NFL Player News

Okwuegbunam (knee) caught 11 of 15 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown during the 2020 season. 

Okwuegbunam quickly renewed his chemistry with former Mizzou teammate Drew Lock. The rookie was targeted six times in his debut in Week 5 against New England and then caught all seven of his targets against Kansas City in Week 7. He nabbed an acrobatic, game-turning touchdown in the comeback win over the Chargers before tearing his ACL in Week 9 at Atlanta. Okwuegbunam is an enticing weapon with true 4.5 speed at 260 pounds. With a full offseason ahead of him, he could be a tantalizing TE2 to pair with Noah Fant depending on what the Broncos do with veteran Nick Vannett in the offseason.

The Steelers signed Rader to a reserve/future contract Thursday.

Rader appeared in two games with the Steelers this season, Week 17 and last weekend's wild-card loss to the Browns. The tight end out of Youngstown State will now get an opportunity to continue his development with the organization.

Lewis (knee) does not carry an injury designation for Saturday's divisional-round matchup against the Rams, Wes Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official site reports.

Lewis saw his practice reps capped due to a lingering knee injury this week, but it never appeared as though his availability for Saturday's game was in much real danger. He stands to handle his usual role behind top tight end Robert Tonyan versus Los Angeles.

Hill (knee) didn't practice Thursday, Amie Just of The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

Hill missed a second straight practice, as did RB Latavius Murray (quad). The Saints should be alright without one or both of them, but it's definitely an interesting situation for fantasy purposes, impacting he outlooks for Alvin Kamara, Drew Brees and the New Orleans pass catchers. Including last week's playoff game, Hill has 18 carries, six targets and three TDs in four appearances since Drew Brees returned from IR.

Njoku (hamstring) won't practice Thursday, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Back-to-back absences suggest the tight end is in some danger of missing Sunday's game at Kansas City. It wouldn't be too big a loss for the Cleveland offense, as Njoku played only 31 percent of snaps in the team's wild-card win over Pittsburgh, catching one pass for seven yards. Austin Hooper logged 90 percent of snaps and a team-high 11 targets, while rookie Harrison Bryant got 33 percent of snaps and zero targets. Bryant would be the favorite to pick up most of Njoku's vacated snaps.

Sample finished the 2020 season with 40 catches for 349 yards and his first NFL touchdown.

While Sample won't be drawing comparisons to Travis Kelce anytime soon, the 2019 second-round pick from the University of Washington did make important strides, taking advantage of the playing time resulting from C.J. Uzomah's season-ending injury.

Fant finished the 2020 season with 62 receptions for 673 yards and three touchdowns on 93 targets over his 15 appearances with the program.

Fant became more of a short-range, volume target under first-year offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak than he had been while playing in the Rich Scangarello-led offense in 2019. The tight end averaged 4.1 catches per game in 2020, but his yards per reception fell by more than three, dropping from 14.1 in 2019 to 10.9 in 2020. Fant's production fell off dramatically after injuring his ankle Week 4 against the Jets, and though he only ended up missing one game on the season, he never seemed to fully recover from the issue. With a full offseason to rehab and with better health in 2021, Fant could have the potential to make another leap forward in his third NFL season.

Pinkney signed a futures contract with the Titans Wednesday.

Pinkney has seen an active roster once so far, which was with the Falcons in Week 17 of this season, but he didn't end up making his NFL debut as he was listed as inactive. The tight end had an impressive four years at Vanderbilt, where he had 114 receptions for 1,560 yards and 14 touchdowns. He'll have his sights set on finally seeing the field with the Titans in the upcoming season.

Lewis (knee) did not practice Wednesday, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.

Lewis was limited in Tuesday's practice, so it's somewhat concerning to see his activity level drop. Of course, the veteran tight end has regularly had a cap on his reps all season. He'll have one more chance to practice before the Packers have to tag him with an injury designation for Saturday's divisional contest against the Rams.

Kelce doesn't appear on the injury report the Chiefs released Wednesday, Herbie Teope of The Kansas City Star reports.

Kelce was held out of the Chiefs' regular-season finale against the Chargers for rest purposes and benefited from Kansas City having a first-round bye in the postseason, so he should have the benefit of fresh legs heading into the team's playoff opener Sunday versus the Browns. Top wideout Tyreek Hill, who dealt with a hamstring injury back in December, is also off the Chiefs' injury report. Patrick Mahomes will thus have his full assortment of pass catching weapons available for the divisional round.