NFL Player News

Moore still has another week of practice to go before the big game. The Chiefs will also give us another run of their injury report at the end of next week. They still need to activate Moore from injured reserve for him to play, so we will get a better picture of his status when they make that choice. Even if he plays, Moore will only be on the fantasy radar in the largest of DFS tournaments.

McManus was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that took place on a plane back in 2023. The veteran kicker was released by the Commanders, who signed him earlier in the offseason after the allegations surfaced, but he’s now free to sign with any team with the league’s investigation now concluded. McManus converted 30-of-37 field goal attempts (81.1 percent) in 2023, his only season with the Jaguars, and has converted 81.4 percent of his attempts for his career. With plenty of kicker-needy teams out there, it wouldn’t be surprising of McManus found a new home in the near future.

We’ve reached a point where we’ll have to see it to believe it. Andrews isn’t just lacking targets, of which he’s seen two in the last two weeks; he’s lacking routes. After running just six routes in the Ravens’ Week 3 win over the Cowboys, Andrews ran 10 routes in the team’s Week 4 win over the Bills and has been on the field for just 18 passing snaps over that span, per PFF. Frustrated fantasy managers can justifiably sit Andrews in Week 5 against the Bengals, as his lack of production is due to far more than a target shortage. Neither Andrews nor Isaiah Likely have much fantasy upside at this time, but we’d expect (hope) Andrews to bounce back to his old form at some point.

Dell did not practice all week in the leadup to being inactive against the Jaguars on Sunday. It looks like we should expect some practice updates this week about him. The Bills have not been an easy passing defense to crack, but Dell will probably be on the WR3/FLEX line if he’s active next week.

Canales said the rookie back is in “the final stages” of returning from his ACL reconstruction. Brooks’ return to practice will also not necessarily mean that he is ready to play. It looks like the timeline for Brooks returning to play will be Week 6-Week 8. The Panthers will probably ease Brooks in when he does get back, as well.

That’s two linebacker injuries the Panthers were dealt in Week 4’s loss to the Bengals, although the injury to Jewell isn’t nearly as severe as the one to Shaq Thompson (Achilles). Jewell has totaled 30 tackles in four games with the Panthers this season and will be expected to take on a bigger role with Thompson likely lost for the season. It sounds like Jewell will almost certainly miss Week 5’s contest against the Bears but could return for Week 6 against the Falcons.

Even though it didn’t help out his target volume any, Brock Bowers did play a season-high 81 percent of the snaps with Mayer out in Week 4. If Mayer remains away — and Pierce did not elaborate on the issue — it stands to reason that Bowers will continue to be an easy TE1 next week against the Broncos.

Mattison rushed five times for 60 yards in Week 4, but had 36% of the snaps to Zamir White’s 59%. White had 17 carries. This is not great news for White’s fantasy football viability this week, though at the same time the dreaded running back by committee might not hold enough for Mattison to have standalone value either. White probably falls closer to an RB3/FLEX, and Mattison probably is still just a desperation FLEX.

After some hope that Engram would suit up for Week 4’s matchup against the Texans, the veteran tight end opening the week as day-to-day doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Engram did not practice last week, so there’s a chance he could still face an uphill battle to get on the field, but Week 5 has been his assumed return date after the team opted not to place him on injured reserve, which would have required he miss a minimum of four games. We’ll see how things look when the team releases its first injury report on Wednesday.

Parsons suffered a high-ankle sprain in the Cowboys’ Week 4 win over the Giants but hasn’t been ruled out for Week 5’s tilt with the Steelers. The star pass-rusher has played through injuries in the past and has never missed a regular season game due to injury. It seems like a stretch that he would play in the team’s upcoming game, but with fellow pass-rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) already ruled out for the foreseeable future, the need to have Parsons on the field becomes more amplified. We may not know about Parson’s availability until Friday or closer to game time.

Evans was a former first-round pick of the Titans back in 2018. Evans played in nine games for the Cowboys last season, totaling nine tackles in limited action, and was with the Falcons in 2022. He’s never lived up to the expectations that made him a first-rounder, but he’ll have a chance to restore his career under Raheem Morris once he gets up to speed. We’ll see if the team opts to elevate him in the coming days.