NFL Player News

Santos (groin) was placed on injured reserve Monday.

Santos was released by the Chiefs earlier this season due to his groin problem, which flared up again in Sunday's defeat to the 49ers. Now done for the season, the Bears have signed veteran Mike Nugent to replace the Brazilian.

Gonzalez made his only field-goal attempt during Sunday's 19-10 loss to the Chargers. He also converted his lone PAT.

A week after hitting a career-high three field goals, Gonzalez had to settle for just one attempt, as the Browns reverted back to their old ways and had trouble moving the ball against the Chargers' stout defense. The rookie kicker is 12 of 18 on the year and has bounced back nicely after a rough start to his career.

Tucker converted on all three of his field-goal attempts and went 5-for-5 on extra points in Sunday's 44-20 win over the Lions.

The AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November stayed hot Sunday with another double-digit effort. Tucker connected on field goals of 38, 46, and 51 yards, and an outburst from the Ravens' offense afforded him five extra-point tries. He has eight consecutive games with multiple field goals, including three straight games with three field goals apiece. Tucker has also converted each of his last five attempts from 50+ yards. He'll kick in a tough environment Sunday night in Pittsburgh, but Tucker still remains an elite kicking option regardless of where the game is played.

Prater missed his only field-goal attempt (43 yards) while converting just two of three PATs during Sunday's 44-20 loss to the Ravens.

Prater reportedly battled a sickness in the days leading up to the game according to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com, but it isn't clear if that had any impact on his performance -- which was easily Prater's worst of the year. In fact, he was previously perfect from within 50 yards and hadn't missed a single PAT all season. It didn't help that the Lions struggled to move the ball, affording Prater minimal chances to redeem himself. While this poor performance doesn't instill much confidence in fantasy owners with the fantasy playoffs in tow, Prater remains the strong-legged marksman he was prior to Week 13 and should continue to be started with confidence.

Butker converted one of his two field-goal attempts in Sunday's 38-31 loss to the Jets, adding four extra points.

Even including Sunday's miss, Butker has misfired just twice in 26 attempts overall this season. Assuming he can continue his success, the rookie placekicker will likely have a roster spot on the Chiefs and fantasy squads for the foreseeable future.

Bears head coach John Fox said the team may need to find a replacement for Santos, who injured his groin during Sunday's 15-14 loss to the 49ers, Adam Hoge of WGN Radio 720 AM Chicago reports.

With the Bears unable to venture into scoring range after the first quarter, Santos' injury didn't have much impact on Sunday's game. He dealt with a groin injury earlier this season, prompting the Chiefs to place him on injured reserve and eventually release him. The Bears could turn back to Connor Barth, who was released to make room for Santos a few weeks ago.

Coons made four of his five field-goal attempts (21, 40, 22 and 27 yards) and also connected on his lone extra-point try in the 19-10 win over the Browns on Sunday.

With Nick Novak sidelined due to a back injury, Coons came up big against his former team Sunday. While the 25-year-old did miss his first kick, a 38-yarder that hit the right upright, Coons was able to rally by knocking in his next four attempts. So long as Novak remains out, the second-year pro has plenty of value kicking for an explosive Chargers team that has scored 101 points combined in the last three weeks.

Zuerlein connected for four field goals (56, 20, 24 and 41 yards) and made both his point-after attempts during Sunday's 32-16 win over Arizona.

Zuerlein has now kicked multiple field goals in 10 of 12 games and is up to 36 for the campaign. The league record of 44 is held by David Akers, who accomplished the feat for San Francisco in 2011, and that mark is now in serious jeopardy. Zuerlein is obviously locked in as a high-end fantasy asset while chasing a historic season.

Texans head coach Bill O'Brien suggested Monday that the team would stick with Fairbairn as its kicker, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports. "He's a good kicker. I have a lot of faith in him," O'Brien said of Fairbairn. "He had a bad day [in Sunday's 24-13 loss to the Titans]. He'll be alright."

Fairbairn had a pair of costly missed field goals Sunday that changed the complexion of the contest, with the attempt he yanked wide left from 23 yards out in the third quarter especially brutal. The first-year kicker at least righted the ship before the end of the game by knocking home a 42-yard attempt, and his solid work on the whole this season looks like it will give him a little leeway before the Texans start working out other options. Through Houston's 12 games, Fairbairn has connected on 17 of 21 field-goal tries and 29 of 31 extra-point attempts.

Bryant connected on three field goals in Sunday's 14-9 loss to the Vikings.

Bryant connected from 36, 38 and 47 yards, but he missed a late attempt from 45 yards that could have made it a 14-12 game. Bryant is now 24-for-28 on the season and has a decent kicking matchup in Week 14 at home against the Saints.