NFL Player News

Hollister (groin) is active for Sunday's preseason game in Minnesota, Gregg Bell of The News Tribune reports.

Hollister is buried deep down the tight end depth chart, so he'll need to impress over the remainder of preseason. Getting back on the field is the first step in that regard.

Coach Sean McDermott said Kroft (foot) is "moving in the right direction," Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic reports.

There's still no timetable for Kroft's return from a broken foot, but there's growing optimism he can avoid a stint on the regular-season PUP list. If he remains on the PUP list for Week 1, the tight end would have to sit out the season's first six weeks.

Garner (knee) was active for Saturday's preseason game against the Steelers.

Garner has been making his way back from a torn ACL he suffered a year ago, and while he played just one snap in Saturday's contest, the fact that he was on the active roster is enough to show he is healthy again. He will use the rest of the offseason to compete for a depth role on the team.

Graham was forced out of practice Sunday with an apparent finger injury, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, it looked like the tight end may have dislocated a finger. If that's the case, we'll consider Graham day-to-day as Thursday's preseason game against the Raiders approaches.

Njoku (knee) didn't play in Saturday's preseason game against Indianapolis.

Njoku got the start in Cleveland's preseason opener, playing seven snaps without any targets. There hasn't been any indication that the knee injury holding him out of practice poses a threat to his Week 1 availability.

Thomas (ribs) returned for Sunday's practice, Steve Reed of the Associated Press reports.

Thomas had been dealing with a rib injury ever since the team's first preseason game. Now that he's healthy, it's likely that he'll suit up for Thursday's preseason game against New England.

James caught one pass for four yards during Saturday's preseason game against the Texans.

T.J. Hockenson, meanwhile, caught one pass for 22 yards, looking like the superior receiving threat compared to James. However, James is still a valued part of the offense due to his blocking ability, and he could still catch a few passes along the way as well.

Hockenson caught one pass for 22 yards during Saturday's preseason game against the Texans.

Hockenson looked smooth during a catch-and-run play that resulted in a quality gain on the rookie's first grab in live action as a pro. However, he also made a mistake that cost the team a Kerryon Johnson run, one on which Hockenson was ticketed with an illegal blocking penalty. Hockenson could see more involvement in the third preseason game next Friday against the Bills.

Allen started in Friday's preseason loss at Tampa Bay, logging eight of the 77 Dolphins' offensive snaps.

Making his first appearance of exhibition season, Allen didn't make an impact in the stat sheet and was called for offensive holding on Miami's second drive. There's little to take from the effort, aside from the fact he appears to have put the injury behind him that held him out of the initial weeks of training camp. Now, he can begin in earnest his competition for TE slotting behind top option Mike Gesicki.

Hudson brought in six of seven targets for 93 yards and a touchdown in the Buccaneers' 16-14 preseason win over the Dolphins on Friday.

For the second time in as many exhibitions, Hudson rose to the forefront in the second half. The athletic tight end is making a significant push to potentially secure the third slot on the depth chart behind O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate, although he'll have to presumably prove he can provide comparable blocking to Anthony Auclair, who's served as the in-line option at the position over much of the last two seasons. Hudson had the good fortune of making two of his biggest catches with the game on the line, as he notched 18- and 27-yard grabs to solely move the Buccaneers into position for what would turn out to be a game-winning field goal by Matt Gay.