NFL Player News

Titans running back Chris Johnson enters Week 9 against the Rams coming off a bye week, which mercifully ended a string of terrible performance. Johnson failed to reach 40 yards rushing in four straight games prior to the bye, a streak he will attempt to put an end to Sunday.

Last year, Johnson exploded out of the bye week, rushing for 195 yards on 18 carries, with two touchdowns against the Bills. He has a pretty good chance of a breakout performance this week as well, as the Rams boast one of the worst defenses in the league against the run -- only two teams have allowed more than the 108.5 yards per game the Rams have surrendered to opposing running backs.

With a week to get his feet under him, Johnson has a chance for a big game. Fantasy owners should leave him active for Week 9, despite his disappointing opening to the season. 

If you're a Jamaal Charles owner, Knile Davis is essentially a must-add handcuff, especially with Charles nursing a sore knee. 

But even if Charles is floating off on someone else's roster, it might be worth it to speculate on Davis, just on the chance that the Chiefs are downplaying Charles' injury and he doesn't play. The Chiefs' offense is tailored to the run (and to short passes to the running back), and Davis will slide into the Charles role if anything happens. 

Additionally, a team hurting at running back with byes and random injuries might even be able to flex Davis, under the logic that Charles could be limited in Week 9. 

If you're carrying a backup tight end to Jimmy Graham, or have a quarterback you'll never start, it might be worth it to bail on them and speculate on Davis. 

Titans featured back Chris Johnson predicted Thursday that his team will be watching the postseason from home if the ground game is not resuscitated.

"If the running game doesn't get going, this is going to be another non-playoff team," he told The Tennesseean.

The Titans rank 18th in the NFL with 720 rushing yards and 19th in YPC at 3.7. But Johnson has been a major disappointment after four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He has 366 yards in 115 attempts or a 3.2 average with no touchdowns and has been far less productive in recent weeks. He has 110 yards on 46 carries (2.4) in the last four games.

Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton claims that he is the man to blame for the lack of production by running back Trent Richardson.

"I have to do a better job of coming up with schemes to complement his wealth of talent," Hamilton told the team website.

A healthy Richardson has been less productive in 2013 than he was in his injury-riddled rookie season. He is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry this year, including a 2.6 YPC effort in his last game two weeks ago against Denver. He has also been a non-factor in the passing attack with just two catches in five games with the Colts since his trade from Cleveland.

Ravens running back Bernard Pierce has enough carries to be considered at least a second option by Fantasy owners. He just hasn't done enough with those attempts to earn a spot in most lineups.

Pierce is averaging a meager 2.8 YPC. Granted, so is featured back Ray Rice, who has only seven more tries on the ground. But Pierce, unlike his backfield mate, has been a non-entity in the passing game with just seven catches. And he has only two touchdowns all year. One was against Cleveland, but that is more coincidence than anything else.

The Week 9 matchup in Cleveland is also not favorable for Pierce. He not only shares time with Rice, but the Browns boast a rather stingy run defense. They are yielding just 3.7 yards per carry, which ranks sixth in the league. They struggled for a bit this season, but got back on track last week in Kansas City by holding Jamaal Charles to 74 yards on 18 carries.

Pierce is ranked 31st and 43rd among NFL backs this week by two of the CBSSports.com senior Fantasy writers. That is not a ringing endorsement. It's tough to find two viable running backs for Fantasy lineups, especially when one might be out on a bye week, so Pierce is in play. But he's not a strong choice in Week 9.

The last time Redskins running back Roy Helu played a game in Washington, he rushed for a career-high three touchdowns. Unfortunately, after Fantasy owners rushed out to pick him up, he turned around and totaled 25 yards with no scores last game in Denver.

Heading into Week 9 at home against San Diego, Fantasy owners aren't really sure what to expect. We're not so sure we can make the situation any clearer.

Helu has four rushing touchdowns this season and sees a few catches per game. Otherwise, Alfred Morris is the lead guy for the Redskins and that isn't changing. There was a time when it appeared that Helu might be used on goal-line caries for Mike Shanahan and the Redskins, but that appears to have been just a one-game thing.

San Diego is not an easy team to run on. In fact, the Chargers are allowing the fewest Fantasy points per game to opposing running backs this season. The Chargers are the only team in the NFL that has yet to allow a rushing TD. Maurice Jones-Drew managed just 37 yards last week on the Chargers. In fact, the 90 yards Chris Johnson amassed for the Titans Week 3 stands as the best individual rushing effort this season against San Diego.

We still think Morris will have a decent game on Sunday, but Helu is anybody's best guess. We cannot recommend him as anything other than a low-end flex option for the Week 9 game.

All 53 Ravens practiced Wednesday as a once-decimated roster has become healthy. Among those who returned were linebacker Albert McClellan (shoulder), running back Bernard Pierce (hamstring), wide receiver Brandon Stokley (groin) and guard Kelechi Osemele (back).

Patriots running back Shane Vereen took part in his first practice Wednesday since hurting his wrist Week 1 against the Bills. Vereen, however, isn't eligible to come off short-term injured reserve until Week 11 at Carolina.

After emerging as the Falcons' primary backfield threat in Weeks 3-7, Jacquizz Rodgers went back to being more of a change-of-pace option in Steven Jackson's return to the lineup Week 8 at Arizona. He played a decent number of snaps but got only four touches.

So clearly, he's a long shot to make a relevant Fantasy contribution Week 9 at Carolina. The Panthers rank second against the run, allowing 79.3 yards per game. They've given up some receiving yards to running backs, which is of course Rodgers' specialty, but Jackson is too good of a receiver himself for the Falcons to sit him in obvious passing situations. 

Jackson's playing time only figures to increase the further he distances himself from this injury, rendering Rodgers little more than a handcuff option. He may not be all the way there yet, but with the poor matchup, you don't have much incentive to start Rodgers in Fantasy.

Rams running back Benny Cunningham, inactive the past two games with an ankle injury, has "a pretty good chance" to return to practice this week, coach Jeff Fisher told reporters. Cunningham could be needed with starter Zac Stacy also dealing with an ankle injury.