NFL Player News

Herbert is in line to be the Bengals' primary running back Saturday in Pittsburgh due to Chase Brown (ankle) being inactive for the contest, Geoff Hobson of the team's official site reports.

Brown won't suit up one week removed from spraining his right ankle during last Saturday's overtime win against the Broncos. Since joining the Bengals at the trade deadline, Herbert has received spot duty in seven consecutive games prior to this Week 18 matchup, turning eight carries into 45 yards (5.6 YPC) and gathering in his only target for seven yards. Considering Cincinnati's other available RBs on Saturday are Trayveon Williams (no touches in 16 games) and undrafted rookie Kendall Milton (one appearance this season), Herbert appears poised to operate as a workhorse for a high-powered offense.

Brown (ankle) is inactive for Saturday's game at Pittsburgh.

Brown suffered a right ankle sprain near the end of regulation of last Saturday's overtime win versus the Broncos. Despite the running back not practicing during Week 18 prep, there was some hope that he'd be available this Saturday, as offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher noted to Ben Baby of ESPN.com on Monday. Officially listed as questionable, Brown's availability was subject to a game-day decision, per Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer via coach Zac Taylor. During his pregame warmup, Brown's right ankle was heavily taped, per Bridget Condon of NFL Network, but his attempts to cut on the ankle seemingly didn't go well, according to Condon. With his lack of availability now confirmed for Saturday's contest, Brown will hand off the Bengals backfield to Khalil Herbert, who will be backed up by Trayveon Williams and Kendall Milton.

Brown (ankle) isn't expected to play Saturday at Pittsburgh, Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reports.

Brown emerged from last Saturday's overtime victory against the Broncos with a sprained right ankle, which didn't allow him to practice during Week 18 prep. Still, the Bengals gave him a chance to suit up this weekend by listing him as questionable on their final injury report Thursday. In the end, Brown went through a pregame workout that may not have gone well when he attempted to cut, per Bridget Condon of NFL Network. Cincinnati will confirm Brown's status once the team posts its inactive list about 90 minutes before an 8:00 p.m. ET kickoff, but it appears as if Khalil Herbert will be the Bengals' lead running back Saturday.

Kelly (groin) is questionable to return to Saturday's game against the Ravens, Brad Stainbrook of 247Sports.com reports.

Kelly was hurt in the first quarter of Saturday's regular-season finale. Jacob Kibodi will serve as the Browns' backup running back behind D'Onta Foreman for as long as Kelly is sidelined.

Badie (back) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Chiefs, Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post reports.

Badie is in the final stages of his recovery from a back injury that caused him to be placed on injured reserve in early October. He was a full participant in practice this week, and while he won't play in Sunday's regular-season finale, Badie could be activated off IR for the wild-card round if the Broncos qualify for the playoffs.

The Cardinals elevated Jones from the practice squad to the active roster Saturday.

Jones injured his shoulder during the preseason, which caused him to be let go by the Cardinals in late August with an injury settlement. He signed with Arizona's practice squad Dec. 18, and now that he's on the active roster, the 27-year-old will serve as the Cardinals' No. 3 running back behind Michael Carter and DeeJay Dallas for Sunday's regular-season finale against the 49ers.

The Saints elevated Edwards-Helaire from the practice squad to the active roster Saturday in advance of Sunday's game in Tampa Bay.

With Kendre Miller (concussion) out and Alvin Kamara (groin) doubtful for Week 18 action, Edwards-Helaire will be among the RB options for the Saints on Sunday along with Jamaal Williams and Jordan Mims. In Week 17 against the Raiders, Kamara also was sidelined, Miller sustained his head injury, and Mims was a healthy scratch, which left Edwards-Helaire (26 of 60 snaps) and Williams (25 of 60) to split work. Having said that, Edwards turned his seven touches into 30 yards from scrimmage, while Williams managed 24 total yards on three touches.

The Giants signed Miller from their practice squad to their active roster Saturday, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports.

Miller has spent the majority of the season on New York's practice squad, though he did get two elevations during the campaign. In those games, he recorded a combined seven snaps on special teams and one snap on offense. Miller could get a bit more opportunity Sunday against Philadelphia with the Giants having nothing to play for except draft-pick slotting, but he's still expected to be fourth on the running-back depth chart behind Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary and Eric Gray.

The Commanders activated Ekeler (concussion) from injured reserve Saturday, and he doesn't have a designation for Sunday's game at Dallas.

Since he was designated for return from IR on Wednesday, Ekeler put together three straight full practices and entered the weekend listed as questionable for Week 18 action. In conjunction with activating him Saturday, the team took him off the injury report, thereby paving the way for his first appearance since he sustained a concussion Week 12 against the Cowboys. At the very least, Ekeler should take on a pass-catching role out of Washington's backfield alongside lead runner Brian Robinson, which likely will relegate Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez to lesser roles than they've had in recent outings.

Sanders (ankle) was activated off injured reserve Saturday and remains questionable for Sunday's contest against the Falcons, Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Presumably, Sanders wouldn't be activated off injured reserve unless the team intended to play the veteran, but it's unclear if Raheem Blackshear, who got the start in replace of the injured Chuba Hubbard (knee) last week, will still get the first crack at the starting job Sunday. Sanders could be a cap causality this offseason, so from that standpoint the team theoretically should be more invested in the development of Blackshear, but this overall could be a messy backfield, with Mike Boone and Velus Jones also chipping in a few snaps as well.