NFL Player News

With DeMarco Murray (knee) ruled out for Saturday's divisional-round game against the Patriots, Henry will head the Titans' backfield, Jim Wyatt of the team's official site reports.

The 2016 second-rounder rushed for a career-high 156 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and caught both of his targets for 35 yards in last week's 22-21 win over the Chiefs in the wild-card round. Per Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com the Titans are inclined to use Henry "quite a bit Saturday to exploit some holes in the Patriots' run defense." Given how well Henry ran during the Titans' initial playoff game, that's a sound approach, though in turn it's expected the New England coaching staff will craft its defensive game plan with containing the Tennessee ground game as its top priority.

Gillislee (knee) remained sidelined at Wednesday's practice, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reports.

Gillislee hasn't practiced since suffering the knee injury in Week 16, with his back-to-back absences Tuesday and Wednesday clouding his availability for Saturday's divisional-round game against the Titans. In any case, Dion Lewis is in line to head the Patriots backfield this weekend, but who will be available to support him in complementary roles remains up in the air. In addition to Gillislee, Rex Burkhead (knee) and James White (ankle) are working in limited fashion at practices this week.

Simmons signed a reserve/future contract with the Giants on Tuesday, per the league's official media site.

Simmons has bounced around on practice squads since entering the league in 2016, but he has yet to receive a promotion to an active roster. He'll need quite the camp to make the 53-man roster come fall, as the Giants now have five total running backs on their roster.

Artis-Payne finished with 18 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown in 13 games played this season.

Artis-Payne, a fifth-round pick in 2015, played just 10 games over his first couple seasons, so this year was his first as a regular member of Carolina's 53-man roster. Despite reaching that status, however, he was handed half as many carries this year as his previous low mark for a season. While his career average of 4.3 yards per rush isn't too shabby, Artis-Payne just hasn't been able to crack the Panthers' backfield rotation. He'll aim to finally do so in 2018, the final year of his rookie contract.

Gillislee (knee) didn't practice Tuesday.

Gillislee's last known activity occurred Week 16, when both Rex Burkhead (knee) and James White (ankle) were sidelined. The latter pair returned in a limited capacity Tuesday, setting themselves up to serve as change-of-pace options for starter Dion Lewis in Saturday's divisional-round game against the Titans. If Burkhead and/or White are available, Gillislee likely would be one of the Pats' inactives this weekend.

The Bills signed Green to a reserve/future contract Monday, The Buffalo News reports.

Green, a second-year product out of TCU, didn't log any NFL action in 2017 but finished the campaign on the Bills' practice squad. He'll now join Buffalo for offseason workouts with the hopes of sticking around in the organization through training camp, though he'll face an uphill battle to crack the 53-man roster.

The Chiefs signed Atkinson to a reserve/future contract Monday, freelance NFL writer Howard Balzerreports.

Atkinson spent the preseason with the Raiders and flashed as both a runner and pass catcher in the preseason finale, rushing nine times for 60 yards and catching two passes for another 33 yards. However, he was cut prior to the season opener only to sign with the Chiefs' practice squad shortly thereafter. The Notre Dame product, who was clocked with a 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the 2014 combine, possesses explosive measurables but will likely need to impress on special teams in order to stick with Kansas City into the 2018 campaign.

Dayes -- who was mostly used on special teams -- rushed five times for 13 yards in 2017.

The rookie out of NC State made the Browns roster out of training camp as the team's third-string running back, but was mainly limited to special teams duty, which included serving as the kickoff returner. Dayes returned 18 kicks for 437 yards, with his longest return going for 71 yards. Isaiah Crowell is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and isn't expected to return. His departure may open up more opportunities for Dayes, though his likelihood of making any kind of significant impact in 2018 remains miniscule.

Smith had three receptions for 27 yards in five games for the Dolphins in 2017.

Smith was signed to Miami's 53-man roster in late November and did not register a carry on the season. All three receptions came in the Dolphins' Week 17 loss to the Bills, allowing the 23-year-old to finish his rookie season on a high note. Smith is under contract with Miami through next season, but will likely need to make quite an impression in training camp to garner consideration for a potential offensive role.

Titans head coach Mike Mularkey confirmed Sunday that Henry would likely start at running back in Tennessee's divisional-round matchup with New England on Jan. 13, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com reports.

While Mularkey isn't ruling DeMarco Murray (knee) out for the showdown with the Patriots after the veteran running back sat out the team's playoff-opening win over the Chiefs last weekend, Henry will be in line for the lead role again after producing 191 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown on 25 touches in the upset victory. Murray, who is dealing with a Grade 3 MCL tear, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, is considered day-to-day at this juncture and will likely only be available in a supporting role for the divisional round if he shows enough progress with his recovery during practices this week. Though the top-seeded Patriots are heavy favorites in the matchup, Henry's status as the unquestioned top option out of the backfield makes him a solid DFS building block against a New England rush defense that ceded 4.7 yards per carry during the regular season, the second-worst mark in the NFL.