NFL Player News

The Bills were clearly trying to get Samuel going in Week 10 with both Keon Coleman and Amari Cooper sidelined but it never quite happened. Samuel made a few catches early on but he also dropped a potential third-down conversion and was targeted on one of Josh Allen’s two interceptions. The two have struggled to get any sort of rhythm going this season, and the 28-year-old Samuel is shaping up to be a bit of a free-agent bust for the Bills this year.

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.

Mack was entirely unable to practice in Week 11 before ultimately being ruled inactive on game day. The Chargers still listed him as questionable to play in the lead-up though. Mack’s limited return to practice suggests he will face the Ravens in Week 12.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said earlier in the week that Ferguson would be “hard-pressed” to play in Week 12 against the Commanders. Barring an unexpected turn of events, we’d expected Ferguson to be ruled out before the weekend, paving the way for Luke Schoonmaker to take his role as a viable tight end streamer after catching six passes for 56 yards on 10 targets in last week’s loss to the Texans.

McConkey landed hard on his right shoulder in Week 11 and was briefly taken to the blue medical tent so the fact that the Chargers opted to rest him for Week 12’s first practice is unsurprising. McConkey has an extra day to get right with the Chargers facing the Ravens on Monday night. Fantasy managers should tentatively expect McConkey to play this week.

As expected, LaPorta practiced in full for the second consecutive day. The Lions’ brilliant handling of his shoulder injury last week helped ready LaPorta for a full workload against the Colts’ paltry tight end-coverage unit. He is a locked-in TE1 for Week 12.

After being limited in his return to practice on Wednesday, Evans was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday and should be good to go for Week 12’s game against the Giants, barring any setbacks. The veteran receiver said earlier in the week that he “could have tried to push it” for the team’s Week 10 game against the 49ers, but it sounds like the extra time off has allowed him to be more than ready for a Week 12 return. Evans is trending in the right direction and could be off the injury report completely by Friday. He’ll be a solid WR2 in a plus matchup against the G-Men.