NFL Player News

Walker suffered a stinger in Week 11 and is now listed with a neck injury. He does not practice to start the week, putting his Week 12 status in jeopardy. Also not practicing was CB Nate Hobbs (knee), who has missed each of the last two weeks. Both players will face an uphill battle to play against the Vikings this week, leaving the Packers defense thin.

Mayer’s 10 targets were just one fewer than what Brock Bowers (11) saw on the day. Mayer made the most of his opportunities, racking up 82 yards—the second most in his career and saw four of his receptions come on the Raiders’ first four drives of the game. On the Raiders’ fourth drive, Mayer hauled in passes of two, seven, and 17 yards, with his longest catch setting up a 48-yard field goal just before halftime to put them up 13-10. We shouldn’t expect this level of production from Mayer on a weekly basis, but the Raiders’ underwhelming WR corps could pave the way for more opportunities for Mayer going forward after this solid outing. There’s a lot to like here, but Mayer will be a boom-or-bust TE2 next week against the Patriots until we see reliable target totals on a more consistent basis, while he shares the field with Brock Bowers.

Horton’s lone catch was a six-yard slant from Sam Darnold. The 23-year-old wideout has just four catches in his first two games, and clearly is well behind the top three wideouts in the passing game. Whether that should be — with all due respect to Cooper Kupp (held without a catch Sunday) and Rashid Shaheed (one reception) is a different question. For now, Horton is off the radar for Week 5 against the 49ers.

With just over two minutes left in the game, Hockenson took a knee at the Dolphins’ five-yard line, allowing Kyler Murray to seal the game with a trio of kneel-downs after that. Although Hockenson surrendered the touchdown, he still delivered a TE1-worthy stat line on the day. The veteran tight end served as Murray’s go-to receiver, regularly nabbing passes on short-to-intermediate slants and curls. Hockenson mostly dove forward for a couple of extra yards after catching passes, but he did manage to drag a defender on a 14-yard gain early in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins’ pass rush was very effective today, and Murray seemed to hone in on Hockenson as his primary pressure fix as the game progressed. Hockenson will be a borderline TE1/2 against the Saints in Week 5.

After a solid effort against the the Commanders where he caught five passes for 69 yards, Barner was once again a non-factor in this one. The 24-year-old is clearly the top tight end in the passing attack, but outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the rest of the options just haven’t done much. He’ll be a boom or bust TE1 for Week 5 against the 49ers.

It wasn’t a ton of volume, but it was easily Shaheed’s biggest offensive day of the year. He took a pitch for a touchdown for his first score of 2026. He was once again not involved in the passing game, however, and he didn’t do much as a returner again, as well. Shaheed will be back in action — and should not be in lineups — against the 49ers in Week 5.

Jennings simply isn’t meaningfully involved in the Vikings’ game plan. That is unlikely to change in Week 5 against the Saints, especially with the Vikings’ offensive line getting banged up in Week 4. Jennings could be asked to contribute more as a run blocker next week.

For the first time this year, Smith-Njigba was held out of the end zone. It was a quiet day fore the star wideout, but if 78 yards is your worst day (so far), well, you’ve had a pretty good season. JSN and fantasy managers will hope for a return to the end zone and a little more volume against the 49ers in Week 5.

Gadsden did make a spectacular catch on fourth down to set up a touchdown, but oustide of that, the tight end — while finishing tied for the most catches on the day with Keaton Mitchell — was unable to find any room against the Seahawks’ defense. The 23-year-old was more involved than he has been in previous weeks, but that’s less compliment to this effort than insult to the first few. He’ll be back at it in Week 5 against another tough defense in the Broncos.

Jefferson made “great progress” this week, according to O’Connell, but it is still too early to say whether the Vikings’ star wide receiver will be good to go. Jefferson did not practice at all in Week 4. Hopefully, he is feeling well enough to resume practicing by Wednesday. Stay tuned.

Johnston at least made the most of his only catch, as it was on 4th-and-7 and kept the Chargers in the game. He also saw a redzone target, but Justin Herbert overthrew him. Johnston simply cannot be trusted even with the potential to make big plays in Week 5 against the Broncos.