NFL Player News

The Rams have promoted Blanton to their active roster ahead of Sunday's tilt against the Texans, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Blanton reverted to the practice squad earlier this week after suiting up for his first game of the season in Week 7. He will now make that back-to-back appearances, as he is expected to contribute on special teams and provide depth at tight end.

Dafney played 14 of 73 offensive snaps (19 percent) during Thursday's 24-21 win in Arizona.

Starting Week 13 of last season, Dafney became a regular in the Packers' tight end rotation, but in seven appearances (including playoffs) he topped out at a 39 percent snap share and combined for two catches (on two targets) for 26 yards and one touchdown. He proceeded to miss Weeks 3-7 of the current campaign due to an IR stint caused by a hip injury, but his return Thursday happened to coincide with top tight end Robert Tonyan suffering a torn ACL. Dafney thus seems poised for a consistent role at tight end alongside Marcedes Lewis and Josiah Deguara moving forward.

Deguara hauled in both targets for 20 yards in Thursday's 24-21 win at Arizona.

Deguara doubled his catch count on the campaign in the process, and he's likely to earn more work moving forward after Robert Tonyan suffered a torn ACL in the contest. Per Mike Spofford of the Packers' official site, coach Mike LaFleur expects to take a "by-committee" approach at tight end moving forward, and because of the team's TE-heavy scheme Deguara may begin to realize the investment made in him as a third-round pick in the 2020 draft. Aside from Deguara, Green Bay trots out Marcedes Lewis, Dominique Dafney and Tyler Davis at the position.

Lewis is in line for more work following Robert Tonyan's diagnosis of a torn ACL, Mike Spofford of the Packers' official site reports.

Coach Matt LaFleur said the Packers will take a "by-committee" approach at tight end following the loss of Tonyan for the rest of the season. Lewis may not be in line for a jump in targets, but his share of the offensive snaps could bump up from the 40-50 percent that he's earned in most of the team's eight games so far. Along with Lewis, Josiah Deguara, Dominique Dafney and Tyler Davis will be the TE considerations for Green Bay.

Smith (shoulder) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Chargers after logging limited practices this past week.

Smith, who was forced out of this past Sunday's win over the Jets after suffering a shoulder injury, is one of 14 players listed as questionable by New England this week. Per Zack Cox of NESN.com, though Smith's scheduled Friday news conference was canceled, he did travel with the team to Los Angeles in advance of Week 8 action. Official confirmation of Smith's game status will thus arrive when the Patriots' inactives are posted ahead of Sunday's 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff, but if he's limited or out this weekend, Hunter Henry would be in line for added looks.

Brown (thigh) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Rams after failing to practice Friday, Brooks Kubena of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brown's trending in the wrong direction, as he failed to practice Friday after being limited Thursday. If the burly tight end can't go come game day, Jordan Akins would likely have a near-monopoly on snaps at tight end, though neither option has been effective as a pass-catcher in their current timeshare.

Hill (concussion) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports.

Hill was unable to practice at all this week and still hasn't resumed practicing since being concussed back in Week 5. He presumably has yet to clear the NFL's concussion protocol and will need to do so in order to give himself a chance to play in Week 9 against the Falcons. Trevor Siemian will continue to back up Jameis Winston against the Buccaneers.

Freiermuth is expected to have an elevated workload in Sunday's game at Cleveland with Eric Ebron (hamstring) sidelined, Chris Adamski of TribLive.com reports.

Ebron injured his hamstring at Thursday's practice and didn't get on the field Friday, paving the way for Freiermuth to make his fourth start of the season. Freiermuth is coming off a season-best performance Week 6 against the Seahawks -- seven catches (on seven targets) for 58 yards on 60 percent snap share -- and now the rookie second-round pick seems poised for a career-best share of the offensive plays.

Kroft (back) upgraded to full practice participation Friday but is still listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Bengals, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports.

Kroft hasn't seen the field since Week 4 while tending to a back injury, but his full practice participation Friday suggests he's trending in the right direction after being limited Wednesday and Thursday. If he's able to suit up Sunday, Kroft will face a Bengals team with which he spent his first four seasons. That stint in Cincinnati included a career-best 2017 campaign in which Kroft scored seven touchdowns, but the 29-year-old tight end has just five touchdowns in his other six seasons combined.

Hockenson (ankle/knee) doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's game against the Eagles.

Despite being listed on the injury report for much of the season, Hockenson has played at least 80 percent of snaps on offense in every game, with his 53 targets narrowly topping D'Andre Swift's 52 for the team lead. The third-year tight end should be a big part of Detroit's gameplan this Sunday against a slumping Philadelphia defense.