NFL Player News

Tillman (concussion/ribs) is officially listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Bears, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

Tillman is managing a rib injury and also will need to gain full clearance from the NFL's concussion protocol, including from an independent neurologist, in order to be eligible to play Sunday. Isaiah Bond will stand to benefit from increased opportunities in the receiving game if Tillman ultimately remains sidelined Week 15.

Njoku (knee) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Bears, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Njoku didn't practice Wednesday or Thursday, and it's been confirmed that he'll sit out Sunday's contest and eye a potential return to action Sunday, Dec. 21 against the Bills. In Njoku's absence this weekend, fellow TE Harold Fannin figures to be busy versus Chicago, with Blake Whiteheart available to mix in.

Sampson (calf/hand) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Bears, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

Sampson will miss his first game of the season while managing a pair of injuries. His next chance to take the field will come Week 16 against the Bills. As long as Sampson is sidelined, Cleveland's main depth options behind top RB Quinshon Judkins will be Raheim Sanders and Trayveon Williams.

Jacobs (knee) returned to practice Friday, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur already told reporters that Jacobs would be a limited participant. The running back didn't practice Wednesday or Thursday, but LaFleur said Friday that Jacobs is"feeling pretty good" ahead of Sunday's matchup in Denver. If Jacobs run into any issues during Friday's session, Emanuel Wilson will step in as the lead back, just as he did in Week 12 when Jacobs missed a game due to the same knee injury. Jacobs came out of Week 14 with swelling in the knee, which led to practice absences Wednesday and Thursday.

Daniels (elbow) has not been cleared for contact, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reports.

Daniels re-injured his dislocated left elbow in his first game back in the lineup, making an early exit from the blowout loss at Minnesota in Week 14. The Commanders will now start Marcus Mariota in Week 15 against the Giants, but Daniels hasn't been ruled out beyond that despite not having clearance for contact.

Samuel missed Friday's practice due to an illness, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reports.

Terry McLaurin also was absent, but in his case it was a planned maintenance day. Samuel's absence is somewhat more concerning, though he'll have a couple of days to get healthy before a matchup with the Giants on Sunday. Commanders coach Dan Quinn didn't comment Friday on expectations for Samuel's availability.

Coach Zac Taylor said Friday that Higgins (concussion) won't play Sunday against the Ravens, Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' official site reports.

Though Higgins was able to work in a limited fashion at practice Wednesday and Thursday, the Bengals will play it safe with the wideout, who also sustained a concussion Week 12 against the Patriots and sat out a Thanksgiving matchup against Baltimore. In Higgins' looming absence, added Week 15 snaps alongside top WR Ja'Marr Chase will be available for Andrei Iosivas and Mitchell Tinsley.

Bateman (ankle) wasn't spotted at practice Friday, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

Bateman was added to the Ravens' Week 15 injury report after being deemed a limited participant in Thursday's practice. With the wideout not present for Friday's session, his status for Sunday's game against the Bengals is now cloudy. If he's unavailable this weekend, added WR snaps alongside Zay Flowers would be available for some combination of DeAndre Hopkins, Tylan Wallace, Devontez Walker and LaJohntay Wester.

Harrison (heel) won't play Sunday at Houston, but Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said Friday that he expects the wideout to return this season, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.

Harrison will miss a second straight game after suffering a heel injury Week 13, his first game back from appendicitis. He'll now have missed four of the past five games, without any practice participation since injuring his heel, but Gannon did say Friday that Harrison is "doing a lot better," per Bo Brack of GoPHNX.com. In the meantime, Michael Wilson will lead Arizona's WR corps in a tough matchup this Sunday, with Andre Baccellia, Jalen Brooks, Trent Sherfield and Xavier Weaver (hamstring) being the other likely candidates for top-three roles. No. 2 TE Elijah Higgins also gets a boost in projected playing time with Arizona's WR room so depleted.

Coach Sean McDermott noted Friday that Palmer (ankle) will be listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Patriots, Maddy Glab of the Bills' official site reports.

Palmer, who last saw game action in Week 12, has been limited in practice this week, and the wideout's Week 15 status won't be confirmed until the Bills' inactives are posted ahead of Sunday's 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff. If Palmer remains sidelined this weekend, Khalil Shakir, Gabe Davis, Keon Coleman, Tyrell Shavers and Brandin Cooks would be in line to handle wideout duties versus New England. In Buffalo's Week 14 win over the Bengals, the team's TEs logged a combined 13 targets, while none of the Bills WRs had more than three.