NFL Player News

Cunningham was held without a target in a 27-6 victory against San Francisco on Sunday.

Cunningham also didn't register a carry, with Tre Mason taking the lion's share of the garbage time. Cunningham wasn't getting many looks before Sunday, but he usually gets either a carry or two or a few targets. The St. Louis offense outside of Todd Gurley is extremely hard to figure out, so it's best to avoid using Cunningham.

Oliver -- who is dealing with turf toe -- was on crutches, with his right foot in a protective boot Monday, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

If Oliver is forced to miss time, Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead should pick up some extra snaps in the Chargers' backfield, with Donald Brown a candidate to be activated for next Monday's game against the Bears.

The 49ers have signed Draughn, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports.

With Carlos Hyde, Reggie Bush and Mike Davis all dealing with injuries, the 49ers understandably were looking for backfield depth after Kendall Gaskins ended up as the team's last healthy RB by the end of Sunday's loss to the Rams. While a wait-and-see approach is in order from a fantasy perspective with regard to Draughn, it will be worth monitoring the happenings in the 49ers' banged up backfield in the coming days/weeks to see if the team's injury woes at running back end up unearthing any surprising fantasy gems.

Richardson has worked out for the Saints, ESPN's Mike Triplett reports.

With RB Khiry Robinson having suffered a fractured tibia, the Saints also took a look at Travaris Cadet. Given that the team has reportedly signed Tim Hightower, it doesn't look like Richardson will be headed to New Orleans, but a weekend filled with backfield injuries has led to a number of free agent running backs -- including the former No. 3 overall pick -- drawing interest in advance of Week 9.

The Saints signed Hightower on Monday, Evan Woodbery of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

During Sunday's win against the Giants, the Saints' backfield suffered the loss of pass-catching back Khiry Robinson, who has already undergone surgery to repair a broken tibia. Hightower previously displayed some chops as a receiver, racking up 128 receptions in 53 career games between 2008 and 2011. However, he made his last appearance in 2011, so expectations should be tempered in the Saints' upcoming outings.

McKinnon had two carries for 18 yards in Sunday's win over Chicago.

With Adrian Peterson in a groove (20 carries for 103 yards), McKinnon didn't get much playing time. McKinnon got nine carries the previous week, but that looks like a high water mark unless Peterson gets hurt.

Ellington earned 26 of the Cardinals' 81 offensive snaps Sunday at Cleveland, Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 Phoenix reports. However, Ellington was shut out on three carries and didn't catch his only target.

In advance of the contest, head coach Bruce Arians implied that Ellington's role was set to increase, and he wasn't entirely false. Ellington's usage increased slightly from 29 percent to 32 percent of the offensive snaps between Weeks 7 and 8, but his production didn't meet its previous modest standard, which included nine carries for 91 yards, five catches (on six targets) for 75 yards, and one touchdown in the three outings before Sunday's game. After the Cardinals' Week 9 bye, expect Ellington's production to remain muted as long as Chris Johnson is running roughshod over the opposition.

Pead signed with the Steelers on Monday.

Pead's signing unfortunately coincides with star Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell (knee) being placed on season-ending injured reserve. With Bell out, veteran DeAngelo Williams is expected to shoulder most of Pittsburgh's workload, but Pead could compete with fellow backups Dre Archer and Jordan Todman for touches out of the backfield.

Murray carried the ball 20 times for 113 yards and added one catch for six yards in Sunday's win over the Jets.

Although he failed to score a touchdown, it was still a very productive day for the Raiders' workhorse as he received 20 of the 25 carries out of the backfield. Sunday marked the second time this year that Murray rushed for over 100 yards, and he's caught a pass out of the backfield in every game to begin the season. Owners would love to see the touchdown totals go up as he sits on just three all year, and it's highly likely that they will as long as the Raiders' keep feeding him the ball. Murray should have a decent matchup next week in Pittsburgh.

Grimes caught two passes (three targets) for 12 yards in Week 8's 20-6 win over Tennessee.

In the first game after Arian Foster (Achilles) was lost for the season, the running back order was Alfred Blue, Chris Polk and then Grimes.