NFL Player News

Washington head coach Ron Rivera said before the team’s Week 9 bye that Blewitt would remain the starter in the season’s second half. His resolve apparently faded. The Football Team signed Joey Slye and parted ways with the unfortunately named Blewitt, whose surname produced good Twitter content, if nothing else.

Hardman gained 15 yards on two carries but was not involved in the Chiefs’ passing attack. JuJu Smith-Schuster operated as the team’s WR3 while the Chiefs once again made frequent use of two tight end sets. Hardman is not fantasy relevant for now.

It was an odd game for Robinson, who left with an apparent leg/ankle injury after the first play of the game only to return to start the Commanders’ second drive. Robinson had his leg/ankle rolled up by a defender on what appeared to be an ugly play. His return to the field came as a surprise, but the third-year back wasn’t heard from after the first-half. His absence was likely due to his injury, but we’ll wait for the team to confirm that in the coming days. If Robinson is unable to go in Week 13, the Commanders could be looking at Chris Rodriguez and/or Jeremy McNichols as their lead backs with Austin Ekeler in concussion protocol.

It was an eventful, unfortunate day for Downs, who — unfathomably — lost three catches for 58 yards to penalty. On one of the grabs he did convert, he suffered a third quarter shoulder injury. He was announced as questionable but managed to return the following drive. He did appear to be in some considerable sideline discomfort. We will see how he is doing once the adrenaline wears off. Downs came out of Anthony Richardson’s Week 11 with a useful fantasy effort, but today reminds this is going to remain a rollercoaster experience. Provided he’s healthy, Downs will be a risk/reward WR3 for Week 13 against the Patriots’ soft defense. With all 32 teams playing, Downs doesn’t really have a WR2 case.

Left wide open on an underneath drag route, Okonkwo simply continued to run right up the middle of the field and the Texans decided against tackling him. (Eric Murray, mainly, appeared to have no idea what he was doing.) Okonkwo will remain fantasy irrelevant in Week 13 after back-to-back games with one target.

Ridley torched Jimmie Ward for a 63-yard long ball on a deep crosser, but otherwise was mostly a steady underneath target for the rest of the game. Since Will Levis returned in Week 10, Ridley has averaged 78.3 yards per game on seven targets a game with two touchdowns. He’ll be a reliable WR3, maybe a low-end WR2, in most ranks heading into Week 13 against the Commanders.

For the second straight week, Gray had two scores. He found himself wide open on the first play from scrimmage for Kansas City and waltzed into the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown. Running a route on about 55 percent of Mahomes’ drop backs, Gray was tied for third in targets against the Panthers. He could be viable in larger formats next week against a Raiders defense that has been generous to opposing tight ends this year.

Ekeler saw an increased role with Brian Robinson sidelined due to an apparent leg/ankle injury he suffered in the first quarter. Ekeler ran nine times for 22 yards and caught two passes for another two yards but exited late in the game with a concussion after taking a brutal hit on a kick return. The veteran running back remained down on the ground for several minutes before eventually being helped to his feet and off the field. It was a scary scene that had an early appearance of something much worse. Ekeler will need to clear protocol if he’s to suit up in Week 13 against the Titans.

Gibbs’ third two-score day on the ground of the season was his first since Week 7. It was also the first time he reached 20 carries this year, though that had a lot to do with David Montgomery missing the final 20 minutes with a shoulder injury. Deemed questionable, Montgomery returned to the sideline still wearing his helmet, but the Lions understandably opted against risking further injury with the game comfortably in hand. Gibbs will be a Week 13 RB1 regardless of Montgomery’s Thanksgiving Day status against the Bears, but he will crash the top 3-4 if D-Mont is sidelined.

Bourne now has at least five targets in each of his last three games, which is at least something since he had eight targets combined in his first four games. He still seems to be operating behind Hunter Henry and DeMario Douglas when it comes to targets; however, he is continuing to play more snaps on the outside which could make him fantasy-relevant in deeper leagues when the Patriots are trailing since he’ll be on the field more than most other receivers.

Henry did lead the Patriots in targets, but he wasn’t able to get much going with Drake Maye seeing pressure in his face all game long. The role is here for Henry to put up solid floor production in most weeks, but the ceiling is tougher to see, which makes him more of a mid-range TE2.