NFL Player News

The Texans are expected to place Quitoriano on injured reserve after he suffered a groin injury in Sunday's 15-13 loss to the Panthers, Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Quitoriano has split his snaps this season between special teams and on offense as a depth tight end behind Dalton Schultz. With Quitoriano expected to miss time to recover from his groin injury and Brevin Jordan (foot) also set to sit out with a plantar fasciitis issue, the Texans could look to add a tight end to their active roster prior to their Week 9 game against the Buccaneers.

Smith had four catches for 25 yards in Sunday's over the Niners, but he lost a fumble just before halftime that cost the Bengals a chance to go up two scores.

It was thought before the season that Smith could provide a reasonable facsimile of what Hayden Hurst did for the Bengals, but so far he's come up short of that. The four catches and the 25 yards were season highs for Smith.

Parham caught four of his five targets for 43 yards and a touchdown in the 30-13 win over the Bears on Sunday.

Parham's touchdown was his fourth red-zone score of the year and capped off what was a productive first-half for the Chargers against a clearly limited Bears team overall. Despite Gerald Everett (hip) being unavailable, Parham didn't deviate too much from his playing-time splits, as Stone Smartt (39 snaps) and Tre' McKitty (15 snaps) each saw plenty of time even though the running game (54 yards on 25 carries) failed to take off. Expect Parham to be a potential low-end fantasy start Week 9 if Everett is once again unavailable.

Jordan, who did not play in Sunday's 15-13 loss to the Panthers, is dealing with a plantar fasciitis issue in his foot and could miss additional time, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

It's unclear when Jordan picked up the foot injury, but it held him out of Friday's practice and ultimately ruled him out for Week 8. He could be a candidate to be placed on the team's IR if he's going to miss extended time.

LaPorta brought in eight of 10 targets for 57 yards and a touchdown in the Lions' 26-14 win over the Raiders on Monday night.

LaPorta led the Lions in receptions and targets while checking in second to Amon-Ra St. Brown in receiving yards. The rookie tight end also hauled in his fourth touchdown on an 18-yard grab just before halftime, snapping a brief two-game drought in that department. LaPorta's involvement in the air attack has been solid right from the onset of his career, as he's now logged at least five targets in all but one contest. He'll have a Week 9 bye to further immerse himself in the playbook before a Week 10 matchup against the Chargers when he should once again be busy.

Mayer caught one of two targets for 19 yards in Monday's 26-14 loss to the Lions.

Mayer was one of four players that tied for second on the team in receiving yards behind Josh Jacobs' 27, as Jimmy Garoppolo (back) threw for only 126 yards in his return from a one-game absence. Fellow tight end Austin Hooper was among those four players, but Mayer has 133 receiving yards to Hooper's 49 in Garoppolo's last three starts. The rookie tight end let out some anger over Vegas' poor offensive performance with a huge hit on special teams, accounting for Mayer's first career tackle. Mayer and the rest of Vegas' passing game will look to get back on track in Week 9 against the Giants.

Okonkwo recorded four receptions (on six targets) for 23 yards in Sunday's 28-23 win over the Falcons.

Okonkwo has at least six targets in two of his last three games, yet he has only 74 yards combined in that span. Even more disappointing is Okonkwo's lack of involvement near the end zone, as he has only two targets inside the 20 and only one inside the 10. Overall, he has failed to top 35 yards in any of his seven contests this season.

Johnson caught one of two targets for five yards during Sunday's 38-27 win versus the Colts.

Johnson played a season-low 61 percent of New Orleans' offense snaps in his first game back after missing four straight with a calf injury. The 27-year-old was not fully cleared until Friday's injury report, so it's likely that the team did not want to use him quite as much as the first three games of the season, when he played at least 70 percent of offense snaps in each contest. Johnson also saw slightly less playing time than fellow tight end Foster Moreau, who did not see a target Sunday. Johnson will look to record more than three catches for the first time this season when New Orleans takes on Chicago in Week 9.

Saubert reverted to Dallas' practice squad Monday.

Saubert didn't record any stats in Sunday's win against the Rams while playing 14 snaps on special teams. The 29-year-old just signed with the Cowboys' practice squad last week and will now wait for another chance to be elevated.

Hurst finished with zero catches on two targets in Sunday's 15-13 win over the Texans.

Hurst's goose egg came while he played a season-low 19 offensive snaps. Meanwhile, listed backup Tommy Tremble featured for a season-high 33 plays. Although Tremble managed only two catches for four yards, one of his grabs was a touchdown. That situation has Hurst's stock trending firmly downward ahead of next Sunday's game versus the Colts.