NFL Player News

Arcega-Whiteside (foot) was limited in practice Thursday.

And another bites the dust. The Eagles' receiving corps has been battered by injuries this season, with Arcega-Whiteside the latest member to be included on the practice report. With Alshon Jeffery (foot) and DeSean Jackson (abdomen) on injured reserve and Nelson Agholor (knee) still not able to practice, Greg Ward and Robert Davis are Philadelphia's only healthy wideouts at the moment.

Hopkins (illness) does not carry an injury designation for Saturday's game against the Buccaneers after returning to a full practice Thursday.

Hopkins sat out Wednesday's practice, but his return to a full session Thursday paves the way for the Texans' top wideout to suit up this weekend. 14 games into his 2019 campaign, Hopkins -- who has topped 100 receiving yards in back-to-back outings -- has logged a fantasy-friendly 99/1,142/7 stat line.

Chark (ankle) remained limited at practice Thursday.

Back-to-back limited sessions appear to have Chark angling toward a return to action Sunday against the Falcons, though it remains to be seen if he ends up listed as questionable for the contest come Friday or heads into the weekend minus an injury designation.

Smith-Schuster (knee) practiced fully Thursday, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

That's a big step forward for the wideout, who was limited Wednesday and a nice change from last Thursday, when Smith-Schuster left practice early and ended up not playing in Week 15. Though Smith-Schuster is clearly trending in the right direction, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner fell short of declaring Pittsburgh's top pass catcher good to go at this stage, indicating Thursday that he was "hopeful" about getting Smith-Schuster back for Sunday's game against the Jets. Friday's final Week 16 injury report will reveal whether or not Smith-Schuster heads into the weekend listed as questionable, or free of an injury designation.

Humphries (ankle) isn't participating in Thursday's practice, Turron Davenport of ESPN.com reports.

With Humphries' ankle injury having prevented him from logging any work in practice since the Titans' Dec. 1 win over the Colts, he'll likely be in line for a third straight absence Sunday in New Orleans. An official word on Humphries' Week 16 status will arrive at some point Friday.

Samuel (knee) was a limited practice participant Thursday, Alaina Getzenberg of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Samuel received a 'limited' tag on one of the Panthers' Week 13 practice reports due to a knee injury, only to ditch the designation prior to the contest. He'll have one more chance to do so this week, but perhaps of more interest in Carolina is the change at quarterback from Kyle Allen to rookie Will Grier. D.J. Moore and Christian McCaffrey are the top two receivers in this offense, so it remains to be seen how Samuel will fare as the third option, at best.

Watson is expected to serve as a starting receiver for Saturday's game against the Texans, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.

Watson has caught seven passes for 86 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets over the past two games while handling near-identical 55 and 56 percent offensive snap shares in wins of the Colts and Lions, respectively. Expect his workload to take a more notable jump in Week 16, as the Buccaneers will be missing Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Scott Miller to hamstring injuries, with the latter two receivers getting shut down for the season. After a big performance in Detroit (five catches for 113 yards and three touchdowns on six targets), Breshad Perriman profiles as the clear No. 1 receiver, but Watson should comfortably slot ahead of fellow wideouts Ishmael Hyman, Cyril Grayson and Spencer Schnell, all of whom resided on the Buccaneers' or another team's practice squad as recently as two weeks ago. Along with Perriman and Watson, tight ends O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate should see expanded roles in the Buccaneers' passing attack Saturday while its top two targets are out of commission.

Perriman is expected to operate as the Buccaneers' No. 1 receiver Saturday against the Texans after Chris Godwin (hamstring) was ruled out for the contest and Mike Evans (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve earlier in the week, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.

Godwin failed to practice this week and isn't a lock to make it back for the Dec. 29 season finale versus Atlanta either, so Perriman looks like he could have a significant opportunity ahead of him while serving as the top receiver in what's been one of the NFL's more pass-happy attacks. Perriman took full advantage of Evans' absence and Godwin's early exit in the Week 15 win over the Lions, delivering the best performance of his five-year career with five receptions for 113 yards and three touchdowns on six targets. While no wideout can be asked to replicate that sort of efficiency, Perriman should at least benefit from an uptick in volume with Evans' and Godwin's combined 17.7 targets per game missing from the lineup. Depth wideout Justin Watson and tight ends O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate are also expected to take on pronounced roles in the passing game.

Agholor (knee) was held out of practice Thursday, Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Held out of practice since hurting his knee Week 13, Agholor remains in a holding pattern as the Eagles prepare for Sunday's divisional showdown with the Cowboys. Per Martin Frank of The Delaware News Journal, coach Doug Pederson referred to Agholor's situation as "status quo" this week, another sign that he's trending toward an absence. Ultimately, the team may make a ruling on Agholor's availability as soon as the release of Friday's injury report.

Hopkins (illness) was back at practice Thursday, Aaron Reiss of The Athletic reports.

Hopkins sat out practice Wednesday due to an illness, but the wideout's return to the field Thursday puts him on track to suit up Saturday against the Buccaneers. We'll circle back on Hopkins' status once the Texans' final Week 16 injury report is submitted to confirm, either way, whether he heads into the weekend minus an injury designation.