NFL Player News

The Vikings are working to improve a secondary that has been dealt a handful of injuries in recent weeks. They recently made a cornerback swap with the Cowboys, sending Andrew Booth to Dallas in exchange for Nashon Wright, and her now hoping to land another former Cowboy in Gilmore. Gilmore, 33, totaled 68 tackles and two interceptions last season and was tasked with playing a CB1 role following the loss of Trevon Diggs to a torn ACL in September last season. Gilmore can still provide plenty of help on the outside and is a great veteran presence in any locker room. He earned a PFF coverage grade of 72.3 last season.

Watson missed a few plays with an undisclosed injury after colliding with Jayden Reed earlier in the quarter. He returned to the field on the Packers’ next possession and appears to be good to go.

Watson fell victim to friendly fire when he and fellow receiver Jayden Reed collided on a passing play. Both Watson and Reed were injured on the play and went to the sidelines, but Reed returned after missing just one play. Watson was later seen on the sideline with his helmet, so it’s possible he’ll return on the Packers’ next drive.

Given the nature of the hit that Love suffered in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Love took a hard shot to the head from Bears defensive end Austin Booker and was immediately removed from the game before later being ruled out. Love’s day ends with a passing line of 77-0-0 on 8-of-13 passing. His best drive came on the Packers’ opening possession of the game, but it stalled in the red zone after a failed pass on fourth-and-one led to a turnover on downs. Backup QB Malik Willis took over for Love following his injury and will draw the start in Week 17 against the Ravens if Love is unable to go.

Love was sacked on a first down in the second quarter and took a hard helmet-to-helmet hit from Bears defensive end Austin Booker. Booker was flagged on the play for roughing the passer, but Love remained down for several minutes before heading to the sideline and then the locker room to be evaluated. He is considered as questionable to return at this time. Backup Malik Willis took over for Love.

Samuel had a 20-yard catch, and then two more short yardage connections. It’s now three-straight contests that he hasn’t reached 50 yards, and he hasn’t found paydirt since November 16. Long story short, fantasy managers need to look elsewhere for Week 17 against the Cowboys in the majority of fantasy leagues, especially if Josh Johnson has to start that contest for Washington.

It just is what it is at this point. McLaurin and the Commanders’ passing attack was obviously affected by Marcus Mariota (hand) leaving the contest — not to mention Mariota was replacing Jayden Daniels (elbow) in the first place — but it’s not as if the 30-year-old was effective prior to those ailments. McLaurin will be a WR3 for a Week 17 showdown against the Cowboys, and this will go down as one of the most disappointing seasons for a wideout in 2025. If Josh Johnson is the starting quarterback on Christmas, it’d be fair to drop him down considerably lower.

Goedert was able to pick up his 10th touchdown of the season on a perfect throw from Jalen Hurts in the corner of the end zone. It was a quiet day outside of that, but hard to complain about a trip into the end zone. Goedert will be back in action with an extra day of rest in Week 17 against the Bills.

Smith didn’t do much in terms of yardage with a long gain of just 16 yards, but he did have a solid number of targets and was able to connect on a short touchdown with Jalen Hurts to give the Eagles a 7-3 lead. The 27-year-old has his first touchdown of December, and just his fourth of the season. A chance to add to those totals comes in Week 17 against the Bills, but there’s a lot of volatility in Smith’s fantasy profile right now.

Brown was a non-factor in the second half as the Eagles were so effective running the football, but he was able to snag several catches in the first 30 minutes to make it a solid — if unspectacular — fantasy day. It’s the fourth time in five games that Brown has gone for at least 90 yards, and it’s worth noting that one game he didn’t was a 31-0 drubbing of the Raiders. Brown remains a WR1 for Week 17 against the Bills.

Bigsby didn’t receive a touch until late in the fourth, but he made the most of them; taking a pitch 22 yards for a touchdown. The 2023 third-round pick will remain the backup tailback to Saquon Barkley for the foreseeable future, including Week 17 against the Bills.