NFL Player News

Colts tight end Dwayne Allen scored eight touchdowns last season on just 29 receptions, and those numbers could have been even better if he had stayed on the field, something the third-year pro is focusing on as he enters the final year of his contract, per ESPN.com.

"There's no pressure for me to go out and hit any set numbers," Allen said. "My number one focus is to stay healthy so I can help the team. Special teams, three downs on offense. Whatever it takes."

Allen has missed 18 games over the past two seasons, which has limited the time he can work with quarterback Andrew Luck. Allen lost 13 pounds in the offseason to ready himself for what he hopes is a big campaign. 

"I believe I'm a No. 1 tight end that can create mismatches and get open," he said. 

Cowboys tight end James Hanna suffered a sprained knee during the team's loss to the Chargers on Thursday and could wind up being sidelined for up to two weeks, per the Dallas Morning News. 

Hanna, who is the team's reserve tight end, may wind up missing the rest of training camp, which could give rookie Geoff Swaim the chance to make an impression on coaches. 

In three seasons with the Cowboys, Hanna has 22 catches for 207 yards. 

Jets tight end Jace Amaro was forced to leave Thursday's preseason game after suffering a shoulder injury, the team announced. He will not return to the game.

Amaro caught 38 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games last season.

Vikings undrafted rookie tight end MyCole Pruitt proved to be the star of the game in the first game of the NFL season Sunday.

Pruitt caught four passes for 51 yards and a touchdown in a defeat of Pittsburgh in the Hall of Fame Game. He snagged a 34-yard pass from Mike Kafka in the second quarter for the score.

Lions tight end Joseph Fauria left practice Thursday with an unknown injury, MLive.com has reported. He returned to the field without pads and wearing a protective sleeve on his left knee.

"He got a little tweak," Jim Caldwell said. "Maybe it will take him a couple days to get back."

Fauria missed nine games due to injury last season and finished with just six catches for 74 yards.

New Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham knows that he will have to become more than just a pass-catcher in Seattle's offense in order to succeed, per the Seattle Times. 

Graham, not known for his blocking while a member of the Saints, will be in a two-TE set with the Hawks, forcing him to block, by his estimation, "75 percent" of the time. 

"Now here I'm blocking quite a bit, and I love it," he said. "It's very important to me to be a part of that here. That's about 75 percent of the offense here. When you have a back like that, you want to be in there on those explosive runs, and you want to be a part of that."

The Packers have no intention of releasing tight end Andrew Quarless despite his arrest on July 4 for allegedly shooting off his gun in public, sources have told ESPN.

Quarless was charged with a misdemeanor after firing two shots into the air outside a parking garage in Miami Beach, per police reports. He was seen arguing with two women before the incident.

Packers tight end Andrew Quarless was arrested for firing a gun twice in Miami on Saturday, per the Miami New Times.

Quarless was involved in a fight at South Beach and fired the gun into the ground. 

Lions tight end Joseph Fauria hasn't had the most conventional start to his NFL career.

He broke out in 2013 as an undrafted free agent with seven touchdowns, but then the Lions drafted another tight end in the first round the following season. Fauria now expects to hit his stride and improve on last season's six catch, 74 yard totals.

“Extremely frustrating,” Fauria said, per the team website. “But it’s something you have to overcome. Football is frustrating, you know. Everyone has injuries. Everyone has trials and tribulations and it’s how you answer them and how you come back. I’m expecting myself to come back strong.”

Fauria is a huge target a 6-foot-7 and the Lions hope they can use that to their advantage next season.

“He has a unique skill set,” head coach Jim Caldwell said of his big tight end. “When you’re not able to utilize everything that’s available to you, you know, obviously you have to find other ways to do it.

“So, he brings to the table a little something that you can’t teach. He has height and he can position himself, particularly in the red zone, extremely well.”

Giants tight end Larry Donnell is no longer using a walking boot on his left foot, reports the New York Daily News.

Donnell was using the walking boot to heal from Achilles tendinitis in his left heal.