NFL Player News

The Vikings are remarkably healthy midway through the season. Bullard is out with an illness. Ross Blacklock will take his place in the starting lineup.

Phillips already announced via his Instagram that he is going to miss the remainder of the season. Per Rapoport, if all goes well, Phillips should be ready by the start of the 2025 season. Phillips ended the 2023 season on injured reserve because of a torn Achilles and will now miss the bulk of the 2024 season because of the knee issue. He had 6.5 sacks in eight games last year and one sack through four contests this year. The 2025 season is the final year of Phillips’ rookie deal.

Per Tom Pelissero, Adams, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, may not return in Week 6 but should be healthy by Week 7. Pelissero also said other teams believe this situation is going to come to a head in the next one to two days. Adams played with Derek Carr in college and then again while on the Raiders after the Packers traded him to Vegas, making it a natural fit for the perenially win-now Saints. The Jets, of course, have interest as well. Their offense hasn’t exactly taken off under Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson’s breakout has been stymied by extra defensive attention plus an uncreative scheme from Nathaniel Hackett. Adding Adams to the mix would reunite him with Aaron Rodgers and could unlock Wilson in the process. The Steelers and Ravens also came up as interested parties.

Diggs hurt his ankle during Thursday’s practice and was downgraded to a DNP on Friday. Despite the injury scare, he appears to be good to go. With pass-rushers Micah Parson and DeMarcus Lawrence out for this week, losing Diggs would have been another frustrating blow to the Dallas defense. He has one interception and three pass breakups this year.

Bernard went down with a pec strain in Week 2 and has been out ever since. He returned to practice last week for some light work but was unable to suit up versus Baltimore. One more week of recovery appears to have been enough. Bernard led the Bills with 143 combined tackles last year and also tallied 6.5 sacks.

McCaffrey is eligible to be activated from injured reserve next week, but the 49ers get Seattle on Thursday Night Football, giving them a short turnaround to their next game. Given the extent of McCaffrey’s multiple Achilles injuries, a Week 6 return was never realistic. Schefter noted that McCaffrey could return in Week 7 versus the Chiefs, but named Week 10 versus the Bucs as a more reasonable date. The 49ers get their bye in before that game, so holding McCaffrey out for two more contests after next week would give him another seven days of rest. For now, Jordan Mason will lead the way as San Francisco’s top back. He will rank as a weekly RB1 for as long as CMC remains out.

Kupp suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 and has been sidelined ever since. He has yet to return to practice, but the Rams get their bye next week, giving the veteran receiver another week of rest before the team returns to action in Week 7. Puka Nacua is currently on injured reserve with a knee injury and is also able to return in Week 7, though the most recent update on his status makes that unlikely. Without Nacua in the lineup, Kupp would immediately return to a No. 1 role in the offense and a WR1 ranking for fantasy purposes.

Kittle missed Week 3 with a hamstring injury, returned for the following game, but immediately suffered a rib injury. He played through it during the 49ers’ Week 4 game against the Patriots and is luckily good to go for Week 5. Kittle has at least four catches and 40 yards in all three games this year. Given the dreadful state of the tight end position, that’s as high as a floor gets. He remains in the TE1 ranks versus Arizona.

McBride missed Week 4 with a concussion but made it through the league’s concussion protocols by Friday morning. He was removed from the injury report, only to be immediately put back on it with a rib injury on Saturday. The team listed him as questionable. Despite the injury scare, he should be good to go. Fantasy managers can resume treating him as a TE1 for his matchup with San Francisco this week.

Warner got in one limited practice this week before being listed as questionable. Despite the light practice workload, he appears to be good to go. Warner’s presence in the lineup makes this a slightly worse matchup for Cardinals TE Trey McBride, who will likely square off with Warner throughout their Week 5 bout.

Musgrave did not practice at all this week before being listed as questionable. Per Schefter, he will need to test out his ankle in pre-game warmups before a final decision on his status has been made. Musgrave was operating as the Packers’ TE2 before this. That won’t change in Week 5.