Eagles WR A.J. Brown (knee) practiced fully on Friday and doesn't carry an injury designation in advance of Week 17 vs. the Saints. Brown has been an elite fantasy option all season. Without QB Jalen Hurts last week vs. the Cowboys, he logged 103 receiving yards with 6 receptions on 8 targets from QB Gardner Minshew. There's no reason to believe Brown will slow down on Sunday. Fire him up with confidence in your lineups.
Eagles RB Miles Sanders (knee) finished the practice week with full participation on Friday. As a result, he doesn't carry an injury designation ahead of Week 17 vs. the Saints. Sanders has disappointed the last 2 weeks with a combined 12.0 PPR points since Week 15. However, the former Penn State product had been the RB10 overall in PPR prior to that. We feel Sanders is much closer to that player this week and should be thought of as a low-end RB1 candidate with plenty of volume opportunity.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (right shoulder) is officially listed as doubtful for Week 17 vs. the Saints. Looks like fantasy managers are going to get another taste of backup QB Gardner Minshew on Sunday. Minshew had a strong top-12 fantasy outing against the Cowboys last week and should be able to continue with similar success this weekend. Consider Minshew a low-end QB1 in a neutral matchup vs. the Saints.
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (toe) practiced in a limited fashion on Friday and is listed as questionable for Week 17 vs. the Texans. Assuming Lawrence plays this weekend, he's a quality QB1 option for fantasy managers. The second-year signal-caller ranks as PFF's 2nd-highest graded passer with a 107.7 passer rating that's the 3rd-best among QBs since Week 10. It's also worth mentioning the Texans' defense ranks as the 2nd-toughest matchup for opposing QBs in adjusted fantasy points allowed this season. Even with that caveat, it's tough to justify pivoting to a different QB in your lineup if you roster Lawrence.
Bears WR Chase Claypool (knee) logged limited practice on Friday and is officially listed as questionable for Week 17 vs. the Lions. The midseason acquisition hasn't appeared in a game since Week 13 vs. the Packers due to injury. Teammate WR Equanimeous St. Brown practiced fully and doesn't carry an injury designation, while WR Dante Pettis (ankle) is questionable. Despite a quality fantasy matchup against a Lions defense that ranks as the 4th-best matchup in adjusted fantasy points allowed to WRs, it's wise to sit these wideouts in fantasy championships. The Bears and QB Justin Fields have only surpassed 200 passing yards in a game once this season. The only Bears pass-catcher that warrants fantasy consideration is TE Cole Kmet, best viewed as a low-end TE1.
Buccaneers CB Carlton Davis (shoulder) is doubtful for Sunday's game against the Panthers. Fellow CB Jamel Dean (toe) is questionable but finished the week with a full Friday practice after 2 limited workouts. He missed the previous 2 games. S Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle) and S Mike Edwards (hamstring) are also questionable after going limited all week. Each guy played through the same issue in last Sunday's win over the Cardinals. In Winfield's case, this week's practice run marked an upgrade. He sat out all 3 days last week before playing through a "questionable" tag. We'll update all the questionable CBs when Sunday's inactives arrive.
Commanders S Kamren Curl (ankle) is questionable for Sunday's game against the Browns. He put in limited practices all week after missing last Saturday's game at San Francisco. Curl will make for a risky IDP play this week if active.
Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins left Friday's practice with a knee injury that is expected to make him a game-time decision for Sunday against the Falcons, according to the team website. On top of that, Hopkins will also see his 4th QB of the season. Colt McCoy's concussion symptoms resurfaced Friday, meaning he'll miss the game. Arizona will start David Blough over Trace McSorley. Blough -- who started 5 games for the 2019 Lions -- will have been with the team less than 3 weeks come game time. The whole situation makes it tough to like any Cardinals pass-catchers for Week 17. We're not significantly downgrading the outlook for RB James Conner, however.
Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman (abdomen) suffered a setback in Wednesday's practice and won't play vs. the Broncos this weekend, HC Andy Reid said. "I'm not that worried about it," Reid added, which presumably means Hardman should at least be ready for the playoffs. JuJu Smith-Schuster remains the only reliable fantasy play in Kansas City's WR corps.
Cardinals QB Colt McCoy had his concussion symptoms return Friday and will not play Sunday against the Falcons, HC Kliff Kingsbury told reporters. The team will instead turn to QB David Blough for the Week 17 start. The former Lions backup opened this season on the Vikings practice squad, but Arizona plucked him for its active roster on Dec. 14. The Cardinals now clearly believe him to be the better option than Trace McSorley. Blough won't be a meaningful fantasy option, and he's likely a downgrade vs. McCoy for Arizona pass-catchers -- if only because he hasn't been with the team as long. Of course, we'll also see about the status of WR DeAndre Hopkins, who is now dealing with knee trouble.
Commanders RB Antonio Gibson (knee, ankle) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Browns. That obviously doesn't hurt RB Brian Robinson's Week 17 fantasy profile, but it's worth noting that RB Jonathan Williams stepped into the passing-down role with Gibson banged up late in last week's loss to the 49ers. Robinson still doesn't project for big passing-game usage this weekend -- but he's a strong fantasy play based on his rushing upside against a bad Cleveland run defense.
Titans HC Mike Vrabel declined to name a starting QB for Week 18 after Thursday night's loss to the Cowboys. Joshua Dobbs looked like a functional NFL QB for most of that game, finishing 20-of-39 for 232 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. "It was a great opportunity to evaluate Josh, and we'll make a decision going forward," Vrabel said. "I thought he did some good things, and obviously a couple of throws he'd like to have back. We'll see where things are here in a couple of days." Dobbs threw for just 2 fewer yards against Dallas than QB Malik Willis TOTALED in his 3 starts. We're guessing the Titans roll with Dobbs in next weekend's must-win game vs. the Jaguars, but we'll keep you updated.
Browns RB Nick Chubb gets a tough matchup in Week 17. The Commanders come in 3rd-best in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs, trailing only San Francisco and New England. Washington has allowed just 2 RBs to reach 80 rushing yards all season: Saquon Barkley, who did so in 1 of 2 meetings; and Derrick Henry, who averaged a mere 3.6 yards per rush in their meeting. Washington's run D has softened lately, according to Football Outsiders DVOA, ranking 30th in that area in 2 games since the team's bye. But they also faced Barkley (2nd time) and the 49ers in those contests. Cleveland, meanwhile, ranks just 24th in total offensive DVOA since QB Deshaun Watson stepped in: 27th passing and just 22nd rushing. That struggling offense won't help draw attention away from Chubb, who has also gone from 5.6 yards per carry before the team's Week 9 bye to 3.96 per rush since.
Falcons rookie WR Drake London has garnered 35% of Falcons targets over the past 3 games, including rookie QB Desmond Ridder's 2 starts. That ranks him 3rd among all WRs over that span, trailing only Tyreek Hill and Michael Pittman Jr. London faces an Arizona defense this week that looks like a negative matchup for WRs by adjusted fantasy points allowed. But Arizona ranks just 19th in Football Outsiders' pass-defense DVOA, has 2 starting corners on the injury report and just lost S Budda Baker to a shoulder fracture. The Cardinals look like a neutral matchup for London at worst. You'll find some caution to our optimism for London in our Week 17 WR rankings, but the rookie lands inside the top 30.
Bengals TE Hayden Hurst (calf) fully participated in practice on Thursday. We'll keep tabs on his status ahead of Week 17's game vs. the Bengals on Monday night. Check back tomorrow for an update.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs (illness) missed Thursday's practice. Hopefully the star wideout feels better soon. TE Dawson Knox (hip) logged limited participation. With Week 17's game vs. the Bengals occurring on Monday night, these Bills pass-catchers will have an extra day to get right. We'll track their statuses as more information becomes available.
Who would have guessed that any NFL wideout would be excited to see Colt McCoy enter the huddle? Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins should feel that way when McCoy returns to action for this Sunday's game against the Falcons. Hopkins has been targeted on 37.1% of McCoy's pass attempts this season, drawing 11+ in every one of the QB's appearances. The 1st 2 came with WR Marquise Brown out, but Hopkins got 11 looks and tallied 7 catches the past 2 times with Brown back in the lineup. (Brown saw 8 targets in each of those contests.) Hopkins, of course, didn't have a target issue last week with QB Trace McSorley, who threw 10 passes his way. But Hopkins caught just 1 of those. He has caught at least 7 balls in every game that has involved McCoy. Atlanta arrives as the 6th-best scoring matchup for WRs, which obviously helps Hopkins. You'll find him prominent in our Week 17 WR rankings.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (knee) didn't practice again on Thursday. Backup QB Tyler Huntley is looking like he'll get the nod again for Week 17 vs. the Steelers. We'll let you know if anything changes tomorrow.
Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (toe) upgraded to full practice participation on Thursday. He's trending in the right direction to play in Sunday night's Week 17 showdown vs. the Ravens. We'll let you know about his status on the final injury report tomorrow.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) once again participated in a limited capacity at Thursday's practice. Pop back in tomorrow for a more concrete outlook for his status ahead of Week 17 vs. the Dolphins.
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