NFL Player News

The Lions are pulling the plug on their 2019 second round draft pick out of Hawaii. Tavai, 24, missed the the end of the 2019 season with the same shoulder injury that cost him his senior season at Hawaii. He started ten games in 2020 and was expected to see more playing time this year with Jarrad Davis gone. He’s a good bet to take on a rotational role with another team.

You can’t ask for much more than that. Just days after suffering a knee injury in the NFC Divisional Round against the Rams, Hurts went from being limited on Wednesday to a full participant on Thursday. His availability for the NFC Championship was never going to be in question, but how his knee will affect his mobility and ability to evade pressure will be something to watch.

This news comes after head coach Nick Sirianni said Goedert would practice today. Instead, Goedert has started the week with back-to-back DNPs, which casts some doubt over his availability for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Commanders. While two straight absences is concerning, we can’t blame teams for wanting to exercise caution with any injured players. Tomorrow’s final injury report should offer better clarity on where his availability stands heading into the weekend.

Fiske suffered his knee injury in the Rams’ divisional round loss to the Eagles. According to Rams beat writer Stu Jackson, Fiske’s injury won’t impact his availability for the start of next season, which is great news for the 2024 rookie second-round rounder. Fiske totaled 8.5 sacks and 10 TFLs this season and will enter next year with high expectations following a strong rookie campaign.

According to Archer, Diggs had chondral tissue graft surgery, which is a surgery that involves removing damaged cartilage and replacing it with a tissue graft. Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones said in December that he’s hopeful Diggs can return by the start of 2025 after it was announced he would be out for the season, but now, it sounds like his availability at the start of camp is officially in question. We’re months away from knowing how this could truly impact the upcoming season for Diggs, but it’s something to keep in mind as training camp draws closer this summer. There’s a good chance we’ll learn more on his recovery before then.

While the report is being called informal, Harris says, “the interest is legitimate enough to be reported.” It was reported earlier today that the Cowboys could hire offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as its next head coach as early as Thursday, but this latest bit of news on Carroll comes hours after that report. Carroll was thought to have a chance to land the Bears’ head coaching gig before they went out and poached Ben Johnson from the Lions, and there have also been rumors that the Raiders are considering Carroll as their “backup option” after they also lost out on Johnson. Now, the Cowboys could emerge as the third team with serious interest in Carroll, although it sounds like this courting is in its earliest stages. Carroll would have a multitude of offensive weapons at his disposal should he wind up in Dallas, but will have his work cut out for him to fix a defense that ranked 31st in points allowed and 28th in yards allowed last season.

Payne suffered his finger injury in the team’s wild card win over the Buccaneers. He was limited in two of three practices last week but appears to have picked up a knee injury in the divisional round win over the Lions. Back-to-back DNPs to open the week is a concerning sign for Payne’s availability, but the team could be exercising caution for their star tackle. We’ll see where things stand come Friday when the Commanders release their final injury report before the weekend.

Ertz is dealing with a rib injury, but Wednesday’s DNP was to allow him to rest said injury — as was the case last week. The veteran tight end isn’t at risk of missing Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Eagles and will have some upside as a DFS value against his former team.

Zaccheaus has been limited in back-to-back practices to start the week. The veteran receiver was limited by the same injury in last week’s win over the Lions but appears to be trending in the right direction for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Eagles. We’ll have more clarity on his status on Friday’s final report is released.

Johnson suffered the injury in question against the Ravens last weekend, landing hard with his arm outstretched before sliding multiple feet across the snowy field. He still has a few days to get right but the Bills obviously would prefer to have their stud slot cornerback at full health with a game against the Chiefs on tap. Both safety Taylor Rapp (hip/back) and perimeter cornerback Christian Benford (concussion) are ailing as well.

Rapp is now on the wrong side of questionable, beginning the week with two absences. The Bills’ secondary is in rough shape, with two starting cornerbacks also ailing. Hopefully, Rapp can return to practice tomorrow.