***Christian McCaffrey missed Wednesday's practice with a back condition. Local writers believe it's related to the hard landing after his somersault into the end zone last week. Back spasms / contusions can flare up at any point but there's no indication McCaffrey will be limited this week.
***Patrick Mahomes II reassuring returned to a full practice on Wednesday after aggravating a high ankle sprain last week. Mahomes says his mobility will not be affected. While the full practice is a good sign, Mahomes was limited after aggravating the injury during the second half Sunday night.
***Tyreek Hill continues to make progress on his rehab but has yet to be cleared for contact. Hill has been out of the sling and conditioning for multiple weeks. When he's cleared for contact, he can be expected to return to his full game workload immediately. Sammy Watkins did not practice today. His status remains in doubt.
***Todd Gurley missed practice with ongoing soreness after a thigh bruise last Thursday. Sean McVay considers him day-to-day.
***Julio Jones was also an unexpected add with a hip condition. He's likely to play but continue to watch his practice participation closely.
***Hunter Henry has been cleared for individual drills this week but Anthony Lynn has yet to commit to Henry's return this week.
***Dallas could be without both tackles this week. Tyron Smith did little work on a rehab field on Wednesday after a Week 4 high ankle sprain. La'El Collins reportedly had a reassuring MRI but isn't practicing. Jerry Jones has been publicly optimistic on both players but Smith and Collins should be considered questionable at best.
***While Dallas is holding out hope for one or both of their tackles to return, the Niners will be without both Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey for multiple weeks. Staley continues to recover from a fibula fracture and McGlinchey underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Wednesday to address a meniscus tear.
THURSDAY NIGHT INJURY EXPECTATIONS
Here are the key offensive players listed on the practice participation or game status report for Thursday Night Football:
New York Giants at New England
***The Giants will be without Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram. Barkley was hoping to recover in time to play this week but never had a realistic chance to recover from a mid-grade high ankle sprain in less than three weeks. Engram suffered an MCL sprain last week and has yet to return to practice. Gallman and Shepard did not have enough time to progress through the return to play protocol on a short week.
***I'll have more on the Giants' injuries in Monday's article, but Barkley has a good chance to return while Shepard may need additional time to recover from his second concussion in four weeks.
***New England ruled out Phillip Dorsett (hamstring). While Julian Edelman (chest) and Josh Gordon (knee) are questionable, both should play their usual number of snaps.
***Rex Burkhead (foot) was again limited all week with his foot injury. It's difficult to know how the Patriots plan to split the running back touches, but Burkhead is at risk of the inactive list or a very small number of snaps until he's off the injury report.
Early week practice participation and playing expectations
The Wednesday and Thursday practice participation reports are our first chance to see which players each NFL team is 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.
