NFL Player News

Shakir continues to hog all the targets in a Bills offense that spread the ball around to nine different players in Sunday’s win. He hauled in two key passes on back-to-back touchdown drives late in the second half, with his biggest gain coming on a 22-yard play. Shakir briefly left with a rib injury after taking a hard hit, but returned to action soon after. Whether or not his injury lingers into next week won’t matter as the Bills head into their Week 12 bye. We’ll go ahead and assume he’ll be ready for Week 13 when the Bills return to face the 49ers.

According to Schultz, Strange’s injury “includes a ligament tear suffered in Monday night’s game against the Chiefs,” however, the third-year tight end is not believed to need surgery. Strange was already slated to miss an automatic four games after the Jaguars placed him on injured reserve earlier this week, but we can now expect his absence to extend beyond the four-game minimum. Strange leads the Jaguars in receptions (20) this season and appeared to be on the verge of a breakout season prior to going down.

We’re one bad Dillon Gabriel hit away from watching Sanders — based on his preseason play — take a lot of sacks against Pittsburgh. Sanders has held off fierce competition from *checking notes* Bailey Zappe to take over as the No. 2 after Joe Flacco was dispatched to Cincinnati in a mercy mission. If you are the type of fantasy football dynasty manager who believes in Sanders’ college tape, he’ll make a worthwhile stash in deeper leagues.

Stewart had gotten in limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday, so it’s possible he dealt with a setback. It’s also possible he just wasn’t ready. The rookie hasn’t played since Week 2 and is now at “a standard IR stint” level of missed games assuming the doubtful listing holds.

That makes it three weeks in a row for Moore, who has not practiced since the Thursday ahead of Week 5. He’s a potential IR candidate over the weekend. With Mike Hilton on practice squad IR, the Colts cornerback corps shouldn’t be able to limit what little there is to limit of the Raiders passing attack. Backup RB Tyler Goodson (groin) joined Moore on the rule-out list.

Pierce officially missed two weeks with his brain injury and practiced in full for this whole week. He should be a usable-if-unexciting FLEX play against the Cardinals and split Josh Downs’ role enough to where neither player is a true fantasy star.

Chase reportedly joined the Bengals for walk-throughs during Friday’s practice but then left the field and did not return. The illness is a new one for Chase, who was not listed with any ailments prior to Friday, but it’s also not uncommon to see players play through these things. It’s more likely than not that Chase will suit up this weekend, but fantasy managers will want to check the Bengals’ inactives 90 minutes before kickoff to confirm his availability.

The Panthers continue to take hits to their offensive line, with Moton being the latest starter to be sidelined following injuries to C Austin Corbett and RG Robert Hunt earlier this season. Moton has started all five games for the Panthers at right tackle this season, earning a PFF blocking grade of 73.7 while allowing 13 pressures and two sacks. Backup Yosh Nijman is listed behind Moton on the depth chart and will presumably draw the start on Sunday against the Cowboys. In addition to Moton, the Panthers have also ruled out CB Akayleb Evans (hamstring) and DT Tershawn Wharton (toe) for Sunday’s game.

Sanders is dealing with a high-ankle sprain that he suffered in Week 3. He’s missed the last two games as a result, but logged a full practice on Thursday, indicating he is on the mend. He was limited again on Friday, but we’ll assume that was due mostly to load management. Still, fantasy managers considering starting him will want to check inactives 90 minutes before kickoff to ensure he is active. He won’t profile as anything more than a dart-throw TE2, after catching 11 passes for 92 scoreless yards in the three games he’s played in this season.

Coker’s practice window was opened earlier this week, and the team has yet to activate him to its 53-man roster. While it’s no guarantee he will be activated, the decision to list him as questionable comes after Coker logged a full week of practice. Even if he is active, Coker is little more than a stash heading into Week 6 against the Cowboys. He’s coming off a decent rookie campaign in which he totaled 32-478-2 in 11 games, but fantasy managers would be wise to wait and see how he is utilized before starting him in their lineups.

Hubbard will miss a second-straight game with his calf injury that sidelined him for an entire week of practice. This paves the way for Rico Dowdle to face off against his former team in what should be a bell cow role following his 23-206-1 rushing effort in Week 5’s game against the Dolphins. While we wouldn’t expect another 200-yard effort out of Dowdle, the fifth-year back does face a vulnerable Dallas defense that has allowed the most yards per game and fourth-most points per game this season, making him a must-start for fantasy managers.