NFL Player News

Kelce was removed from practice Thursday due to hip and back tightness, Nate Taylor of The Athletic reports.

It's likely nothing to worry about this early in camp. Kelce has played 15 or 16 games in seven straight seasons, topping 850 snaps in each of the past six and 1,000 yards in each of the past five.

Okwuegbunam (knee) started training camp as a limited participant in practice, Troy Renck of Denver 7 News reports.

The 2020 fourth-round pick had surgery Dec. 1 to repair a torn ACL in his right knee, ending his rookie season with an 11/121/1 receiving line in four games. The Broncos seem to be counting on Okwuegbunam to finish up his rehab and earn the No. 2 spot at tight end, considering their other depth options at the position are Austin Fort (zero NFL appearances), Eric Saubert (10 catches in 40 games) and undrafted rookie Shaun Beyer. Starter Noah Fant already figures to play a lot of snaps, and he could handle even more than usual early in the season if Okwuegbunam struggles to get back into game shape at the end of a lengthy rehab process.

The Texans placed Brown on the non-football injury list Wednesday with an unspecified issue, NFL reporter Aaron Wilson reports.

Brown re-signed with Houston on a one-year, $2.2 million deal in the spring, but he's not healthy entering training camp. The 27-year-old appeared in 13 games in 2020 and caught 14 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said Wednesday that he expects Ertz to be included on the Week 1 roster, Tim McManus of ESPN.com reports.

Roseman was spotted talking to Ertz on Wednesday after the first practice of training camp, following an offseason in which the veteran tight end was a frequent subject of trade rumors. It's unclear if the Eagles aggressively shopped him or merely listened to offers, but Ertz can still likely be had, though Philadelphia may not be ready to give him away for next to nothing. The 30-year-old tight end has a non-guaranteed $8.5 million base salary this season, while his main competition at the position, 26-year-old Dallas Goedert, still has a year remaining on his rookie contract.

Ertz reported Tuesday for the start of training camp, though it still isn't clear he'll be with the Eagles come Week 1, Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The Eagles don't want to trade Ertz for pennies, but that's what they may end up doing -- if not outright releasing him -- when faced with the reality of an $8.5 million base salary (non-guaranteed) for a 30-year-old tight end who may not even be a starter anymore. Then again, it's a reasonable price to pay if Ertz can rebound to his pre-2020 form, following an injury-shortened season in which he was thoroughly outplayed by fellow Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert, a 2018 second-round pick who is now entering the final year of his rookie contract. Conventional wisdom for a rebuilding team would be to trade Ertz and extend Goedert, but there are still a few different ways it could play out. Unfortunately, none of those scenarios is likely to return Ertz to his days of perennial triple-digit targets.

Asiasi (illness) has tested positive for COVID-19 and is practicing virtually, Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com reports.

Asiasi is considered 'out indefinitely' according to Hannable, but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that the second-year tight end is only experiencing mild symptoms, and that he's targeting a return to the field as soon as he's cleared all of the league's protocols related to COVID-19. David Wells is expected to handle increased reps behind Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith until Asiasi is cleared for a return.

Hooper and QB Baker Mayfield should have better chemistry in their second season together, according to Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Hooper was disappointing for fantasy managers last season, unable to overcome the challenge of joining a new team with a new coaching staff in a year without spring practices or preseason games. He had a better year from the Browns' standpoint, with competent blocking helping the team's prolific rushing attack and a late flurry of receiving production contributing to a playoff appearance. Hooper is locked in as a starter for the second season of a four-year, $42 million contract, but there's no guarantee of improvement on his 2020 average of 5.4 targets per game, considering the Browns also have David Njoku and Harrison Bryant at tight end, not to mention WR Odell Beckham returning from an ACL tear. On the other hand, Hooper does have plenty of room to improve his efficiency after posting career lows for both catch rate (65.7 percent) and yards per target (6.2) last season. He had a 77.3 percent catch rate and 8.1 YPT in four years with the Falcons.

Hockenson is "poised for even more" this season, according to Benjamin Raven of MLive.com.

Despite having major ankle surgery at the end of his rookie season, Hockenson bounced back in Year 2 to start 16 games, handling a 73.2 percent snap share and 101 targets. The eighth overall pick from the 2019 Draft could now see even more work in his third NFL season, after the Lions traded QB Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff and then lost WRs Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones in free agency. Touchdowns may be hard to come by on a rebuilding team, but Hockenson is one of the few tight ends in the league who is considered the favorite to lead his team in targets. The volume alone should make him a fantasy asset, and there's plenty of upside if he takes another step forward while Goff turns in a competent season.

Thomas is signing a three-year extension with Washington, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

The two-year, $6.15 million contract Thomas signed last offseason ended up being a bargain for Washington, as the tight end entered the year with 317 career receiving yards before catching 72 passes for 670 yards and six touchdowns. Thomas did it on the strength of volume, with 110 targets in 16 games, but he also improved his efficiency after a rough start, producing 3.3 YPT in Weeks 1-5 and 7.2 YPT in Weeks 6-17. He averaged 5.3 catches for 51.3 yards over those final 11 games, then added five receptions for 74 yards in the playoff loss to Tampa. In any case, Thomas turned 30 this summer, but he could still be on the upswing given that it wasn't until 2014 that he began the transition from quarterback to tight end. That said, he's unlikely to see 110 targets again, as Washington no longer has an empty cupboard behind Terry McLaurin at wide receiver. The team now has Thomas under contract through 2024, Curtis Samuel and Antonio Gibson signed through 2023, and McLaurin through 2022. It's a solid group of pass catchers for 38-year-old QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who should be an upgrade on last year's disastrous QB room -- Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, Alex Smith and Taylor Heinicke all made starts.

Mack seems like the favorite for the No. 3 tight end role in Detroit, Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic reports.

One of the first players the Lions' new regime added this offseason, Mack will primarily need to fend off Jake Hausmann and Brock Wright to secure a roster spot.