Fairbairn (leg) won't kick in Sunday's season opener against the Jaguars, Deepi Sidhu of the Texans' official site reports.

Fairbairn is still recovering from an injury that he suffered in pregame warmups prior to Houston's third preseason game. In Fairbairn's looming absence, look for the Texans to promote Joey Slye from their practice squad.

Slye was signed to the Texans' practice squad Tuesday.

The 25-year-old was let go by the Panthers at roster cutdowns and will now join the Texans as kicking depth with Ka'imi Fairbairn (leg) nursing a minor injury. Slye has massive range but struggled with consistency in his first two NFL seasons, going 54-for-68 on field-goal attempts and 64-for-71 on PATs.

Elliott (ankle) finished the preseason a perfect 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts and 5-for-5 on point-after tries in two appearances.

Elliott sat out the Eagles' second exhibition contest due to an ankle injury, but he otherwise was in midseason form, connecting on field goals ranging from 34 to 50 yards (the other two were from 47 yards). Entering the second year of the extension he signed back in November 2019, he's so far connected on 82.2 percent of FGAs and 93.6 percent of PATs in his four-year career, with just one regular-season game missed.

Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski said McLaughlin will be the team's placekicker Week 1 against the Chiefs, Andrew Gribble of the Browns' official site reports.

McLaughlin outkicked Cody Parkey in training camp but was not declared the de facto kicker until Monday. The Browns added Chris Naggar to the practice squad last week, but it will not affect McLaughlin's status at this time. He made all of his preseason kicks before missing on a 56-yard field-goal attempt then later an extra-point kick in the third preseason game.

The Saints placed Lutz (core) on injured reserve Monday, Amie Just of The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

After undergoing core muscle surgery in early August, Lutz was expected to need 8-to-12 weeks to recover, meaning a move to IR was inevitable. While he can return as early as Week 4 against the Giants, his best-case scenario actually may be Week 5 at Washington. At the moment, the Saints don't have a kicker on the active roster, so they may be getting ready to elevate Aldrick Rosas from the practice squad on a weekly basis until Lutz is back in action.

Pineiro has latched on with Washington's practice squad, Ben Standig of The Athletic reports.

Pineiro will serve as depth at kicker in the event that Dustin Hopkins is forced to miss some time at some point. He' s unlikely to hold a spot on the active roster during 2021 barring that scenario, unless of course Hopkins struggles greatly.

Folk is a member of the Patriots' initial practice squad, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

Folk didn't survive initial roster cut-downs, while rookie UDFA Quinn Nordin made the Patriots' initial 53-man roster. Now that Folk is back in the fold, he's a quick transaction away from potentially reclaiming the team's kicking job.

The Lions signed Gonzalez to the practice squad Wednesday.

Gonzalez couldn't stick on Detroit's initial 53-man roster, but he will enter the regular season as an emergency option behind Austin Seibert. Through 12 games with the Cardinals in 2020, Gonzalez converted 16 of 22 field-goal attempts and 38 of 39 extra-point attempts.

McPherson was named the Bengals' starting kicker Tuesday, Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Bengals selected McPherson in the fifth round of April's draft, so he entered training camp with an edge on incumbent Austin Seibert, who was released Tuesday. McPherson solidified his starting role with a perfect preseason, as he drilled all five of his field-goal attempts, including a 57-yarder in the preseason finale. The Bengals' offense has high upside depending on quarterback Joe Burrow's health, so it's worth monitoring McPherson as a fantasy contributor.

The Patriots cut Folk on Tuesday, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

As expected, Folk has been released after losing the kicking competition to Quinn Nordin. The veteran was solid in 2020, connecting on 26 of 28 field-goal attempts and 30 of 33 extra-point tries. He will likely draw interest from teams around the league in search of kicking help.