NFL Player News

Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis caught five passes on eight targets for 40 yards in Sunday's loss to the Colts. After being held without a reception through the first three games of the season, Lewis finally got on the board Sunday.

His most valuable days may already be behind him, however, as the impending return of Julius Thomas (hand) will relegate Lewis to No. 2 tight end status. Considering how little damage Lewis did as the No. 1 option, he does not figure to be a strong play once Thomas reasserts himself.

Browns backup tight end Jim Dray was not targeted Sunday in San Diego.

Dray was not utilized in the passing game despite Cleveland needing to lean heavily on the aerial attack while behind in the second half. He was largely an afterthought while Gary Barnidge (10 targets) dominated the attention given to the position. He remains very unlikely to provide any Fantasy production.

Eagles tight end Zach Ertz caught two passes for 11 yards in Sunday's loss to Washington. After plenty of preseason hype and hoopla, Ertz has been a very average tight end through a quarter of the season.

He has just 10 catches for 104 yards and no touchdowns in four games, and he has fewer touchdown catches than teammates Miles Austin, Riley Cooper and Brent Celek, respectively.

Quarterback Sam Bradford looked relatively comfortable Sunday, but the Eagles' passing game has been underwhelming as a whole, and Ertz's numbers have suffered as a result.

Texans tight end Garrett Graham caught one of his six targets for six yards in Sunday's 48-21 loss to the Falcons. The six targets are nice, but Graham has just 13 total (three catches) through four games.

He's having a repeat of his 2014 season when he had just 18 catches in 11 games. To this point in the season, despite leading the league in passing attempts, Houston quarterbacks are not paying much attention to the tight ends.

The one glimmer of hope is that Houston wideouts Nate Washington (hamstring) and Cecil Shorts (shoulder) suffered injuries and the Texans have a short week, playing Thursday night against Indianapolis. That might translate to more tight-end targeting.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caught five of his seven targets for just 49 yards in Sunday's game against the Bengals.

Despite the Chiefs throwing 45 times on Sunday, Kelce was held in check, producing his leanest fantasy output of the season. He was needed a big more as a blocker in this one, as Cincinnati generated consistent pressure on Alex Smith, but his seven targets indicate that he remains a big part of the offense. Kelce has a home matchup with a Bears defense that has allowed an average of just 35 receiving yards per game to tight ends this season.

Vernon Davis (knee) is inactive for the 49ers on Sunday against Green Bay. He had been designated as doubtful.

Vance McDonald, Garrett Celek and Blake Bell are in line to handle the duties at that position, though none represent a high-percentage Fantasy play in Week 4.

Colts tight end Dwayne Allen (ankle) is inactive for Sunday's game against Jacksonville.

Allen was able to practice in a limited fashion both Thursday and Friday, but he's being held out of Sunday's game. Coby Fleener should get the bulk of targets at tight end as a result. Although, he'll have Matt Hasselbeck throwing him the ball instead of Andrew Luck, who is out with a shoulder injury.

Giants tight end Jerome Cunningham (knee) is inactive for the Week 4 game against Buffalo.

Cunningham and Daniel Fells did not travel with the team. As a result, the Giants' tight end depth will suffer, although Larry Donnell could end up seeing a few more targets.

Giants tight end Daniel Fells (ankle) did not travel with the team to Buffalo and is likely out for Sunday's game, Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News reports.

With Fells likely inactive against the Bills, Larry Donnell could see a boost in targets in what should be a high-volume passing game for the Giants. With backup tight end Jerome Cunningham also unable to travel with the team, New York was forced to call up Will Tye from the practice squad, however it's unlikely he will cut into Donnell's opportunities come Sunday.

Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew (hamstring) has been ruled out of Monday's game against the Seahawks, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.

Although he was able to do some running off to the side of Friday's practice, Pettigrew will have to wait at least another week to make his return to game action. Eric Ebron will continue to play the majority of offensive snaps as a pass-catcher and in-line blocker in Pettigrew's absence.