NFL Player News

In what could’ve been his last go as the Rams’ lead back, Henderson was anything but that as Royce Freeman dominated the backfield touches. The Rams used Henderson as a receiving back so he was able to scrounge up some production there. With Kyren Williams set to return in Week 12, Henderson’s days of fantasy relevance may be numbered once again.

Wilson also took four sacks and lost a fumble. With the late effect snow swirling in Cleveland, it was another night of “moon ball or bust” for Wilson, who did manage to find each of Calvin Austin, Pat Freiermuth, George Pickens and Van Jefferson for at least one 20-plus yard completion. There wasn’t a whole lot going on beyond that, however, and the Steelers acknowledged as much by continually shuttling Justin Fields onto the field for important plays. Fields made a modest impact with his legs, but nothing that is going to have the Steelers re-thinking their starting situation despite a mini slump the past five days. That being said, more will be needed and expected from Wilson in a soft Week 13 road date with the Bengals’ nonexistent defense. He will be in the streaming mix for that one.

Winston also lost a fumble in what can only be described as a “wild one.” With the snow starting early and turning into a swirling storm by the second half, the teams needed to get their points in early. So naturally they entered the final frame with just 16 combined tallies before going off for 27 in the fourth. Unfathomably, the fourth was where Winston both lost his fumble and tossed his interception, but the Steelers were even more determined to lose. Frankly, both teams seemed determined to lose with comical clock mismanagement late. Between the miscues, Winston kept sticking big throws to Jerry Jeudy, and survived some horrid drops by his seam stretchers. Winston has made the Browns more watchable while creating fantasy excitement, but he’s now in the midst of a brutal stretch of schedule, including the Broncos in Week 13. With no teams on bye for Thanksgiving week, we won’t be streaming Winston.

They are Fant’s first practice reps of the month of November after he got hurt in Week 8. Encouraging, though a “limited” tag after that lengthy layoff — including a Wednesday DNP — hardly guarantees the seam stretcher will be back against the 49ers. We would probably consider Week 13 more likely. Even if Fant does suit up, he is no longer in the top 20 mix at tight end.

“He was still limited today, he didn’t do as much yesterday but did a little bit more today,” Shanny claimed. “He went out there and did a little bit then went back in about halfway through and rested up. Hopefully it will be feeling great on Sunday.” Although it’s clear the 49ers will do whatever it takes to get Purdy in game shape for Sunday’s Seahawks showdown, it’s also clear they might be waging a losing battle against time. At this point, we don’t seem terribly likely to gain Friday clarity. Purdy’s status could come down to the weekend wire.

Highsmith’s absence was already known. Aside from the linebacker, this is about as quiet as a mid-season inactives list is going to get. Highsmith is week to week with what seems to be a high-ankle sprain.

All signs continue to point toward both White and Alexander Mattison (ankle) showing up on the Week 12 inactives list vs. the Broncos. On the one hand, it’s a nightmare for the Raiders against a strong pass defense. On the other, maybe Ameer Abdullah and Dylan Laube can’t actually be worse. It doesn’t matter either way for fantasy managers, who need to steer clear of this backfield even with six teams on bye.

As did Zamir White (quad). It’s making for a doomsday scenario for the Raiders against the Broncos’ excellent pass defense, not that Mattison and White are threatening anyone on the ground. Their likely absences still mean also-rans Ameer Abdullah and Dylan Laube will now be forced into legitimate workloads. It’s not a good situation for an already struggling offense.

Even with snowy, swirling conditions descending on Cleveland for Thursday Night Football, the Browns decided they didn’t need Foreman active as an extra pair of legs out of the backfield. The 28-year-old is going to have a frosty free agent market next March.

Kittle still appears on pace to return after missing only one game. The bigger question is becoming the health of his quarterback after Brock Purdy remained highly limited with a shoulder issue on Thursday. Kittle would fall to more of the TE7-8 range were Purdy to be sidelined against the Seahawks.

The Athletic’s Matt Barrows has more context on what that means. “No 49ers quarterback will speak today, which is when the starter usually speaks,” Barrows reported. “That suggests the team does t know who’s starting in Green Bay. The quarterback — whoever he is — will talk to reporters tomorrow.” This is obviously just one man’s opinion. For all we know, Purdy skipped the media availability to get extra work done on his shoulder. But it’s definitely something to keep monitoring after he was highly limited in Wednesday and Thursday’s sessions. Purdy could be trending toward something like a game-time decision. We’ll get more updates over the next 24 hours.