NFL Player News

Hooper (knee) isn't practicing Wednesday, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports.

Injured in the closing minutes of Sunday's 34-20 loss to Green Bay, the 24-year-old tight end is now in danger of sitting out Week 15 against the Cardinals, though coach Dan Quinn said Monday that Hooper should have a chance to play. No. 2 tight end Logan Paulsen (knee/ankle) returned to practice Wednesday after missing the Week 14 game.

Graham (knee/thumb) wasn't present at practice Wednesday, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports.

The Packers may reach the point of no return as early as this weekend -- i.e. officially out of playoff contention -- which could spur them to shut down the veteran tight end, who has had difficulty hauling in high-velocity passes from Aaron Rodgers, according to Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. More so than the knee, Graham's broken left thumb has hindered him over the last three games, a span in which he's posted 12 catches (on 20 targets) for 97 yards. As long as he's available, he'll follow his typical practice regimen with a Week 15 visit to Chicago on tap.

James caught both of his targets, totaling 28 yards, during Sunday's 24-21 loss to Oakland.

After looking like one of the teams to beat in the AFC, the Steelers look like they might slide out of the playoff hunt with three straight losses, all to teams in the AFC West. James has stayed quiet during that span. The fourth-year target started the season off hot with eight catches and 198 yards in his first two games. He's averaged just two catches for 19.6 yards per game since then: Vance McDonald has made himself at home. Sunday offers an opportunity to rebound against a bottom-10 Patriots pass defense surrendering 274 receiving yards per game, but James likely won't take advantage because of his questionable offensive role.

Andrews was unable to haul in either of his two targets during Sunday's 27-24 loss to Kansas City.

It was Andrews' first catchless outing of the season. The rookie tight end has been the Ravens' most productive option at the position despite the numerous early-round picks in the stable. He entered Sunday with five catches for 140 yards in three games with fellow rookie Lamar Jackson at quarterback. The Ravens have been run-heavy with Jackson at quarterback, but Andrews is one of the safer Baltimore targets to roll with on a weekly basis, which might not be saying much. Sunday brings a bottom-10 Tampa Bay pass defense to Baltimore.

The Buccaneers signed Hudson from their practice squad on Tuesday, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports.

Hudson has impressed on Tampa Bay's practice squad all season, and will now have a shot to make his NFL debut. The undrafted rookie has some opportunity for targets with O.J. Howard (ankle) on injured reserve, but is unlikely to see a significant offensive workload behind Cameron Brate, Alan Cross and Antony Auclair.

The Titans placed Smith (knee) on injured reserve Tuesday, Jim Wyatt of the team's official site reports.

Smith suffered a season-ending MCL injury in the Week 14 win over the Jaguars, but coach Mike Vrabel had maintained optimism as recently as Monday that the tight end could avoid such a fate. The Titans' decision to move Smith to IR a day later implies follow-up scans weren't as promising as the team had hoped. Smith should be ready to go for the start of the 2019 campaign, but a Tennessee squad already short on quality pass-catching options will now find itself down another key body for the final three contests of this season. Anthony Firkser and Luke Stocker are expected to handle most of the reps at tight end the rest of the way, with the former likely to see the greater involvement of the two in the passing game.

Akins is capable of playing both slot and wide receiver if the Texans need that. "Jordan's a very versatile guy. There's no doubt about that. Obviously, he's a tight end, but you saw him [Sunday] - he lined up out wide, he lines up in the slot, he lines up in the backfield. Very smart guy, can do a lot of different things," said coach Bill O'Brien.

Akins' ability to play off the line of scrimmage could come in handy for the Texans, who are dealing with injuries to Keke Coutee (hamstring) and DeAndre Carter (concussion) as they prepare for Week 15 against the Jets on Saturday.

Vannett hauled in his only target for 12 yards in Monday's win over the Vikings.

Vannett picked up a first down with his catch early in the first quarter, but Wilson didn't throw his way the rest of the contest. In the last four games, Vannett has five catches on six targets for 55 yards and no touchdowns.

Anthony Firkser is likely to see an increased role with Jonnu Smith and Delanie Walker both sidelined, Jim Wyatt of the team's official site reports.

Speaking at Monday's press conference, coach Mike Vrabel said of Firkser, "I think we have to get Anthony in there more, regardless of who is healthy." While MyCole Pruitt and Luke Stocker will be available to play, they have both made negligible contributions in the passing game. That leaves Firkser -- who has recorded at least three receptions in each of his last four games -- as the most likely candidate to fill in as the primary receiving option at the position on Sunday against the Giants.

Seals-Jones compiled three receptions (on five targets) for 31 yards during Sunday's 17-3 loss to the Lions.

A breakout candidate before the season, Seals-Jones has been at the behest of below-average quarterback play. Working as the Cardinals' No. 1 tight end for much of the year, he's rarely put up more than Sunday's yardage total, doing so four times in the previous 12 games. Overall, his catch rate is merely 50 percent -- 30 receptions on 60 targets -- and he's scored just one TD in 2018, so there are plenty of more desirable TE options out there.