NFL Player News

Vaughn rushed 17 times for 53 yards and a touchdown and brought in both his targets for nine yards during the Buccaneers' 31-15 win over the Eagles in an NFC wild-card matchup Sunday.

After logging all of five carries during last year's Super Bowl title run, Vaughn took on lead-back duties Sunday with Leonard Fournette (hamstring) and Ronald Jones (ankle) both out of action. The second-year back performed well with the extra workload and paid off for those rolling with him in fantasy playoff leagues and contests with a one-yard touchdown run just before the end of the first quarter. Vaughn has proven capable of handling a robust workload over the last several games due to the depleted state of the Buccaneers' backfield, but he could see a reduction in volume as soon as next weekend's divisional round if at least one of Fournette or Jones is back in action.

Perine had one carry for two yards without any targets in the passing game in Saturday's playoff win over the Raiders.

Perine occasionally was in the game on third down for Joe Mixon, but for the most part it was the latter handling the backfield workload. Teammate Chris Evans got as much work as Perine.

Sermon is inactive for Sunday's playoff game against the Cowboys.

Though Sermon was recently activated from injured reserve, he's the odd man out Sunday, with Elijah Mitchell, JaMycal Hasty and Jeff Wilson available to handle the 49ers' backfield duties in the team's playoff opener.

Huntley is inactive for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers.

With Miles Sanders back from his hand injury, Huntley is the odd man out Sunday, while Boston Scott, Jordan Howard and Kenneth Gainwell are also in the backfield mix for the Eagles' playoff opener.

Barner (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's wild-card game against the Eagles.

Tampa Bay bumped Barner up from the practice squad after Leonard Fournette (hamstring) and Ronald Jones (ankle) were ruled out for the postseason opener, but the Buccaneers ultimately won't need the the 32-year-old to serve as a third option out of the backfield. Giovani Bernard (hip/knee), who was listed as questionable heading into the day, has been cleared to play for the first time since Week 14, and he'll serve as a change-of-pace option behind Ke'Shawn Vaughn and Le'Veon Bell.

Stevenson rushed the ball eight times for 27 yards in Saturday's 47-17 wild-card round loss to Buffalo. He added four receptions for 33 yards.

Stevenson was one of the few bright spots for New England, as he saw a substantial role as a pass catcher due to game script. The majority of his production did come with the game out of reach, though he still managed long receptions of 15 and 10 yards while matching his career high with four receptions. Stevenson progressively saw his workload increase throughout his rookie campaign, and he could be the primary backup to Damien Harris in 2022 should James White (hip) sign elsewhere as a free agent during the offseason.

Harris rushed the ball nine times for 30 yards in Saturday's 47-17 loss to Buffalo. He added one reception for seven yards.

In line with the rest of the Patriots' offense, Harris struggled to produce in New England's blowout loss to Buffalo in the wild-card round. He handled the majority of the work out of the backfield while the game was competitive, though the team was forced to largely abandon the run game after falling behind 27-0 by halftime. Even in his limited opportunity, Harris struggled to only 3.3 yards per carry despite a long 14-yard gain early in the third quarter. Harris ended the regular season with a career-high 929 yards and 15 touchdowns, and he should enter the 2022 campaign as New England's primary rusher once again.

Singletary rushed 16 times for 81 yards and two touchdowns and brought in three of four targets for 13 yards during the Bills' 47-17 win over the Patriots in an AFC wild-card matchup Saturday night.

Josh Allen stole the show with 374 total yards and five scores in the blowout win, but Singletary capped off the other two of Buffalo's record-setting seven consecutive touchdown drives with a pair of visits to the end zone of his own. The third-year pro averaged an impressive 5.1 yards per carry, and his second scoring jaunt, a 16-yarder late in the second quarter, served as his longest run of the night. Singletary has proven to be an ideal complementary component to Allen's work through the air and demonstrated he's capable of handling a true lead-back workload with double-digit carries in five consecutive games going back to Week 15. The 24-year-old should play another key role in next weekend's divisional-round matchup against either the Chiefs or Bengals.

Jacobs ran for 83 yards on 13 carries and caught four passes for 44 yards on five targets against Cincinnati on Saturday.

Jacobs could have had a bigger day if the Raiders had been more competitive, but they only scored one touchdown in the 26-19 loss and didn't have the luxury of leaning on their run game. Jacobs' pass-catching showing was reassuring and his production as a receiver generally in 2021 could give the Raiders reason to give him more pass-catching work in future years, though to this point in his career Jacobs has been dependent on run-viable game flows for standout fantasy production.

Mixon ran for 48 yards on 17 carries and caught four passes for 28 yards on five targets against Las Vegas on Saturday.

It's a reassuring workload and a reminder that Mixon can take on a high volume of touches depending on the flow of a game, but the Raiders did a good job containing Mixon from scrimmage in this one. The Bengals mostly needed Mixon to run out the clock in the 26-19 victory, and he played that part effectively.