Wednesday Media Updates

***George Kittle will not practice this week despite returning to play after hyperextending his knee on Sunday afternoon. Kyle Shanahan told reporters Kittle "fully expects to be there Sunday" and allowed the team will give Kittle "the whole week to recover" and won't hesitate to let him play if he's cleared by medical staff. This leaves Kittle as a game-time decision at best and suggests he's not close to being cleared to play yet. Further exams after this week's rehab will determine his ability to play. We're not likely to know more until Friday -- at the earliest. The Niners must travel cross-country to play a 1pm ET game against the Jets.

***Miles Sanders returned to a full practice after the Eagles chose to be cautious with him last week. Last week's limited week of practice helped return Sanders to football-ready condition and the full practice suggests Philadelphia is preparing him to play. Adam Schefter tweeted Sanders is "on track to play" this week. Sanders went from a possible snap count to ruled out and not traveling with the team last week so his status shouldn't be taken for granted. But all signs indicate he'll play in Week 2. I'll have thoughts on his snap count and likely effectiveness in the weekend Gameday Expectations article.

***Chris Godwin reported symptoms of a concussion to the team on Wednesday and entered the return-to-play protocol. Players sometimes receive clearance to play within seven days of a concussion but this is a different circumstance. Godwin is symptomatic on Wednesday and therefore still in the earliest stages of the exercise protocol. Even though teams are sometimes comfortable advancing a player through multiple stages in a 24-hour period, they're always more cautious when a player has continued symptoms 72 hours after injury.

***James Conner did not practice Wednesday. His status remains unclear for Sunday's game. In the past, missed practices were a major red flag for Pittsburgh players. That expectation shifted some last season when the Steelers rested players more routinely midweek. Mike Tomlin told reporters the team would "leave the light on" for Conner to prepare and play. While the lack of an obvious injury during Monday night's game suggests Conner's injury was minor, the team chose to hold him out and backup Benny Snell played well. Consider Conner to the doubtful side of questionable until his practice participation trends positively or the team definitively states he's playing.

***JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Diontae Johnson (toe) are likely to be examples of the new "Steelers who miss practice midweek then return to full practice and play" group. There are no current indications either will not play in Week 2.

***Julio Jones was listed as limited with a hamstring injury. For those new to Jones and the injury report, I'll reiterate what I wrote last weekend: If Jones is limited or better and not listed on the final game status report, there's no issue with his availability. Jones played 82% of his team's snaps in Week 1 and was targeted 12 times. There are no indications of a setback. Expect him to be ready for another full workload this week as long as his practice participation remains favorable.

***A early-week MRI on Phillip Lindsay's toe injury was reassuring and he's not expected to be out long. James Palmer is reporting the Broncos have not ruled Lindsay out this week but do not believe he'll be ready for 1-2 weeks. With Melvin Gordon and Royce Freeman available, expect Denver to be cautious and allow Lindsay time to heal.

***Kenny Golladay did very light reconditioning work on the side on Wednesday. Now a week removed from his hamstring strain in practice, his chances of returning in Week 2 look doubtful.

***Courtland Sutton returned to conditioning work and individual drills today but may not yet be cleared for contact. Weekend reports were reassuring for his Week 2 availability but he'll need to clear that final contact hurdle to play. Consider him comfortably on the probable side of questionable for now.

***Keep an eye on the practice status of Jamison Crowder. He fully practiced with a hamstring strain last week and then played 86% of the Jets' offensive snaps. Adam Gase did not list Crowder among those expected to be limited before practice today, leading local writers to speculate Crowder's injury was aggravated in practice today.

Injured Reserve additions through Wednesday transactions:

• RB Marlon Mack (Achilles tear)
• RB LeVeon Bell (hamstring strain)
• TE David Njoku (MCL sprain)
• TE Blake Jarwin (ACL tear)
• WR Denzel Mims (hamstring strains)

THURSDAY NIGHT INJURY EXPECTATIONS

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

Cincinnati at Cleveland

***Jarvis Landry told reporters he expected to see a limited snap count in Week 1. He played 52 of 73 offensive snaps -- 71% -- in a blowout loss to Baltimore and earned six targets. Landry missed Tuesday's practice but was back to a limited Wednesday session. He's expected to play on the short week and is likely to see a similar range of snaps.

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: Asterisk denotes Monday night players who practice Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

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