NFL Player News

Not listed on the team’s injury report this week, Koonce’s absence is something of a stunner for a Raiders defense that will require all hands on deck to slow down Joe Burrow and company. Koonce being inactive is a slight upgrade for Joe Mixon too. DE Carl Nassib will replace Koonce on the Vegas defensive line.

Highsmith has missed three games with the ankle injury, matching the three games he missed from Weeks 4-6 with a groin injury. He somehow avoided injured reserve both times. Highsmith has three sacks in six games, along with 10 quarterback hits, and should be a boost for Pittsburgh’s pass defense against Jameis Winston.

Since being traded to the Steelers, Williams has just one catch for 32 yards and a touchdown. His snap count was boosted from a nine-snap Week 10, but it hasn’t exactly exploded: he has 25, 19, and 17 snaps respectively over the last three weeks. He’s probably not worth hanging on to at this point in redraft leagues.

Interim coach Thomas Brown will also be considered and interviewed. The smoke tying Johnson to Chicago has already come on heavy after Matt Eberflus’ firing, with Adam Schefter reporting a belief that Johnson has interest in working with Caleb Williams. Kingsbury would be a more contentious pick as his passing offense has mostly backslid over the past month, but he does have experience developing good young quarterbacks.

“Simple. No underlying meanings. It is what it is. It’s a meritocracy out there,” Harbaugh added. If there were any deep-league Chark believers left out there, we think you can let go of the rope.

Caserio during a Tuesday press conference was adamant that the Texans would not switch play callers despite massive and persistent offensive struggles in 2024. He heaped praise on the embattled Slowik, whose offense ranks 20th in EPA per play, in line with the Jets and Bears. C.J. Stroud has regressed in almost every way in his second pro season, collapsing under pressure and becoming one of the NFL’s most inaccurate passers on short and intermediate throws. It looks like the Texans are going to hope Slowik can turn around the underperforming unit in time for a postseason run.

Wolford has started four games in the NFL between 2020-2022, with a 58.7 percent completion rate, 626 yards, one touchdown, and five picks. This is notable not because of Wolford himself, but because adding an extra quarterback to the roster in any facet may be a tacit admission that Trevor Lawrence (concussion) is unlikely to play this week and may even be shut down for the season.

Lattimore will be well enough to face off against his former team, the Saints, in New Orleans. Lattimore has been sidelined with a serious hamstring injury since before the Commanders acquired him near the NFL trade deadline in early November. He should be a boost to a middling Washington coverage unit.

Al-Shaair, who has a lengthy history of dirty hits, delivered a vicious head shot to Lawrence as he slid down during the Texans’ Week 13 win over Jacksonville. The illegal hit ignited an all-out brawl, during with Al-Shaair yanked down a Jaguars player by the facemask. He continued his aggression after refs threw him out of the game. It’s a significant loss for the Houston defense. Al-Shaair, who has two sacks and seven QB hurries on the season, is graded by Pro Football Focus as the league’s 18th best linebacker. He’ll be eligible to return in Week 17 against the Ravens. Al-Shaair will reportedly appeal the suspension.

Vele simply wasn’t needed for his typical short-area work as the Denver defense managed two pick-sixes to sink the Browns. Both Marvin Mims and Courtland Sutton broke through the 100-yard receiving mark, with the team more intent on hammering the intermediate-to-deep areas of the field against the Browns. Vele and the Broncos head to their bye before facing off against the Colts in Week 15.

Sutton operated as the clear alpha for a Broncos team that narrowly avoided defeat at the hands of a record-setting night from both Jameis Winston and Jerry Jeudy. Two Denver pick-sixes ultimately proved to be the difference as the Broncos head into their Week 14 bye in firm control of the final playoff spot out of the AFC. Sutton’s next chance to return elite fantasy production comes in Week 15 against one of the teams chasing the Broncos for the seventh playoff spot in the Colts.