NFL Player News

Although coach Sean Payton has been less than forthcoming about the situation, odds are Jimmy Graham misses Week 7 at Detroit with the shoulder sprain he suffered in Week 5, before the bye. The Saints  will have to turn to others at tight end.

Those others figure to be Josh Hill and Benjamin Watson. Jamey Eisenberg prefers one. Dave Richard prefers the other. Neither likes either enough to start in a standard 12-team league.

Part of the problem is that both contributed about the same numbers in Week 5, when Graham suffered the injury. Watson got more than twice as many targets, but Hill actually got a little more yardage. Of course, Watson also played 86 percent of the team's snaps to Hill's 35 percent.

To me, that's reason enough to side with Watson, but he'll get enough interference from Hill that we're talking only deep leagues here, as in 16 teams or more.

Saints tight end Jimmy Graham was listed as a limited participant in practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday due to a shoulder injury he suffered in Week 5. During his Thursday press conference, coach Sean Payton said he was "optimistic" about Graham's status heading into Week 7 against the Lions.

Saints coach Sean Payton didn't indicate during his press conference Thursday if tight end Jimmy Graham (shoulder) practiced, but said the team was "optimistic" about Graham's status. Graham did not participate in practice Wednesday.

The Saints are preparing to face the Lions Week 7.

Jace Amaro's breakout Week 6 against Denver, when he caught 10 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown, has earned him some attention on the waiver wire, but Week 7 at New England may not be the best time for a trial run.

Not only do the Jets have a short turnaround with the Thursday night game, which has historically had an adverse effect on passing numbers, but they're facing one of the league's top pass defenses.

The Patriots have allowed 208.5 passing yards per game, third-fewest in the league. They're also tied for the 10th-fewest Fantasy points per game allowed to tight ends.

There are reasons to be skeptical of Amaro beyond that, of course. For starters, his quarterback is Geno Smith. He had also never gotten more than five targets in a game prior to Week 6.

In deep leagues, your options are limited, but the highest either Jamey Eisenberg or Dave Richard ranks Amaro this week is 15th among tight ends.

With Victor Cruz sidelined the rest of the season with a major knee injury, the Giants will need options in the passing game to step up in his absence. One of those options could be tight end Larry Donnell, who has been held to one catch over his last two games after totaling 25 catches for 236 yards and four touchdowns in his first four games.

"Whatever role is thrown at me, I'm going to do everything I can to do my best and it's just not me," Donnell said, per NJ.com. "It's Rueben (Randle), Odell (Beckham), it's going to be a team effort.

"Victor was a major part and took a lot of attention away from everyone. Me, I feel very confident."

A rather lengthy Jets injury report for their Thursday game against the Patriots is dominated by probables. The lone exceptions are wide receiver Greg Salas (wrist/ankle) and linebacker Trevor Reilly (knee), both of whom have been ruled out.

The probables are tight end Jace Amaro (knee), guard Willie Colon (knee), wideouts David Nelson (ankle) and Eric Decker (hamstring), tackle Breno Giacomini (back), defensive lineman Damon Harrison (ankle), running back Chris Johnson (ankle), center Nick Mangold (shoulder) and cornerback Darrin Walls (knee).

Saints coach Sean Payton gave no update on tight end Jimmy Graham at his Wednesday press conference, reports ESPN.com. Graham injured his shoulder Week 5 and, according to NFL.com, will miss two to three games.

The Saints host the Lions on Sunday.

Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis will run Wednesday for the first time since hurting his ankle Week 2, per the Associated Press. Lewis is on short-term injured reserve and isn't eligible to return until Week 12.

Zach Ertz is the Eagles' most dangerous pass-catching tight end, but he's also the least accomplished blocker, according to Philly.com. To get the running game untracked, the Eagles played tight end Brent Celek on 57 of 73 snaps in the Week 6 win over the Giants. Ertz played 30 snaps.

Celek is one of the league's best blocking tight ends. It's no coincidence LeSean McCoy broke out for 149 yards on 22 carries Sunday night.

"We were running the ball well the whole game," Ertz told the website. "That's not my strength right now. But in the end, hopefully it will be. And I'm going to keep working hard at that."

Ertz has 19 catches for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He leads the team in third-down catches (10) and third-down catches for first downs (10).

After seemingly breaking out as Tom Brady's second tight end Week 5 against Cincinnati, the Patriots' Timothy Wright did find the end zone for a second straight game Week 6 at Buffalo. But he did so in minimalist fashion, catching one pass on one target for 1 yard.

It's not like the Patriots weren't throwing the ball, either. In fact, Brady set season-highs in passing yards (361) and passing touchdowns (four). He just didn't look Wright's way much when he was on the field.

That wasn't all that often, I should add. Wright played only 23 percent of the Patriots' snaps, which was actually an improvement from the 22 percent he played in Week 5. Unless the Patriots make a concerted effort to get him the ball, he's not going to be able to do much of that.

The Patriots like to use two tight ends as much as any team in football, and Wright remains on the periphery in Fantasy for that reason alone. But he's little more than a desperation bye-week replacement in his current role.