NFL Player News

Swinson was signed off the Packers’ practice squad earlier this week but hasn’t had enough time to get up to speed in Carolina. With Tremble out and Ian Thomas on injured reserve, the Panthers are down to just Ja’Tavion Sanders and Jordan Matthews at tight end. Sanders will draw the start and has some TE2 juice to open the year.

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.

Hill was upgraded to full after being limited on Wednesday. The star receiver has been playing through the same injury for most of this season and should be good to go for Week 12’s game against the Patriots, barring any setbacks. Hill has had a disappointing fantasy season thus far, finishing as a WR3 or worse in PPR leagues in eight of his 10 games played. He’s best thought of as a solid WR2 until further notice.

With the Ravens not playing until Monday night, Hill has some extra time to make it through concussion protocol to be active for Week 12. Even if active, Hill’s fantasy value is too spotty to rely on. The veteran running back has just two top-24 fantasy finishes in PPR leagues this season and is averaging 7.8 fantasy points per game. He’s a full fade regardless of availability.

A lower body strengthening program appears to be the culprit behind Hurts being a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice. The Eagles’ QB1 was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday and should be good to go for Sunday’s game against the Rams, barring any setbacks. Hurts will be a high-end QB1 in Week 12 and will look to extend his rushing touchdown streak to six-straight games.

Alexander suffered a knee injury in Week 8’s win over the Jaguars and has played sparingly in just one game since his injury. Alexander missed Week 9’s game against the Lions but was active in last week’s win over the Bears. However, he played only 10 defensive snaps before being ruled out for the remainder of the game, and has been a DNP in both practices to start this week. It sounds like Alexander will take as much time as needed to recover from his injury, but surgery does not appear to be on the table at this time.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Darnold is “tracking to play Sunday against the Bears.” The Vikings’ QB1 was listed as limited on Wednesday due to the injury, but whatever he’s dealing with appears to be minor. Fantasy managers banking on Darnold in Sunday’s game against the Bears should expect to see him on the field barring any setbacks. He’ll be a mid to high-end QB2 if available.

All signs are pointing to Slayton clearing concussion protocol before the weekend. The veteran receiver suffered a concussion in the team’s Week 9 loss to the Commanders and missed Week 10’s game against the Panthers as a result. Slayton is nearly three full weeks removed from his concussion. He should be good to go for Week 12, but doesn’t profile as anything more than a boom-or-bust WR4 in fantasy.

Johnson logged a limited session on Wednesday but was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday with one practice still to go in the week. The rookie tight end caught 4-of-6 passes for 37 yards in the Giants’ Week 10 loss to the Panthers and profiles as a low-end TE2 against the Buccaneeers.

Cooks has been limited in back-to-back practices to open the week. The team just opened his 21-day return window on Wednesday, so it’s hard to know whether or not they’ll activate him for Week 12’s game against the Commanders. Cooks isn’t returning from a serious injury but rather an infection that developed in his knee following a knee scope during this preseason. This could give him an increased chance at returning for Sunday’s game, but we’ll see what happens when Friday’s injury report is released.

Lamb wasn’t spotted during the media portion of Thursday’s practice, but the team officially listed him as a DNP later in the day. This immediately puts his Week 12 availability up in the air, as the Cowboys may think better of letting him play through multiple injuries in what is more or less a lost season. Lamb’s Week 12 outlook will be a bit more optimistic if he can get on the field Friday.