NFL Player News

Mixon carried 26 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns while adding a 14-yard catch during Sunday's 33-23 win over the Browns.

Mixon gashed the Cleveland defense for 6.2 yards per carry en route to a new career high in rushing. He added short rushing touchdowns in the first and fourth quarters, giving him five in the final seven games after he recorded none beforehand. Mixon's herculean effort also put him over 1,000 rushing yards on the season, which is an impressive feat considering his struggles early on. The third-year back faced his share of obstacles throughout the campaign, but he still finished with over 1,400 yards from scrimmage to go along with eight touchdowns, and he could fare even better in 2020 if the Bengals upgrade their roster on the offensive side of the ball.

Patterson didn't return to the Week 17 game against the Vikings after sustaining a concussion, and he finished the season with 16 carries for 103 yards and 11 receptions for 83 yards.

Patterson averaged fewer than three offensive touches per game, and as he enters the last year of his contract with the Bears in 2020, his fantasy value will mostly be limited to leagues that award yardage for kickoff returns.

Patterson left Sunday's game against the Vikings and is being evaluated for a concussion.

As evidenced by this news, Patterson will now enter the league's concussion protocol and need to be cleared by an independent neurologist in order to return. As long as the veteran is sidelined, Anthony Miller will likely take over kick return duties.

Boone is expected to serve as the Vikings' lead option on the ground Sunday against the Bears with Dalvin Cook (shoulder) and Alexander Mattison (ankle) both inactive for the contest.

While the Vikings' top two backs on the depth chart were sidelined in the Week 16 loss to the Packers, Boone drew his first NFL start but couldn't capitalize on the opportunity, carrying 11 times for 28 yards and notching a five-yard reception. Boone should be on the field for the Vikings' initial snaps again in the regular-season finale, but if he struggles to get going early, coach Mike Zimmer could choose to rely more heavily on fourth-stringer Ameer Abdullah. In the loss to Green Bay, Abdullah served as the top pass-catching specialist out of the backfield (six catches for 31 yards on seven targets) and nearly matched Boone's output on the ground on far fewer carries (four totes for 27 yards).

Cook (shoulder), who is inactive for Sunday's contest against the Bears, is planning to return from a two-game absence for the Vikings' wild-card matchup next weekend, Chad Graff of The Athletic reports.

Cook has only been able to practice on a limited basis since injuring his shoulder in the second half of the Vikings' Week 15 win over the Chargers, but he may have pushed harder to play in the regular-season finale if Minnesota had playoff positioning at stake. Instead, since the Vikings are locked in as the NFC's No. 6 seed regardless of how Week 17 action plays out, Cook will benefit from some additional time to rest his shoulder. Graff notes that Cook was still taking part in warmup drills Sunday despite being inactive, an early sign that he'll be ready to handle a full workload by the time the postseason arrives.

Williams (shoulder) is listed as inactive Sunday at Detroit, Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports.

Missing just the second game of his three-year career, Williams will defer to Dexter Williams and Tyler Ervin as the backup running backs to Aaron Jones. Depending on the result of this Week 17 contest, Jamaal Williams may have two weeks to rest up before the Packers take the field again.

Mattison (ankle) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Bears.

While continuing to manage the ankle injury, Mattison was unable to advance beyond limited participation in practice this week. Because the Vikings are already locked in as the NFC's No. 6 seed entering Sunday, Mattison won't be asked to play through the injury with the playoffs on the horizon. Both Mattison and Dalvin Cook (shoulder) should be ready to go for the wild-card round, but Mike Boone and Ameer Abdullah will headline the Minnesota backfield in the meaningless regular-season finale.

Singletary is inactive for Sunday's game against the Jets.

John Brown, Cole Beasley and Dawson Knox will also sit this one out, with the Bills locked into their No. 5 playoff seed.

The Jaguars promoted McNichols to the active roster Saturday, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports.

With Leonard Fournette (neck) doubtful for Sunday's season finale against the Colts, McNichols will add depth in the Jags' backfield. The 24-year-old McNichols hasn't played an NFL game this year, and he's only played in three games since entering the league in 2017.

Kelly was promoted to the Rams' active roster Saturday.

With Darrell Henderson (ankle) on injured reserve, Kelly will serve as the No. 3 running back in Sunday's season finale against the Cardinals. Kelly -- a sixth-round pick by the Rams in the 2018 NFL Draft -- has suited up in seven NFL games, rushing 30 times for 81 yards (2.7 yards per carry) and catching two passes for 27 yards.