NFL Player News

The Lions have ruled out three players prior to Week 5.

Joseph Fauria, Travis Lewis and Theo Riddick will not play during the contest. All three players missed practice the entire week, leading to them being labeled as "out" on the injury report. 

The Ravens have deemed featured back Bernard Pierce (thigh) as probable for the Sunday game at Indianapolis despite John Harbaugh already declaring him ready to go.

The bad news for Baltimore is that defensive linemen Chris Canty (illness) and Timmy Jernigan (knee) are both doubtful, as is tackle Eugene Monroe (knee).

The questionables are linebacker Terrell Suggs (thigh) and tight end Phillip Supernaw (thigh). Suggs, however, is expected to play after participating in Friday practice.

The Jaguars have ruled out four players for their Week 5 game against the Steelers. They are cornerback Dwayne Gratz (concussion), wide receivers Cecil Shorts (hamstring) and Marqise Lee (hamstring) and tight end Mickey Shuler (illness).

The other players on their Friday injury report are probable. They are defensive ends Ryan Davis (shoulder) and Andre Branch (hip), defensive tackle Roy Miller (ankle), offensive tackle Austin Pasztor (hand) and linebacker Paul Posluszny (knee).

The Eagles have issued a rather lengthy injury report for their Sunday game against St. Louis, but only center Jason Kelce and linebacker Mychal Kendricks have been ruled out. Cornerback Brandon Boykin (hamstring) is questionable while the rest are probable.

That designation belongs to tight ends James Casey (knee) and Trey Burton (Achilles), cornerback Nolan Carroll (ankle), wide receivers Jeremy Maclin (hamstring), Brad Smith (groin) and Josh Huff (shoulder), tackle Matt Tobin (ankle) and safety Earl Wolff (knee).

Defensive end Charles Johnson (hip) is one of two Panthers deemed questionable for the Sunday battle against visiting Chicago. The other is tight end Ed Dickson, who is also dealing with a hip issue.

Ruled out are tight end Richie Brockel (ankle) and running back DeAngelo Williams. Fellow running back Jonathan Stewart (knee) is doubtful while linebacker Thomas Davis (hip), cornerback Melvin White (thigh) and running back Fozzy Whittaker (thigh) are all probable.

The Vikings backup pass-catchers didn't contribute much Week 6 against the Packers.

Tight end MarQueis Gray led the bunch with 16 yards on one reception. Position mate Rhett Ellison finished behind Gray with one catch for 12 yards. Joe Banyard managed to come away with two receptions during the game, but only gained 11 yards. Receiver Charles Johnson had one catch, picking up 7 yards. 

The four will take on the Lions Week 6. 

Packers tight end Andrew Quarless wasn't much of a factor in Week 5 at home against the Vikings. In the first quarter, Quarless came down with a 10-yard reception.

Aarton Rodgers found him for a 9-yard pass late in the second quarter and he was held without a grab the rest of the way. He caught all two of his targets for 19 yards in a 42-10 victory.

Quarless has just 96 receiving yards through five games. He'll look to bounce back in Miami against the Dolphins in Week 6.

Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis said Thursday he is targeting Week 12 against the Colts as his return date from a high left ankle sprain, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Lewis, who was placed on short-term IR after getting hurt Week 2, can start practicing in four weeks (Oct. 28) and can return to game action in six weeks (Nov. 11).

"The amount of swelling forced the two bones to spread apart pretty far and that’s how they diagnosed it at 6-8 weeks," Lewis said.

Torn between Colts tight ends Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener? It's easy to see why. Both scored a touchdown for the second straight game Week 4 against the Titans, but neither stands out between the 20s. Allen had 64 receiving yards in Week 1, but otherwise, neither has topped 50 in a game.

Well, the good news is that in Week 5 against the Ravens, you probably don't want either. Through four games, the Ravens have allowed the fewest Fantasy points per game to tight ends and have yet to have one score on them.

Maybe one of Allen and Fleener reverses the trend this week, but which one? And what happens if he doesn't? I don't know about you, but I don't like the thought of getting two measly points from my tight end spot.

Owners in 12-team leagues can do better. With the emergence of Larry Donnell, Delanie Walker, Travis Kelce, Heath Miller and even Clay Harbor, tight ends aren't exactly in short supply.

The Cowboys pass defense has held up better than we expected so far this season, with one notable exception; they cannot seem to locate tight ends on the field. That could work out quite nicely for Garrett Graham in Week 5, as the Texans get set to take on Dallas.

Graham has just 95 yards through three games since returning from a back injury, so this could be his best chance to breakout. The Cowboys are allowing 17.5 Fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, by far the highest total in the league. They have allowed 98.8 yards per game and six total touchdowns, including at least one in each game.

Graham is, by no means, a slam-dunk starting option for Week 5. However, given the matchup, you could do worse. At this point, the Cowboys have to prove they can stop tight ends before we believe it.