NFL Player News

Lions head coach Dan Campbell told us earlier this week that Ragnow was expected to play on Sunday, so this isn’t much of a surprise. Ragnow missed Week 4 with the pec injury but got a Week 5 bye to recover. Pro Football Focus has Ragnow graded as a top-10 center through a month of football.

He added a yard by catching his only two targets in the air. McCormick showed more burst than Ameer Abdullah between the tackles, at least somewhat validating Antonio Pierce’s early-week premonition that he was “excited” about using McCormick this week. Where the backfield goes in Week 14 with potential returns for Zamir White and Alexander Mattison is anyone’s guess, but McCormick has done enough in the last two weeks to have a role if the Raiders aren’t purely relying on their earlier priors.

Abdullah had 42 snaps to Sincere McCormick’s 26, but was outcarried and outproduced by McCormick on the ground. His role in the two-minute offense was the difference in what was essentially a split backfield. If Alexander Mattison or Zamir White make it back for Week 14, it will be hard to rely on Abdullah in fantasy football with McCormick’s emergence in this backfield the last two weeks.

To O’Connell’s credit: This was a better game than we expected for him. He was a beat slow in making his throws, but he was willing to push the ball downfield in a way that Gardner Minshew wasn’t able to. He was lobbing balls above underneath zone defenders all day, and he found Tre Tucker isolated down the sideline for 58 yards to briefly take a 17-16 lead. O’Connell had led the team from the Vegas 8 all the way down to the Kansas City 32, roughly in field goal range not withstanding the struggles of kicker Daniel Carlson, before an errant snap by Jackson Powers-Johnson clunked off O’Connell’s right arm and was recovered by the Chiefs with 15 seconds left. O’Connell finds himself as a potential superflex QB2 in Week 14 against the Buccaneers after this performance.

Williams has been dealing with the groin issue for a month. He was limited for two practices this week but got upgraded to a full session before being listed as questionable, giving him a decent shot at suiting up on Sunday. With Taysom Hill’s role growing by the week, Williams will likely be deployed as the No. 3 running back going forward.

Havenstein’s return is a significant boost for the Rams’ offensive line, though starting LT Alaric Jackson (foot) is questionable after failing to practice all week. Hopefully, Jackson can resume practicing (and playing) for Week 14 if he is unable to go here.

McCoy initially suffered the groin injury in Week 3. He spent two months on the sidelines before returning in Week 11, only to immediately aggravate the issue. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi said he was going to be okay but didn’t put a timeline on the injury. McCoy didn’t practice at all this week before being listed as questionable. The Saints are giving him the weekend to test things out, though three straight DNPs puts him on the wrong side of questionable for now. Fellow interior offensive lineman Lucas Patrick has already been ruled out.

Higbee was upgraded to full for Friday’s practice but the team opted to give him another week off before activating him from the physically unable to perform list. Neither Davis Allen nor Colby Parkinson were able to earn the long-term starting role with Higbee sidelined. All three will be unusable whenever Higbee makes his debut but he can be speculatively added to playoff-bound teams with spare bench space.

Bosa’s dual-oblique/hip injury will sideline him again and the defensive line will also notably be without starting DT Jordan Elliott (concussion), leaving the 49ers defensive-right side of the field awfully short-staffed. Josh Allen’s blindside should be kept clean and the run game will likely be able to impose its will easily, running off of left tackle Dion Dawkins. CB Deommodore Lenoir (knee) is out though CB Charvarius Ward (personal) will return after a three-game absence.

Williams was sidelined on Wednesday and Thursday and not seen practicing on Friday either. Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Matt Barrows observed Williams using a knee scooter to get around the locker room. He regularly plays through injury but it is fair to wonder if his Week 14 availability is also in jeopardy. LG Aaron Banks has also been ruled out after failing to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol.

All signs point to Tillman missing Week 13 after two DNPs to open the week. Tillman and the Browns play on Monday, giving the second-year wideout one more day to return to the practice field. Assuming he is out versus the Broncos, Jerry Jeudy will push for a WR2 rank in a revenge game against his former team.