NFL Player News

Ertz caught four of six targets for 26 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 24-18 win over the Jaguars in London.

Ertz was kept quiet for most of the game, but he made owners happy with a five-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. He's consistently been among the top performers at the tight end position, but owners will have to look elsewhere in Week 9 with the Eagles on bye.

Vannett (back) will play Sunday versus the Lions, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.

Vannett hasn't been an intriguing fantasy option this year with just 12 catches on 18 targets in five games, and it won't get any easier with Ed Dickson (quadriceps) returning from the reserve/Non-Football Injury list. It's unclear if Dickson will be given a full workload right away. Still, Vannett's fantasy value should be discounted accordingly since Dickson's resume is easily the better of the two.

Hollister (hamstring) was ruled out for Monday's game against the Bills, Doug Kyed of NESN.com reports.

Hollister was a limited participant at practice this week, but the Patriots apparently didn't see enough to hand him the questionable tag. The 24-year-old will miss his second straight game, leaving Dwayne Allen to serve as No. 2 tight end with Rob Gronkowski (back) listed as questionable, although he expects to play.

Graham (knee) doesn't have a designation on the final injury report for Sunday's game against the Rams, Michael Cohen of The Athletic reports.

The Packers have been limiting Graham's workload in practice all season, but his availability for games has never been in serious question. He'll take aim at a Rams defense that's given up 8.6 yards per target on passes thrown to tight ends this season.

Njoku (knee) does not carry an injury designation for Sunday's game against the Steelers.

The knee issue that limited Njoku at practice earlier this week won't be enough to keep the tight end from handling his duties this weekend. Njoku has scored in his last two games and has clearly emerged as one of QB Baker Mayfield's preferred options in the Cleveland passing game. Over his last three outings, Njoku has combined for 17 catches (on 29 targets) for 176 yards and two scores.

Vannett (back) was a full participant in Thursday's practice, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.

Vannett's full session puts him on track to suit up Sunday against the Lions after he sat out the Oct. 14 win over the Raiders in London before Seattle had its bye week. It's expected that the 25-year-old will reprise his role as the Seahawks' starting tight end, but his usage could be threatened by the looming return of Ed Dickson (quadriceps), who appears in line to make his team debut after spending the first seven weeks of the season on the reserve/Non-Football Injury list. Seattle may prefer to ease Dickson into the mix after the lengthy layoff, but the veteran could ultimately ascend to the top spot on the depth chart due to his more dependable track record than Vannett. As a member of Carolina last season, Dickson hauled in 30 receptions for 437 yards, with his 14.6 yards-per-catch average besting Vannett's career mark (9.9) by a sizable margin.

Derby (foot) is inactive for Thursday night's game against the Texans.

With Derby out, Mike Gesicki and Nick O'Leary will head the team's tight end corps Thursday, with Durham Smythe on hand in a reserve capacity.

Gesicki (shoulder) is listed as active for Thursday night's game against the Texans.

Meanwhile, A.J. Derby (foot) is inactive, which sets the stage for Gesicki and Nick O'Leary to lead the Dolphins' Week 8 tight end corps. Gesicki, who the team took 42nd overall in April's draft, caught all three of his targets for a season-high 44 yards this past Sunday against the Lions and his involvement in the Miami passing game could continue to expand, with wideouts Albert Wilson (hip/IR) and Kenny Stills (groin) both sidelined Thursday night.

Hollister (hamstring) was listed as a limited practice participant Thursday.

Hollister is probably going to end up listed as questionable for Monday night's game against the Bills and given that he was unable to play in Week 7, he's not a lock to return to action this week. Meanwhile, fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski (ankle/back) was also limited Thursday and has a chance to play Monday night after missing this past Sunday's game along with Hollister.

Because Uzomah is the only remaining tight end on the Bengals that began the season on the active roster, he's no longer able to play special teams for them, despite being second on the team in tackles there last season, Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com reports.

That's one of the reasons why the team's coaching staff is so excited about new addition Jordan Franks, who will give them another special teams option. While this nugget doesn't register much for fantasy players, at least directly, it does prevent one path for Uzomah to get injured or lose snaps.