NFL Player News

Melvin Gordon (hip) sidelined prompted the Broncos to activate Crockett from the practice squad. He’ll be the team’s No. 3 back behind Javonte Williams and Mike Boone.

He’ll give it a go despite Indianapolis being eliminated from playoff contention last night. Also playing off questionable tags are WR Ashton Dulin and OT Bernhard Raimann. Inactive for the Colts are C Tanor Bortolini (concussion), RB Tyler Goodson (ankle), S George Odum, DE JT Tuimoloau (oblique), G Dalton Tucker (shoulder) and S Reuben Lowery.

Philip Rivers will start this week. The Colts were officially eliminated from the playoff hunt with Houston’s win over the Chargers on Saturday. While they would likely rather get Leonard some live reps now that their season is over, it doesn’t make sense to pivot this late in the week. It looks like Week 17 versus the Jags will be Rivers’ sendoff, with Leonard likely drawing the start for the Colts’ 2025 finale.

The Packers secured a playoff spot by beating the Ravens yesterday. They are locked in as the No. 7 seed with no ability to move up in the order. Jordan Love missed Week 17 with a concussion and Josh Jacobs has been playing through knee issues for most of the season. Christian Watson recently suffered a chest injury and has been playing through it as well. The list goes on and on for the Packers, as it does for most teams at this point in the season. With nothing to play for in Week 18, expect those three players and several others to get the week off as Green Bay prepares for a Wild Card Round game.

ESPN’s Jeff Darlington later reported that McMillan didn’t feel great when he arrived to the stadium. He is, however, expected to play. Fantasy managers will still need to watch the Panthers’ inactives when they drop 90 minutes before kickoff. Jalen Coker would be in line for more work if McMillan is inactive.

Harrison was added to the injury report on Sunday morning, likely after falling ill over the weekend. Players tend to play through illnesses, so this shouldn’t be an issue for the Jags. Cole Van Lanen will take his spot in the lineup if Harrison can’t go.

This is not a surprise, but it does help us set a timeline for when Kelce might make his decision. It doesn’t sound like we will know whether or not Kelce is done anytime soon. Rapoport noted that Kelce will not play for a team other than Kansas City if he chooses to keep the cleats on for another season. Kelce is an impending free agent, but he and the Chiefs should have no issues working out a one-year deal to give him a final ride if that’s what he wants. If not, a Week 18 date with the Raiders will be his last game.

Rapoport’s graphics team wrote that Jackson was “likely” to play in Week 18, but the man himself didn’t go that far. For now, we will consider him questionable for the Ravens’ upcoming date with the Steelers. Baltimore needs the Steelers to lose today to stay alive in the AFC playoff hunt. It’s hard to imagine Jackson missing a play-in game next week if that does happen. Things could change if the Ravens are eliminated by a Steelers win later today.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports this morning that Kittle will test out his ankle in warmups. While that may still happen, all signs point to the superstar tight end getting Week 17 off. Jake Tonges will draw the start in his place. Tonges is a low-end TE2 for the final week of the fantasy football season. Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall should also see an uptick in targets with Kittle sidelined.

Pearsall logged three limited practices this week before being listed as questionable. He has been dealing with the knee issue all year and the ankle injury on top of that certainly hasn’t helped. Pearsall’s return couldn’t have come at a better time with George Kittle expected to miss Week 17. With targets up for grabs in the 49ers offense, Pearsall will be a high-risk WR4 versus the Bears.