Giants EDGE Azeez Ojulari left Saturday's loss to the Vikings with an ankle injury and was ruled out before the end of the game. He said post-game X-rays came back negative, though. Ojulari said he was "sore" but that he hoped to be ready for the Week 17 meeting with the Colts. We'll see about his status this week.
Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire (high-ankle sprain) appears to be nearing a return from IR. HC Andy Reid said ahead of Saturday's win over Seattle that CEH is "working his tail off" and "getting close," according to Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride. We're certainly not playing to stick Edwards-Helaire back into fantasy football lineups this season. But he could complicate the work split for RBs Jerick McKinnon and Isiah Pacheco if he gets back to the active roster for Week 17 or 18.
Packers RB Aaron Jones said after Sunday's win over the Dolphins that his left ankle got "rolled up on" during his 1st carry of the 2nd half. That likely helped keep the touch count down for a player who also entered the game with a knee issue. Jones carries no game status on the final injury report, but he was limited in practice all week. He finished Sunday's game with just 6 carries and 2 targets, including only 2 rushes and 1 target in the 1st half (before the ankle problem). We'll have to watch his status on this week's injury reports in advance of the Week 17 clash with Minnesota.
The NFL has suspended Broncos EDGE Randy Gregory and Rams G Oday Aboushi for a game after the 2 threw punches at each other after Sunday's game. That means Gregory will miss the final week of the fantasy football season in most leagues, while the Rams will go without a player who spent the past 2 weeks in the starting lineup. That won't help an O-line that has already ranked among the league's worst this season.
Panthers CB Jaycee Horn broke his left wrist in Saturday's win over the Lions. Interim HC Steve Wilks announced Monday that Horn will have surgery Tuesday and that doctors would determine his status after that. We'd bet on Horn missing at least Week 17, which makes him cuttable in IDP fantasy football leagues.
The Raiders might not have EDGE Chandler Jones or LB Denzel Perryman in the lineup any more this season. Jones left Saturday night's loss to the Steelers with an elbow injury that found him carted from the sideline to the locker room. LB Denzel Perryman dislocated his left shoulder in the game. HC Josh McDaniels told reporters Monday that each player might miss the rest of the season, according to The Athletic's Tashan Reed. The Raiders are still not yet officially eliminated from the playoffs, but that seems likely to happen in Week 17. Barring some shift in the diagnosis for either player, we'd bet surprised to see either back on the field this season.
Seahawks HC Pete Carroll was non-committal on WR Tyler Lockett's Week 17 availability when asked on Monday. "We'll see where he is," Carroll said. "I don't know.'' Lockett has re-joined the team after spending last week in Los Angeles recovering from surgery to repair a fractured finger. The 7-8 Seahawks are desperate enough to potentially push Lockett to play vs. the Jets this weekend, but fantasy owners should have an alternate option lined up. We'll keep you updated on Lockett's status throughout this week.
The Broncos have fired HC Nathaniel Hackett, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports. So Hackett doesn't even make it a full season in Denver. His tenure was a disaster from the start and ends with an embarrassing 51-14 loss to the Rams on Christmas. We'll see who the Broncos tab as their interim HC, but we doubt the move has much of a fantasy impact over the final 2 weeks of the season.
Update: Senior assistant coach Jerry Rosburg has been named Denver's interim HC, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. The 67-year-old has spent much of the last 2 decades as a special teams coordinator and has no head-coaching experience at any level.
Jets QB Mike White (ribs) has been medically cleared and will start this weekend's game vs. the Seahawks, insider Brian Costello reports. White's return comes after QB Zach Wilson was so bad in Thursday night's loss to the Jaguars that he was benched for QB Chris Streveler. The news is a boost for all of New York's skill-position guys, particularly WR Garrett Wilson.
Bucs RB Leonard Fournette said in a since-deleted tweet that he's been playing through a Lisfranc injury. Fournette was on the injury report with a foot in Week 14 but hasn't been listed the past 2 weeks. And he just went for 162 total yards on 29 touches in Sunday night's win over the Cardinals. We'll keep an eye on Fournette this week, but it doesn't seem like this foot issue will impact his role in Week 17.
Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins drew 10 targets in Sunday night's OT loss to the Bucs, falling just 1 short of WR Greg Dortch's team lead. But he caught only 1 of them for 4 yards. WR Marquise Brown tallied 3 catches for 57 yards among 6 targets. Third-string QB Trace McSorley averaged just 4.8 yards per attempt on his 45 passes. We'll see whether QB Colt McCoy makes it back for a Week 17 date with the Falcons.
Cardinals WR Greg Dortch led the team in targets (11), receptions (10) and receiving yards (98) in Sunday night's OT loss to the Buccaneers. He and RB James Conner were the only 2 Arizona players to exceed 3 catches with QB Trace McSorley behind center. We'll see whether QB Colt McCoy is back for a Week 17 meeting with the Falcons.
Cardinals RB James Conner rushed 15 times for 79 yards and a TD in Sunday night's OT loss to the Buccaneers. It was Arizona's only TD for the game. Conner added 7 catches for 41 yards among 8 targets. Conner gets a high-upside Week 17 matchup with the Falcons, who rank 7th most friendly to RBs by adjusted fantasy points allowed.
Buccaneers RB Leonard Fournette dominated the backfield work in Sunday night's OT win over the Cardinals. He carried 20 times for 72 yards, vs. just 7-36 rushing for RB Rachaad White. Fournette also caught a team-high 9 passes for a team-high 90 yards, tying WR Chris Godwin for the target lead at 10. White caught all 4 of his targets for 17 yards, including the team's lone offensive TD. Fournette played 20 more snaps than White and will be the better bet among Bucs RBs for a Week 17 home date with the Panthers.
Rams QB Baker Mayfield completed 24 of his 28 passes (85.7%) in Sunday's beatdown of the Broncos. He threw for 230 yards and 2 TDs, finding TE Tyler Higbee for both of them. Higbee (94) and Brycen Hopkins (57) combined for 65.7% of Mayfield's yards for the game. Week 17 holds a matchup with the Chargers, who have been a slightly negative scoring matchup for QBs and 8th-worst for TEs.
Rams TE Tyler Higbee caught 9 balls for 94 yards among a team-dominating 11 targets (39.3%). Higbee also claimed both of the team's TD receptions. No other Ram caught more than 3 passes. TE Brycen Hopkins' 57 yards (on 3 catches) ranked 2nd on the team. No other teammate reached 30 yards.
Rams RB Cam Akers racked up 118 yards and 3 TDs on 23 carries in Sunday's beatdown of the Broncos. The numbers mark big jumps over his previous season highs. Akers has scored 6 rushing TDs over his past 4 games, though, and topped 5.0 yards per carry in 2 straight games. He now looks much more attractive as a Week 17 fantasy football option at the Chargers than we would have expected even heading into Week 16. RB Malcolm Brown added 19 yards on 2 carries. RB Kyren Williams rushed 6 times for 18 yards.
Broncos QB Russell Wilson went just 15-of-27 passing for 214 yards in Sunday's lopsided loss to the Rams. He tossed 1 TD vs. 3 INTs and took 6 sacks in the game. Wilson gave way to QB Brett Rypien for the team's final 2 possessions (1 of which produced a Rams pick-6). We'd bet on Wilson returning to the lineup for Week 17 against the Chiefs but would hope to not have to use him in fantasy football lineups.
Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy caught 6 balls for 117 yards in Sunday's loss to the Rams, leading the team in both categories and targets (10). WR Courtland Sutton returned from his hamstring injury to post a 5-64 receiving line on 7 targets. TE Greg Dulcich grabbed the team's only TD among 4 catches for 39 on 8 targets. Denver closes out the fantasy football season (in most leagues) at Kansas City. Denver tallied 263 yards and 4 TDs passing in the Week 14 meeting with the Chiefs, who have been a slightly positive scoring matchup for WRs but strongly positive for QBs.
Broncos TE Greg Dulcich was knocked out in the 4th quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Rams with a hamstring injury. He caught 4 of 8 targets for 39 yards and a score before exiting. We'll see if the rookie can make it back for Week 17's meeting with the Chiefs.
Search
