NFL Player News

Lamb (ankle) remains out for Sunday's game at Carolina, but he's getting closer to a return to action and "has a chance" to play Week 7 versus the Commanders, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Since sustaining a left high-ankle sprain early in a Week 3 loss to the Bears, Lamb hasn't logged any practice activity and will wind up missing a third consecutive game Sunday. However, Lamb seemed to show some improvement over the past week, with the wideout appearing to amp up the intensity of his resistance training off to the side during the portions of practice that were open to the media. At this stage, Lamb is still looking like far from a lock to play next Sunday versus Washington, with one source describing the wideout as "50-50" for that contest, per Pelissero. Lamb will almost certainly need to return to practice during the upcoming week as at least a limited participant in order to put himself on a path to playing against the Commanders.

Smith will remain the Raiders' starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the Titans after Las Vegas had "no serious discussion" about benching the signal-caller following the team's four-game losing streak, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Much of the team's struggles over the past four games have fallen on Smith's shoulders, as the veteran quarterback has thrown eight interceptions and has taken 12 sacks over that stretch. Poor offensive line play hasn't helped Smith, and he'll be further handicapped Sunday by the continued absence of star tight end Brock Bowers (knee), who is set to miss a second straight game. Though the Raiders aren't yet prepared to turn the offense over to backup Kenny Pickett, the idea of a change under center could gain some momentum if Smith is unable to deliver a clean outing against the Titans, who rank in the bottom 10 of the league in both yards and points allowed per game.

Bowers (knee), who has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Titans, is considered unlikely to be available for the Raiders' Week 7 contest at Kansas City, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Since sustaining a bone bruise and PCL injury in his knee in the Raiders' Week 1 win over the Patriots, Bowers had been noticeably slowed by the issue over Las Vegas' subsequent three contests before he ended up sitting out this past Sunday's 40-6 loss to the Colts. Since Bowers needs rest to fully move past the injury, he was held out of all three Week 6 practices before being ruled out two days in advance of the matchup with Tennessee. Pelissero notes that the Raiders plan to give Bowers "a chance" to play next Sunday against the Chiefs if his knee is feeling better than anticipated after two weeks off from playing in games, but Las Vegas "wants to be smart" with the star tight end before its bye in Week 8. With that in mind, fantasy managers should prepare to have another option available at tight end in place of Bowers until at least Week 9.

Avery was elevated from the practice squad to the active roster ahead of Sunday's game against the Steelers in Week 6.

This is the third elevation for Avery since he was signed to the practice squad after being waived by the Buccaneers in September. He's played on special teams only during his first two games on the active roster. In addition to a role on special teams, Avery will provide depth at cornerback, an area that's undergone recent change when the Browns traded Greg Newsome (hamstring) to the Jaguars for Tyson Campbell.

Roach (calf) is active for Sunday's game against the Jets in London, Aric DiLalla of the Broncos' official site reports.

Suiting up for the first time all season after being reinstated from injured reserve Saturday, Roach projects to fill a rotational role along Denver's defensive line in Week 6. Over his 17 regular-season appearances with Denver in 2025, Roach recorded 2.5 sacks among his 43 tackles and was credited with a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

McLaughlin is active for the first time this season in Sunday's game against the Jets in London, Aric DiLalla of the Broncos' official site reports.

A healthy inactive for Denver's first five games, McLaughlin will finally get the chance to make his 2025 debut as he suits up as the Broncos' No. 3 back behind J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey. In order to make room for McLaughlin on the gameday roster, the Broncos have elected to make fellow running back Tyler Badie inactive for the first time. Though McLaughlin totaled 572 yards from scrimmage over 16 games in 2024, the Broncos likely won't call on him to play more than a handful of snaps behind Dobbins and Harvey on Sunday.

Herbert (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Broncos in London.

After signing with the Jets last week, Herbert dressed as the Jets' No. 3 running back for this past Sunday's 37-22 loss to the Cowboys. He didn't see any playing time on offense in the loss but contributed on special teams, where he brought back one kickoff for 22 yards. With Kene Nwangwu (hamstring) set to play Sunday for the first time since Week 1, the Jets won't have a need for Herbert as depth at running back or as a kickoff returner.

Stephens (neck) is active for Sunday's game against the Jets in London.

Stephens was added to the Jets' injury report Friday after he was a limited participant in the team's final Week 6 practice due to the neck issue, but it won't prevent him from suiting up Sunday. The 27-year-old defensive back has played all but one of the Jets' defensive snaps through the first five games of the season, totaling 29 tackles and four passes defensed.

Chase (illness) remains listed as questionable but is expected to play Sunday against the Packers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Per Ben Baby of ESPN.com, Chase participated in a walk-through Friday before being sent home for the team's practice later that day and subsequently being listed as a non-participant. While Adam Schefter of ESPN also suggests that Chase is on track to play Sunday, fantasy managers will nonetheless want to verify the star wideout's status when the Bengals release their inactive list 90 minutes prior to the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff. Assuming he's cleared to play, Chase will be working with a new quarterback in veteran Joe Flacco, who will displace Jake Browning as the team's starter.

Purdy (toe), who has been ruled out ahead of Sunday's game at Tampa Bay, has "a chance" to play Week 7 against the Falcons, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Purdy will miss his second straight game -- and fourth so far this season -- this Sunday due to a lingering toe injury. The quarterback didn't practice at all this week, but he did do some work off to the side, so he appears to at least be making some progress toward a return. Nonetheless, Purdy's status remains up in the air for next week, though Schefter's report does provide some optimism about Purdy's ability to get back on the field. For as long as Purdy remains out, Mac Jones -- who is dealing with knee and oblique injuries but is expected to play this Sunday -- will likely remain San Francisco's starter behind center.