NFL Player News

It’s what the team initially feared after Carter went down with a non-contract injury against Dallas. He’ll be moved to injured reserve and miss the rest of the season as a result. The Giants will turn to Markus Golden and Kyler Fackrell as veteran options on the outside with Carter Coughlin, Cam Brown and Devante Downs available off the bench. Carter’s absence clearly makes New York’s pass rush drastically thinner.

Judkins had the backfield to himself with Dylan Sampson out, but the Browns running game was inexplicably ineffective in a great matchup against the Bears defense. Once the Browns fell behind, Judkins was essentially phased out of the game as he couldn’t even get positive yardage on his three catches. He’ll be in the RB2 mix against the Bills in Week 16.

His one miss was a blocked 50-yarder by Calais Campbell. The Texans have continued to generate plenty of attempts for Fairbairn with their combination of solid regular offense and horrendous red-zone offense. He’ll remain high in the kicker ranks next week against the Raiders.

Higgins played 42-of-62 snaps for the Cardinals on offense and watched Trey McBride catch a lot of targets. We salute his selflessness.

Monangai had led the Bears in rushes in three consecutive games, but the 23-year-old rookie running back took a backseat to D’Andre Swift in Week 15 against the Browns. He had 11 carries and just 33 yards while being held without a catch on two targets. Monangai managers had to watch while Swift exploded for 98 yards and two touchdowns. He’ll be more of an RB3 in a tough matchup against the Packers in Week 16.

Tinsley saw a season-high nine targets in Week 12 when playing in place of Tee Higgins (concussion). With Higgins sidelined again due to another brain injury this week, Tinsley was unable to replicate his target volume, with only two looks coming his way in the shutout loss. Tinsley hauled in a 16-yard reception in the fourth quarter, and just missed hauling in a pass in the end zone on that same drive a few plays later. Assuming Higgins is able to return in Week 16 against the Dolphins, Tinsley will go back into his backup role.

Uh, yeah. That’s Arizona Cardinals WR2 Jalen Brooks, the former Cowboys 2023 seventh-round pick. Brooks played 43-of-62 snaps. The target tree in Arizona is narrow enough that Brooks still retains no fantasy value even if the seas have parted to allow him this opportunity.

Worthy was mostly invisible in this one. He came in and out of the lineup with various injuries and didn’t appear fully healthy in the second half. Most of his Week 15 production came on a 26 yard catch and run — one of the biggest plays of the day for a sleepy Kansas City offense. Headed into the team’s Week 16 game against the Titans, Worthy has three games with more than four receptions. Patrick Mahomes’ Week 15 knee injury — which appeared to be serious — will be another knock to Worthy’s fantasy prospects. He’ll be a fringe flex play against Tennessee.

He was 1-of-4 four six yards at halftime, and Jacoby Brissett’s lone interception came targeting him in the red zone in the third quarter. But he made a sensational sideline catch in the end zone with Kamari Lassiter draped all over him to avoid an ugly dud in your fantasy box score. Wilson will slide back down to WR3 next week if Marvin Harrison Jr. returns, but otherwise he can be fired up as a high-end WR2 with confidence against the Falcons.

Pacheco was as inefficient as ever, averaging a meager 1.9 yards while Kareem Hunt had 12 yards on six carries in the NFL’s worst backfield. He was bottled up time and again in short yardage situations and slow to get to the edge against LA defenders. Pacheco logged 18 routes to 22 pass routes for Hunt. Pacheco, who has more than nine carries in just five games this season, won’t be playable in fantasy next week against the Titans.

You wouldn’t have expected the first three-score game of Etienne’s career to feature zero on the ground, but that’s what happened on Sunday in Jacksonville. This was somehow after Bhayshul Tuten notched the Jags backfield’s first receiving score, and after they already led 24-10 in the dying moments of the second quarter. Etienne found the end zone from 20, eight and 45 yards out, with the 45-yarder a screen where Etienne found the sideline. The 20-yarder was a Trevor Lawrence dime at the goal line. Although he’s been providing better fantasy returns of late, Etienne has bettered 4.0 yards per carry just one time in seven games since the Jags’ bye week. The offense’s recent improvement will be put to the toughest of tests in a Week 16 road trip to Denver. Etienne will remain a usage-based RB2 for that one.