Friday update: Sanders was once again a full participant in practice on Friday and will not carry an injury designation into Sunday’s game against the Texans. He will be good to go for the matchup.
Thursday update: Sanders again got in a full practice and appears ready to return from his shoulder injury. All signs point to Chuba Hubbard still seeing a significant amount of touches, so Sanders isn’t assured the same role he had before he was injured.
Wednesday update: Sanders was able to practice in full on Wednesday, making it extremely likely that he’ll suit up this week against the Texans barring a setback.
The Carolina Panthers will take on the Houston Texans in Week 8. Both teams are coming off their bye weeks, and they came at a good time for these teams to get healthy. The Panthers have been without starting running back Miles Sanders since Week 5 when he suffered a shoulder injury. He is back at practice to begin the week, but we will get his official practice later in the afternoon.
Miles Sanders has his pads on after missing time with a shoulder injury.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) October 25, 2023
Xavier Woods is also in uniform. He’s been out for several weeks with a hamstring issue.
Fantasy football implications for Week 8
Sanders usually sees a good workload in the offense when he is active. Through five games, he has 61 carries for 190 yards and a touchdown and has added 15 receptions for 81 additional yards through the air. The Texans are allowing the ninth-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs, giving Sanders a good matchup if he is active.
I don’t trust Hubbard as much as Sanders in the matchup. There are no bye weeks in Week 8 so you can probably find a better option than Hubbard if Sanders misses another game.