J. Epenesa coming off the side, blinding the vision of (Matthew) Stafford and forcing him to sail the ball,” safety Jordan Poyer said of his interception. “(Cooper) Kupp had to go high and it tipped, and that’s just what happens.”

“His swagger is totally different,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said of Epenesa. “Even when he’s, like, lined up, I can feel his presence now.”

Read more below.

Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale bristled when it was mentioned that he blitzed less than usual in the opener. The Giants blitzed on 48.6 percent of the Titans’ drop backs in Week 1, which was the third-highest rate in the league, according to Pro Football Reference.

Even with those numbers, it didn’t seem like Martindale reached deep into his bag of exotic blitzes, partly because the Giants were in bigger personnel groupings to combat Titans running back Derrick Henry. Martindale should be fully unleashed against the Panthers.

Read more below.

Marcus Epps spent his first year seeking a stable location. A more promising opportunity emerged in Year 2, and he needed to navigate through the details. By his third year, there was a soft opening to prove it was real. During this past spring, it was fully functioning and ready to bloom.

That’s the timeline of Epps’ gym in Costa Mesa, Calif., a 5,000-square-foot facility that has earned praise from NFL players.

It’s also the timeline of his NFL career.