NFL Player News

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that he'd "be very surprised" if Waddle (ankle) is unable to play Sunday against the Bills, Adam H. Beasley of ProFootballNetwork.com reports.

Waddle finished Sunday's regular-season finale with five receptions for 44 yards, but he appears to have picked up an ankle injury as well. He played 75 percent of Miami's offensive snaps during the win over the Jets, which is right around his season average, so it doesn't appear like the injury limited him Week 18 or will impact his availability for the wild-card round. However, more clarity on Waddle's status may become available when the Dolphins release their next injury report, which won't come until Wednesday.

Callaway failed to catch his lone target during Sunday's 10-7 loss versus the Panthers.

Callaway suited up for the regular-season finale after being ruled a healthy scratch in three of the previous seven games. However, his season-low eight offensive snaps was still the fewest of any Saints wide receiver Week 18. The third-year wideout previously served as one of the team's top pass catchers when Michael Thomas (toe), Jarvis Landry (ankle) and Chris Olave (concussion) were all sidelined in mid-October. However, Callaway then was crowded out with Olave available for all but one of the final 11 games and undrafted rookie Rasheed Shaheed stepping up into the No. 2 receiver spot over the second half of the season. Any additional targets were largely eaten up by No.1 tight end Juwan Johnson. Callaway finished the 2022 season with 16 receptions (on 32 targets) for 158 yards and one touchdown while adding 25 punt-return yards over 14 games. The 6-foot-2 wideout now is set to enter the 2023 offseason as a restricted free agent, leaving his future with the Saints up in the air.

Smith hauled in his only target for six yards during Sunday's 10-7 loss to the Panthers.

Smith logged his first target since the Week 12 loss to San Francisco. This also marked just his second catch over the final eight games of the season, as the fifth-year wideout's role sharply declined after the emergence of undrafted rookie Rasheed Shaheed during the second half of the season. Therefore, Smith finished with his worst season-long stat line since the 2019 campaign, recording 19 receptions (on 27 targets) for 278 yards and one touchdown over 15 games in 2022. The 2018 third-round pick also failed to record at least three touchdowns for the first time despite operating in an extremely undermanned receiving corps for most of the season. Smith is entering the second and final year of his current contract with New Orleans, and with ascending rookies in Smith and leading receiver Chris Olave on the roster, the 27-year-old figures to see another extremely limited role heading into the 2023 campaign.

Head coach Brandon Staley said an MRI revealed that Williams has a back contusion, and the coach expects the wideout to practice at some point ahead of Saturday's matchup with Jacksonville, Daniel Popper of The Athletic reports.

Even though the result of Week 18 had no impact on the Chargers' playoff seed, Williams, along with the majority of the team's starters, played deep into Sunday's loss to the Broncos. Williams caught four of five targets for 32 yards before exiting with a back issue, but he appears to have avoided a significant injury and will have a chance to play in the wild-card round. Further clarity on his status likely won't come until later in the week.

Sherfield was not targeted during Sunday's 11-6 win over the Jets.

Sherfield didn't draw a target from Skylar Thompson despite having been involved enough Week 17 to draw six looks. As such, the regular-season finale counts as Sherfield's first game of the 2022 regular season without a target. He could be more involved in the wild-card matchup against Buffalo, especially if the Dolphins have Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) or Teddy Bridgewater back under center.

Raymond told reporters Monday that he played the second half of Sunday's win over the Packers with broken ribs, Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com reports.

It's unclear when Raymond suffered the injury, but he said it happened sometime during the first half, which means he made arguably the play of the night -- a 43-yard catch in the third quarter to set up the first touchdown of the game -- with broken ribs. The big play helped pave the way for the undrafted wideout out of Holy Cross to lead the Lions in receiving as they upset their divisional rival and kept Green Bay out of the playoffs. Raymond, who has one year remaining on his contract with the Lions, presumably will have plenty of time to recover during the offseason and should be ready for the 2023 campaign.

Hollins caught two of three targets for 15 yards in Saturday's 31-13 loss to the Chiefs.

Hollins paced the Raiders' wide receiver corps in offensive snaps played Saturday with 66 of a possible 70 for 94 percent, but he averaged just five yards per target while Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow combined for 12 catches on 16 targets for 136 yards and a touchdown. Despite catching only six passes for 62 yards on nine targets throughout the team's final three games, Hollins still managed to more than triple his previous career high in single-season receptions, posting a 57-690-4 line on 94 targets in 17 games during his first year with Las Vegas. Slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, he could be on the move if the Raiders elect against re-signing the 29-year-old.

Sims rushed once for 16 yards during the Steelers' 28-14 win over the Browns on Sunday.

Sims played at least 34 percent of the Steelers' offensive snaps in each of the final nine games of the season, but he saw inconsistent touches and wasn't a reliable fantasy option. Over 12 appearances, he secured 14 of 23 targets for 104 yards while rushing 13 times for 70 yards. He's slated to become a restricted free agent during the offseason, and it's unclear whether he'll be back with the Steelers in 2023. The 25-year-old served as the team's return man down the stretch but is unlikely to carry much fantasy value if he remains in Pittsburgh next year.

Atwell caught two of three targets for 27 yards and rushed once for 11 yards and a touchdown during Sunday's 19-16 overtime loss to the Seahawks.

Atwell's second career touchdown came on a bit of trickery from coach Sean McVay, with Baker Mayfield faking a handoff to Cam Akers before flicking the ball to Atwell, who was able to navigate his way in for the score to give the Rams a 13-7 lead. Atwell was thrust into an expanded role with the Rams' receiver corps decimated by injury, and in the final eight weeks of the season, he put up a 17-244-1 line with a revolving door of mediocre quarterbacks at the helm that were mostly unable to unlock the true potency of his game-breaking speed. He'll return for the third year of his rookie deal with optimism that he can carve out a role in the offense alongside Cooper Kupp (ankle), Allen Robinson (foot), Van Jefferson and Ben Skowronek (calf).

Sims was held without a catch in Sunday's 26-6 win over Dallas, thus finishing the 2022 season with eight catches for 89 yards on 17 targets.

Sims turned 27 in early January and has now made 55 career appearances since first catching on with Washington in early 2018. He's made 17 starts over the years but is rarely targeted even when he gets a lot of playing time, and his only chance at extensive snaps in 2022 came when rookie Jahan Dotson suffered a hamstring injury in October. Even then, Sims never saw more than two targets in a game despite playing at least 59 percent of snaps four weeks in a row. The Commanders seem to value the 6-5 wideout for his blocking and special-teams experience, so he could be back with the team in 2023 even though he's scheduled for unrestricted free agency.