NFL Player News

Njoku (knee/thigh) was a limited practice participant Wednesday, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

A fixture on the injury report this season, Njoku hasn't actually come close to missing a game. After landing between four and six targets each of the past four games, he draws a Week 16 matchup with a soft Bengals defense that has allowed tight ends to catch 73 of 97 passes for 839 yards (8.6 yards per target) and eight touchdowns. An upgrade to full practice participation Thursday and/or Friday would answer any questions about Njoku's status.

Graham (knee/thumb) isn't practicing Wednesday, Michael Cohen of The Athletic reports.

Graham played with a wrap over this broken thumb the past four weeks, catching 15 of 25 targets for only 129 yards since he suffered the injury. The Packers might consider easing up on the tight end now that they've officially been eliminated from the playoffs, though coach Joe Philbin suggested the team won't change its approach with injured players. A return to practice Thursday would put Graham on track to play in Sunday's game against the Jets.

Schultz has drawn seven targets over the Cowboys' last two games, catching six of them for 60 yards.

While the rookie's snap count has been boosted since Geoff Swaim (wrist) got hurt, Schultz hasn't started seeing regular looks from Dak Prescott until the last couple of weeks. Blake Jarwin has emerged as the team's primary pass catcher at tight end, however, putting a significant damper on Schultz's fantasy potential.

Vannett was unable to bring in his only target during Sunday's 26-23 loss to San Francisco.

The Seahawks, Sunday's penalty-filled outing aside, have been hot, but that hasn't translated into success for Vannett. He hasn't topped 25 yards receiving since Week 9 and has scored just once during that span. Sunday could offer the cure to what ails him as Seattle -- hunting for a playoff spot -- takes on a Chiefs team that often forces opposing offenses to play catchup and has surrendered a league-high 305 receiving yards per game in the process.

Seals-Jones caught three of eight targets for 22 yards during Sunday's 40-14 loss to Atlanta.

Seals-Jones had a busy afternoon, tallying his second most targets of any game this season. Four of those came in the final five minutes of action with rookie quarterback Josh Rosen benched and Mike Glennon in charge. The Arizona offense has scored more than 20 points just once in the last nine games, and things are unlikely to get better before the end of the year for Seals-Jones, who flashed as a rookie in 2017 but hasn't scored since Week 3. Next up is a Rams defense that held Seals-Jones to 17 yards in Week 2.

Manhertz scored a 50-yard touchdown on his lone reception from two targets in Monday night's 12-9 loss to the Saints.

Manhertz entered Monday's tilt with merely one reception and three targets this season, making him the perfect candidate to sneak open on a fourth-down trick play that saw Christian McCaffrey find him deep. That play gave Manhertz his first-career touchdown, which should be hugely satisfying for the rarely used tight end.

Wolf (undisclosed) was placed on the Packers' practice squad injured list Tuesday.

The nature of Wolf's injury is unknown at this point, but he won't be on the practice field for the remainder of the season after landing in Green Bay this October. Wolf's upcoming absence allowed the team to sign D.J. Killings to their practice squad.

Thomas caught two of four targets for 14 yards in Monday night's 12-9 loss to the Saints.

Thomas trailed only Christian McCaffrey in looks from Cam Newton, but considering the quarterback threw for a season-low 131 yards, there wasn't much production to go around. That unfortunately brought Thomas back to earth following a career-best nine catches for 77 yards the week prior. While he'll aim for improvement in Week 16 versus the Falcons, the health of Newton's shoulder could be important to monitor when setting expectations of Thomas. On the bright side, without Greg Olsen (foot) available anymore, the rookie remains Carolina's top option at tight end.

Hurst caught all three of his targets for 20 yards against the Buccaneers.

The rookie has been largely invisible from the passing game in recent weeks, and prior to Sunday, Hurst had been held without a target in three of his last four games. Hurst averages just 6.0 YPT and is 10th on the team in targets for a run-heavy offense. He will face the Chargers in Week 16.

Andrews caught two of four targets for 31 yards against the Buccaneers.

A week after being shut out of the box score, Andrews got back in the mix in the win. The rookie saw his highest target count since before the bye (Week 9) and converted those looks into 31 yards. He'll face a Chargers defense that is strong at limiting opposing tight ends -- 5.6 YPT and four TDs in 14 games -- in Week 16.