NFL Player News

Henry rushed the ball 19 times for 153 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 28-20 win over Jacksonville.

In what is likely to be his final game as a Titan, Henry delivered a vintage performance to help the team to an upset win. His longest gain of the day went for 69 yards on a run up the middle, which set up a touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins two plays later. Henry also took a trip to the end zone himself earlier in the contest, ripping off an 18-yard run off the left end for his 12th touchdown of the year. Henry topped 1,000 rushing yards for the fifth time in his career and now has double-digit scores in six consecutive seasons as he heads to free agency.

Strong exited in the second half of Sunday's 31-14 loss to the Bengals with an apparent back injury, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports. He rushed 14 times for 65 yards and didn't catch his only target prior to the injury.

Strong worked as the primary ball carrier before getting hurt, as Jerome Ford got three carries and Kareem Hunt registered just one touch. Ford and Hunt are expected to lead Cleveland's backfield in the wild-card round against the Texans, so Strong will likely be bumped back down to a third-string role if his back injury doesn't keep him from suiting up.

Gainwell was the first running back to take reps in pregame warmups and appears set to start in Sunday's game against the Giants, Josh Tolentino of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

With lead back D'Andre Swift (illness) inactive, Gainwell could be poised to challenge for double-digit touches out of the backfield for the first time since Week 3, when Swift hadn't yet fully established himself as the No. 1 option. The Eagles have Boston Scott and Rashaad Penny available in reserve, but the former has mostly been relegated to special-teams duties in recent weeks, while the latter has been a healthy inactive for much of the season. Gainwell has enjoyed some level of success as both a runner (career 4.2 yards per carry) and pass catcher (career 5.3 yards per target) over his three seasons in the NFL, and the prospect of a three-down workload could make him an enticing fantasy option in Week 18.

Wilson (shoulder) is active for Sunday's contest against the Bears.

Wilson landed on injured reserve Nov. 22 due to a shoulder injury, and he's been working his way back since then. The rookie running back was activated from IR on Saturday, setting the stage for him to make his return Sunday in a game the Packers may need to win in order to make the playoffs. Wilson's return comes at a good time for Green Bay, as AJ Dillon (neck/thumb) is inactive for the matchup.

Johnson is in line to serve as the Bears' unquestioned No. 2 back in Sunday's game against the Packers with D'Onta Foreman (coach's decision) declared inactive for the contest.

Johnson will therefore have a chance to finish his rookie season with what should be a solid workload behind top back Khalil Herbert. The 2023 fourth-round pick enters the finale with 332 rushing yards and two touchdowns, figures he's complemented with a 34-209 line through the air on 40 targets. Johnson has logged between five and nine carries and three and six targets over the last three games, playing at least 30 snaps in each of those contests.

Williams (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the 49ers, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

Head coach Sean McVay had already revealed at the beginning of Week 18 prep that Williams would be held out for rest purposes in the regular-season finale, but the Rams still opted to list the second-year running back as doubtful on their final injury report. As anticipated, Williams is inactive for the contest, leaving Ronnie Rivers, Royce Freeman and Zach Evans as the team's available options out of the backfield Sunday. Williams will reprise his role as the Rams' lead back in the wild-card round, when Los Angeles plays a road game against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

Foreman (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Packers.

Foreman will thus close out his first Bears campaign as a healthy scratch on consecutive weeks and having missed the last three games overall since he also sat out Week 16 due to a personal issue. On the season, the veteran rushed 109 times for 425 yards and four touchdowns while adding 77 receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown as a receiver. Foreman is now an unrestricted free agent who should be able to secure a backfield committee role.

Pacheco (quad/shoulder) is listed as active for Sunday's game against the Chargers.

After missing practice Wednesday, Pacheco logged limited sessions Thursday and Friday before approaching the contest listed as questionable. Though the running back is not among the Chiefs' listed inactives Sunday, the team is locked into the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs, so it's possible that Pacheco sees little to no action in Kansas City's regular-season finale. With that in mind, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network previously suggested that Pacheco may only be used on an emergency basis versus Los Angeles. In such a scenario, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and La'Mical Perine would be in line to lead Kansas City's Week 18 backfield, with an eye toward protecting Pacheco's health ahead of the postseason.

Spiller (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's Week 18 game against the Chiefs.

Spiller had seen his role increase a bit over the past four weeks after regularly logging DNP-CDs earlier in the campaign, but he's back to being held out for the Chargers' final game of the campaign. The running back will thus finish his second NFL season with 37 carries for 96 yards and six catches on six targets for 34 yards over nine contests. Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley will man the backfield for Los Angeles on Sunday.

Swift (illness) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Giants.

Swift was a surprise addition to the injury report Friday, when he was listed as questionable for the Week 18 contest after he was a limited participant in the Eagles' final practice of the week due to the illness. The running back had still been hopeful to play in the regular-season finale, but Swift ultimately didn't make enough progress in his recovery from the ailment to gain clearance to play. With Swift out of the mix for Sunday's game, the Eagles are likely to lean on Kenneth Gainwell as their primary running back, though reserves Boston Scott and Rashaad Penny could have roles in the offensive game plan as well.