This article is part of our Training Camp Notes series.
Here are some of the top fantasy football headlines from Friday.
-Kenyan Drake (foot) didn't return to practice Friday, but he did shed the walking boot that caused so much alarm earlier this week. Evidently the boot was only precautionary, as Drake and coach Kliff Kingsbury insisted at the time. Drake will be a durability question until he shows the ability to withstand a major workload for a decent sample size, but his immediate condition can be assumed as good.
-D'Andre Swift (leg) continued missing practice Friday, which has his Week 1 role in question, Detroit Free Press writer Dave Birkett reports. Kerryon Johnson is the favorite to start Week 1, especially if Swift doesn't get back to practice in short order.
-Joe Mixon missed practice again Friday, the official line being that he's dealing with a minor injury but NFL Network's Tom Pelissero previously cited a source saying Mixon was more specifically dealing with migraines. A head injury concern is almost always a significant one, so hopefully something reassuring is reported about Mixon in the imminent future.
-The Athletic writer Ben Standig declared Washington's top three running backs to be Adrian Peterson, Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic, implying Bryce Love is the fourth running back at best. It's not clear by what criteria the arrangement was determined, but there's little doubt that Love's pass-catching skills lag behind those of Gibson and McKissic. It would probably be a surprise if Washington didn't keep Love on the final roster, though, because all it would take is an injury to Peterson or Gibson to make Love the second-best pure runner on the team. Even if he isn't adept at passing downs, Love's burning speed and history of standout rushing production imply he can provide some real explosiveness off the bench.
-Nate Taylor of the Athletic reports Darrel Williams has established himself as the clear backup to starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire, leaving DeAndre Washington and Darwin Thompson to fight for the remaining scraps on some basis. It's possible that a third runner will factor in – Williams is more like a fullback tweener than a proper, volume-capable running back – but Williams' polish in passing situations makes him a reasonable fit as a steadily-involved player off the bench.
-Parris Campbell is in the concussion protocol as the result of a car accident Wednesday, one that apparently caused a substantial amount of damage to the vehicle but otherwise left Campbell unscathed. Campbell was not participating but was present for Friday's practice, which 1075 The Fan's Kevin Bowen pointed out all but assures Campbell's concussion was deemed minor. If healthy then Campbell should have a busy season as an underneath receiver for Indianapolis.
-J.J. Nelson (knee) will miss 2-to-4 weeks with a knee issue, which wouldn't normally matter but might present a meaningful strain on the 49ers wide receiver rotation given the injuries to Deebo Samuel (foot) and Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring). Both Samuel and Aiyuk have a shot at Week 1, but even if both are active it might be asking a lot for the two to both play three-down roles. Nelson's sub-4.3 speed is useful in itself, so if he's out it makes it a little tougher on the 49ers rotation in the first few weeks.
