Spears suffered the concussion in Week 11 and has yet to practice, meaning he remains in the early stages of the league’s concussion protocols. Tony Pollard averaged 24 touches per game in Spears’ previous three absences. If the Titans’ offense wasn’t so stagnant, Pollard would be in line for an RB1 ranking based on his immense workload. Instead, he will sit at the top of the volume-based RB2 cohort for Week 12.

Sneed has been dealing with the quad issue for weeks with seemingly no progress being made. Head coach Brian Callahan noted today that the injury is taking longer to heal than the team initially thought. Sneed hasn’t played since Week 6 and is now out until at least Week 15. The Titans traded for Sneed and then signed him to a four-year deal in the offseason, but his first year in Tennessee is shaping up as a lost season.

Evans is set to make his return after missing the team’s last three games with a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 7. When asked about Evans’ usage for the week, head coach Todd Bowles said the team will “play him as long as he’s healthy and fresh,” adding that they’ll “get him out when we have to.” Evans was a full participant in Thursday’s practice and is more than a month removed from the day he was injured. While these soft tissue injuries can linger, we’d expect Evans to see a decent day of work. He should be a solid WR2 in his return to action.

Coker was a surprise DNP on Friday. The rookie was added to the injury report with a quad injury and is officially questionable for Week 12’s game against the Chiefs. Given the late timing of his injury, there’s a good chance Coker is trending on the wrong side of being active this Sunday. Fantasy managers looking to start him will want to check the Panthers’ inactives when they’re released 90 minutes before kickoff.

Brooks will make his long-awaited debut on Sunday against the Chiefs. Once thought to have a chance to be ready for Week 1, the rookie has spent nearly a year recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last November while playing with the Texans Longhorns. It goes without saying that Brooks will eat into Chuba Hubbard’s workload going forward, but for now, we can only speculate on how much work he’ll see early on and how fast his role will grow. Like Hubbard, Brooks is a do-it-all back who can help the Panthers on all three downs. Fantasy managers eager to start Brooks should give it at least one week. If you’re forced to start him due to a brutal bye week, expectations should be tempered.

Smith was unable to get on the practice field this week. Regarding his Week 12 availability, head coach Nick Sirianni said earlier that the team would see how he feels by the end of the day, but it’s hard to imagine Smith suiting up for Sunday’s game against the Rams after missing a full week of practice. He has been playing through this injury for the last few weeks, but may have finally pushed things too far by playing in Week 11. If he cannot play, the Eagles could be looking at Jahan Dotson serving as their WR2 opposite A.J. Brown, giving him some WR4/WR5 utility in deeper leagues.

The biggest concern here is Nabers being a late addition to the team’s injury report, although it’s worth noting he played through a groin injury back in Week 7. The Athletic’s Charlotte Carroll later added that Nabers told reporters in October that “he’s been dealing with a groin issue since college and playing through it since then.” What this mean’s for his Week 12 availability is anybody’s guess at this time. We’ll see where things stand when the Giants release their final injury report in a few hours from now.

Hurts was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice but upgraded to a full participant on Thursday. With Friday’s practice still to go, Sirianni wasted no time letting people know that his star quarterback will be ready to play on Sunday against the Rams. Hurts profile as a high-end QB1 in Week 12 and enters the game having scored a rushing touchdown in five-straight games.

Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz was the first to report the release. This move doesn’t come as much of a surprise after Jones seemingly made his final statement as a member of the Giants in a Thursday presser. The team announced earlier this week that Jones would be relegated to QB3 on the depth chart in favor of Tommy DeVito, but now he’ll hit waivers after being granted his release. Jones will presumably clear waivers due to his massive contract, which would then leave him free to sign with any team. Jones didn’t make it through the second year of the four-year contract extension he signed in 2023. Since signing that deal, he’s thrown for 2,979-10-13 while going 3-13 as a starter. Jones is due over $13.8 million in 2024 and the Giants will take on more than $20 million in dead money with his release. He’ll likely get a fresh start as a backup once he clears waivers, but his days as a permanent starter have likely come to an end.

Like Kyle Shanahan, Lynch also wouldn’t commit to Purdy’s Week 12 availability. Instead, he said the situation “is tenuous” while adding that the team will “go forth accordingly” after getting a look at Purdy in Friday’s practice. If Purdy is unable to play, Brandon Allen would be the favorite to start. Lynch said Allen would take the first snaps in practice if Purdy can’t go. Things remain very wait-and-see for Purdy at this time.