NFL Player News

Nine offensive players for the Jets have been deemed probable for the Sunday game against Pittsburgh with minor injuries, including linemen Oday Aboushi (shoulder), Willie Colon (knee), Breno Giacomini (illness) and Nick Mangold (shoulder).

The other offensive probables are wide receivers Greg Salas (wrist) and Percy Harvin (heel), running back Chris Johnson (ankle) and quarterbacks Michael Vick (foot) and Geno Smith (shoulder).

Packers coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Friday that quarterback Aaron Rodgers "feels good" and is "ready to go" for Sunday's game against the Bears. Rodgers suffered a hamstring injury Week 8 at New Orleans, but after resting during a bye week, he doesn't appear to be in any danger of missing game action.

Rodgers has 2,092 passing yards with 19 touchdowns and three interceptions through eight games.

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer wasn't asked to do much Thursday night against the Bengals.

Cleveland opted to pound the ball during the game, racking up 52 total carries. While Hoyer put up average numbers, the team decided to run its three-headed backfield monster. Hoyer completed 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards on the night. He did not throw any touchdowns, but did not turn the ball over either. While the numbers weren't spectacular, Hoyer showed an ability to pick up decent chunks of yardage at a time. He averaged a solid 8.6 yards per completion on the night.

Hoyer will look for more Week 11 against the Texans. 

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton endured an awful performance Thursday, completing just 10 of his 33 pass attempts for 86 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions in his team's 24-3 loss to the Browns in Week 10.

Dalton was simply terrible on the field Thursday and had at least one more easy interception dropped by the defense while failing to move the ball with any consistency despite a solid effort by the running game. He ended up getting benched late in the fourth quarter with his team down three scores, though he's in no danger of the Bengals removing him from the starter role permanently.

Dalton had delivered solid numbers coming into Week 10, completing nearly 65 percent of his passes while averaging 7.6 yards per attempt, but he's been held without a passing touchdown in three of his last four games. He'll hope to bounce back considerably in New Orleans in Week 11.

The Browns will have quarterback Brian Hoyer Week 10 against the Bengals.

Hoyer entered the contest listed as probable due to a glute injury. Hoyer was able to fully participate in practice all week, and was never expected to miss the contest.

The team will also have Desmond Bryant, Taylor Gabriel, Barkevious Mingo and Rodney Smith available for the contest. All four players entered Thursday listed as probable. 

Raiders rookie starting quarterback Derek Carr believes he will hinder his own performance and that of his offense if he concerns himself Sunday with Denver standout pass-rushers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware despite their combined 17 sacks in eight games.

"Oh, you know where they are," he told ESPN. "It's just like playing J.J. Watt, you know where he's at. You know where those guys are, but I won't be looking at them. I'm not helping us if I do that.

"You kind of just have to know, based on your rules, based on the protection, based on what blitz they're bringing, you know what's going on. There are a lot of things going on in your head where you're not even looking at, so I never look at it ... I try to act like it's 7-on-7, that's just my mindset. ... I'm just out there and I'm trying to complete passes, and then if I get hit, I just get hit."

Carr has been sacked just eight times in eight games this season.

The Lions are obviously excited to get wide receiver Calvin Johnson back in the lineup Week 10 vs. Miami after he missed the last three games due to an ankle injury. However, the Lions did see some benefits to playing without their All-Pro receiver, according to MLive.com.

"If you can win in those situations, I think it adds something to your repertoire," coach Jim Caldwell said. "It makes you look at things differently, it makes those synapses function a little bit differently, because sometimes you have to go about your game slightly different. I think that's a plus. It makes you stronger overall. It does add more balance to what you're doing."

While the Lions were able to win all three games Megatron was sidelined, quarterback Matthew Stafford is still happy to see his star receiver make his return.

"The more experience and the better everybody else plays, the less you feel you have to get 81 the ball," Stafford said. "It's still conducive to playing good offense to get the best receiver on the planet the ball as much as you can. We'll continue to try and do that as well."

Eagles backup quarterback Matt Barkley said Wednesday he is far more prepared to play this season than he was as a rookie in 2013, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. Barkley is now the team's backup quarterback to Mark Sanchez since Nick Foles is sidelined several weeks due to a collarbone injury.

"I've progressed so much since when the public saw me last year," Barkley said. "Even from a health standpoint, my shoulder is finally healed. My [throwing] motion is back to where it should be.

"I've grown a lot this offseason in terms of overall position in the offense. I'm accustomed to what [Eagles coach Chip Kelly's] mindset is and how he wants quarterbacks to play. It's definitely a big difference from 2013.''

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford gets his best weapon back and a good test for his abilities in Week 10, with Calvin Johnson returning from an ankle injury in time for Sunday's game against the Dolphins.

Stafford has struggled at times this season, even when Johnson was healthy, but that was also just a three-game sample size. He had 33 Fantasy points in dismantling the Giants, and then fell on his face in a 3-point effort against the Packers. Still, the longer track record indicates Stafford can easily put up big numbers when he has Johnson available.

However, that will be tested against the Dolphins, who have been stingy against opposing passing attacks. The Dolphins have allowed just two quarterbacks to record 20-plus Fantasy points this season, and rank as the second-best defense at slowing down quarterbacks, allowing just 14.3 Fantasy points per game.

Stafford is still a high-upside option, especially with the development of Golden Tate's game. Even though the matchup makes him somewhat risky, he should be worth rolling the dice on in Week 10. 

The Browns have listed five players as probable for the Thursday night game in Cincinnati, including starting quarterback Brian Hoyer (glute).

Also on that list are defensive end Desmond Bryant (wrist), wide receivers Taylor Gabriel (shoulder) and Rodney Smith (hamstring) and linebacker Barkevious Mingo (shoulder).

Special teams standout Johnson Bademosi (concussion) will not play.