NFL Player News

The Bengals lost two members of their secondary this week. If one of their starters or rookie nickel back Johnathan Joseph goes down, Cincinnati will have serious depth issues defending the pass.

Thielen is currently on injured reserve, and his expectation is that he’ll begin his three-week practice window this week. The 34-year-old has been out since Week 3 with his hamstring injury. Once back, he should see a good amount of targets for a team that is going to have to throw the ball to stay in games.

Huntley left Sunday’s loss to the Colts with an injury to his throwing shoulder. The 26-year-old was replaced by Tim Boyle, and assuming Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) returns for Week 8 against the Texans, it’ll be a battle between Huntley and Boyle to backup Tagovailoa for that contest

“Obviously, I believe in Deshaun,” Stefanski said when pressed. “But I also think it’s important just to acknowledge that he just had a bad injury and a bad break for him. We’re feeling bad for him and know that he’ll bounce back. But not getting into all those things down the road. I’m looking forward to him getting the surgery and obviously getting his body right back.” ESPN also reported that $44.2 million of Watson’s 2025 salary is insured. It sure sounds like there’s a chance that Watson will be competing for a job in 2025, if not trying to hold off a new addition.

Hill has played in just three games this season, rushing for two scores as New Orleans’ designated gadget player. He was able to get in limited practices ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Broncos and that bodes well for his return this week. It still remains to be seen how attractive Hill will be for fantasy purposes, though there is a big target void with Rashid Shaheed out and Chris Olave reportedly still in concussion protocol.

Taylor has not played since Indianapolis’ Week 4 win over the Steelers, and has not practiced since. It’s possible there’s more in-building motivation than normal for Taylor’s return given just how important this game is to the Colts, as a win over the Texans would tie them for first place in the AFC South. Taylor’s practice status will be a hot Wednesday topic, with our last real update from Taylor himself, before Week 7, hinting to the media that his ankle wasn’t able to move in the ways he’d need it to.

Carr has missed the last two weeks due to the oblique injury, and the return is reportedly about Allen’s ability to throw, not pain tolerance. The fact that the Saints made it clear that Spencer Rattler would start if Carr can’t go leads us to believe there’s doubt that Carr won’t be ready this week, but we’ll see how things shake out on Wednesday when their first injury report is released.

Carr will reportedly have another throwing session to see where he’s at on Tuesday. Rattler left Thursday night’s game late due to ineffectiveness, but Allen told reporters he felt Rattler has played well when he’s had protection. With how good the Chargers defense has been playing this year, it’s likely neither quarterback is really worth starting for fantasy purposes in Week 8.

Olave’s concussion occurred during the Week 6 loss to the Bucs, and he was unable to play in the blowout loss during Thursday Night Football against the Broncos. The Saints are currently hosting Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a workout, and while New Orleans needs bodies even if Olave can go, obviously Olave’s potential absence plays a factor here.

Reddick agreed to a reworked contract Monday and will practice, but it’ll be his first action after holding out for the first seven games and missing camp. The 30-year-old should be a factor going forward, but it wouldn’t be a shock if his season didn’t begin until Week 9.

Since an exciting Week 1 start against the Texans, Richardson has played in portions of four games, not completing more than 50 percent of his passes in any of them, and has one touchdown against five interceptions while cracking 200 yards as a passer just once. The good news is that this didn’t stop him from running in Week 7. The bad news is that with the Colts rallying to defend their quarterback, we haven’t seen much of a reason to recommend him as more than a dice roll in standard leagues. Perhaps another meeting with the Texans will jog his memory.