NFL Player News

Higgins reportedly felt better on Saturday after suffering a quad injury during practice earlier in the week. The Bengals still decided to hold him out to ensure the issue doesn’t snowball into a lengthy absence for Higgins. Given his frustrating injury history, it’s a reasonable decision from the organization. Ja’Marr Chase will soak up all of the targets he can handle this week and Andrei Iosivas will step into a larger role once again. Iosivas only caught five passes when Higgins missed the first two games of the season. He did, however, score two touchdowns, both of which came in Week 2.

Rodriguez was hurt on a kickoff return in the first quarter and had to be carted off the field. The third-year pro is third on the team in sacks and sixth on the team in tackles, so his loss would be a meaningful one for a banged-up defense. It would also be good news for Tony Pollard the rest of the game.

Smith was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury in late August after the Eagles’ last preseason game. He was activated off injured reserve this week and will be active for the team’s Week 8 game against the Bengals. The 23-year-old rookie was selected in the fifth round and now gets a chance to make his career debut.

None of the players above are fantasy relevant so fire up your Lions as you normally would.

Goedert was ruled out on Friday and is set to miss his second straight game due to a hamstring injury. Grant Calcaterra is next man up in the tight end room. Mekhi Becton (concussion) is also out due to injury while Eli Ricks recovered from a groin injury and is essentially a healthy scratch. Tanner McKee is the emergency third quarterback.

Spears, who is battling a hamstring injury, had been declared out earlier in the week. His absence is a huge boost for Tony Pollard, who is on the RB1 radar in all fantasy formats this weekend. The absence of Sneed is a huge loss for a titans past defense that will have to contend with a red hot Jared Goff, and the Lions offense

Polk was ruled out on Friday with a concussion and this should give a bigger runway for Kendrick Bourne to be part of the offense against New York. Dugger was a game-time decision with an ankle injury but DNPs off a questionable status. Uche is a healthy scratch ahead of the NFL trade deadline, and Milton is the only other Patriot joining him on the shelf without an injury.

Levis had been questionable all week with a shoulder injury, and the expectation was that he would miss this week’s game, but that is now confirmed. Mason Rudolph will start in his place in the first week for Tennessee without DeAndre Hopkins. Rudolph is not a recommended streamer and the change at quarterback doesn’t improve any Titans’ fantasy outlook.

The Bengals’ inactives outside of Higgins (quad) are pedestrian. McLachlan has yet to play this season and all wideouts outside of Higgins are active. Jermaine Burton and Andrei Iosivas will handle larger roles for the Bengals against the Eagles for Week 8.

Simmons will miss the with a lingering hamstring injury that almost kept him out of Week 7’s game against the Seahawks. The loss of Simmons is a plus for Baker Mayfield and the Tampa passing offense, which will be without Chris Godwin (ankle) and Mike Evans (hamstring). Atlanta will also be down two offensive linemen against the Bucs.

Mike Williams will be the third receiver and see work as the Jets either try to rehabilitate his trade value or ponder if he can take a role in the offense down the stretch, depending on who you ask. Also inactive for the Jets are: T Carter Warren, RB Israel Abanikanda, DL Leki Fotu, G Alijah Vera-Tucker, S Ashtyn Davis, and S Tony Adams. Vera-Tucker, Fotu, and Davis were all ruled out on Friday. Morgan Moses (questionable-knee) and Kenny Yeboah (questionable-abdomen) are both active.