NFL Player News

Hodges (head) cleared waivers and reverted to the Vikings' injured reserve Monday.

Hodges was competing for an opportunity to back up Kyle Rudolph at tight end before suffering a head injury. He will now remain on the Vikings' IR for the remainder of the season unless both parties reach an injury settlement.

Mundt was waived by the Rams on Monday, Gary Klein of The Los Angeles Times reports.

Mundt played in just one preseason game -- the finale against bubble players -- and recorded two receptions for 24 yards and a touchdown.

Kelce (calf) was a limited participant in Tuesday's practice, the Chiefs' official site reports.

Due to the Chiefs' abbreviated practice schedule this week with the season opener coming Thursday, Kelce may end up being limited in all three of the team's sessions leading up to the game, but the calf issue isn't expected to keep him on the sideline against the Patriots, nor result in anything less than a normal snap count. With the Chiefs lacking in many other established receiving options beyond top wideout Tyreek HIll, Kelce should remain one of the more highly targeted tight ends in the NFL in 2017.

The Giants are listing Engram second on their depth chart at tight end behind Rhett Ellison heading into the season opener against the Cowboys, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports.

Ellison, a six-year veteran, is the more accomplished blocker of the two tight ends, so it's conceivable that he'll end up seeing the bulk of the early-down reps and cede work on passing downs to Engram, a first-round pick whose speed and hands stack up favorably with most wide receivers. Until Engram proves his worth as a blocker, his snap counts could be restricted a bit, but the Giants are confident that he'll eventually emerge as the team's starting tight end. Even in a backup role, it's quite likely Engram will outproduce Ellison from a fantasy standpoint, as Ellison has never caught more than 19 passes or more than one touchdown in any of his previous five NFL seasons.

Tomlinson is listed as the Jets' top tight end on the depth chart heading into the Week 1 matchup with the Bills, Ralph Vacchiano of SportsNet New York reports.

Once he completes his two-game suspension, Austin Seferian-Jenkins is expected to take over as the Jets' tight end, but for Weeks 1 and 2, it appears Tomlinson will see most of the snaps with the starters. The Jets don't have a strong track record of making use of their tight ends in the receiving game, but due to the team's thin wideout corps, that could change in 2017. Don't expect Tomlinson to be one of the tight ends on the roster that sees a notable volume of targets, however, as the 6-foot-6, 263-pounder is valued mostly for his aptitude as a run blocker.

Bibbs (knee) cleared waivers and landed on the Redskins' injured reserve Sunday, Nora Princiotti of The Washington Times reports.

As expected, Bibbs landed on the IR after being waived with an injury tag. The injury had little to do with his exit, however, as he was not a strong candidate to make it through final cuts regardless. If he's unable to reach an injury settlement with the team, he will spend the entire season on injured reserve.

Kelce (calf) was limited at practice Monday, the Chiefs' official site reports.

So far there's nothing to suggest that Kelce's status for Thursday night's season opener against the Patriots is in any jeopardy, a notion supported by the fact that the tight end was able to work at all Monday, albeit in a limited fashion. With veteran wideout Jeremy Maclin no longer in the mix, we'd expect Kelce and Tyreek Hill to remain QB Alex Smith's top pass-catching targets, with both players liable to soak up some extra volume on that front.

The Cowboys placed Gathers (concussion) on injured reserve Monday, Rob Phillips of the team's official site reports.

Gathers has been embedded in the concussion protocol since mid-August and will now miss at least the first eight weeks of the regular season. Once he's cleared to practice, he'll continue to hone his craft at tight end, more as a potential replacement for Jason Witten in the long term than anything. In the meantime, James Hanna and Geoff Swaim will operate as the Cowboys' reserve tight ends.

Allen (undisclosed) reverted to injured reserve Sunday.

Even at full strength, Allen likely wasn't going to work his way onto the first-team offense in Houston. The Southern University product will have the chance to earn his keep next year with whoever takes a go at him.

Pantale was released by the Dolphins on Saturday, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports.

Pantale couldn't beat out MarQueis Gray and thus was sent packing. He has bounced around the NFL over the past few seasons and is likely to continue to do so should he want to extend his NFL career.