NFL Player News

This comes after a Sun-Times report thought Benson may miss the entire month this morning. We’ll see what happens, but reporting now would at least give Benson a fighting chance to start by week one.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said they’d make the decision on whether to activate him off injured reserve on Saturday, so at least Brown won’t be a game-time decision. Brown can be started with confidence if he’s active, though he’d potentially be in line for a pitch count to the point where he’d be more of a WR2 than a WR1 in his return.

It was reported the day after the Falcons’ overtime loss to the Ravens that there was “optimism” that Penix would start in Week 6. After being upgraded to a full participant on Thursday’s practice, he seemed like a lock to be ready to go by Sunday, so Friday’s news isn’t all that unexpected. Penix has thrown for 719 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception this season, throwing one touchdown in each of his first three games. He’ll be on the fantasy radar in 2QB/Superflex leagues against a Bears defense that has allowed just two top-12 fantasy finishes to opposing QBs this season.

The rookie got in back-to-back limited sessions, but they must have indeed been quite limited for him to wind up with the rarely-used doubtful tag. It’s very unlikely he plays this weekend. Taylor Moton (blood clot) is questionable after three full practices and would seem to be the favorite to start at right tackle.

He upgraded to a full practice today. Waller will be a low-end TE2 with Jalen Coker (quad) playing in Week 6 against a Jalen Hurts-less Eagles outfit.

Panthers coach Dave Canales said Etienne would be activated off injured reserve for this week. Etienne practiced in full all week and, with AJ Dillon ruled out, the Panthers currently have just one healthy back on the 53-man roster. Perhaps he’ll be joined by a practice squad player as well. Either way, Etienne has no stand-alone value this week.

He didn’t practice all week. With Jonathon Brooks also out, it seems likely that Trevor Etienne will be activated to serve as Chuba Hubbard’s main backup. Hubbard will project to get most of the volume here and has stumbled into high-end RB2 value this week.

Mayfield has already been ruled out for Week 6’s game against the Steelers. After being a DNP in practice all week, Mayfield could still be another week away from returning. It was reported on Wednesday that he is still unable to grip/throw a football, so this will be a situation to keep an eye on when the Bucs begin prepping for next week’s game.

After missing all of practice last week and being a DNP on Thursday, Diggs was back on the field Friday, which is a good sign for his Week 6 availability with one practice left to go in the week. The Commanders take on the 49ers on Monday Night Football this week and will likely announce Diggs’ availability sometime Saturday, but he could be on track to return in what is a must-win game for the 1-3-1 Commanders. Diggs has caught 18 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns this season and would be in the mix as a fringe WR3/WR4 if active.

All signs are pointing to Tyler Huntley making his second straight start. Jackson was a DNP for all three practices this week and will likely be ruled out in the next few hours, meaning Huntley will have a chance at a “revenge game” against a Browns team that he spent part of the 2024 and 2025 seasons with. Huntley threw for 201-2-0 in last week’s win over the Falcons and rushed for another 20 yards and one touchdown. He’ll have some appeal in 2QB and Superflex leagues on the road against the Browns.

This is an improvement for Judkins, who was a DNP for the team’s first two practices this week. Head coach Todd Monken said earlier this week that Judkins was considered day-to-day, so we’ll see if he has a shot at playing when the team releases its final injury report in a couple of hours. It seems unlikely that Judkins will be fully removed from the injury report, meaning he’ll likely carry a questionable designation heading into the weekend.