NFL Player News

Rivers played all 16 of his snaps on special teams in Sunday's 28-22 NFC divisional-round loss to the Eagles.

Head coach Sean McVay didn't deviate from starting running back Kyren Williams at all on Sunday, leaving him in for all 71 snaps on offense. On the season, Rivers compiled 22 rushing attempts for 99 yards and tacked on five catches for 34 yards, and he's set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason. Rookie Blake Corum (forearm) established himself as the backup to Williams by season's end, but Rivers has a key role on special teams, which may entice the Rams into bringing him back in 2025.

Ward signed a reserve/future contract with the Steelers on Monday.

Ward initially joined Pittsburgh's practice squad at the end of August after not being able to make the 53-man roster out of training camp. The 27-year-old then shuttled between the active roster, practice squad, and free agency. He ultimately appeared in four regular-season games for the Steelers this season, finishing with five carries for 22 yards.

Vaki appeared in 16 of the Lions' 17 games during the regular season, finishing with six carries for 14 yards and three catches for 37 yards. He was also active for the Lions' 45-31 divisional-round loss to the Commanders on Saturday, playing all 24 of his snaps on special teams.

Though Vaki excelled at both safety and running during his time in college at Utah, the Lions drafted him in the fourth round of April's draft with the intention of making him a full-time running back. He saw limited action on offense as a rookie while Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery took on the bulk of the snaps out of the backfield, but Vaki's established himself as a core member of Detroit's special-teams units. In addition to returning two kickoffs for 55 yards, Vaki recorded eight tackles over his 310 special-teams snaps. With both Gibbs and Montgomery under contract for 2025, Vaki's role on offense may not expand dramatically in his second NFL season.

Chandler finished the 2024 season with 56 carries for 156 yards and six reception for 42 yards in 17 games.

Chandler had an odd season as he began the year as the backup to Aaron Jones and even had a big game. He had 10 carries for 82 yards in Week 2. He quickly lost the backup role after Minnesota traded for Cam Akers in Week 6. Chandler had just 12 carries for 31 yards in the final 11 regular season games but still kept his kickoff return role. The odd part was he didn't appear to lose his role for any noticeable reason (he didn't fumble or commit obvious errors) and the Vikings had praised him early in the season. With Akers set to be an unrestricted free agent, Chandler enters the offseason as the backup, but it's a mystery how the Vikings value him on the depth chart.

Henry rushed 16 times for 84 yards and a touchdown and failed to secure either of his two targets in the Ravens' 27-25 divisional-round loss to the Bills on Sunday.

Henry's opportunities were somewhat capped by a game script that saw the Ravens trail from the 8:52 mark of the second quarter on. The bruising back still managed to rattle off several chunk gains throughout the evening, and he punched in a five-yard touchdown run with 1:37 remaining in the third quarter to bring Baltimore to within two points for the first of two occasions in the second half. Henry proved a seamless fit in the first year of a two-year, $16 million contract with the Ravens, rushing for 1,921 yards -- the second-highest total of his career -- and 16 touchdowns at a career-high 5.9 yards per carry, numbers he complemented with a 19-193-2 receiving line across 17 regular-season games.

Cook rushed 17 times for 67 yards and caught all three of his targets for 15 yards in Sunday's 27-25 AFC divisional-round win over the Ravens.

Cook tied for the league lead with 16 rushing touchdowns in the regular season and added another touchdown on the ground in the wild-card round against the Broncos, but he didn't account for any of Buffalo's three rushing scores in the AFC divisional round. Ray Davis got the call for a one-yard touchdown on the opening drive, and Josh Allen tacked on two first-half touchdowns with his legs, but Cook easily led the team in rushing yards, as no teammate had more than 31. Cook also finished second on the team in receiving yards, so he was heavily involved despite failing to score. He'll continue to be a key cog in Buffalo's offense in the AFC Championship Game against Kansas City's stout run defense.

Akers had five carries for 39 yards in Minnesota's wild-card-round loss to the Rams. He finished the season with 104 carries for 444 yards rushing, 14 receptions for 68 yards and five total touchdowns.

Akers played the first five games of the season with Houston (amassing 147 yards rushing) and was traded to the Vikings where he initially was third string. He soon overtook Ty Chandler as the backup to Aaron Jones and had a productive second half of the season. Akers showed some big-play ability with 232 yards rushing, 48 yards receiving and three touchdowns in his last eight games. He becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season, but the Vikings would seem likely to want to bring him back considering they've traded for him in consecutive seasons.

Barkley carried the ball 26 times for 205 yards and two touchdowns while catching all four of his targets for 27 yards in Sunday's 28-22 divisional-round win over the Rams.

Most of his yardage came on two long touchdowns, a 62-yard dash late in the first quarter and a 78-yard score that put the game away in the fourth. Between the regular season and the playoffs, Barkley has 2,329 rushing yards through 18 appearances, leaving him 147 short of Terrell Davis' all-time NFL record. As the focal point of the Philly offense, Barkley will take aim at that mark while trying to help his team reach the Super Bowl next Sunday against the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.

Williams rushed 19 times for 106 yards and caught one of two targets for minus-1 yard in Sunday's 28-22 NFC divisional-round loss to the Eagles. He also lost a fumble.

Williams set the tone early by picking up a fourth-and-1 from Philadelphia's 10-yard line with a four-yard run on the opening drive to set up a Tyler Higbee touchdown catch three plays later. The standout running back added a 30-yard run in the third quarter to set up a Joshua Karty field goal that tied the game at 13-13, but Williams lost a critical fumble with the Rams driving for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, kicking off a run of 12 consecutive Eagles points that proved too much for LA to overcome. Williams is scheduled to play the final season of his four-year rookie contract in 2025, but the 2022 fifth-round draft pick is an offseason extension candidate after racking up 2,831 scrimmage yards and 31 total touchdowns across the last two regular seasons.

Ali (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's divisional-round contest versus the Bills.

Ali was also inactive for last week's wild-card win against the Steelers, and it looks like the Ravens will once again roll with the three-man backfield of Derrick Henry, Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell in the divisional round. Ali, a rookie fifth-round pick out of Marshall, hasn't seen much playing time this season, recording 10 carries for 31 yards across six regular-season appearances.