NFL Player News

Derby (foot/knee) was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports.

Derby continues to manage a lingering foot issue which he's dealt with for the majority of the season. After missing six consecutive games, Derby returned to action in Week 10 against the Packers, playing 30 offensive snaps and finishing with one reception for 13 yards on two targets. With a Week 11 bye to further aid his recovery, Derby seems likely to suit up Sunday against the Colts and and share snaps at tight end with Nick O'Leary and Mike Gesicki.

Graham (thumb) didn't practice Wednesday, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com previously reported that Graham was going to try to play through his broken thumb this Sunday against the Vikings, but such an outcome hinges on how things go in terms of the tight end's success in finding a splint and/or protective device that allows him to do his job with limited restrictions. If Graham is unable to go this weekend, Lance Kendricks, Marcedes Lewis and Robert Tonyan would handle expanded roles among the Packers' tight-end ranks.

Njoku (knee) was limited at practice Wednesday, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Following the Browns' bye week, Njoku is no longer nursing a rib injury, but he continues to manage a knee issue that hasn't caused him to miss any games. Njoku has cooled off of late, but he's a bounce-back candidate in Week 12 versus a Cincinnati defense that tight ends have found a degree of success against this season.

Andrews caught his lone target for a 19-yard gain during Sunday's 24-21 win over the Bengals.

Coming into Sunday, the rookie tight end had been targeted at least four times in three of his previous four games. That went away as Baltimore went run-heavy with fellow rookie Lamar Jackson at quarterback. Andrews is probably the member of the Ravens' deep tight-end corps most likely to produce in the passing game on any given week, but whether Lamar Jackson or Joe Flacco (hip) starts Sunday against the Raiders obviously impacts his potential opportunities and value. The situation is worth monitoring.

Malleck (undisclosed) was waived off injured reserve by the Broncos on Tuesday, per the NFL's official transaction log.

Malleck landed on injured reserve with the undisclosed injury in early August, and it remains unclear whether he's still injured. The 25-year-old has struggled to stick on a roster since going undrafted in 2015 but will look to latch on elsewhere.

James was not targeted during Sunday's 20-16 win over the Jaguars.

James' slide hit rock-bottom Sunday for his first catchless performance of the season. After being targeted five times in each of the Steelers' first two games, the Penn State product has been targeted more than three times just once in his past eight games as starter Vance McDonald heats up. Sunday brings a Denver defense that ranks near the middle in fantasy production allowed to this position.

Uzomah had three catches for 41 yards on five targets in the Bengals' loss to the Ravens on Sunday.

Even with Tyler Eifert and Tyler Kroft both on IR, Uzomah hasn't had a big-target game in recent memory. In fact, it was unheralded backup Matthew Lengel who caught a touchdown pass in the game rather than Uzomah.

Allen (knee) wasn't present for the media-access portion of Tuesday's practice, Zack Cox of NESN.com reports.

The Patriots appear to be in generally good health coming out of their bye week, as Allen was the only member of the 53-man roster who wasn't seen at practice. It hardly comes as a surprise, given that it was reported shortly after the Patriots' Week 10 loss to the Titans that Allen would likely miss a few games after sustaining a knee injury in that contest. Fortunately, Allen's expected absence for at least Sunday's game in New York against the Jets should be cushioned by the probable return of top tight end Rob Gronkowski (back/ankle), who missed the Patriots' final two games before the bye.

Coach Jason Garrett said Tuesday that the Cowboys would lean more heavily on Schultz in the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Redskins with Geoff Swaim (wrist) sidelined, Calvin Watkins of The Athletic reports. "He's a capable guy," Garrett said of Schultz. "Just needs to play more."

Owner Jerry Jones said earlier Tuesday in his weekly radio appearance that Swaim would likely be sidelined for 3-to-4 weeks after requiring wrist surgery, leaving the Cowboys without their top tight end for multiple games. While Dallas will likely lean on a committee that also includes Blake Jarwin and Rico Gathers to fill in for Swaim, Schultz seemingly projects as the preferred option of the lot by virtue of leading the trio in offensive snaps the past three weeks. Even so, Schultz doesn't make for a particularly intriguing fantasy dart in Week 12, given the likelihood that he'll split work in addition to the fact that Swaim had a fairly minimal role in the team's passing attack.

Higbee caught six of seven targets for 63 yards during Monday's 54-51 win over Kansas City.

With Cooper Kupp (knee) out for the season, Higbee has been more involved in the passing game of late. The tight end has hauled in 11 of 14 targets for 128 yards and a score over the past three weeks and projects to continue chipping in modest totals following Los Angeles' Week 12 bye. However, even though Higbee continues to play more offensive snaps than fellow tight end Gerald Everett (59 to 23 this week), Everett is proving to be the better vertical weapon.