NFL Player News

The Patriots declared CB Alex Austin, RB JaMycal Hasty, OT Vederian Lowe, WR Jalen Reagor, and DT Sam Roberts inactive for Week 12 against the Giants. Parker is active for the Pats’ receiving corps after suffering a concussion a couple weeks prior to a Week 11 bye. Other notable actives are OT Trent Brown and LB Ja’Whaun Bentley. Jalen Reagor is a healthy scratch as WR Kayshon Boutte is active.

McBride missed Week 4 with a concussion but made it through the league’s concussion protocols by Friday morning. He was removed from the injury report, only to be immediately put back on it with a rib injury on Saturday. The team listed him as questionable. Despite the injury scare, he should be good to go. Fantasy managers can resume treating him as a TE1 for his matchup with San Francisco this week.

Warner got in one limited practice this week before being listed as questionable. Despite the light practice workload, he appears to be good to go. Warner’s presence in the lineup makes this a slightly worse matchup for Cardinals TE Trey McBride, who will likely square off with Warner throughout their Week 5 bout.

Musgrave did not practice at all this week before being listed as questionable. Per Schefter, he will need to test out his ankle in pre-game warmups before a final decision on his status has been made. Musgrave was operating as the Packers’ TE2 before this. That won’t change in Week 5.

Crosby missed Week 4 because of the ankle issue after being listed as doubtful. He returned to practice for one limited session this week. Crosby has three sacks in as many games this season and plus five TFLs and two pass breakups. His return makes this a notably more difficult matchup for first-year quarterback Bo Nix.

Joe Mixon was ruled out on Friday. Without Pierce or Mixon, Cam Akers will see the bulk of the carries for Houston once again. Akers rushed 13 times for 53 yards in Week 4. He only has one catch as the starter, albeit for a touchdown, making him nothing more than a two-down RB3 for his upcoming matchup with Buffalo.

Wills suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2023. He returned to action two weeks ago but re-aggravated the injury in that same game. Though pitch counts aren’t common for offensive linemen, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Browns limit Wills’ workload this week.

Njoku suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 1 and has been out ever since. He returned to practice last week for one limited session but was still held out on Sunday. Njoku got in two practices this week before being listed as questionable. The combination of a pitch count and Cleveland’s struggling offense will keep Njoku from cracking the TE1 ranks in his first game back, though fantasy managers can still gamble on him as a high-ceiling TE2.

The Chiefs are hoping to get clarity on Rice’s long-term outlook following the procedure, which is presumably a knee scope. Patrick Mahomes collided with Rice’s knee in Week 4 and the team believes Rice tore his ACL. However, because of swelling in his knee, the team hasn’t been able to get a definitive answer on the nature of his injury yet. As Schefter notes, Rice’s outlook will play a determining factor in Kansas City’s interest in acquiring a wide receiver on the trade market. Rice is currently on injured reserve, sidelining him for at least four games, though it’s safe to assume he will be out much longer than that.

Head coach Robert Saleh told reporters earlier this week that Corley was still behind a group of receivers on the depth chart. He has now been a healthy scratch in consecutive weeks and appears to be trending in the wrong direction. The rookie has one catch for four yards this year.

No surprises here as the Vikings did not have anyone listed as questionable heading into this game. Rypien is designated as the team’s third quarterback.