NFL Player News

Langi (6’2/251) was one of college football’s most versatile players, seeing time at tailback, multiple linebacker positions, and defensive end. Across 12 senior-year starts, Langi posted five tackles for loss and two sacks, in addition to two rushing scores. Langi tested as a passable 48th-percentile athlete before the draft, running 4.66 at the Cougars’ Pro Day. As Langi bounced from Utah to BYU and went on a Mormon mission, he will turn 25 in September and is several years older than a typical rookie. Still, Langi profiles as a core special teamer and is versatile enough to contribute in multiple ways on defense.

Alexander suffered a knee injury in Week 8’s win over the Jaguars and has played sparingly in just one game since his injury. Alexander missed Week 9’s game against the Lions but was active in last week’s win over the Bears. However, he played only 10 defensive snaps before being ruled out for the remainder of the game, and has been a DNP in both practices to start this week. It sounds like Alexander will take as much time as needed to recover from his injury, but surgery does not appear to be on the table at this time.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Darnold is “tracking to play Sunday against the Bears.” The Vikings’ QB1 was listed as limited on Wednesday due to the injury, but whatever he’s dealing with appears to be minor. Fantasy managers banking on Darnold in Sunday’s game against the Bears should expect to see him on the field barring any setbacks. He’ll be a mid to high-end QB2 if available.

All signs are pointing to Slayton clearing concussion protocol before the weekend. The veteran receiver suffered a concussion in the team’s Week 9 loss to the Commanders and missed Week 10’s game against the Panthers as a result. Slayton is nearly three full weeks removed from his concussion. He should be good to go for Week 12, but doesn’t profile as anything more than a boom-or-bust WR4 in fantasy.

Johnson logged a limited session on Wednesday but was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday with one practice still to go in the week. The rookie tight end caught 4-of-6 passes for 37 yards in the Giants’ Week 10 loss to the Panthers and profiles as a low-end TE2 against the Buccaneeers.

Cooks has been limited in back-to-back practices to open the week. The team just opened his 21-day return window on Wednesday, so it’s hard to know whether or not they’ll activate him for Week 12’s game against the Commanders. Cooks isn’t returning from a serious injury but rather an infection that developed in his knee following a knee scope during this preseason. This could give him an increased chance at returning for Sunday’s game, but we’ll see what happens when Friday’s injury report is released.

Lamb wasn’t spotted during the media portion of Thursday’s practice, but the team officially listed him as a DNP later in the day. This immediately puts his Week 12 availability up in the air, as the Cowboys may think better of letting him play through multiple injuries in what is more or less a lost season. Lamb’s Week 12 outlook will be a bit more optimistic if he can get on the field Friday.

Mack was entirely unable to practice in Week 11 before ultimately being ruled inactive on game day. The Chargers still listed him as questionable to play in the lead-up though. Mack’s limited return to practice suggests he will face the Ravens in Week 12.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said earlier in the week that Ferguson would be “hard-pressed” to play in Week 12 against the Commanders. Barring an unexpected turn of events, we’d expected Ferguson to be ruled out before the weekend, paving the way for Luke Schoonmaker to take his role as a viable tight end streamer after catching six passes for 56 yards on 10 targets in last week’s loss to the Texans.

McConkey landed hard on his right shoulder in Week 11 and was briefly taken to the blue medical tent so the fact that the Chargers opted to rest him for Week 12’s first practice is unsurprising. McConkey has an extra day to get right with the Chargers facing the Ravens on Monday night. Fantasy managers should tentatively expect McConkey to play this week.

As expected, LaPorta practiced in full for the second consecutive day. The Lions’ brilliant handling of his shoulder injury last week helped ready LaPorta for a full workload against the Colts’ paltry tight end-coverage unit. He is a locked-in TE1 for Week 12.