NFL Player News

Herbert (illness) was a non-participant at the Bears' practice Thursday.

The rookie was one of three Bears running backs to miss Thursday's practice, joining David Montgomery (illness) and Ryan Nall (COVID-19) as non-participants. Herbert still has a few more chances to practice ahead of the Bears' Week 15 game against the Vikings on Monday night.

Doaks (undisclosed) was placed on Miami's practice squad COVID-19 list Thursday, Joe Schad of The Palm Beach Post reports.

Doaks has been on the Dolphins' practice squad since failing to make the season-opening roster and hasn't appeared in a game this season.

Gordon (thumb/hip) was a limited participant in Thursday's practice, Aric DiLalla of the Broncos' official site reports.

Gordon may end up taking a questionable tag into the weekend even if he practices again Friday, but the Denver coaching staff hasn't voiced any concern about his availability for Sunday's game against the Bengals. Instead, the status of fellow running back Javonte Williams (knee) looks more uncertain at the moment, especially after the rookie didn't practice Thursday following a limited showing Wednesday. Gordon's fantasy outlook would improve if Williams is ruled out for the Week 15 matchup, but even if the latter gains clearance and the backfield timeshare remains in place against the Cincinnati, Gordon would still be a strong bet for double-digit carries plus some involvement in the passing game.

Jones (knee) didn't practice Thursday due to an illness, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports.

Jones was listed as limited on Wednesday's estimated injury report due to a knee issue, which is likely the one he picked up back in Week 10. Now, his sudden absence is being attributed to an ailment, but there's no evidence that it's related to COVID-19. In any case, Jones' status bears watching as the weekend draws closer to get a sense of his potential to play Sunday in Baltimore. Aside from Jones, AJ Dillon is the other Packers running back to get regular playing time, while Patrick Taylor has earned offensive snaps in three of the last five games.

Montgomery didn't take part in Thursday's walkthrough due to an illness.

On the same day in which Chicago placed five players, including top wide receiver Allen Robinson (undisclosed), on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Montgomery was among eight Bears who were non-participants due to illness. Montgomery will have two more chances to mix into drills during Week 15 prep before the team potentially tags him with a designation for Monday's game against the Vikings.

Williams (knee) was held out of practice Thursday, but head coach Vic Fangio expects him to play Sunday against the Bengals, Aric DiLalla of the Broncos' official site reports. "His leg just kind of swelled up a little bit, and so we're going to give him the day off," Fangio said of Williams.

Williams was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice, so he'll presumably need to log a full session Friday in order to avoid a Week 15 injury designation. Though he didn't log any practice activity Thursday, he was present for the Broncos' workout, with Troy Renck of Denver 7 News noting that Williams was taking part in some conditioning work. Melvin Gordon (thumb/hip) was a limited participant in practices Wednesday and Thursday, so both of Denver's top two running backs could be at risk of carrying injury designations into Sunday's game against the Bengals.

Harris (hamstring) is listed as questionable for Saturday night's game against the Colts.

Harris, who injured his hamstring during the Patriots' Week 13 win over the Bills, no doubt benefited from his team's bye and was listed as a limited practice participant this week. With an official 'questionable' designation, however, his Week 15 status won't be cemented until New England's inactives are submitted in advance of Saturday night's 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff. Assuming he's available versus Indianapolis, Harris would be in line to continue to share backfield duties with Rhamondre Stevenson, with Brandon Bolden (knee) a candidate for change-of-pace touches.

Conner (ankle) didn't practice Thursday, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports.

Since Chase Edmonds went down early with a high-ankle sprain in a Week 9 win at San Francisco, Conner has averaged 21.8 touches for 114.4 yards from scrimmage per game while scoring eight total TDs over five contests. Conner's workload has ranged between 76 and 96 percent of offensive plays during that span as the Cardinals' unquestioned lead back, but he also sustained an ankle injury while getting tackled near the conclusion of Monday's loss to the Rams, per Darren Urban of the team's official site. Arizona designated Edmonds for return from injured reserve last Thursday, so the Cards could be status quo in the backfield as early as Sunday in Detroit if he's activated and Conner is able to gut out his current health concern.

Johnson is expected to serve as the top backup to starting running back Nick Chubb with Kareem Hunt (ankle) ruled out for Saturday's game against the Raiders, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Johnson had moved down to the third spot on the depth chart for the Browns' past two games following Hunt's return from injured reserve, but the former should have a clear path to the No. 2 role after the latter picked up another injury in Cleveland's Week 14 win over Baltimore. Chubb is still likely to see the majority of the snaps and touches out of the backfield, but Johnson and Hunt still managed to earn six carries and three receptions between them last week. A touch count in the high single digits or low double digits could be enough to keep Johnson on the radar in deeper PPR leagues this week.

Sanders (ankle) practiced on a limited basis Thursday.

With back-to-back limited listings on Eagles injury reports so far this week, Sanders is getting some on-field work out of the team's bye. Prior to the respite, he noted that he aggravated the ankle issue that forced him sit out Weeks 8-10 in Philly's last game Dec. 5 at the Jets. In that contest, he took on his largest workload of the season -- 27 touches for 142 yards from scrimmage -- and with Jordan Howard (knee) also banged-up, Sanders could be in line for significant reps if available this weekend. Friday's practice report could clear Sanders outright in advance of Sunday's game against Washington.