NFL Player News

Bryant, the team’s No. 3 TE, and No. 4 TE Justin Shorter (illness) were both unable to practice on Wednesday but, fortunately, No. 2 TE Michael Mayer (personal) returned to play in Week 11 after an extended absence. Mayer’s presence helps negate concern over depth.

Somehow, Daniel Jones returned. Both GM Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen “reported on the quality of his play with a little relief,” though he isn’t quite 100 percent yet. It does sound like he’s trending towards playing Week 1 and should be mobile enough to make the Colts offense work even if he’s not quite as fast as he was before tearing his Achilles. It’s good news for the Colts’ pass-catchers and Jonathan Taylor.

If the Commanders actually decide to make a move on Stefon Diggs, perhaps this will change, but right now Okonkwo stands to have an excellent shot at being fantasy-viable. He’s essentially free in most standard leagues, going off after the top 110 picks by ADP on almost all sites.

Adding some passing-game viability would be excellent news for Mitchell’s fantasy value, and the fact that we’re getting it straight from the coach’s mouth is a big update. We still don’t know how often Mitchell will play behind Omarion Hampton and alongside fellow backup Kimani Vidal, but it sounds like McDaniel is working on ways to get Mitchell involved, calling him “a playmaker that I’m very excited about.”

Travis Etienne is getting “the bulk” of the first-team reps on early downs, and Duncan notes “he’ll be surprised if it’s a Kamara-Mark Ingram-like 50-50 split when all is said and done.” It feels like Kamara is settling in for a lower situational role, but perhaps not situational enough for the comfort of Etienne-reliant fantasy managers, as the Saints’ new signing carries an ADP in the late 30s or early 40s on most sites.

Fant wasn’t projected to be a major contributor to the Cowboys this year, but he was a solid depth tight end with special teams experience. He’s under contract for 2027.

It will be our first glimpse of Beck in an NFL uniform. Given the draft cost they paid for Beck, the 65th overall pick, it would behoove the Cardinals for him to be clearly better than everyone else out on the field Thursday and establish some sort of momentum to eventually get a starting role by the end of the season. We’ll see.

Per Panthers coach Dave Canales, he was evaluated for a concussion and passed, but “it looks like a stinger, so we’re going to evaluate him more over the next day or so.” Legette likely will take it easy for the next week or so, but this doesn’t look like a major injury and he wasn’t likely to play in the Hall Of Fame game either way.

It looks like Ladd McConkey could avoid the late-summer Keenan Allen rug pull. It’s good news for McConkey as new Chargers OC Mike McDaniel plans to get the wideout more short-area looks in 2026 — targets Allen might have soaked up if he had returned to LA. As recently as late May, Chargers GM Joe Hortiz said he had not “closed the door” on bringing Allen back for the 2026 season. McConkey, who by many measures was unlucky in 2025, has WR1 upside in McDaniel’s offense.

McDaniel said the team has worked diligently on the quick passing game during offseason practices and training camp. McDaniel said he knows Herbert can excel on the “long developing plays” but wants to create more easy drop backs with schemes that “nullify the pass rush” and allow Herbert to get the ball out quickly to his pass catchers. This should lead to plenty of easy-button targets for Ladd McConkey and the team’s tight ends as Quentin Johnston continues operating as Herbert’s primary deep ball guy. Under McDaniel, the Chargers will likely be run-first with a far more efficient passing attack than they had under former OC Greg Roman.

The deal includes $108 million in guarantees, according to Schefter. It’s a big payday for Flowers as he enters his fourth NFL season as the Ravens’ clearcut No. 1 wideout. Flowers has 237 receptions for 3,128 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns since entering the league in 2023, working mostly as a slot guy in the run-heavy Baltimore offense. Ravens coach Jesse Minter said in late July that he looks forward to getting Flowers the ball “in as many ways as possible” in what could be a new-look offense under first-year OC Declan Doyle. Last season Flowers was targeted on a healthy 25 percent of his pass routes, ranking 19th out of 115 qualifying wideouts.