NFL Player News

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer was unable to return from a knee injury in Week 5 against the Bills Thursday, and it looks like this could be an issue that lingers past the week. According to the NFL Network broadcast, the Browns medical staff fears Hoyer could have torn ligaments in his right knee.

Hoyer will undergo an MRI Friday to determine the extent of the injury. The Browns are off nine days until Week 6 against the Lions, so they will have plenty of time to determine the extent of the injury. 

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer was forced to leave Thursday's game against the Bills during the team's second drive, after going down with an awkward looking knee injury.

Hoyer scrambled for a first down, and was hit while attempting to slide. Both knees appeared to get caught under him, and he was immediately helped off the field. Hoyer would walk to the locker room under his own power, but his return is questionable.

Brandon Weeden replaced Hoyer at quarterback in his first game back from a thumb injury. 

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill struggled through his worst game of the season last Monday against the Saints, as he turned the ball over four times in a big loss. He will try to bounce back in Week 5, but he might have a tough time against the Ravens.

The Ravens rank just 19th in Fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks, but that stat doesn't fully account for their track record. Opposing quarterbacks have accounted for 80 Fantasy points in four games against the Ravens, however 60 of them came during Peyton Manning's Week 1 destruction. The next three weeks have seen three quarterbacks fail to top double figures against Baltimore.

The Ravens have three interceptions to just one touchdown over the last three games, while allowing only 198 passing yards per game. Tannehill could have trouble getting going against a locked in Ravens defense, so consider him just a low-end Fantasy option for Week 5. 

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is currently sixth among quarterbacks with 87 Fantasy points. And unlike the last two years, when the Lions were first in pass attempts, Stafford is currently just 10th in attempts, behind quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco.

But have no fear -- Stafford and the Lions get to face off against Green Bay in Week 5. The Packers, coming off a bye week, have allowed the fourth-most Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, giving up eight touchdowns and yielding over 320 passing yards twice in the first three weeks. Even the much-maligned Colin Kapernick scored 36 points against the Packers, in Week 1.

The loss of Nate Burleson as a target should be offset by the continued acclimation of Ryan Broyles and the possible emergence of Kris Durham or Pat Edwards. And with Reggie Bush another week removed from a knee injury, it's all systems go for the Detroit offense. 

Stafford should finish Week 5 with top-five numbers, considering the weapons at his disposal and a stellar matchup against a weak pass defense. 

Yes, he had an ugly Week 3 performance against the Bengals, scoring 13 points and throwing just one touchdown against two interceptions. And he's facing a Lions defense that has allowed just 13.5 Fantasy points per game against opposing quarterbacks. 

But Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had 73 total points over his first two games. And the Lions have faced Christian Ponder, Carson Palmer, RG3, and Jay Cutler this season -- with the latter two quarterbacks throwing for over 300 yards in the last two games against the Lions. 

Additionally, Rodgers has been solid against the Lions throughout his career. If you throw away the December 2010 game when the Lions knocked Rodgers out in the first half, he's averaged 279.9 passing yards in eight games against Detroit, with 19 touchdowns against four interceptions.

And if you need more stats to convince you that Rodgers should be started, there's this: in the last five years, coming off a bye, Rodgers has averaged 291.2 passing yards, with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. Two of those games were against the Lions. 

Raiders coach Dennis Allen announced Wednesday quarterback Terrelle Pryor will return to the starting lineup Week 5 vs. Oakland after sitting out Week 4 with a concussion. But that wasn't the only change to the quarterback depth chart.

Allen announced Matt Flynn, who started in a Week 4 loss to Washington, has been demoted to third-string quarterback. Matthew McGloin is now the team's backup quarterback.

"It is what it is. It didn’t work out," Allen said, per The San Francisco Chronicle.

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer has been a solid Fantasy option over two games this season -- completing 55 passes for 590 yards and five touchdowns. But his Week 5 opponent, the Bills, have seven interceptions in their last two games, and are holding opposing quarterbacks to under 20 Fantasy points (19.5) on the season. Additionally, this week's game takes place on Thursday night -- which has essentially been a kiss of death for Fantasy statistics, dating back to last season. 

Still, Hoyer has two talented pass-catchers in Jordan Cameron and Josh Gordon. And the Bills have given up 678 passing yards in the last two games. Buffalo has also been remarkably consistent in yielding exactly two passing touchdowns in each of the first four games to opposing quarterbacks. 

Hoyer has proven to be a decent Fantasy asset, but the combination of a hot Bills pass defense (which may see the return of star safety Jairus Byrd this week) and the Thursday night matchup makes him a better bench option for Week 5. 

Jets quarterback Geno Smith has struggled with turnovers through the first four games. His 11 turnovers are tied with Giants quarterback Eli Manning for the most in the NFL.

Because of his struggles, Jets coach Rex Ryan is considering returning to a system of play calling he used with Mark Sanchez in 2009. The red-yellow-green traffic light system is a way of designating risk to plays. Red are plays where Sanchez was told to be cautious, green is where he could be aggressive and yellow was in the middle.

"I’ve been thinking about it," Ryan said Wednesday, per the New York Daily News. "Kind of a fine line, as you guys even talked about it earlier, about being aggressive but being smart with it as well.

"We want to be aggressive, there’s no question, you want to be aggressive, but you don’t want to do something to the detriment of your football team. Clearly, turning the football over, has been a real problem, not just this season but the last couple of seasons as well. And we all know what that leads to."

Jacksonville quarterback Blaine Gabbert should show improvement in his Week 5 road test at St. Louis Sunday. Mostly that is because he couldn't get much worse after two games. Missing Weeks 2 and 3 due to hand injury, Gabbert has totaled 300 passing yards in two games with no touchdowns and five interceptions for the Jaguars.

We believe that Gabbert will make an improvement against the Rams considering St. Louis has only intercepted one pass this entire season and that came back in Week 1 against Carson Palmer and Arizona. They have given up seven touchdowns and no interceptions in the last three games against Matt Ryan, Tony Romo and Colin Kaepernick.

All that said, Gabbert is not nearly as efficient as any of the four quarterbacks that have squared off against the Rams to this point. St. Louis' secondary will be hawking his passes all afternoon. He may show improvement, but he's still not expected to put up big numbers. Gabbert is barely recommended for any Fantasy formats for Week 5. At best he can be considered a low-end No. 2 option in deeper leagues.

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford averaged well over 300 yards and 2.5 touchdowns per game after his first two games of this season. He's averaging just 221 yards and one TD in his last two games as he's taken a step back after three straight losses.

Bradford had five touchdown passes and two picks in his first two games and has two TDs and one INT in his last two as he gets set to play at home against lowly Jacksonville Week 5 on Sunday. The Jaguars, who Bradford has never before faced, are giving up the 10th-most Fantasy points per game to opposing QBs this season.

In fact, although they haven't allowed more than 260 passing yards to any one QB thus far, the Jaguars have allowed nine touchdown passes in four games compared to picking off just two passes. Russell Wilson and Tarvaris Jackson combined for 331 yards with five TDs and one pick Week 3.

There is no double for Fantasy owners that Bradford will have a better game Sunday than he's been having recently. That said, Fantasy owners can still consider Bradford just a solid No. 2 Fantasy QB for Week 5.