NFL Player News

Burks (groin) is listed as active for Saturday night's game against the Jaguars.

Burks was added to the Titans' Week 18 injury report Wednesday after a groin injury resulted in him being limited at practice that day. After not participating in Thursday's session, the wideout was deemed questionable by the Titans, but the 2022 first-rounder will give it a go Saturday in a game that will decide the AFC South title. Assuming no in-game setbacks, Burks is slated to remain a key target for starting QB Joshua Dobbs. During Week 17 action, Burks caught four of his eight targets from Dobbs for 66 yards in Tennessee's 27-13 loss to the Cowboys.

The Jets elevated Charles from the practice squad Saturday.

Charles spent the preseason with the Jets before being waived as part of the team's final roster cuts in late August. The undrafted wideout has spent the entirety of his rookie campaign on the team's practice squad, and he's now in line to make his NFL debut during Sunday's regular-season finale against Miami. Charles, who caught four passes for 27 yards during the preseason, will likely slot into a deep reserve role alongside Braxton Berrios and Denzel Mims.

The Seahawks elevated Johnson from the practice squad Saturday for Sunday's regular-season finale versus the Rams, Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle reports.

Johnson will be elevated from the practice for the third time this season and the second game in a row. The 24-year-old wideout did not haul in either of his two targets while playing 25 offensive snaps against the Jets in Week 17, though it's possible he could once again see some significant playing time with Tyler Lockett nursing a shin injury heading into the regular-season finale. Should Lockett be ruled inactive 90 minutes prior to Sunday's 4:25 pm E.T. kickoff, then Johnson should compete with Laquon Treadwell, Dareke Young and Penny Hart for targets behind No. 1 wideout DK Metcalf.

The Falcons elevated Ali from the practice squad heading into Sunday's regular-season finale against Tampa Bay.

Ali will be active for the second week in a row to end the 2022 regular season. The 6-foot wideout did not see any playing time after he was also elevated for the Week 17 win against Arizona, so it's unlikely he'll receive any significant opportunities unless Atlanta benches some of its starters during this Week 18 contest that doesn't have any playoff implications.

The Texans have elevated Johnson to their active roster ahead of Sunday's regular-season finale against the Colts.

Johnson has spent the entire season on Houston's practice squad after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent in May. He will slot in as the team's No. 4 wide receiver when they line up against the Colts.

Hardman (pelvis) is inactive for Saturday's game against the Raiders.

Hardman, who last suited up in Week 9, was listed as questionable by the Chiefs after practicing in a limited fashion Wednesday and Thursday and he'll sit this one out with an eye toward returning to action in the playoffs. In his continued absence, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Justin Watson and Ihmir Smith-Marsette will handle the Chiefs' Week 18 wideout duties.

Coutee was elevated from the Colts' practice squad Saturday.

The depth target has one catch with the Colts despite six appearances since Week 6. Coutee was active for one play in Week 17, a special-teams snap, and likely will likely see limited action at best to round out the 2022 campaign.

Thomas, who is on injured reserve due to a dislocated toe, restructured his contract with the Saints on Saturday, Field Yates of ESPN reports.

The big change is the addition of a nearly $32 million roster bonus guaranteed on the third day of the new league year. The untenable number comes in replace of nearly $14 million in 2023 base salary, essentially allowing the Saints to realize cap savings sooner when they eventually cut the former All-Pro wideout this offseason. While the Saints would still be on the hook for some of the roster bonus even with a post-June 1 designation, it's still an important restructuring for the franchise, which is once again steeped in salary cap woes. For Thomas, the contract change could allow the oft-injured target to hit the open market sooner than the start of free agency and thus draw more interest from teams. The 29-year-old has played just 10 games since the end of the 2019 season.

Head coach Kevin O'Connell intimated Friday that Jefferson and other key starters on offense and defense may not play the entirety of the Vikings' Week 18 game in Chicago, Joe Nelson of SI.com reports. "We've got a pretty clear cut plan with how we want to go about the whole game, but we're going to go in with the expectation of our guys going and try to get off to a good start and play good football," O'Connell said.

Minnesota is assured no worse than the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs regardless of how this weekend's games transpire, but since the Vikings will need a win over the Bears plus a Cardinals win over the heavily-favored 49ers to climb to the No. 2 seed, O'Connell may not have much incentive to expose key players to an injury heading into the wild-card round. While Jefferson and all of the Vikings' other starting skill-position players look poised to play at least one series, the uncertainty of whether they'll play much beyond that makes it tough to reliably project any in Week 18 season-long or DFS lineups.

Anderson (back) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the 49ers, Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com reports.

The 29-year-old wideout played 10 games for Arizona after an October trade, catching seven of 17 targets for 76 yards while mostly serving as the team's fourth or fifth wide receiver. Anderson will need to accept a pay cut to have any shot at sticking with the team, as his current contract calls for a non-guaranteed $8.8 million base salary and $3 million roster bonus in 2023, the final year of the deal. He'll be a free agent if/when the Cardinals release him.