NFL Player News

Pickens finished second on the team in targets, receptions, and yards behind alpha wide receiver CeeDee Lamb but was held out of the end zone, capping his fantasy upside on a night the team turned the ball over on downs twice inside the red zone and committed three giveaways. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct following a six-yard reception on the team’s penultimate possession as they looked to claw back from a 10-point deficit, highlighting his weekly range of outcomes as a player that still needs to mature. The Cowboys head to their bye week losers of three of their last four games.

Glazer reports Alexander is stepping away from football “to focus on getting himself right physically and mentally before deciding on his future.” The 28-year-old appeared in two games for the Ravens this season before the Eagles acquired him for a late-round pick swap prior to the trade deadline. Alexander has struggled to stay healthy each of the last three seasons, appearing in a combined 16 games since the start of the 2023 season. He most recently was dealing with a knee issue and could not get fully healthy to contribute to either the Eagles or Ravens this year. Now, it appears he is stepping away from the Eagles and football to determine his physical and mental health before choosing a path for the future. Alexander is not yet retired, but he is unlikely to be a contributor for the 2025 season.

Hooper was diagnosed with a concussion and also did not practice on Monday. The Patriots play on a short week against the Jets on Thursday, making a return to the field unlikely for Hooper in Week 11. Expect more looks for Hunter Henry as practice squad tight end C.J. Dippre may be called up to play a small role this week.

He apparently picked up the injury during Thursday night’s riveting win over the Raiders, though he played through it at the time while the Broncos closed out the game. If Dobbins is an IR candidate, he’s definitely a candidate to sit this week, which should be a big boost for RJ Harvey and probably make Tyler Badie a FLEX consideration as well.

He was limited on Monday after tweaking his knee, but this is a good sign that Henderson will carry at least some of the load against the Jets on Thursday night. How the role splits appears to be truly up for grabs given the short week and the fact that Terrell Jennings and Rhamondre Stevenson could both be deemed questionable tomorrow.

Back-to-back limited sessions for Boutte are real progress after last week’s three straight DNPs. It remains to be seen if he’s healthy enough to go in this game, but the Jets are a sneaky pass funnel defense and Boutte would be a viable FLEX play if he suits up.

That’s back-to-back limited sessions for Stevenson, who was spotted working on the side in practice by Patriots beats today. With Terell Jennings (knee, limited) also in question for Thursday night, the Patriots ominously signed Jonathan Ward to their practice squad. It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Stevenson plays on Thursday night, but we’d bet on a questionable tag at this point. The tea leaves of signing Ward leave us thinking one of these two dinged up backs won’t play.

It was the last day the Cowboys could conceivably activate him after designating him to return three weeks ago, so we don’t know if Overshown is actually game-ready yet. The Cowboys were on bye this past week, and Overshown was still picking up limited practices ahead of their Week 9 game against the Cardinals. Dallas also activated rookie CB Shavon Revel (knee) from the non-football injury list — he faces much the same uncertainty. Both of these players should be boosts for a beleaguered Cowboys back seven. When they’ll actually debut is a question we don’t have an answer for yet.

Williams is mainly a special teamer, so this carries little in the way of fantasy implications. Perhaps one of Tampa’s practice squad backs, Owen Wright or Michael Wiley, will be more involved with the offense — we doubt it.

The Asante Samuel tour of America ends early, as he had been threatening to keep it rolling in other towns later this week. Samuel had spinal-fusion surgery after heading to IR early in the 2024 season. A once-promising high second-round pick, he’s still only 26 years old. If he can play anything like his old form, the Steelers did well to roster him. The fact that he’s signed with the practice squad shows an NFL that is pretty skeptical he’ll return to it.

Hunter is going to be ready for full football activities in six months, so he should be fully ready for training camp. What to make of this rookie year? It was a year of waiting for something to launch. There were no touchdowns until (what would become) his final game of the season, where the Jaguars forced balls to him with aplomb in garbage time against the Rams. The target rate was there, and then it wasn’t, and then it was again. The two major elephants in the room for him this offseason will be what happens (or doesn’t) with Brian Thomas Jr., and whether or not he’ll continue to be a two-way player following the injury. We expect the status quo to rule this situation — mostly because of what the Jags invested in Hunter and Thomas — and for Hunter to roll into the 2026 season as WR3 in fantasy drafts.