Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (abdomen) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game vs. the Panthers. He didn't practice all week and obviously needs to be on fantasy benches. His absence would leave Detroit's WR corps to Josh Reynolds, Jameson Williams, Kalif Raymond, and Marvin Jones. Reynolds (groin) and Williams (not injury related) are listed as questionable for Week 5 but should play after getting in full practices on Friday. St. Brown's absence figures to mean an even more run-heavy game plan for Detroit -- and potentially a target boost for TE Sam LaPorta.
Bengals TE Irv Smith (hamstring) practiced all week and isn’t listed on the final injury report. He’ll be back for Sunday’s game vs. the Cardinals. Smith totaled five catches on nine targets for 27 scoreless yards over the first two games of the season. He’d be a desperation Week 5 fantasy play.
Bengals WR Tee Higgins (rib) is listed as questionable for this weekend's game vs. the Cardinals. He got in a limited practice on Friday after sitting the previous two days. HC Zac Taylor said Friday that he'll sleep on it in regards to Higgins' status for Sunday's game, per The Cincinnati Enquirer's Kelsey Conway. Fantasy owners still shouldn't be counting on Higgins in Week 5 lineups, but we'll keep you updated on the situation. We won't get Bengals inactives until a little after 2:30 pm ET on Sunday.
Rams HC Sean McVay said Friday that he's not currently planning to limit WR Cooper Kupp's snaps vs. the Eagles this weekend. But he hedged a little. “I think we’ll see how it goes," McVay said. "I think what you do know is (that) once he gets going, you want to be smart about it. I also know that once a game gets going, you’re kind of in that moment. … It’ll be something that we’ll want to be careful about, but I think there will be a lot of that communication in terms of how he’s feeling as well because he has such a good ability to do that with myself and the rest of our coaches.” Kupp certainly comes with elevated risk in Week 5 fantasy lineups. But his upside is too big to bench in most cases.
Panthers WR Jonathan Mingo (concussion) put in a full week of practice and isn’t listed on the final Week 5 injury report. He’ll be back for Sunday’s game vs. the Lions. The rookie totaled 19 targets but just eight catches over the first three games of the season.
Panthers RB Miles Sanders (groin) is not listed on the final Week 5 injury report. He practiced all week, including a full workout on Friday. It's an upgrade over last week, when Sanders got in just two limited practices and was listed as questionable. We expect Sanders to re-take the backfield lead vs. the Lions this weekend after being out-snapped by RB Chuba Hubbard last week.
Ravens RB Justice Hill (foot, hamstring) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Steelers. He practiced all week, including a full workout on Friday, so he should play. But Hill would be a risky fantasy start after totaling just three carries on seven snaps last week.
Ravens WR Odell Beckham (ankle) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game vs. the Steelers after a limited week of practice. Beckham said Friday that he expects to play. But seemingly still not at 100%, he'd be a shaky fantasy starter.
Ravens WR Rashod Bateman (hamstring) put in a full week of practice and isn't listed on the final Week 5 injury report. He'll be back for Sunday's game vs. the Steelers. Bateman totaled just seven catches for 59 scoreless yards over the first three weeks of the season and isn't a recommended Week 5 fantasy play.
Giants RB Saquon Barkley (ankle) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game vs. the Dolphins. He was limited in practice all week. HC Brian Daboll said Friday that Barkley could be a game-time decision. He won't be at 100% if he plays. New York will also be without offensive linemen Andrew Thomas, Shane Lemieux, and John Michael Schmitz this weekend.
Steelers RB Najee Harris was added to the injury report and limited in Friday's practice with a hamstring. He has no game designation, though, so the Steelers expect him to play vs. the Ravens. Harris can stay penciled into fantasy lineups for now. We'll let you know if something changes with his status.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth (hamstring) has been ruled out for Sunday’s game vs. the Ravens. Pittsburgh has a Week 6 bye, and Freiermuth should have a chance to be back for Week 7. His absence this weekend leaves TE duties to Darnell Washington and Connor Heyward. Neither is a reliable fantasy play.
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett (knee) is not listed on the final Week 5 injury report. He put in full practices on Thursday and Friday, so it’s possible that the knee isn’t an issue this weekend. Still, Pickett is a weak fantasy play vs. the Ravens.
Rams HC Sean McVay confirmed on Friday that WR Cooper Kupp (hamstring) will play vs. the Eagles this weekend. The team has seemingly played it safe with Kupp's return from his recurring hamstring injury, so we'd expect him to be at least close to 100%. It's still possible that he's on some type of snap count on Sunday, but Kupp would be tough to leave out of Week 5 fantasy lineups considering his dominance since 2021. His return is an obvious threat to WR Puka Nacua and WR Tutu Atwell's volume -- although Nacua would also be nearly impossible to bench. See where all those guys sit in the Week 5 WR Rankings.
Titans WR Treylon Burks (knee) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Colts. He's yet to practice since hurting his knee on September 27. WR DeAndre Hopkins is a good bet to dominate Titans targets this weekend.
Jaguars WR Zay Jones (knee) was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday morning's game vs. the Bills in London. HC Doug Pederson is optimistic that Jones will be able to play, but it doesn't look like he'll be at 100%. That leaves him as a shaky Week 5 fantasy play.
Commanders RB Brian Robinson registered season lows with six carries and 10 rushing yards in Thursday night's loss to the Bears. He struggled to find running room early on, and the Bears fell behind 17-0 early in the second quarter. Robinson's final carry came with 9:28 left in the second quarter. He at least added 33 yards on four catches, but it was still an ugly fantasy outing in what looked like a great spot. That's the risk when dealing with a game script-dependent RB. Robinson wound up getting out-snapped 38 to 25 by RB Antonio Gibson in this one. The good news is that the Commanders shouldn't face much negative game script the next two weeks vs. the Falcons and Giants. (Of course, we didn't think they'd get crushed by the Bears at home.)
Per The Athletic's Dianna Russini, the Bears are trading WR Chase Claypool and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Dolphins in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick. Claypool's tenure in Chicago was short-lived, as he only appeared in 10 games after being acquired from the Steelers prior to the trade deadline last year. On Wednesday, Bears GM Ryan Poles shared in a radio interview that trading for Claypool last season "didn’t work out and we were hoping for him to be a little bit more productive," signaling that a potential move was on the horizon after marking the wideout inactive for two straight games. From a fantasy perspective, moving to the Dolphins at least keeps Claypool somewhat on the radar. He'll have a hard time finding relevance ahead of his new teammates Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but it's never a bad thing to move to one of the NFL's highest-scoring offenses. Still, he's only worth stashing in very deep leagues for now. Most 10 or 12-team league managers shouldn't take action.
The Athletic's Dianna Russini confirms that Rams WR Cooper Kupp (hamstring) is expected to play vs. the Eagles on Sunday, barring a setback. Russini adds that Kupp has been on a snap count at practice, so it's certainly possible that he's on a snap count this weekend. Still, an active Kupp will be tough to keep out of fantasy lineups -- especially in what figures to be a pass-heavy game from the Rams.
QB Sam Howell and the Commanders were pathetic in the first half of Thursday night's game vs. the Bears, digging themselves a 27-3 hole. Howell headed into the break with just 71 yards, 0 TDs, and 1 INT on 9-of-13 passing. He chucked it another 38 times in catch-up mode in the second half, though, and threw for 317 yards and a pair of scores to finish with a 388-2-1 passing line. It wound up being a strong fantasy outing -- but it's tough to feel good about Howell moving forward after this performance. He failed to get WR Terry McLaurin (4-49-0) or WR Jahan Dotson (3-30-0) going and took another five sacks against a Bears defense that had TOTALED two sacks over the first four weeks. Howell gets favorable matchups again the next two weeks vs. the Falcons and Giants but won't be a recommended QB1 play.
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