NFL Player News

Murray suffered a foot injury in last week’s loss to the Titans and missed a pair of plays as a result. He finished the game, but was a DNP twice and limited Friday in this week’s practices; he was diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain that NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said is a “version of a Lisfranc injury”. Jacoby Brissett will get the start in his place as a low-end fantasy QB2. Also inactive for the Cardinals are CB Elijah Jones, DL Darius Robinson (pectoral), OL Demontrey Jacobs, OL Josh Fryer, WR Xavier Weaver, and DL Bilal Nichols (personal).

Franklin and Courtland Sutton are essentially co-WR1s in this offense currently, and Franklin managed to reel in a big catch on an adjustment downfield late to clinch an (easier) game-winning field-goal attempt. He also set up Denver’s only touchdown with a 35-yarder that Bo Nix rocketed to exactly the right spot. The Broncos haven’t exactly run up the score on anybody besides the Cowboys this year, but Franklin enters the Broncos bye with at least eight targets in each of his last five games and has turned the corner from his early-season prayer yard usage and become a solid WR3.

Over the past month, Worthy hasn’t scored and has lines of: 3/23, 5/53, 3/25, and 3/35. Patrick Mahomes and him, if it’s possible, seem to have negative chemistry on every deep ball attempt. Outside of his performance in the Super Bowl, it doesn’t seem like Worthy and Mahomes are ever on the same page about the deep balls, and with Rashee Rice stealing the underneath stuff, Worthy isn’t really sustaining WR3 usage at this point. He’s trending perilously close to the FLEX line in Week 12 against the Colts, and only really saved by snap counts and target rates right now.

Mitchell entered the game early on the first drive and remained involved all day long. The diminutive speedster failed to find the end zone but notably stole snaps from RB Derrick Henry in the red zone and green zone. Mitchell was out-snapped by RB Rasheen Ali on passing downs, though. The team showed trust in Mitchell despite a costly mistake when he accidentally bricked a catchable pass up, over his head and into Browns LB Devin Bush’s hands for a pick-six. The play did not impact Mitchell’s usage, though, as Mitchell was on the field for scoring position snaps on the following drive. His eight touches against the Browns are a season-high. Mitchell also returned two kickoffs for 58 yards. He should be rostered in 12-team formats as a high-upside stash, with standalone RB3/FLEX potential against the Jets next week.

Pearsall was targeted three times, catching just one pass for zero yards. He did get some looks downfield, but was not quite open for completions. The good news is Pearsall tied Jauan Jennings for snaps on the day, with both receivers seeing 41. He was not limited in his return from a knee injury in terms of snaps, but was a distant No. 4 pass-catching option in the offense. Pearsall currently lies in the fantasy WR4 range for Week 12 against the Panthers.

Brown played only 30 snaps — behind Noah Gray and splitting time with JuJu Smith-Schuster — en route to this line. With Tyquan Thornton also mixing in for some deep shots, Brown looks to be in the FLEX touchdown-or-bust bucket in Week 12 against the Colts.

Stefanski learned in Week 11’s loss to the Ravens that things can, in fact, get worse than starting Gabriel. Shedeur Sanders went 4-for-16 passing in his first taste of NFL action, slowing a passing game that was already struggling with Gabriel under center. Sanders’ struggles may have been bad enough for the Browns to consider starting Bailey Zappe in Week 12 if Gabriel is unable to go, but regardless, it’s clear Gabriel is the preferred QB1 if he is able to go.

Operating mainly as a zone receiver in this one, Kelce had a drop, but bounced back with a catch-and-score by scooting past Talanoa Hufanga. The score was his 84th career touchdown, putting him ahead of Priest Holmes on the Chiefs all-time list. After looking mostly like a low-end TE1 early in the season, Kelce has now managed 19 catches for 256 yards and two touchdowns in his last three games. He’ll be a mid-range TE1 against the Colts in Week 12.

Henry also caught 2-of-2 targets for 19 yards. Henry was spelled regularly against the Browns with RBs Keaton Mitchell and Rasheen Ali getting involved early on the first drive. Henry even ceded red zone and green zone snaps to both players. A shove in the back from WR Zay Flowers helped him find the end zone on the Ravens’ fourth drive. Henry deserves credit for getting skinny on a 59-yard run up the middle on the Ravens’ ninth drive, though. The Ravens called his number twice after the long gain, but ultimately settled for a field goal. Henry is an RB1 against the Jets next week.

Seemingly unable to let him win in man coverage with the amount of pressure they were seeing, Rice was relegated to a high-end gadget player against the Broncos. He did manage a team-leading three targets in the red zone, but only turned them into nine yards. We expect better against the Colts next week, where Rice will remain on the WR1 line despite this dud against one of the league’s best defenses.

Jennings tied George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey for the team lead with six targets on the day. He operated as Brock Purdy’s No. 1 wide receiver on the day, catching four passes for 54 yards. He caught the 49ers’ first pass of the game for 25 yards and was routinely available for intermediate targets. With Ricky Pearsall just returning from injury, Jennings remains the best wide receiver option out of the 49ers’ group. He is a WR3 option for Week 12 against the Panthers.