NFL Player News

It’s the least surprising football news we’ll hear all week. Just days after benching Jake Haener for an atrocious half of football, the Saints have decided it would be best to start Rattler in Monday night’s game against the Packers. Rattler had an up-and-down outing in the two quarters he played against the Commanders but nearly mounted a comeback win in the fourth quarter when he threw a touchdown to Foster Moreau as time expired. A failed two-point conversion attempt ultimately sealed the Saints’ fate in the 20-19 defeat, but Rattler was unquestionably the best available quarterback for the Saints last week. Fantasy managers in traditional 1QB leagues can ignore Rattler, but he may have some viability for those in 2QB/Superflex leagues.

Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb told reporters Thursday that Smith took every snap during the session, and looked good doing it. The 34-year-old was forced out of action during Sunday’s blowout loss to the Packers, but it appears all systems are go for a must-win — or pretty close to it — game against the Vikings in Week 16.

Brown missed Wednesday’s practice with the rest designation — something that’s quite common this late in the year — but it’s the adding of the knee to the injury report Thursday that makes this a situation to pay a little closer attention ton. It seems likely the 27-year-old will play against the Commanders on Sunday in Week 16, but a full session Friday would be nice to see.

That makes back-to-back practices with a limited session for Allen. The 20-year-old hasn’t been able to be a full go this week, nor has Isaiah Davis as Davis got another limited session with a back ailment of his own. It could be a game against the Rams on Sunday where Breece Hall touches the ball an awful lot. He probably would, anyway. Neither Davis nor Allen are on the fantasy radar for Week 16.

Winston is slated to backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson against the Bengals in Week 16, but the shoulder ailment could make that untenable. If Winston can’t go, Bailey Zappe would likely be the second-string signal-caller.

It’s a new issue for Garrett, as he was not listed on the on the injury report Wednesday by the Browns. With Cleveland playing for nothing but a chance at a higher draft pick, the team won’t take any chances with its best player, but it’s worth noting that Garrett is just a half sack away from 100 for his career.

Higbee was activated off injured reserve Tuesday after missing the first 14 games of the season due to his ACL injury. Rodrigue notes that McVay will update Higbee’s status before Friday. It seems likely Higbee plays, but he’d be a dart-throw tight end — if that — for his debut against the Jets in Week 16.

Nabers suffered the foot injury in last week’s loss to the Ravens. He was momentarily slowed by it but returned to finish out the game and was still a limited participant in the team’s first practice to open the week. His being upgraded to a full participant on Thursday is a good sign for his availability in Sunday’s game against a Falcons defense that struggled to slow down their opponent’s passing games all season. Naber’s will be forced to get through another game with Drew Lock under center, but his expected volume should keep him in the WR2 mix.

Robinson was a limited participant Wednesday, but was ready to roll for a full session a day later. The 23-year-old has not provided much fantasy relevance thus far in 2025, and even with the healthy designation, it doesn’t seem likely that’ll change Sunday against the Falcons in Week 16.

That makes back-to-back limited practices for Tracy as he tries to work through his ankle ailment with just a few games left on the year. The talented 25-year-old seems likely to play at this point in a committee role against the Falcons in Week 16, but there’s not much fantasy upside if he’s not getting the overwhelming majority of carries.

Rapoport reports that it took “several days and several experts” to come to this conclusion while adding that if all goes well, Montgomery could find himself back on the field at some point during the postseason. Montgomery will not return in the regular season, but it sounds like any concerns the team had over the torn MCL he reportedly suffered in Week 14 have been quelled a bit. We’ll see where things go from here, but it goes without saying that a healthy Montgomery would bode well for the Lions in the postseason.