NFL Player News

Drake (knee) is active for Sunday's Week 14 tilt versus the Cardinals.

Drake will be available behind starter Jay Ajayi, although as usual, it's expected that the latter will take on the lion's share of the backfield work.

Artis-Payne (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Chargers.

Unless the Panthers lose one of Jonathan Stewart, Fozzy Whittaker or Mike Tolbert to an injury, it's expected that Artis-Payne will remain inactive as the low man on the depth chart in the backfield. Artis-Payne hasn't appeared in a game since Week 5 against the Buccaneers, when he logged 85 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries when Stewart was sitting out with an injury.

Washington (ankle) is listed as active Sunday versus the Bears.

Washington received a scare last Sunday at New Orleans when he was carted off the field. However, he was merely diagnosed with a sprained ankle, which resulted in limited practice sessions during preparation for Week 14. Lead back Theo Riddick was a surprise inactive this Sunday due to a wrist injury, placing more of the onus on Dwayne Washington to fuel the ground game. Washington may handle a change-of-pace role, though, with Zach Zenner and potentially Joique Bell better candidates to run between the tackles.

Mathews (knee) is listed as active Sunday against the Redskins, Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Despite logging full practices all week, Mathews was curiously deemed questionable, which may have been the Eagles' means of a fail-safe following a two-game absence due to an MCL issue. Although he would typically be atop head coach Doug Pederson's options at running back, Mathews may fall behind Wendell Smallwood in the touch department Sunday, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Hillman (coach's decision) is inactive for the Chargers' Week 14 matchup with the Panthers.

Hillman has been inactive for the last three weeks, as coach Mike McCoy has elected to keep tailbacks Melvin Gordon and Kenneth Farrow and fullback Derek Watt as his only backfield options for those games. It may take another injury in order for Hillman to see some snaps.

Gillislee is now the team's official goal-line back, BuffaloBills.com reports. Said offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn: "Shady is one of the most explosive backs in the league. He can get a lot of his touchdowns from outside the red zone, but Mike is that decisive, no nonsense type runner that you're looking for inside the three, two-yard line. That's his role and everybody in the backfield knows that's his role and he's going to get those touches when we get down there. And Shady is good with that."

This is what's been happening lately anyway, while it may not have been as obvious between the coaching staff not publicly adresseing Gillislee's specific role and his own hamstring injury that's now in the past. Plus, a red-hot McCoy has been scoring on runs outside the five. Still, it's now even more clear that the hard-driving Gillislee will get exclusive action up close, and with six rushing scores on the season and an offense that's headed toward a franchise high in rushing scores, there's no reason Gillislee can't make a run at nine or 10.

Mathews (knee) is expected to play Sunday against the Redskins, ESPN's Adam Caplan reports.

The Eagles backfield will get a boost Sunday with the return of Mathews following a two-game absence. He'll face a Washington defense that has been suspect against the run this season. Mathews racked up 60 yards on the ground on just nine carries in Week 6 against Washington.

Taliaferro (thigh) is ruled out of Monday night's game against the Patriots, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports.

Taliaferro wasn't at practice again this week and will now miss his fourth straight game. Consequently, the Ravens' backfield duties will continue to be handled by a trio of Terrance West, Kenneth Dixon and Javorius Allen.

Sims (knee) was officially activated from injured reserve Saturday, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

As expected, Sims officially makes his highly anticipated return to the active roster and will join Doug Martin and Jacquizz Rodgers in helping provide the Bucs with a three-headed monster at tailback, where Sims projects to be the pass-catching specialist of the bunch. However, for fantasy purposes, it isn't clear how carries will be distributed right off the bat.

Vereen (triceps) has officially been activated to the Giants' active roster from injured reserve, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports.

As originally expected, the Giants will have their versatile backfield option in Vereen for Sunday's game against the Cowboys. Although Rashad Jennings and Paul Perkins may see a majority of the team's carries at this point, Vereen could be productive in PPR formats, especially if the Giants get down early and are forced to throw often.