NFL Player News

Jefferson was on a mission from start to finish against a middling Seattle coverage unit that did not tilt coverage toward Jefferson like most Minnesota opponents have this season. Averaging 14.5 yards per catch, Jefferson hauled in a pair of scores, including the game-winning touchdown catch with less than two minutes to go. Jefferson, who now has five touchdowns over his past three outings, led the team by comfortable margins in every receiving category in Week 16. As usual, he’ll be an elite play in Week 17 against the Packers, against whom he had 85 yards and a score in Week 4.

Flores adds the Jaguars to his list with the Bears and Jets already requesting interviews. He revamped the Vikings defense over the last two seasons and established it as a formidable unit for the playoffs. Previously serving as the Dolphins’ head coach from 2019-2021, Flores could look to return to Florida to coach Trevor Lawrence and company. The Jaguars had a disappointing 4-13 season in 2024 and have lined up several head coaching interviews to replace Doug Pederson after an underwhelming tenure. The 43-year-old Flores is slated to be a hot topic this coaching cycle.

Bethel made a living in the NFL off of his special teams abilities through 12 seasons. He only started 15 career games at defensive back, but was a three-time Pro Bowler for special teams on the Cardinals. Bethel spent the first six seasons of his career with Arizona and bounced around between the Falcons, Ravens, Patriots, and Dolphins for his final six seasons. He did not have a team for the 2024 season, making the Dolphins his last team after 17 games with them in 2023. Finishing his NFL career with 282 combined tackles, Bethel’s NFL legacy remains one of special teams utility.

Both Packers quarterbacks are evidently nursing throwing-arm injuries. Jordan Love (elbow) and Willis should be considered likely to play, given their early-week practice participation but this is officially a situation to monitor closely.

The Chargers’ wide receiver corps is fairly banged up at this point and Palmer’s total inability to practice thus far this week makes him the least likely to suit up on Saturday. It could come down to a game-time decision but his Thursday availability should give us an idea of his status.

Johnston was only listed with the thigh ailment while participating in a limited capacity on Tuesday so the illness is a new, worrying development. While Johnston is likely to play through both issues, his Thursday practice participation should give us a better idea of his overall health. Practicing in full would be a great sign.

Fehoko has a chance to return from injured reserve this week. No. 2 WR Quentin Johnston (thigh/illness) and Joshua Palmer (heel) were both sidelined on Wednesday so Fehoko’s improvement comes at the right time. He could suit up as the Chargers’ No. 3 WR this week.

Brown has been getting days off or limited practice sessions for weeks as the team carefully manages his knee issue. It hasn’t been a problem for him lately and it likely won’t be on Sunday. Beat reporter Tim McManus reported Brown left practice early with a staffer and the team later told reporters that the early exit was pre-planned. The situation seems a tad unorthodox but we have no reason to expect Brown will be be limited by this issue at this time. Getting Week 18 off was a nice bonus for Brown, and many other Philly starters as well. Brown will remain an elite fantasy option when he takes the field to face Green Bay for the opening round of the playoffs on Sunday.

The rotational rusher is on track to face the Texans on Saturday. Fantasy managers should not rely on him to produce gaudy fantasy-point sums though chipping in a rushing touchdown in a run-heavy game script is not out of the question.

Hurts missed a meaningless Week 18 game because of the concussion. however, he didn’t practice at all last week, creating some minor concern that he wouldn’t clear the league’s concussion protocol in time for Philly’s Wild Card game. A limited practice to open the week puts him on track to suit up versus the Packers. All eyes will be on the Eagles’ next two practice reports in anticipation of a full practice for Hurts, but all signs point toward him playing. Kenny Pickett was also limited in practice as he continued to deal with a rib injury.

Seeing Dobbins graduate to full participation on Thursday would be reassuring but his continued limited participation at least confirms he has not suffered a setback. Fantasy managers should expect him to handle his usual high-volume workload for Wild Card Weekend.