Training Camp Update: Brazzell's Season Ends, Pearsall's Knee Worsens, Nabers Delivers Good News
Yesterday we flagged three camp situations as unresolved and worth checking back on. All three moved today, two of them the wrong way and one the right way, plus an update on the running back hold-ins. Here is what actually changed.
Brazzell is done for the year
Panthers rookie receiver Chris Brazzell II will have season-ending surgery on the torn LCL in his left knee, per ESPN. The original plan was a non-surgical path that would have kept him out roughly two months, but a second opinion changed the recommendation to surgery instead. Brazzell, a third-round pick out of Tennessee, was competing for Carolina's WR3 job. He was already a deep-bench name in most formats, so this is less about losing value and more about a clean, final answer: take him off best ball rosters and dynasty rookie boards entirely rather than leaving him parked as a question mark.
Pearsall's knee is worse than it looked yesterday
We called this "a real watch item" yesterday. Today it is more serious. Ricky Pearsall is dealing with swelling tied to the PCL injury he suffered last season, and per NBC Sports, the 49ers have not ruled out a surgery that would end his 2026 season before it starts. San Francisco reportedly hoped the injury would settle on its own over the offseason, and the swelling after a handful of camp practices suggests it has not. If you have Pearsall rostered anywhere, this is the one to actually act on. A receiver who might not play at all needs to be treated as replacement-level in your rankings until there is real clarity, not quietly left in your WR3 range on hope.
Nabers is the good news
Malik Nabers went through a full practice for the Giants for the first time since tearing his ACL and meniscus last season, and per CBS Sports, he said afterward that he felt great doing it. A full practice, not just individual drills, is a meaningfully bigger step than what we saw from him yesterday. This is exactly the signal you want before trusting him at his current best ball price. It does not erase the injury history, but it is the best version of this update you could have asked for.
Robinson and Gibbs still have not budged
Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs remain hold-ins, per CBS Sports, with no new deal for either running back yet. Both are still playing on rookie-scale money after their teams exercised their fifth-year options, which is exactly why each side has leverage to push now rather than wait. Nothing here changes your redraft or best ball rankings today. Keep both in the same range you already had them and treat this as a contract story to watch, not a workload story yet.
What to do with this
Two names got worse today, one got better, and one situation is exactly where it was. That is a normal day of August NFL news, and it is also the argument for not overreacting to any single camp report in isolation. Brazzell is now a clean cut from your rosters. Pearsall needs a real markdown until his situation is resolved one way or the other. Nabers earned a bit more trust, not a blank check. Check both the best ball tool and the mock draft simulator if any of these four change how you'd draft this week, and see yesterday's roundup for the full context on how each of these situations started.
Camp news moves fast, and the version of a story on day one is rarely the version that matters. Today's update is the one that does.