NFL Player News

Schoonmaker (foot) will play in Saturday's preseason game versus the Jaguars, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports.

A rookie second-round pick, Schoonmaker has been limited throughout training camp while recovering from a partial tear of his plantar fascia that he suffered during OTAs, but it looks like he's healthy enough to handle some game reps versus Jacksonville. With Dalton Schultz now in Houston, Schoonmaker is competing for snaps with Peyton Hendershot and Jake Ferguson.

Gilliam (groin) will not play in Saturday's preseason opener against the Colts, Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News reports.

Gilliam was sidelined at practice all week due to a groin injury, rendering this news relatively unsurprising. He is the lone fullback on Buffalo's roster, so the team will be unable to run certain sets as long as he is sidelined.

Fortson (shoulder) won't play in Sunday's preseason game against the Saints, Pete Sweeney of SB Nation reports.

Fortson has been battling a shoulder injury during training camp and will remain sidelined for the team's first exhibition contest. The backup tight end will likely have to practice at some point next week if he's going to be cleared for next Saturday's preseason game in Arizona.

Davis suffered a torn ACL in Friday's preseason win over the Bengals, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

A significant contributor to the Packers' special teams, the fourth-year tight end is expected to miss the entire season. It's entirely possible the Packers could sign an additional tight end in the coming days to provide some training camp depth, with only Austin Allen currently on the roster behind 2023 NFL Draft Day 2 selections Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft.

Kraft (knee) was targeted three times and caught one pass for four yards in Friday's 36-19 preseason victory over the Bengals.

Kraft injured his knee in practice last week, but that did not prevent him from seeing action in Green Bay's first exhibition game. Kraft entered the game in the third spot on the depth chart on Green Bay's official website, but with fellow tight end Tyler Davis going down with a knee injury that could cost him significant time, Kraft is set to move up to the second spot behind fellow rookie Luke Musgrave.

Musgrave was targeted three times and caught one passes for eight yards in Friday's 36-19 preseason victory over the Bengals.

Musgrave did not have a big night in the box score, but he could have had quarterback Jordan Love connected with him on a couple plays that had big yardage written all over them. Regardless of the results, the rookie second-rounder worked as Green Bay's starting tight end and was a factor in the passing game when Love was on the field. Musgrave is well past the knee injury that cut short his final collegiate season and is a player to consider in the later rounds of fantasy drafts.

Bryant has been held out of recent practices due to a non-football health issue, Zac Jackson of The Athletic reports.

Bryant, who did not play in Friday's preseason game against Washington, has been running and working with trainers on the side during and after practice. That's a sign that he could be cleared to return this week.

Dulcich was not targeted despite being active for Friday's 18-17 preseason loss to the Cardinals.

Dulcich was surprisingly bypassed as the potential starter despite having a strong rookie campaign in 2022, coupled with Denver not having a ton of competition at that position. Instead, coach Sean Payton went outside of the organization and brought in Adam Trautman, one of his former tight ends from New Orleans to serve as his starting tight end in Denver. It seemed like a timeshare was going to develop in order to at least keep Dulcich's hands on the field, but based on who started and the number of targets (three compared to Dulcich's zero), his role may be even smaller than initially feared to begin his sophomore campaign.

Njoku caught his lone target for one yard in Friday's preseason game against Washington.

Njoku started and was on the field for Cleveland's first drive, the lone possession with starting quarterback Deshaun Watson under center. Both Njoku and backup tight end Jordan Akins were targeted on the drive. Watson and Njoku have been on the same page during camp, per Zac Jackson of The Athletic, and the Browns see him running more than traditional tight end routes. Coaches feel he can make an impact from all over the formation and see Njoku turning screens into big gains.

Akins caught his lone target for five yards in Friday's preseason game against the Commanders.

Akins made his catch during Cleveland's first possession, the lone drive engineered by starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. The tight end had battled a knee injury earlier in the camp before returning to practice this week. David Njoku is the clear No. 1 at the position, but Akins' history with Watson -- they spent three seasons together in Houston -- could lead to a substantial role.