NFL Player News

With Spencer Ware (hamstring) inactive, Williams is in line to head Kansas City's ground game Sunday against the Raiders, BJ Kissel of the Chiefs' official site reports.

Charcandrick West and Darrel Williams are on hand to see complementary work in the team's Week 17 backfield, but with Ware still out, Damien Williams is in a good spot to produce against an Oakland defense that hasn't been strong against the run this season.

Conner (ankle) is listed as active for Sunday's game against the Bengals.

Conner -- who last suited up in Week 13 -- will give it a go Sunday, but it remains to be seen if he'll log as heavy a workload as he did prior to sustaining his ankle injury. With that in mind, Jaylen Samuels, who filled in well in place of Conner over the last couple of weeks, is available to spell Conner when needed in both early-down and obvious passing situations. On the plus side, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com relays that Conner "looked pretty fluid on a few cuts" when briefly testing out his ankle with a team trainer before Sunday's contest.

Penny (knee) is listed as active Sunday against the Cardinals.

A full practice participant all week, Penny still needed to get through a pregame workout unscathed to make his first appearance since Week 14. With the health of his knee approved by the training staff, he'll be available to the Seahawks backfield, though his workload could be determined by game flow. Chris Carson will get the initial touches but could be pulled if Seattle gets out to a comfortable lead, which would leave Penny and Mike Davis to vie for snaps.

Conner appears to be in line to play Sunday against the Bengals after testing out his ankle in warmups, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

We'll confirm the running back's Week 17 status, either way, upon the release of the Steelers' inactives in advance of Sunday's 4:25 ET kickoff. However, at this time it looks like Conner is poised to return to action following a three-game absence.

Conner (ankle) did less in practice this week than initially perceived and is a true game-time decision, Fox's Jay Glazer reported on their pregame show Sunday morning.

The general expectation was that Conner would play, but now it appears that isn't as certain. Moreover, even if he plays, he may not be as heavily used in the offense as initially expected.

Artis-Payne is likely to notice an elevated role on offense Sunday against the Saints with Carolina expected to limit lead back Christian McCaffrey's snap count, Bill Voth of the Panthers' official site reports.

Coach Ron Rivera hasn't explicitly said that McCaffrey, who is active for Week 17, will be limited, but that's a reasonable assumption given that the Panthers are out of playoff contention and don't have much to gain by handing the second-year player his usual massive workload in an otherwise meaningless regular-season finale. Given that McCaffrey has played approximately 97 percent of the Panthers' offensive snaps this season, there will still be some extra volume to go around even if he works in more of a timeshare out of the backfield. Artis-Payne, who has just four touches across eight games this season, would be first in line to benefit if McCaffrey is rested or restricted at any point, but the uncertainty of what exactly the Auburn product's workload will look like makes it tough to roll with him in fantasy lineups with much confidence.

Foreman is inactive for Sunday's game against the Jaguars.

With Foreman sitting out Sunday's regular-season finale, the Texans' Week 17 rushing attack will be headed by Lamar Miller (who is back from an ankle injury) and Alfred Blue.

Patterson (knee) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Jets.

With the versatile Patterson out Sunday, the Patriots' Week 17 wideout corps will be headed by Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett.

Elliott (coach's decision) is listed as inactive Sunday at the Giants, David Helman of the Cowboys' official site reports.

The decision follows a report from NFL Network's Jane Slater, who relayed earlier Sunday that the Cowboys were slated to rest Elliott in Week 17. Elliott thus will end the 2018 campaign with 304 carries for 1,434 yards, 77 receptions (on 95 targets) for 567 yards and nine total touchdowns in 15 games. Among his replacements, Rod Smith may take on the larger share of snaps out of the backfield because Darius Jackson has yet to earn a carry or target as a pro.

Kamara (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Panthers, John DeShazier of the Saints' official site reports.

The Saints clinched the NFC's No. 1 seed in the postseason with a win over Pittsburgh last week, so the team will keep Kamara and quarterback Drew Brees inactive and is expected to rest several other key starters in a mostly meaningless regular-season finale. Kamara's absence clears the way for Mark Ingram to start, though it's possible he'll only play a series or two -- if at all -- before bowing out of the contest. Instead, third-stringer Dwayne Washington looks like a better candidate to pace the New Orleans backfield in snaps and touches.