NFL Player News

Denver took Franklin — a former college teammate of rookie QB Bo Nix — in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The team, Breer said, was “stunned to see him there in the fourth round. He’s validated their grades thus far.” “You see speed, you see playmaking down the field,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said of Franklin. “There are certain routes that you see that are strong suits. I do feel good football IQ with that player, and that’s encouraging.” Franklin, who at 6'3" and 180 pounds has a slight build, will compete with Josh Reynolds and Marvin Mims for a place in three-receiver sets alongside Courtland Sutton, the team’s No. 1 wideout.

Havenstein has been working his way back from an ankle he injured in Week 9. After missing the last two games, McVay appears optimistic about Havenstein’s availability for what will be a pivotal NFC matchup against the Eagles on Sunday Night Football on NBC. We’ll see how things go in practice, but the Rams could soon have a key part of their offensive line back in the mix this weekend.

It is likely only being done to place Lloyd back on injured reserve after he (unbelievably) woke up with appendicitis on Friday. That will reset his IR clock when it happens. The third-round rookie has played 10 snaps this year while dealing with a variety of injuries and maladies.

He’ll miss at least the next four weeks, but the Lions have already said that he will miss 6-8 weeks with a broken forearm. He should be able to return before the end of the season or possibly the start of the playoffs. Anzalone has a career-best 72.2 PFF coverage grade this year.

Collins appears to be all the way back for the Texans heading into Monday night’s Week 11 matchup against the Cowboys. Collins was the league leader in receiving yards before getting injured in Week 5, and will now look to makeup for lost time in his return on Monday. He’ll be a high-end WR1 against a porous Cowboys defense and should see plenty of opportunities to build on what was shaping up to be a great season before his injury.

These Monday reports are always estimated. Moore finished Week 11’s game against the Saints with a 6/66/1 line and has seen 29 targets in three games since the Browns inserted Jameis Winston as their starter. He’ll be a viable WR3/FLEX play in Week 12 despite the bad matchup against Pittsburgh.

It likely doesn’t amount to much of a chance he misses anything, but it’s worth monitoring on Tuesday. Njoku has 19 receptions in three games with Jameis Winston under center and will be a reasonable TE1 play even against a tough Steelers defense on Thursday.

Thornton was waived by the Patriots last Saturday and now has a new home in Kansas City. The former No. 50 overall pick from the 2022 draft class has had a rough start to his career, appearing in just 28 games through three seasons while posting a line of 39-385-2 in those games. Thornton broke out in his fourth and final season at Baylor when he caught 62 passes for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns and became a second-round pick the following year. He blazed a 4.28 at the NFL Scouting Combine, but the speed has yet to translate to any kind of professional success. Now on the Chiefs’ practice squad, Thornton will look to restart his career with one of the league’s best teams.

Quinn blamed Daniels’ recent struggles on him missing “a lot of practice that impacted the offense” while recovering from his injury, which he suffered in Week 7. Per the team’s injury reports, Daniels was a DNP in two of three practices leading up to Week 8 and has been listed as a limited/full participant on every injury report since then. Daniels wasn’t listed on the injury report at all ahead of Weeks 10 or 11. Daniels can be seen during games receiving treatment on the sidelines for what appears to be the same rib injury he suffered over a month ago. Whether his struggles are as a result of that injury or not is anybody’s guess, but the Commanders have continuously downplayed whatever injury he does/does not have. Daniels will be a high-end QB1 in Week 12 when he faces the Cowboys.

Sneed has started just five games for the Titans and has 19 solo tackles and no interceptions this year. Jarvis Brownlee and Darrell Baker have been starting at corner for Tennessee in Sneed’s absence.

Melfionwu was designated to return on November 6th, and the Lions activated him from injured reserve today. It sounds like he might not be ready and this may be a procedural move to place him on injured reserve a second time with a different designation. Melifonwu has not played yet this year, and it’s possible that the Lions don’t end up returning him from injured reserve after this setback.