NFL Player News

Akers (ankle) practiced fully Wednesday, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

In Weeks 13 through 15, Akers established himself as the Rams' lead back, averaging 23 touches per game. He emerged from Week 15 with a high-ankle sprain and sat out Week 16 as a result, but upon his return to the lineup in Sunday's win over the Cardinals, he ripped off 86 yards from scrimmage on 25 touches. Now that he's bumped up from limited activity Tuesday to an uncapped session Wednesday, Akers is poised to pace L.A.'s backfield yet again in this weekend's wild-card game at Seattle.

Washington signed Leake to the practice squad Wednesday, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Leake was cut from Washington's practice squad roughly a week ago, but he'll now rejoin the unit and reprise his role as emergency depth. The undrafted rookie out of Maryland's only appearance with the Football Team this season came Week 14 in San Francisco.

Taylor (shoulder) was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday's estimated practice report.

Despite the listing, Taylor -- who logged a career-high 31 touches in the Week 17 win over Jacksonville -- isn't concerned about his status for Saturday's playoff opener against the Bills, according to Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan Indianapolis reports. Taylor closed the regular season with a flurry, racking up 837 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns over the Colts' final six games.

The Saints activated Washington (undisclosed) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, Amie Just of The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

Washington was forced to miss Week 17 after landing on the COVID list as a high-risk close contact, but he'll now be eligible to return to team facilities. Latavius Murray (undislosed) also returned from the COVID list Wednesday, though Alvin Kamara (illness) remains iffy for Saturday's wild-card matchup against the Bears. Washington could see an increased depth role if Kamara can't go.

The Saints activated Murray (undisclosed) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports.

Murray missed the Saints' victory over the Panthers in the regular-season finale because he was deemed to be a high-risk close contact of Alvin Kamara, who tested positive for COVID-19. There's no telling when Kamara will complete the necessary testing protocol and rejoin the Saints, but if he's unable to suit up in the wild-card round, Murray is the prime candidate to lead the backfield Sunday versus the Bears. On the season, Murray has averaged 11.3 touches for 55.5 yards from scrimmage per game while scoring five touchdowns in 15 appearances.

Evans was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday's estimated practice report with a shoulder injury, Turron Davenport of ESPN.com reports.

Evans rarely sees the field on offense with Derrick Henry holding a near monopoly on the touches out of Tennessee's backfield, but the rookie third-round pick has carved out a sizable special-teams role heading into Sunday's wild-card round game against the Ravens. He played 17 special-teams snaps in the Week 17 win over the Texans, returning one kickoff for 16 yards.

Gibson (toe) was a limited practice participant Wednesday, John Keim of ESPN.com reports.

Gibson played through the toe injury the past two weeks, but he felt well enough to handle 20 touches and play 59 percent of the offensive snaps in Washington's victory over Philadelphia in the regular-season finale. He draws a tough matchup in the wild-card round, facing a Bucs defense that led the league in both rushing yards allowed (80.6 per game) and opponent yards per carry (3.6).

Gibson (toe) worked with the training staff on the side during Wednesday's practice, John Keim of ESPN.com reports.

Gibson played through a turf toe injury Weeks 16 and 17, racking up 136 yards on 29 rushes and hauling in four of five targets for 14 yards. He didn't log any practice reps last week before suiting up for the regular-season finale against the Eagles, so he doesn't necessarily have to take part in drills this week to be cleared for Saturday's wild-card game versus the Buccaneers. Wednesday's injury report will reveal whether or not Gibson made an appearance on the practice field.

Ozigbo played only one offensive snap during Sunday's 28-14 loss to the Colts.

Dare Ogunbowale dominated the backfield work with workhorse James Robinson (ankle) missing the finale two games of the season. Ozigbo ended the season with one carry for one yard and nine catches for 42 yards in eight games. The 24-year-old remains under contract for 2021, but there are hardly any roster guarantees for Jacksonville's backfield behind Robinson.

Singletary carried the ball three times for just seven yards in Sunday's win over Miami and caught his only target for six yards.

The Bills rested most of their starters for the second half of the regular-season finale, so Singletary should be fresh when the Bills meet the Colts to open up the playoff slate Saturday. Even though he was healthy just about the entire season, it was a terrible campaign by fantasy standards for the second-year back out of Florida Atlantic. Singletary played every game and still didn't hit 1,000 yards from scrimmage, often ceding important work to rookie Zack Moss. Singletary finished 32nd among running backs in half-point PPR formats, far below his draft-day value and behind the likes of free-agent pickups such as Nyheim Hines, Chase Edmonds and Jeff Wilson.