NFL Player News

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Despite a productive 156-1,797-14 line in 28 career games, recurring legal issues have caught up to Rice here. The former second-round pick is entering the final year of his rookie contract and would ordinarily be in line for an extension here, but Rice, who was recently sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating his probation, will need to wait on that. Rice will miss OTAs and mandatory minicamp as a result of his prison stint, and will need to impress both on and off the field this upcoming season if he hopes to secure a long-term extension next offseason. He caught 53 passes for 571 yards and five touchdowns in eight games last season and has averaged 64.2 receiving yards per game in his career to go with 7.5 targets per game. Assuming he’s good to go for the start of this season, Rice will profile as a fringe WR1/WR2 with tons of upside.

Rodriguez remained the second option in the Jaguars backfield behind Bhayshul Tuten, but stole a short score from Tuten in the blowout victory. Through three games Rodriguez has been a between the tackles option who has next to no involvement in the passing game. He would only be fantasy viable if Tuten misses time this season. For now C-Rod is a decent stash as a contingency option.

Gordon entered this afternoon with only three touches all season, but was pressed into every-down duty after De’Von Achane suffered a potentially serious knee injury on the game’s opening series. Fellow backup Jaylen Wright was inactive with a foot issue. Gordon mostly held up well, though he himself briefly went into the locker room with cramping issues. He returned after getting an IV. With Achane evidently staring at a long absence, Gordon is a priority waivers add, though he and Wright will undoubtedly form a committee for this undermanned offense. The question is who gets the strong side. It wouldn’t be surprising if Wright assumed primary early-down status with Gordon changing the pace. That would require Wright being healthy, of course. We will keep you updated.

With Caleb Douglas sidelined with an ankle issue, talented third-rounder Bell finally broke out after totaling just one catch for 25 yards through the Dolphins’ first two contests. The No. 94 overall pick looked big and explosive with the ball in his hands, and could have had a much bigger day had Malik Willis been able to find him on what might have been a pair of long touchdowns. Bell’s box scores figure to remain inconsistent going forward — Willis is a dual-threat quarterback with a bevy of young, unproven wideouts — but he is certainly worth taking a flier on if currently un-rostered in your 12- team league. Bell’s pre-draft profile as a size/speed menace who only fell because of his torn ACL looked 100 percent accurate against the Chiefs.

LaPorta was a secondary piece of the passing attack in this game, taking a backseat to Jhamyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown. The two superstars combined for 16 targets while LaPorta and Jameson Williams were held to a combined eight looks. LaPorta has at least 44 yards in every game this year but no more than 52. With a solid floor established, all that’s left is for LaPorta to hit on a ceiling game. He remains a mid-range TE1 for Week 4 against the Panthers.

Thompson left the field after getting caught up in a scrum that initially looked like a potential head/neck injury. It was later reported as a hamstring injury, with sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson saying the 28-year-old safety was struggling to make his way to the locker room. It sounds like Thompson could face an uphill battle to return to the field in this one. The Cowboys’ defense continues to be dealt one injury after another. Markquese Bell is next in line to replace Thompson.

Evans took a major hit in the second quarter against the Cardinals, with Budda Baker jarring the veteran receiver in his torso. Trainers came out and took Evans off the field; he was seemingly struggling to breathe as he headed to the sideline. It is unclear yet what the injury is, but Evans was carted to the locker room shortly after. He had caught 3-of-6 targets for 34 yards and a touchdown at the time of his departure, with one of his catches leading to a pitch to Deebo Samuel on a hook-and-ladder touchdown.

Goff and the Lions got off to a slow start with just three points over their first three drives. Things started to click before halftime and Goff rode that momentum to 21 points after the break. Excluding a few kneel-downs to end the game, Detroit scored on five of their final six drives. The Lions have scored exactly 31 points in all three of their games this year. That may be a bit higher than their projection for Week 4 against the Panthers, but not by all that much. Goff will remain in the QB1 mix versus Carolina next week.

We’re not quite sure what happened here, but Andrews was not on the field for the Ravens’ fifth drive of the game, with the team announcing soon after that he would be questionable to return. The veteran tight end caught 1-of-3 targets for nine yards before exiting.

Rice’s seven receptions were easily a new season best, though he’s now cleared 80 yards in back-to-back contests. Rice’s nine targets were no joke on a day where Patrick Mahomes was limited to 24 attempts as the Chiefs ran just 49 plays. Rice was also the intended target on Mahomes’ “interception,” which in reality was a ball Rice batted into the air. Not good, but neither was the pass. It was behind the wideout, who was laying on the ground. We doubt Mahomes holds it against him. Rice will remain a solid WR2 for Week 4 in Vegas.

It’s Washington’s second touchdown in the Jags’ first three games of the season. Washington caught his touchdown against the Patriots after having an acrobatic touchdown grab called back on a penalty. Having established himself as the team’s clear-cut WR1 — well ahead of Brian Thomas, who had one target in Week 3 — Washington will have a rock solid weekly floor with ceiling to spare in shootout game scripts. Washington should remain in all lineups next week against a middling Bengals defense, in what could be a high-scoring affair between two potent offenses.