NFL Player News

No NFL wideout ran more routes (57) than Cooper on Sunday; his ten targets led the team. His inefficiency was par for the course in a Cleveland offense that was dysfunctional from the start. Cooper was open a few times in the second half but a constantly-pressured Deshaun Watson didn’t see him (along with other open pass catchers). Watson hit Cooper’s fingertips in the fourth quarter on what would have been a long touchdown. Cooper will be a top-15 option in Week 2 against the Jaguars.

The Ravens finally cut ties with Johnson as they waived the 28-year-old wide receiver on Friday. The move was inevitable after he refused to enter the team’s Week 13 contest against the Eagles. Johnson will be subjected to waivers and in a cruel twist for the Ravens could end up being claimed by a contending team, even one Baltimore might see in the playoffs.

Patrick Mahomes, Hollywood Brown, and Harrison Butker are all officially active. Humphries has not practiced since suffering his hamstring injury towards the end of Week 14. Conner (concussion) did not practice at all this week. All other players listed are healthy scratches.

Metchie (shoulder), Scruggs (foot), Stover (illness), and Fatukasi (ankle) were all declared out on Friday. Christian Harris (ankle) is playing off a questionable tag. White, Broeker, and Hughes are healthy scratches.

Schefter cites executives across the league who are “fully expecting” Atlanta to release the 36-year-old quarterback before his roster bonus is due. This comes on the heels of an ESPN report Friday that called Cousins’ chances of returning as a backup next year “slim.” Despite his play falling off a cliff this year, Cousins still holds leverage over the Falcons because his ridiculous contract includes a no-trade clause. According to Schefter, Cousins isn’t going to do any favors for the franchise after they surprised him on draft night by selecting another quarterback and thus wouldn’t allow a trade before March 17th. From Atlanta’s perspective, there’s no reason to hang onto Cousins past March 17th considering they already owe Cousins $90 million. Cousins, who has turned holding leverage over teams into an art form over the course of his career, is set to become a free agent once again.

Alexander is now on track to return against the Saints this week. The Packers’ No. 1 CB has been sidelined since Week 12 so his likely return is a welcome development for his team’s secondary. Alexander’s return could be particularly consequential if Chris Olave (concussion) suits up on Monday night.

This is Musgrave’s fifth straight LP designation since the Packers opened his 21-day practice window, telling us little about his Monday Night Football status. Musgrave was kept inactive last week. If he is able to practice in full tomorrow, he should be good to go. Fantasy managers can only view him as a touchdown-dependent TE2 though, playing behind Tucker Kraft.

Brown practiced in full throughout the week and will now make his Chiefs debut on Saturday versus the Texans. The Chiefs will ease Brown back into the lineup, keeping him off the fantasy radar for Week 16. However, his return makes already thin bets in Xavier Worthy and DeAndre Hopkins that much worse for fantasy purposes. Hopkins has been a part-time player since joining the Chiefs and now there’s even more of a threat to his routes. Xavier Worthy, on the other hand, runs all of the routes but rarely sees WR1 usage. His 11-target outing in Week 15 will keep him in the WR3 ranks for Saturday’s matchup with Houston.

Valdes-Scantling is currently the Saints’ No. 1 WR so this is a concerning development. The volatile field stretcher has been absent through two Week 16 practices and is currently on the wrong side of questionable for Monday night.

Meyers has been nursing the ankle injury for a few weeks. He was limited in the first two practices ahead of Week 16 but never appeared to be at risk of missing Sunday’s game. Meyers was upgraded to a full session before being cleared from the injury report. With Aidan O’Connell back under center, Meyers can be trusted as a volume-based WR3 once again.

Olave’s continued limited participation at least bodes positively for his overall health. Assuming he returns for his team’s Week 16 Monday Night Football matchup against the Packers is likely premature though. The Saints have handled his situation with an abundance of caution thus far.