NFL Player News

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

Njoku has been playing through the same knee injury for weeks, typically upgrading to full participation Thursdays or Fridays. A Week 17 matchup in Baltimore won't be easy for Baker Mayfield and the Browns offense, but the Ravens haven't done a great job against tight ends, allowing 60 yards per game and 8.3 yards per target. By comparison, they've limited wide receivers to 6.4 YPT and running backs to 4.2.

Hurst hauled in one of his two targets for an 18-yard reception during Saturday's 22-10 win over the Chargers.

The rookie first-round pick has gotten lost at times in a crowded tight-end group, but he's now managed a reception in back-to-back games for just the second time this season. That's not exactly a significant accomplishment, however, making Hurst a rather unappealing fantasy entity at this stage of his career. He's unlikely to deliver a useful performance in the regular-season finale against the Browns while splitting snaps with the likes of Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle and Maxx Williams.

Higbee caught his lone target for 16 yards during Sunday's 31-9 win over Arizona.

The tight end's reception came in the first quarter and set up a Robert Woods rushing touchdown on the following play. Higbee has started all 15 games and has garnered 695 offensive snaps this season, but that extensive usage has yielded only 33 targets on 216 receiving routes. While he's flashed potential in the passing game, fellow tight end Gerald Everett has clearly been the preferred target, and Everett has been particularly strong of late with 14 receptions for 103 yards over the past three weeks. Considering the recent trend, Higbee's fantasy upside projects to remain limited heading into Week 17 and throughout the postseason.

Waller notched two receptions for eight yards Monday in the Raiders' 27-14 win over the Broncos.

One of five tight ends on the roster, Waller appears to have emerged as the Raiders' No. 2 pass-catching option at the position behind Jared Cook. A wide receiver during his college days at Georgia Tech, Waller showcased his athleticism with a 44-yard catch and run in Week 15 in Cincinnati, but he wasn't quite as productive Monday with the Raiders opting for a run-heavy game plan.

The Raiders signed Butler from their practice squad on Monday, Matt Schneidman of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Butler has spent the entire season on Oakland's practice squad after having not made the team during roster cutdowns, but he now has a spot on the 53-man roster following the placement of Daryl Worley (shoulder) on injured reserve. He'll work to make his NFL debut during Oakland's last two games of the season, but he'll have difficulty earning snaps behind Jared Cook, Lee Smith, Derek Carrier and Darren Waller.

Allen logged 37 of a possible 75 snaps on offense in Sunday's 24-12 win over the Bills.

In his two games since returning from a knee injury, Allen has not been targeted. With just three catches on four targets for 27 yards in 12 games overall, the tight end is well off the fantasy radar.

Alie-Cox had no catches while only being targeted once despite playing in 32 offensive snaps in Sunday's win over the Giants, Andrew Walker of the Colts' official site reports.

Alie-Cox hasn't produced much fantasy value since he hauled in a couple touchdowns midseason. The most notable part of his game Sunday was that he played a significant portion of the offensive snaps once Eric Ebron (concussion) exited. Alie-Cox was used primarily as a blocker, but he could see a slight fantasy uptick if he can garner some more targets when on the field. If Ebron is unable to return for Week 17, look for Alie-Cox to again see a larger role on offense.

Tonyan caught one pass for 11 yards in Sunday's victory over the Jets.

Tonyan played a season-high 15 snaps in Sunday's overtime victory, which was just 16.5 percent of the 91 plays the Packers ran, but also a 2018 high for the second-year tight end. He has played at least 10 percent of the snaps in four straight games after playing just 14 snaps all season prior to that, and chances are good he sets another season high Week 17 with the Packers playing out the string.

Akins caught two of his three targets for 33 yards in Sunday's 32-30 loss to the Eagles.

Akins, who led Houston's tight ends in receiving Sunday, received more snaps than fellow rookie Jordan Thomas, something that hadn't happened since Week 4. The position group, which has been largely ignored all season, may take on a higher profile in the coming weeks after Demaryius Thomas suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.

Kelce hauled in five of his nine targets for 54 yards in Sunday's 38-31 loss to the Seahawks.

Kelce tied for the team lead with nine targets, though that didn't translate to a strong performance as he recorded his lowest yardage total since Week 10 against the Cardinals. He was largely bottled up by the Seahawks' secondary, and while his longest reception went for 23 yards, he averaged under eight yards on his other four receptions. On a positive note, he'll have an advantageous matchup against the Raiders in the regular-season finale and should command plenty of targets once again.