NFL Player News

Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson hauled in his first career touchdown pass during the Week 10 Thursday night game against Washington. The Vikings picked up the victory as well. 

Patterson caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Christian Ponder in the second quarter to put the Vikings up 14-10 at the time. They would win 34-27 and come back from 13 points down in the second half. 

Patterson saw four targets come his way as he finished two catches for 22 yards and the score. He's been becoming more involved on offense, but remains mostly a return man for the Vikings as a rookie. Minnesota heads to Seattle for the Week 11 game. 

Titans running back Chris Johnson found his form in a big way last week against the Rams, and he should have no problem keeping the momentum rolling in Week 10 against the Jaguars.

One week after rushing for 150 yards and a pair of scores, Johnson gets to go up against one of the league's worst rushing defenses. The Jaguars allow opposing running backs to rack up 22.0 Fantasy points per game this season, and enter Week 10 with a three-game streak of opposing backs totaling at least 30 points against Jacksonville.

Johnson should continue to make up for a poor start to the season this week, and has to be considered a must-start Fantasy option for Week 10. 

The Minnesota Vikings had five players on the roster ruled out for Thursday's Week 10 game against Washington when Wednesday's official injury report came out. All five players are among the Vikings' inactives for the Week 10 game.

Those players are as follows: Running back Matt Asiata (shoulder); defensive backs Chris Cook (hip) and Jamarca Sanford (groin); defensive lineman Fred Evans (knee); and tight end Kyle Rudolph (foot).

Raiders top back Darren McFadden missed practice again on Thursday with a hamstring injury. His unavailability for the game Sunday against the Giants becomes more of a possibility with every missed session.

Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton indicated Thursday that running back Trent Richardson could miss time with an ankle injury. Hamilton said in his press conference that the offense will remain intact if Donald Brown must replace Richardson as the featured back. Richardson was sidelined from practice both Wednesday and Thursday.

Chargers running back Ryan Mathews is facing a strong matchup Week 10 against the Broncos.

Denver has struggled against opposing runners, allowing 18.75 Fantasy points per game. Through eight games, the teams has allowed eight rushing touchdowns. The team has given up two receiving touchdowns to running backs, but that was early in the season. The team has done better defending running backs in the passing game since then.

Mathews was just starting to get into a groove before Week 9 knocked him off track. After seeing two straight weeks with 20+ carries, Mathews fell back to just seven carries against Washington. Mathews continues to be the team's primary starter, but there's no guarantee how much work he'll get with Danny Woodhead in town. Mathews has a good matchup, but there's no way to know how much he'll be used.

Colts disappointing featured back Trent Richardson was absent from a second straight practice on Thursday with an ankle sprain, per the Indianapolis Star. His availability for the game Sunday against visiting St. Louis remains unknown.

Buccaneers running back Doug Martin still doesn't have a timetable for his shoulder injury.

Martin's injury is said to be improving, but the team still isn't sure whether he'll be able to suit up again this year. Head coach Greg Schiano said that determination will be made in the "upcoming weeks," and that he would inform the media of the decision. Martin has to be cleared by team doctors, but the team also needs to determine whether it's in his best interest to play at that time. Martin said things were getting better, but stressed it was still a day-to-day process. 

Martin has played in six games this season.

Ravens running back Bernard Pierce has scored four Fantasy points over his last three games. He hasn't seen more than six carries since Week 5 and his only two touchdowns this season came in games where Ray Rice was injured. 

With a career-low 2.7 yards-per-carry average (Rice's is way down, too, for what that's worth), Pierce's Fantasy value is limited to a handcuff for Rice, and little more.

He can be left on the bench in most formats. 

Rams running back Daryl Richardson, who sat out Week 9 with a foot injury, did not return to practice Wednesday. The Rams are preparing to play the Colts Week 10.