NFL Player News

The Patriots signed Washington to the practice squad Tuesday, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com reports.

Washington signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft and spent the last two seasons on the Bengals' practice squad. However, he didn't stick with Cincinnati this year after being waived ahead of the 53-man roster deadline. The 6-foot-5 tight end has yet to make his NFL debut.

Bryant (thumb/thigh) is listed as a limited participant in Tuesday's practice, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

According to Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, Bryant was spotted riding a stationary bike off to the side during the open portion of Tuesday's session, but the tight end must have fit in some work behind the scenes in order to get bumped up from a non-participant on Monday's report. If Bryant can upgrade to full activity Wednesday, it could be enough for him to approach Thursday's game against the Steelers without an injury designation.

Cleveland placed James (biceps) on IR on Tuesday.

James will now have to miss at least the next four weeks, including the Browns' matchup versus Pittsburgh, his former team, Thursday. Regardless, David Njoku is Cleveland's clear number one tight end and nearly an every-down player, and Harrison Bryant (thumb) has played ahead of James up to this point too.

Mundt had two receptions for 28 yards on three targets in Monday's loss at Philadelphia.

Mundt started at tight end for a second consecutive game, but Irv Smith had the larger workload with eight targets and more snaps on offense (34 to 28). With Smith being eased into action after thumb surgery, Mundt's role in the passing game should decrease as Smith gets even more opportunities.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that Schultz is dealing with a PCL sprain to his right knee and is being viewed as questionable in advance of Dallas' Week 3 game Monday against the Giants, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports. "We'll see how he works this week. My assessment is [the knee injury] is not long term," Jones said of Schultz.

Schultz's injury caused him to exit late in the Cowboys' win over the Bengals last Sunday, and he seems unlikely to be a full practice participant when Dallas begins Week 3 prep in earnest Thursday. Jones' comments suggest that Schultz could make enough progress as the week unfolds to suit up Monday, but fantasy managers may want to begin preparing to have another option available to use at tight end Week 3 in case the 26-year-old isn't ready to play versus the Giants. Even if Schultz gains clearance for Monday's game, he'll be catching passes once again from Cooper Rush while Dak Prescott (thumb) is sidelined until at least Week 4. Before he exited Sunday, Schultz caught two balls for 18 yards on four targets while playing 90 percent of Dallas' snaps on offense.

Likely caught four of five targets for 43 yards Sunday against the Dolphins.

The rookie got in the box score in Week 2 after being held without a catch in the season opener. Likely had five targets on 17 snaps, which is a notable rate. The one target he did not catch was noteworthy, as it gave the Dolphins the ball late in the game and helped Miami complete its comeback. That said, Likely's usage and efficiency were encouraging overall. Likely and the Ravens travel to New England to face the Patriots in Week 3.

Thomas caught one of three targets for 13 yards in Sunday's 19-16 loss to the Giants.

Thomas' Week 2 performance was more characteristic of his career than his 53-yard output to open the campaign. The veteran holds tepid value as someone down the pecking order in an underwhelming passing attack so far.

Saubert recorded a 22-yard touchdown reception among his two targets in Sunday's 16-9 win over the Texans.

Saubert narrowly missed out on reeling in a touchdown reception in the Broncos' 17-16 loss to the Seahawks in Week 1, but he came down with a tough catch in the end zone while being draped by a defender early in the fourth quarter of Sunday's win. The score helped put the Broncos up 13-9 before kicker Brandon McManus tacked on an insurance field goal with 3:36 remaining. Despite his involvement in the red zone early on this season, Saubert has only drawn three targets in total and has played fewer than 40 percent of the Broncos' offensive snaps in both of the team's first two games. Even if top tight end Albert Okwuegbunam were to miss time, Saubert would likely be deployed mostly as a blocker and wouldn't be in store for an abundance of targets.

Smith secured five of eight targets for 36 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings' 24-7 loss to the Eagles on Monday night.

The fourth-year tight end crossed the goal line in the second quarter for the first time since Week 16 of the 2020 season after missing all of the 2021 campaign with a knee injury. Smith had the look of a budding star that season with a 30-365-5 line across 13 games, but in a previous iteration of the Vikings' offense, he may have had an uphill climb for targets. While plenty of attention is still likely to be bestowed upon wideouts Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, the fact Smith drew the second-most looks Monday night behind the former is reason for optimism that head coach Kevin O'Connell, who utilized Tyler Higbee with effectiveness during his Rams days, will continue affording Smith plenty of opportunity even with Smith having a bad drop on a potential 60-yard deep touchdown. The 24-year-old's first chance to build on his solid Week 2 effort comes against the Lions in a Week 3 home NFC North showdown.

Goedert brought in five of six targets for 82 yards in the Eagles' 24-7 win over the Vikings on Monday night.

Goedert paced the Eagles in receiving yardage and shared runner-up status in catches during what was a second straight impressive effort to open the season. The athletic tight end now has eight receptions for 142 yards over the Eagles' first pair of contests, with the 17.8 yards per catch particularly standing out and perhaps a sign of a bigger downfield role this season. Goedert will look to continue stretching the field in a Week 3 road divisional matchup against the Commanders on Sunday.