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    Noel (hamstring/finger) setback, out a few weeks

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    HOU Wide Receiver
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    Texans WR Jaylin Noel (hamstring/finger) will be out for “a few weeks” after suffering “a little bit of a setback.”

    NBC Houston’s Aaron Wilson noted earlier today that Noel was not participating in practice due to a finger injury, which he suffered in July, and a recent hamstring injury. It turns out Noel’s recent hamstring injury is actually a re-injury. Fellow second-year WR Jayden Higgins has the inside track to the WR2 role. Noel was set to compete with Xavier Hutchinson and WR Tank Dell for the WR3 gig. Instead, he is losing valuable preseason reps. Noel might be best viewed as an early-season waiver wire add.
Riddick discusses warning signs for PIT, LAC, HOU
Louis Riddick joins the Dan Patrick Show to recap North Carolina's loss to Clemson then dives into all the storylines from Week 2 of the NFL with several teams in a 0-2 hole while others are showing improvement.

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  • HOU Wide Receiver #17
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    Jaylin Noel outsnapped him 44-to-36 for the Texans No. 3 receiver role but Wayne beat Noel out by one catch, two yards, and two targets. “Man starts over again everyday, in spite of all he knows, against all he knows,” Emil Cioran once wrote. And these are the readings C.J. Stroud should get familiar with as he endures another week of this receiving corps in Week 3.
  • HOU Wide Receiver #19
    Through two games, Hutchinson has 15 targets and 69 yards. If you’re going to be this bad, you at least want the meme number. Hutchinson let a (admittedly hard to reel in) C.J. Stroud ball hit him in the hands in the end zone before dropping it and repeatedly struggled to finish contested catches, as he did in Week 1. Hutchinson is a fine depth receiver who has been pushed into a role he simply can’t do at the NFL level.
  • HOU Wide Receiver
    Rapoport adds that Noel is “really talented.” We agree, but the Texans have consistently played WR Xavier Hutchinson ahead of him. Noel, 24, is an explosive player, and the Texans will be looking for playmakers to contribute with WR Nico Collins (hamstring) sidelined this week. Noel is officially on the boom-bust FLEX radar in Week 2 against the Bengals.
  • HOU Wide Receiver #14
    Boutte managed just 36-of-79 snaps, third-most among Texans wideouts, as they ran weird platoons that had Jared Wayne, Jaylin Noel, and Xavier Hutchinson all on the field for at least 24 snaps. Until someone conclusively wins this job, or at least we start getting some juice that someone might win the job, it’ll be hard to start any of these receivers in fantasy football.
  • HOU Wide Receiver #19
    He let two of the other three non-catches glance off his hands. Marie Kondo loves mess, so she’d love this Texans WR2 situation. Hutchinson led the four non-Collins receivers with 44 snaps. This should not be confused with him being a desirable fantasy football play.
  • HOU Wide Receiver
    The deal includes $1 million in guarantees while saving the franchise almost $2 million against the cap. Dell is reportedly nearing a return from the devastating knee injury suffered in Week 16 of the 2024 season but will begin 2026 on the physically unable to perform list, meaning he will miss the first four games of the regular season. The contract restructure hints at a potential “prove it” year for Dell, giving the team options following 2026 pending health.
  • HOU Wide Receiver
    He was already placed on injured reserve, so he’ll miss the first four games of the season. Reading between the lines it sounds like Dell has a chance to miss more than just the first four games of the season. Kayshon Boutte and Dalton Schultz will battle for the role of lead secondary target behind Nico Collins while Dell is sidelined.
  • HOU Wide Receiver #1
    The designation to return means that Dell is expected to contribute in some capacity this season, although he appears a ways off still. With Jaylin Noel still nursing an injury after experiencing a setback and Jayden Higgins lost for the season, recent acquisition Kayshon Boutte has all the runway to operate as the WR2 opposite Nico Collins to start the season. Xavier Hutchinson should also see an uptick in opportunities while tight end Dalton Schultz should see a significant boost in weekly volume.
  • HOU Wide Receiver #19
    Hutchinson also failed to execute his blocking assignment on a run play that resulted in no gain for RB Woody Marks. Playing only with the first-team offense, Hutchinson nearly hauled in a tough sideline catch that would have picked up a first down, but the pass glanced off his fingertips. It wasn’t a great outing for him, but the Texans need him all the same, with their receiving corps awfully banged up at the moment. He should not be drafted in 12-team fantasy leagues.
  • higgins.jpg
    Jayden Higgins
    HOU Wide Receiver #81
    It’s a devastating blow for the second-year pro and the Houston offense. Higgins was set to be the team’s No. 2 wideout behind Nico Collins this season after posting 525 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie operating mostly as a downfield threat. Higgins’ absence in the Texans offense leaves the team without much depth at the position. Expect Xavier Hutchinson to take on a much more prominent role in the balanced Houston offense while Tank Dell and Jaylin Noel see a bump in snaps and routes. It’s hard to say any Texans receiver not named Nico will have much in the way of fantasy value in 2026.

Rotoworld

  • PHI Tight End #86
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    Eagles signed TE Zach Ertz to the practice squad.

    The veteran tight end is reportedly healthy enough following ACL surgery to be brought in as a replacement for Dallas Goedert, the latter of whom is expected to miss multiple weeks with a sprained MCL. Ertz spent the first seven seasons of his professional career in Philadelphia before a three-year stint with the Cardinals and two more with the Commanders. The 12-year veteran turns 36 in November and profiles as a low-upside role player for as long as Goedert remains out, should he receive game-day call-ups from the practice squad.
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    Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer said CB Cobie Durant (hamstring) and S P.J. Locke (plantar fascia) will miss “a few weeks.”

    Durant suffered a hamstring strain and Locke suffered a torn plantar fascia in the team’s Week 2 win over the Commanders. Both players are reportedly going to miss multiple weeks, while a stint on injured reserve is not yet being ruled out for either player. In what has become somewhat of a yearly tradition in Dallas, the secondary is suddenly extremely thin on healthy bodies after the team invested significant capital re-tooling the back end this offseason. Expect Markquese Bell and Shavon Revel to enter the starting lineup for the time being.
  • ARI Cornerback #2
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    Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur said CB Will Johnson (neck) could miss the remainder of the season.

    This comes a day after LaFleur said he did not believe Johnson suffered a serious injury in Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks. The loss of Johnson would be another blow to a secondary that is already short Garrett Williams (Achilles) and also lost Max Melton (toe) in Week 2. Johnson leads all Cardinals DBs with 111 snaps through the first two weeks, and he appeared on 722 snaps last season. We’ll likely get a clearer timeline for Johnson’s absence in the coming days.
  • LAC Defensive Lineman #94
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    Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh said Dalvin Tomlinson will “miss time” with a hamstring injury.

    Left guard Kayode Awosika (fibula), who has started each of the team’s first two games this season, will also miss some time, per Harbaugh. The Chargers already placed TEs Charlie Kolar (forearm) and David Njoku (fibula) on injured reserve, so it’s safe to assume Tomlinson and Awosika are looking at shorter absences given the team’s decision to leave them on the active roster at this time. Tomlinson has totaled eight tackles and a half sack in the two games he has appeared in, on 65 defensive snaps. Awosika was replaced by former first-round pick Trevor Penning, who will likely step in as the starting left guard until Awosika returns.
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    Chargers placed TE Charlie Kolar (forearm) on injured reserve.

    We don’t yet know when Kolar could return, but he will have to miss at least the next four games now that he’s on injured reserve. Kolar was seeing a decent workload during the first two weeks of the season, as his 72 snaps led all Chargers tight ends, while his 24 routes run were only one fewer than David Njoku’s 25. With Njoku (fibula) also on injured reserve, Oronde Gadsden could be in line for a significant workload over the next several weeks.
  • LAC Tight End #83
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    Chargers placed TE David Njoku (fibula) on injured reserve.

    Njoku was unable to put any weight on his right leg and was carted from the field in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders. Njoku has caught six passes for 67 scoreless yards for the Chargers in his first two games with the team and led all tight ends on the roster with 25 routes run. He’ll have to miss at least the next four games now that he’s landed on IR, but we should have a better sense of his return timeline in the coming days.
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    NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports Dallas Goedert is expected to miss a few weeks with a sprained MCL.

    Goedert avoided a serious injury, but the veteran tight end will still be sidelined for a few weeks. It’s a blow to an Eagles passing game that has struggled coming out of the gate, as Goedert has already tallied five receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns in the first six quarters of football he has played this season. Veteran TE Johnny Mundt should be the favorite to replace Goedert going forward; he stepped in to play 49 snaps against the Titans. Mundt has 76 career receptions in 116 games and shouldn’t be viewed as an option to replace Goedert in fantasy leagues.
  • BAL Wide Receiver #4
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    Ravens HC Jesse Minter said Zay Flowers (hamstring) has a “good shot” to play in Week 3 against the Cowboys.

    Flowers is one of multiple injured players who Minter said could play in Week 3. Flowers missed Week 2’s game against the Saints after reaggravating his hamstring injury in Week 1 against the Colts, but he was able to practice in a limited capacity to close out the week. We’ll see how he fares this week when the Ravens release their first injury report, but it sounds like the star receiver is trending in the right direction. In addition to Flowers, Minter also said DT Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) and LB Teddye Buchanan (knee) could also return agains the Cowboys.
  • SF Wide Receiver #5
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    49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Mike Evans (hip) will “have to be managed this week.”

    So it’s just like every other week, then, folks. Evans left Week 2’s game against the 49ers but reportedly could have returned if it were close. Evans, 33, likely will miss practice time this week. It doesn’t sound like there’s a major reason to believe he’ll miss Week 3 with the injury based on how this has gone, but we’ll keep updating his practice status.
  • MIA Wide Receiver #7
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    Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said it was “too early in the week to determine” if Caleb Douglas (ankle) will play in Week 3.

    So it sounds like this wasn’t just a ding and in fact has a chance to keep him out for the week. He left Week 2’s game in a walking boot after catching 2-of-3 targets for 19 yards. Jalen Tolbert could replace Douglas on the active roster in Week 3 for those of you in 75-team leagues.