NFL Player News

Fairbairn went 2-for-2 on field-goal attempts and 2-for-2 on extra-point kicks for eight points scored in Sunday's 20-3 win over Jacksonville.

Fairbairn finished off the regular season tops among kickers with 150 points, three field goals clear of Baltimore's Justin Tucker. He was first in field-goal attempts (42) and makes (37) as well, taking advantage of the Texans' inability to finish drives. He was a difference maker some weeks, posting double-digit points seven times, including individual games of 17, 17 and 16 points.

A groin injury was at the root of Boswell's placement on injured reserve prior to Sunday's 16-13 win over the Bengals, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The legitimacy of Boswell's groin issue is somewhat questionable, as the 27-year-old had displayed dreadful accuracy through the Steelers' first 15 games but was never regularly featured on the team's injury reports prior to being shut down. In any case, despite signing a four-year extension in August, Boswell is in danger of losing his roster spot for good in 2019 after converting only 13 of his 20 field-goal attempts and 43 of 48 extra-point tries before landing on IR. Further hurting Boswell's future within the organization was the fact that the replacement kicker the Steelers signed ahead of the season finale, Matt McCrane, nailed all three of his field-goal tries, including one from 49 yards out. Pittsburgh is expected to decide on Boswell's fate within the next several weeks, as he'll be due a $2 million roster bonus in March.

Zuerlein connected on two field-goal attempts and six extra-point kicks during Sunday's 48-32 win over San Francisco.

The veteran's solid Week 17 showing upped him to an eighth-ranked 87.1 field-goal percentage among all kickers with at least 30 attempts this season. He also hit 35 of 36 extra points and projects to have plenty of opportunities to continue his strong production in the postseason. Looking ahead to 2019, Zuerlein should be viewed as one of the top kicking options in all fantasy settings.

Gano said Monday that his sore left knee is feeling better since he was shut down earlier in December and relayed that he won't require offseason surgery to address the matter, Steve Reed of the Associated Press reports.

Instead, Gano will simply treat the injury with rest and rehab, which should be all he needs to return at full strength for the Panthers' offseason program. Gano served as Carolina's kicker for the first 12 games before ceding those duties to Chandler Catanzaro, finishing with a 14-for-16 success rate on field-goal attempts and 30-for-33 mark on extra points. Under contract through 2021, Gano should retain the job so long as the knee doesn't prove to be an issue during training camp.

Bryant connected on field-goal attempts of 49 and 37 yards, while converting on all four of his point-after tries during Sunday's 34-32 win against the Buccaneers.

Like fine wine, Bryant continues to improve with age. In his 17th pro season, the 43-year-old Bryant converted on 20 of 21 field-goal tries (95.2 percent), comfortably surpassing his previous career-best field goal percentage of 93.1 among seasons in which he attempted at least 10 field goals. It's hard enough to find a serviceable option at kicker, let alone an elite one, and the Falcons would almost certainly embrace the idea of Bryant returning for an 11th year with the franchise. Whether that is in Bryant's plans remains inconclusive as the 2018 regular season winds to a close.

Prater converted his only field-goal attempt and lone PAT during Sunday's victory over Green Bay. He also completed his only pass attempt for an eight-yard touchdown.

The record holder for the NFL's longest field goal showed his athleticism isn't contained to his kicking abilities, as Prater dropped a perfect touchdown in the back of the end zone to tight end Levine Toilolo on a faked field goal in the second quarter. Also perfect on his kicking opportunities, Prater had quite the day in the Lions' 2018 season finale. He'll now close the season having made 28 of 32 field-goal attempts -- including a perfect 20-for-20 from inside 40 yards -- as well as all 27 of his PATs. Prater remains under contract with Detroit for another two seasons.

Boswell, who was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury prior to Pittsburgh's 16-13 Week 17 win over Cincinnati, finished the season having made 13 of 20 field-goals and 43 of 45 PATs.

His 65 percent success rate on field-goals was the lowest in the league among kickers with 20 or more attempts, and well below his career average of 89.5 percent entering the season. Boswell was signed to a hefty long-term contact after last season -- with over $7 million guaranteed -- so despite his awful season there is a strong chance he will be back kicking for Pittsburgh in 2019.

Myers connected on his lone field-goal try in Sunday's 38-3 loss to New England, finishing his season with 33 makes on 36 attempts.

The Jets turned down multiple field-goal opportunities in lieu of failed fourth-down gambles, but Myers was true from 40 yards out on his lone kick of the afternoon. There will likely be mutual interest from team and player in a 2019 reunion, as the pending free agent posted the best season of his career after latching on with Gang Green on a one-year pact in 2018.

Myers (left hip) doesn't carry an injury designation for Sunday's game against the Patriots after returning to a full practice Friday, Darryl Slater of NJ.com reports.

The Jets had worked out some other kickers just in case, but Myers, who is fifth in the league among players at his position with 126 points, is slated to play Sunday. That said, the Jets offense heads into Week 17 with a shorthanded wideout corps, with both Quincy Enunwa (ankle) and Jermaine Kearse (Achilles) on the shelf for the team's season finale.

Boswell was placed on injured reserve Friday with an undisclosed injury.

Boswell was nearly replaced following Week 15 after missing his seventh field-goal attempt of the season, but he responded by not missing a kick last week against the Saints. The 27-year-old was never listed on the injury report, so what he's actually dealing with is currently unclear. Pittsburgh signed Matt McCrane to handle kicking duties as the team heads into the final game of the regular season.