NFL Player News

Mattison (illness) is active Week 15 against the Bears.

Mattison has been sidelined back-to-back weeks, but a brief return to Thursday's session opened the door for the second-year back to jump back into action Week 15. There will remain legitimate questions about his usage, however, as Dalvin Cook is the unquestioned No. 1 back, and both Ameer Abdullah and Mike Boone are active for the contest as well.

Elliott (calf) is inactive for Sunday's game against the 49ers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

The Cowboys managed Elliott's reps the last two weeks due to a bruised calf, but during the most recent one coach Mike McCarthy suggested the running back was "a little further away" than one week prior. The assessment comes as no surprise after Elliott was unable to practice at all this week, instead focusing on resistance work with the training staff. There was an expectation that he would gut out the injury, but Dallas has changed course and will give Elliott the week off. With Elliott sidelined, Tony Pollard is on pace for a large workload Week 15.

Dillon had one carry for 18 yards in Saturday's victory over the Panthers.

It appeared Dillon would get a few carries after Jamaal Williams left the game with a quad injury, but with Green Bay's offense sputtering in the second half and the Panthers closing the gap on the scoreboard, the Packers instead leaned on Aaron Jones the rest of the way. Dillon would step into the backup role in Week 16 if Williams is unable to go, but in a game that will have major seeding implications, Jones would likely get the bulk of the work in that scenario.

Vaughn is likely to see an increased role to some degree behind expected starter Leonard Fournette in Sunday's game against the Falcons with Ronald Jones (finger/reserve/COVID-19) expected to sit out the contest.

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports coach Bruce Arians had kind words for the rookie this week, noting he's "come on like gangbusters." However, Fournette and veteran LeSean McCoy certainly have the experience edge on Vaughn, who's logged just nine carries all season and played only four snaps Week 14 despite garnering active status for the first time in five contests. Along with handling some special-teams duties, Vaughn will most likely spell Fournette occasionally on early downs against Atlanta, considering Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reported earlier in the week McCoy would serve as the third-down back if Jones were unable to suit up.

Gibson (toe), who is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Seahawks, won't suit up for the contest, John Keim of ESPN.com reports.

Gibson only managed one limited practice this week before receiving the "doubtful" designation for Sunday's contest, so the fact that he'll be sidelined for a second straight game should come as no surprise. Expect the rookie to be officially ruled out with the release of Washington's inactive list 90 minutes prior to the 1 p.m. ET kickoff. J.D. McKissic should serve as Washington's clear-cut top pass-catching back Week 15 while absorbing at least a handful of carries, leaving Peyton Barber to operate as the team's main short-yardage/goal-line back.

Gaskin (illness) won't be activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of Sunday's game against the Patriots, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com reports.

Since Gaskin's placement on the list Dec. 12 was the result of a positive test rather than being a close contact of a person infected with the virus, he'll unsurprisingly be held out for a second straight week while he waits to clear all COVID-19-related protocols. At this point, Gaskin isn't known to be suffering from any major symptoms of the virus, but he'll still likely need to practice in some capacity next week to have a shot at suiting up in the Dolphins' next game Dec. 26 in Las Vegas.

Elliott (calf) remains questionable ahead of Sunday's game against the 49ers, but the running back remains on track to suit up in the Week 15 contest, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Though Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged that Elliott has been further behind in his prep for game day while managing the injury compared to last week, the 25-year-old apparently intends to play at less than 100 percent health. Given that Elliott didn't practice at any point this week, he could be in store for a smaller workload than normal, though McCarthy hasn't specifically said that will be in the cards. Most likely, Dallas will see how Elliott looks early on in the contest before deciding whether to scale back his usage in favor of top backup Tony Pollard. Elliott should be officially cleared to play when the Cowboys release their inactive list 90 minutes prior to the 1 p.m. ET kickoff.

Jones rushed the ball 20 times for 145 yards and one touchdown in Week 15 against the Panthers. He added three receptions for 13 yards.

Jones had the Packers' backfield to himself for much of the contest after Jamaal Williams (quad) exited early on. He took advantage by ripping off long runs of 46, 14 and 10 yards to total his highest rushing yardage total since Week 2. Jones also tallied his eighth touchdown of the campaign, finding the end zone from eight yards away late in the second quarter. He'll have another positive matchup in Week 16 against the Titans and will look to duplicate this statistical output.

Edmonds (ankle), who is listed as questionable, "plans to play" Sunday against the Eagles, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Schefter also noted the 24-year-old still needs to test things out in pregame warmups, so it appears he's more of a game-time decision as previously indicated by Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. Edmonds has played more than 50 percent of the offensive snaps in each of the past two games, but his production has been limited with 13 carries for 60 yards and six catches for 36 yards. Kenyan Drake is poised to lead Arizona's run game again Sunday and could be more involved in the passing game should Edmonds be unavailable.

Williams is questionable to return to Saturday's game against the Panthers due to a quadriceps injury, Olivia Reiner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The 25-year-old had one carry for six yards and caught both his targets for 14 yards during the first half before exiting the contest. AJ Dillon will operate as Green Bay's secondary running back behind Aaron Jones while Williams is sidelined.