Chiefs WR Josh Gordon has landed on the COVID list after a positive test Monday. That almost certainly knocks him out for Thursday night's game against the Chargers. Gordon ran 4th among Chiefs WRs in snaps Sunday against the Raiders, just 1 snap ahead of Mecole Hardman. So his absence doesn't make much of a fantasy impact but probably helps Hardman and Demarcus Robinson a little.
Giants WR Kadarius Toney has tested positive for COVID. That obviously lands him on the list and lessens his chance of returning for Sunday's game against the Cowboys. Toney wouldn't have been an attractive fantasy play anyway, coming off an oblique injury and facing an uncertain QB situation.
The Vikings have placed RB Alexander Mattison on the COVID list. They also claimed RB Wayne Gallman off waivers from the Falcons. These moves shouldn't really matter for fantasy football purposes, with Dalvin Cook back. But we'll keep our fingers crossed that Mattison's COVID situation doesn't affect Cook as well.
S Jevon Holland has become the latest Dolphins player to land on the COVID list. We'll see whether he has a shot to make it back for Sunday's game against the Jets.
Bills WR Emmanuel Sanders has a sprained knee and will likely miss this weekend's game vs. the Panthers, HC Sean McDermott said. We'll look for a more concrete timeline for Sanders' return, but he's droppable in most fantasy leagues. His absence will turn WR Gabriel Davis into a near every-down player. He'll be a viable Week 15 fantasy starter if QB Josh Allen is able to play.
Bills HC Sean McDermott told the media Monday afternoon that QB Josh Allen has been diagnosed with a foot sprain. He made no mention of a toe injury. McDermott also said that Allen has a "chance" to play vs. the Panthers on Sunday, so it sounds like his availability is in some doubt. QB Mitchell Trubisky is Buffalo's backup. We'll keep you updated on Allen's status all week.
Bucs RB Gio Bernard is expected to miss "some time" with an MCL injury and hip strain suffered in Sunday's win over the Bills, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports. Bernard hasn't topped 4 carries or 3 targets in a game since Week 3, so there's very little fantasy impact here. Leonard Fournette will continue to dominate touches in Tampa's backfield.
Update: Bernard has been placed on IR, so he's out until at least Week 18.
Jets HC Robert Saleh expects to get RB Michael Carter back for this weekend's game vs. the Dolphins. Carter has been out since suffering a high-ankle sprain back in Week 11. He'd emerged as New York's clear lead back before going down, averaging 13 carries and 6.2 targets across his last 6 healthy games. Carter should step back into a similar role, although players coming off high-ankle sprains are always a bit risky.
Washington has placed DT Jonathan Allen on the COVID list. Allen has actually seen fellow DT Matt Ioannidis pass him in snaps the past 2 weeks. A narrow Week 13 edge gave way to Ioannidis playing 66 snaps to Allen's 46 in Sunday's loss to Dallas. Allen still delivered 1 of his most productive stat lines of the season and would be a significant loss if he can't make it back for Sunday's game against the Eagles. Washington also has 3 DEs already on the COVID list. The return of Montez Sweat could particularly soften the blow of missing Allen. We'll see where the D-line sits heading into the weekend.
Cardinals RB Chase Edmonds (ankle) was not activated from IR and won't play against the Rams tonight. He should be back for Week 15's game vs. the Lions. James Conner gets another game as Arizona's feature back tonight.
The Rams have placed CB Jalen Ramsey on the COVID list, which means he'll miss the Monday night matchup with Arizona. That leaves L.A. without its lead cover man and can only enhance the matchup for Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins -- as well as the rest of the pass-catchers. It's not clear what the plan will be at corner, where the Rams already had to place slot CB Dont'e Deayon on the COVID list. David Long figures to join Darious Williams in the starting lineup. The #3 spot appears up in the air. Williams and Long are the only 2 CBs on the active roster on the team website. The next man up could be an extra safety or former Giants DB Grant Haley (listed as a "DB").
The Rams have added TE Tyler Higbee to the COVID list, knocking him out for tonight's game against the Cardinals. That leaves Kendall Blanton and Brycen Hopkins at TE for the team. Blanton led Hopkins 5-3 in routes last week. Hopkins, however, was drafted earlier (Round 4 vs. undrafted), enjoyed the much more productive receiving career in college and brings a 75th-percentile speed score and 73rd-percentile SPARQ-x score for the position, according to PlayerProfiler.com. If you need a desperation fill-in TE, we'd go with him. Higbee has averaged just 5.2 targets per game for the year, so we don't expect his absence to significantly impact the fantasy outlook for anyone else on the team. We'll see whether he can make it back for the team's Week 15 game against Seattle.
Bengals HC Zac Taylor said Monday that DE Trey Hendrickson was dealing with mere back spasms when he left Sunday's loss to the 49ers early, according to ESPN's Ben Baby. Taylor said he hopes to have Hendrickson on the field for limited participation at Wednesday's practice. That would bode well for his chances of playing against Denver on Sunday.
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said Monday that "the plan right now" is to have QB Lamar Jackson (ankle) for Sunday's game vs. the Packers. It's probably an optimistic outlook, but it at least sounds like Jackson avoided a serious injury. We'll obviously keep a close eye on his progress this week. Jackson owners should still be lining up a backup plan for Week 15.
Dolphins RB Phillip Lindsay has joined teammates Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed on the COVID list. All 3 are vaccinated, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, so they have a chance to be cleared in time for Sunday's game vs. the Jets. Miami has RBs Duke Johnson and Gerrid Doaks on the practice squad, with RB Malcolm Brown still on IR with the quad injury he suffered back in Week 7.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Giants DE Leonard Williams is "going to miss time" with an elbow injury "feared to be significant." We'll see about the official diagnosis. With just 4 weeks left in the regular season, an IR trip would effectively end Williams' year.
Browns HC Kevin Stefanski labeled RB Kareem Hunt "week to week" with his ankle injury and called him "unlikely" to play vs. the Raiders on Saturday. It sounds like Hunt could miss time beyond that. His absence will elevate D'Ernest Johnson to the #2 spot on the depth chart but ultimately mean more touches for RB Nick Chubb. In 3 games without Hunt this season, Chubb has averaged 17.3 carries and 1.7 targets. Johnson averaged 5.7 carries and 1 target across those 3 games.
Panthers WR D.J. Moore "pulled his hamstring" in Sunday's game vs. the Falcons and is "day to day," HC Matt Rhule said. Hamstring injuries are always tricky, but it sounds like Moore's is minor. We'll keep a close eye on his practice participation this week, leading into Sunday's game vs. the Bills.
Bills QB Josh Allen is believed to be dealing with a "mild case" of turf toe, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Allen is scheduled for additional testing on Monday. He was able to play through the issue in Tampa Bay and didn't seem too worried about the injury after the loss. It sounds like Allen will be able to play vs. the Panthers this weekend, but we'll keep you updated.
Broncos RB Melvin Gordon sprained a thumb in Sunday's win over the Lions, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Gordon was able to play through the issue yesterday and it "doesn’t figure to limit his playing time going forward," per Rapoport. We'll keep an eye on Gordon this week, but it sounds like we should expect Denver's committee backfield to continue in Sunday's game vs. the Bengals.
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