NFL Player News

Saints fans and Fantasy owners everywhere are eagerly awaiting updates on the status of tight end Jimmy Graham, who suffered a shoulder injury Week 5 against the Bucs. The Saints are on a bye Week 6, but according to coach Sean Payton, Graham seems to be doing well, per ESPN.

"He’s doing fine. Look, he’s sore. It’s a shoulder. The bye comes at a perfect time for him," Payton said during an interview Wednesday with CBS Sports Radio.

Though, Payton said, "We'll see," when asked if Graham will play Week 7 against the Lions.

Cardinals QB Carson Palmer practiced Wednesday, with the club hopeful he can return from an nerve injury in his right (throwing) shoulder, which has kept him out the past three games.

He threw at Wednesday's workout, but there are questions about whether he can go Sunday vs. Washington.

AzCardinals.com reported the club hopes he can practice fully Thursday or Friday. At the same time, Palmer said he will likely fly back to Denver on Friday afternoon to revisit the MAT (Muscle Activation Technique) work he was put through when he went there last weekend.

That would not preclude Palmer from playing, the team site reported. But it speaks to the uncertainty he and the team is going through with his injury.

“I just have to be able to throw a ball,” Palmer said. “Let loose and throw it hard. That’s basically it.”

Logan Thomas, who relieved injured backup Drew Stanton last Sunday at Denver, took the first team snaps Wednesday. Stanton also practiced Wednesday.

The Colts' Dwayne Allen continued to distinguish himself from fellow tight end Coby Fleener in Week 5, scoring another touchdown -- his fourth in five games -- on more than twice as many targets.

I'm at the point where I don't worry so much about those two cutting into each other's production. There aren't enough Fantasy-relevant tight ends to go around in a 12-team league if you let that scare you away. Allen would be better if Fleener wasn't in the picture, sure, but he gets so many looks at the goal line that he can make do with fewer targets overall. He'll never be a stud in Fantasy, but again, he's good enough to start in a 12-team league.

His Week 6 opponent, the Texans, have allowed only one touchdown to tight ends this season, but the biggest ones they've faced -- the Redskins' Niles Paul, the Giants' Larry Donnell and the Cowboys' Jason Witten -- all put up their usual yardage against them. I'm guessing Andrew Luck won't be thinking about how many tight ends have scored against the Texans when the Colts are inside the 10-yard line.

Cardinals quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton are expected to be limited participants in Wednesday's practice, according to the team's official website.

Palmer is expected to do some throwing and could be healthy enough to return Week 6 against the Redskins. Stanton has not been medically cleared from a concussion, but can still do some throwing on Wednesday, according to the site.

If both quarterbacks can't play Sunday, the team will likely turn to Logan Thomas for the start against Washington.

The Ravens claimed tight end Ryan Taylor off waivers from the Packers and released tight end Phillip Supernaw, reports the Baltimore Sun. Supernaw injured his thigh in practice last week.

The Panthers put tight end Richie Brockel (ankle) on injured reserve, ending his season, and re-signed cornerback James Dockery, the team announced. Dockery played in five games for Carolina last year and was cut right before this season.

The Jaguars signed tight end Mickey Shuler to their practice squad and waived wideout Kerry Taylor from the squad, the team announced.

Redskins tight ends Niles Paul and Logan Paulsen didn't do much as receivers or as blockers in Monday's loss to the Seahawks. Paul caught one of two targets for 6 yards, while Paulsen brought in two of three targets for 11 yards. Neither was effective in clearing running room for Alfred Morris, either.

Washington hopes to get starting tight end Jordan Reed back for Week 6 at Arizona.

The Seahawks got offensive contributions from several role players in their Week 5 win at Washington. Tight end Cooper Helfet made a 36-yard catch on two targets, and tight end Luke Willson caught three of four targets for 28 yards.

Holder Jon Ryan executed a fake field goal, picking up a first down with a 5-yard run.

After playing a minimal role on offense the first four weeks, Patriots tight end Timothy Wright suddenly became a favorite target of quarterback Tom Brady Week 5 against Cincinnati, catching all five balls thrown his way for 85 yards.

And yet he may not be the answer to your prayers at tight end.

For one thing, five targets normally wouldn't be enough to sustain any player, much less a tight end. You can't expect Wright to catch every ball thrown to him every week. And a big reason why Wright got only five targets is because he played only 22 percent of the Patriots' snaps. Of the 19 plays he was on the field, he got the ball on five of them. Pretty wild.

That said, the Patriots obviously made more of an effort to get him the ball, and the results speak for themselves. Over the last few years, Brady has been at his best when he's had two tight ends he can trust, and Wright took a big step toward becoming that second guy in Week 5.

So you certainly wouldn't be crazy to add him in Fantasy. Just understand that he has to be on the field more to continue making this sort of impact.