NFL Player News

Purdy was seen throwing in practice on Friday while backup Brandon Allen participated with the scout team, indicating the 49ers expect Purdy to play on Sunday. Purdy remains at risk for a potential setback but fantasy managers should bank on Purdy being available as a high-end QB2. He will unfortunately be without LT Trent Williams (heel/ankle).

A Thursday DNP is never a great sign, so we’ll see where things go for Meyers from here. The veteran receiver is coming off a six-catch, 97-yard performance in last week’s loss to the Chiefs and has gone for 16-218-0 on 25 targets over the last two weeks. With so many teams on bye, Meyers’ value becomes a little more amplified for fantasy managers hoping to make their way into the postseason. If Meyers is unable to go, we could be looking at a big week for Brock Bowers and an increased role for Tre Tucker.

Even if he does return, there’s little guarantee that White would have a meaningful role at this point in the season. He wasn’t seeing much work before his injury, and with Sincere McCormick now in the mix, White’s workload will likely be reduced even further if he were active. He’s completely off the fantasy radar at this time.

Mattison has been limited in both practices to start the week. He followed a similar regiment last week but was ultimately ruled out for Week 13 despite being limited in every practice. The Raiders are expected to lean more heavily on Sincere McCormick in the coming days, making Mattison nearly impossible to trust for Week 14 against the Buccaneers even if he is active.

Chase hasn’t spent much time on the injury report this season, but we’ll assume this is a mild issue for the time being. The Bengals’ WR1 has caught 79 passes for 1,142 yards and 13 touchdowns this season and is well on his way to the best season of his career and a big pay day next offseason. We’ll assume Chase will be good to go for Week 14 against the Cowboys barring any surprise developments.

Not many people had Belichick going back to school on their 2024 Coaching Carousel Bingo card, but the 72-year-old future Hall of Famer is at least keeping his options open. Belichick has never run a college program, so it’s hard to imagine the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach wanting to get in the game now, but anything is possible. While possible, it doesn’t seem probable. Wherever Belichick coaches next will likely be his last destination, and the long-time coach is still chasing Don Shula for the NFL’s all-time wins record, which sits at 328. Belichick would likely need three more seasons in the league if he hopes to set the all-time wins record, and making the jump to college only delays. Belichick is expected to meet with several NFL teams when the coaching cycle kicks off in just a few months. Even if he does make the jump to college, we wouldn’t expect him to do so until he’s exhausted all of his options in the pros.

The foot injury is a new one for Boyd, who popped up on Wednesday’s injury report as limited with the issue. His being downgraded to a DNP on Thursday isn’t great for his Week 14 availability, so we’ll see where things stand on Friday when the Titans release their final injury report. Even if he’s active, Boyd hasn’t been the viable PPR scammer we’ve seen in years past. He’ll be well off the fantasy radar for next week even if active.

Palmer likely suffered the injury in Thursday’s practice so he should be considered highly questionable to suit up for Week 14 against the Raiders. Palmer is not a fantasy-relevant player but his potential absence would free up a few targets for active players.

Fantasy managers should fully expect to have Mayfield available against the lowly Raiders in Week 14, though his pass-catching corps may be short-staffed. Mike Evans (hamstring/calf) and Bucky Irving (hip/back) have missed Week 14’s first two practices.

O’Connell’s absence on Thursday sent shockwaves through NFL newsrooms as reporters waited with bated breath for news on why the Raiders’ QB1 was unavailable. Fortunately, any amount of concern was quickly laid to rest when it was revealed O’Connell was dealing with an illness. For now, we’ll assume this is something minor that he’ll move past in short order, meaning he should be good to go for Week 14’s game against the Buccaneers.

Fantasy managers should immediately check to see if Rachaad White and Sean Tucker are available in their leagues. If Irving sits, Tucker would be involved as a likely low-double-digit rusher while White handles passing-down duties and chips in with a decent rushing workload of his own. Irving is trending toward sitting out at this time.