NFL Player News

Engram (foot) isn't practicing Wednesday, Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reports.

Coming out of a bye week, Engram suggested Monday that he would have a shot to return for Sunday's game in Chicago. His continued absence from practice suggests it isn't the most likely scenario, but he still has Thursday and Friday to get in some work before the game. Rhett Ellison (concussion) also was held out from Wednesday's practice, leaving Scott Simonson and Kaden Smith as the healthy tight ends.

Njoku (wrist) was cleared for full contact in his return to practice Wednesday, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

The Browns designated Njoku as one of their two players that can return from injured reserve. The tight end is eligible to be activated as soon as Sunday's game against Miami, and his immediate clearance for contact suggests he has a decent shot to play. The Browns have deployed a rotation at tight end ever since Njoku broke his wrist in mid-September, with Ricky Seals-Jones, Demetrius Harris, Pharaoh Brown and Stephen Carlson combining for 21 receptions, 278 yards and five touchdowns on 31 targets over the past eight games.

Njoku (wrist) was officially designated to return from injured reserve Wednesday after making a return to practice, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Njoku broke his wrist Week 2 and now has met the minimum IR requirement of eight missed games. He's eligible to be reinstated to the 53-man roster ahead of Sunday's matchup with Miami, but the Browns will first want to monitor his progress in practice. The team has been using a rotation at tight end since mid-September, with Ricky Seals-Jones, Demetrius Harris, Pharaoh Brown and Stephen Carlson combining for 21 receptions, 278 yards and five touchdowns on 31 targets over the past eight games. Njoku should take over most of the tight-end targets once he has full clearance, though it's possible the Browns scale back his workload initially.

Vannett caught his only target for a seven-yard gain during Thursday's 21-7 loss to Cleveland.

Vannett ended Thursday's mess with just 16 offensive snaps, by far a season low. The Ohio State product has recorded a reception in four of his last five games, but has not caught multiple passes in a game since Week 4 -- his first game with Pittsburgh after coming over from Seattle -- and has just one red-zone target this season. The good news, such as it is, is that Sunday brings a trip to Cincinnati to play a Bengals team that surrendered a season-high 28 yards to Vannett in that Week 4 contest.

Kroft caught his lone target for a six-yard gain during Sunday's 37-20 win over Miami.

Sunday's grab snapped a two-game catchless streak for Kroft and represented his first red-zone target of the season. The Rutgers product isn't lacking for time on the field, picking up at least 24 offensive snaps in four of the five games in which he's played this season, but he just seems to be an afterthought in the passing attack, seeing multiple targets in only one game. Josh Allen should have plenty of better options Sunday and so should you, especially with Kroft facing Denver's fifth-ranked pass defense.

Sokol signed with the Jaguars' practice squad Monday, Garry Smits of The Florida Times-Union reports.

Sokol was previously on the Chargers' practice squad but now makes his way to a new team. Jacksonville's top three tight ends -- Geoff Swaim (concussion), James O'Shaughnessy (knee) and Josh Oliver (back) -- are all on injured reserve while top remaining option Seth DeValve (oblique) is also less than 100 percent, so if Sokol makes a good impression he could conceivably make his way to the 53-man roster.

Alie-Cox (thumb) was limited in practice Tuesday.

After an estimated DNP on Monday, it's a good sign that Alie-Cox was at least able to get some work in Tuesday. With Eric Ebron (ankle) sitting out for a second-straight day, the Virginia Commonwealth product could be in line for more work Thursday against the Texans.

Higbee wasn't targeted in Sunday's 17-7 win over the Bears.

Higbee shook off a knee injury to suit up for the contest, and he logged a season-high 76 percent snap share. The fourth-year tight end has run a route on 68.1 percent of his snaps this season, but the production hasn't followed with just 21 catches for 192 yards and a score over nine contests.

Everett caught his only target for 20 yards in Sunday's 17-7 win over the Bears.

Despite Brandin Cooks (concussion) and Robert Woods (personal) being inactive, Everett couldn't draw Jared Goff's eye in this prime-time matchup. While Goff has been noticeably better at home this season, Everett's performance gets a boost on the road. The third-year pro has recorded 22 receptions for 276 yards (12.5 YPC) in five road games compared to 13 for 109 (8.4 YPC) over the same amount of home contests.

Hurst caught both targets for 16 scoreless yards in Sunday's 41-7 win over the Bengals.

Despite Mark Andrews getting a breather by logging a 35-percent snap share in the blowout win, Hurst's usage stayed low, as he played 30 of a possible 72 offensive snaps. Even in dynasty formats, it's tough to hold onto Hurst, as he'll be stuck behind Andrews and Nick Boyle for the foreseeable future.