NFL Player News

Tampa Bay placed Godwin (knee) on injured reserve Tuesday, Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' official site reports.

Godwin's move to IR was merely procedural after head coach Bruce Arians confirmed Monday that the wideout suffered a torn ACL in addition to an MCL sprain of his right knee in the Buccaneers' Week 15 loss to the Saints. The transaction opens up a spot on the 53-man roster for fellow wideout Antonio Brown (ankle), who returns from a three-game suspension and could absorb a good portion of the 9.1 targets per contest Godwin had averaged through Tampa Bay's first 14 games.

Buffalo placed Beasley on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday, Chris Brown of the Bills' official site reports.

The receiver will now attempt to get cleared in time for the biggest game of the Bills' season Sunday at New England. With Emmanuel Sanders week-to-week with a knee injury, Buffalo's strong passing game suddenly has major issues as the team prepares to face one of the league's better defenses in a hostile environment. It's not known yet whether Beasley tested positive for the virus or is a close contact.

The Packers placed Valdes-Scantling on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday after testing positive for the virus.

He becomes the second Green Bay player added to the list, joining defensive tackle Kenny Clark. If Valdes-Scantling is vaccinated, he'll have a chance at being cleared ahead of Saturday's game against the Browns so long as he's asymptomatic of the virus. The 27-year-old is coming off a big Week 15 outing against the Ravens in which he recorded five receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown on seven targets.

The Chiefs plan to place Hill on the reserve/COVID-19 list later Tuesday, Adam Schefter and Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports.

Cornerback Rashad Fenton and tight end Blake Bell are also expected to go on the list Tuesday, joining six other players on the 53-man roster. At this stage, it's unknown whether Hill tested positive for the virus or if he was deemed a close contact of an infected person, but either way, he won't be a lock to be activated prior to Sunday's game against the Steelers. If neither Hill nor star tight end Travis Kelce -- who tested positive for the virus Monday -- is cleared to come off the list this week, quarterback Pat Mahomes would have few reliable weapons at his disposal.

Brown (chest) is taking part in Tuesday's walk-through practice session and will have a chance to play in Thursday's game against the 49ers, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

While Brown remains on injured reserve, he's gearing up for a potential Week 16 appearance after the Titans cleared him to practice Monday, opening up a 21-day window for the team to evaluate him for activation. Until he's formally added back to the 53-man roster, Brown won't appear on the Titans' practice reports, making it difficult to get a sense of where he stands in his recovery from the chest injury that kept him out of the team's last three games. In order for Brown to be eligible to play against the 49ers, he'll need to activated by 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Seattle doesn't plan to activate Lockett (illness) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday, putting him on track to miss the team's Week 15 game against the Rams, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com reports.

Though the NFL delayed the matchup between the Rams and Seahawks an extra two days, Lockett wasn't able to make enough progress in his recovery from COVID-19 to suit up after he tested positive for the virus Thursday. Assuming his symptoms begin to subside in the next few days, Lockett should be ready to play Week 16 against the Bears, but his absence Tuesday locks in DK Metcalf as Seattle's clear-cut No. 1 wideout. Beyond Metcalf, the Seahawks will likely have Freddie Swain, Dee Eskridge and Penny Hart rotate in on two- and three-receiver sets.

Pringle reeled in three of his four targets for 22 yards during Thursday's game versus the Steelers.

Pringle finished with just one catch in each of the previous three games, so his added involvement on offense Thursday is a good sign as the regular season begins to wind down. That being said, he turned those three grabs into just 22 yards, and there isn't enough consistent volume to make him a viable asset in most fantasy leagues at this point.

Robinson was unable to haul in any of his three targets during Thursday's game against the Chargers.

Robinson has gone without a catch in each of the last two games and three of the last four despite playing 40 percent or more of the offensive snaps in every contest. Given that he hasn't tallied more than three catches in a game this season, it's pretty safe to leave him on the waiver wire in the vast majority of leagues.

Hardman reeled in just two passes for 11 yards on four targets Thursday against the Chargers.

Hardman did see his snap percentage jump slightly to 44 on the week after playing just 37 percent of snaps the week prior, though game script likely comes into play in that regard. Hardman did break open in the end zone on what could have been a fourth-down touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes, but Mahomes' pass fell short, preventing Hardman from reaching pay dirt for just the second time this season. He doesn't seem to have much fantasy value for the moment aside from the hope he can control a larger role in the future.

Darden failed to bring in any of the three targets he logged over 41 snaps during the Buccaneers' 9-0 loss to the Saints on Sunday night. He returned two kickoffs for 33 yards and seven punts for 41 yards.

Darden's usage from scrimmage, which was at a career-high level, jumps off the page, even as the only touches he actually garnered came in his special-teams role. With Chris Godwin (knee) now gone for the remainder of the season and Mike Evans (hamstring) still uncertain for Week 16, the rookie could certainly be primed for another busy day of route running versus the Panthers in that contest. Whether that translates to much production remains to be seen, however -- Darden has just six receptions for 43 yards on 11 targets across eight games.