NFL Player News

We saw the emergence of Lions tight end Joseph Fauria Sunday against the Browns. He had three targets and caught them all for touchdowns with 34 yards. But it's not his first game with a visit to the end zone.

Fauria has a touchdown in two other games this year, one from 5 yards out and another from a yard out. His scores on Sunday came from 1, 10 and 23 yards out. With four of five TDs from 10 yards or closer it certainly seems like he's evolving into a mismatch in the end zone for defenses to deal with. 

But he also has three games without as much as a target, much less a catch. That makes him risky. 

We also don't have the official tally on how much Fauria played on Sunday against the Browns but in the five previous Lions games he played 14, 12, 18, 20 and 13 percent of the snaps. That's not a lot.

If Fauria picks up more playing time and more targets (he now has nine on the season) then he could really thrive in Fantasy. He's a no-brainer add in long-term leagues but not necessarily a guy to pick up in standard Fantasy play, though he could be a waiver-wire replacement starting in Week 7 against the Bengals for those owners without Jimmy Graham.

Buccaneers tight end Timothy Wright had perhaps the best game of his career on Sunday during the Week 6 home game against the Eagles. With Mike Glennon throwing the passes, Wright broke out for seven receptions for 91 yards.

Wright finished second on the team in yardage and targets with nine. He did not get into the end zone, but came close for the Buccaneers. He had a long catch of 36 yards averaged 13 yards per catch.

The 23-year-old Wright had one catch in his first three games this season. He has 12 catches for 132 yards in his last two games. He'll hope to keep that going when he next takes the field Week 7 at Atlanta.

Eagles tight ends Brent Celek and Zach Ertz combined to make a few catches during the Week 6 road test at Tampa Bay Sunday. The starter Celek only saw one target compared to Ertz's six in the game.

Ertz went for three grabs for 13 yards and did not score. Celek caught one pass for 10 yards in the game and also didn't socre for the Eagles.

Philadelphia hasn't seen a lot of usage out of tight ends this season, but Ertz clearly made more impact Sunday. The Eagles play against Dallas Week 7.

Every NFL receiver seeks efficiency, but Lions tight end Joseph Fauria took it to a ridiculous extreme on Sunday. He was targeted three times in Cleveland and all of them resulted in touchdowns.

The nephew of former long-time NFL tight end Christian Fauria has now hit paydirt on five of his seven receptions this season.

Fauria kicked off his scoring spree with a 1-yard touchdown that gave Detroit a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. He added two critical fourth-quarter scores, including a 23-yarder that put the Lions ahead to stay at 24-17 and a 10-yarder that clinched the victory.

The absence of Tony Scheffler (concussion) has given Fauria an opportunity to work as the second tight end behind Brandon Pettigrew. He has certainly taken advantage of it and will try to continue his roll next Sunday against Cincinnati.

Rams tight end Cory Harkey scored the first touchdown of his career Sunday, in a 38-13 Week 6 win over the Texans.

Harkey scored the first touchdown of the game, on a 2-yard catch out of a jumbo set. It was his lone reception, and the only pass thrown his way.

Harkey has three receptions for 25 yards on the season.  

Texans tight end Garrett Graham got the start in Week 6 against the Rams with Owen Daniels out, but he did not see his role in the offense grow as much as expected in a 38-13 loss.

Graham was targeted just four times in the passing game, bringing in two receptions for 25 yards.

Graham is still expected to see more work with Daniels out, but the Texans are working the kinks out of their offense at this time. They take on the Chiefs in Week 7. 

Chiefs tight ends Kevin Brock and Sean McGrath were not major weapons used by quarterback Alex Smith during Sunday's Week 6 home game against Oakland.

Brock finished the game with one reception for 9 yards on his only target. McGrath, the starter, did not make a catch and was targeted three times in the game.

The Chiefs get set to play at home against Houston Week 7 and the tight end remains a position under-utilized by the team's offense.

The Jaguars have made QB Blaine Gabbert, WR Stephen Burton, CB Dwayne Gratz, TE Marcedes Lewis, DE Jeremy Mincey, OL Jacques McClendon and OL DeMarcus Love inactive for Week 6 against the Broncos. 

The moves shouldn't come as a surprise as five of these players were ruled out Friday. McClendon and Love are healthy scratches.

The Philadelphia Eagles are fairly healthy heading into the Week 6 game Sunday at Tampa Bay. Almost all of the Eagles' listed inactive players are healthy scratches and are not dealing with any discernible injuries.

Those healthy scratches are as follows: OL Matt Tobin; OL Dennis Kelly; CB Jordan Poyer; CB Shaun Prater; DE Damion Square; and TE Emil Igwenagu.

Eagles tight end James Casey is inactive for the Week 6 game on Sunday at Tampa Bay. James has been limited by a groin injury and could not suit up Sunday, despite being able to practice in full Friday. He has one catch this season in five games for 12 yards and a first down.