NFL Player News

The Redskins received minor offensive contributions from a few role players Week 6 against the Cowboys.

Fullback Darrel Young broke for a 19-yard run late in the fourth quarter for his only action of the night. Wide receiver Josh Morgan caught a 6-yard pass in the fourth quarter for his only gain of the game. Tight ends Fred Davis and Logan Paulsen were not targeted and took a backseat to Jordan Reed, who had four catches for 58 yards.

Several Cardinals made minor offensive contributions in the loss at San Francisco. Running back Stepfan Taylor ran twice for 7 yards, while running back Alfonso Smith ran once for 2 yards and lost a fumble.

Receivers Andre Roberts and Jaron Brown each caught a 5-yard pass, with Roberts targeted four times and Brown once. Tight end Jim Dray made a 4-yard grab.

Saints tight end Jimmy Graham entered Sunday's game against the Patriots in Week 6 leading the league in receiving yards. He was held in check and suffered an apparent lower leg injury.

Graham had his left foot taped up in the second half and was eventually taken to the locker room late in fourth quarter for further evaluation. He was shadowed by Aqib Talib and Devin McCourty and was held without a catch despite being targeted six times before getting hurt. He was held without a catch for the first time since Oct. 31, 2010.

Graham will have a bye week in Week 7 before a showdown against the Bills at home in Week 8.

A two-catch effort might not seem like much, but it represented a season high for Browns tight end Gary Barnidge in the defeat to Detroit on Sunday. He totaled six yards.

Another Browns tight end making a contribution was MarQueis Gray, who added a 10-yard run.

The Redskins listed the following players active for Week 6 at Dallas despite injuries: tight end Fred Davis (ankle), tight end Logan Paulsen (knee) and kicker Kai Forbath (groin).

Brandon Pettigrew had something in common with fellow Lions tight end Joseph Fauria in Cleveland on Sunday. They both caught every pass thrown their way.

Pettigrew snagged all four targets for 36 yards with two receptions in each half. But unlike Fauria, who turned all three targets into touchdowns, Pettigrew did not visit the end zone. Though he has 15 catches for 149 yards in his last three games, he has yet to score a touchdown this season.

That could change when the Lions host the Bengals in Week 7.

We saw the emergence of Lions tight end Joseph Fauria Sunday against the Browns. He had three targets and caught them all for touchdowns with 34 yards. But it's not his first game with a visit to the end zone.

Fauria has a touchdown in two other games this year, one from 5 yards out and another from a yard out. His scores on Sunday came from 1, 10 and 23 yards out. With four of five TDs from 10 yards or closer it certainly seems like he's evolving into a mismatch in the end zone for defenses to deal with. 

But he also has three games without as much as a target, much less a catch. That makes him risky. 

We also don't have the official tally on how much Fauria played on Sunday against the Browns but in the five previous Lions games he played 14, 12, 18, 20 and 13 percent of the snaps. That's not a lot.

If Fauria picks up more playing time and more targets (he now has nine on the season) then he could really thrive in Fantasy. He's a no-brainer add in long-term leagues but not necessarily a guy to pick up in standard Fantasy play, though he could be a waiver-wire replacement starting in Week 7 against the Bengals for those owners without Jimmy Graham.

Buccaneers tight end Timothy Wright had perhaps the best game of his career on Sunday during the Week 6 home game against the Eagles. With Mike Glennon throwing the passes, Wright broke out for seven receptions for 91 yards.

Wright finished second on the team in yardage and targets with nine. He did not get into the end zone, but came close for the Buccaneers. He had a long catch of 36 yards averaged 13 yards per catch.

The 23-year-old Wright had one catch in his first three games this season. He has 12 catches for 132 yards in his last two games. He'll hope to keep that going when he next takes the field Week 7 at Atlanta.

Eagles tight ends Brent Celek and Zach Ertz combined to make a few catches during the Week 6 road test at Tampa Bay Sunday. The starter Celek only saw one target compared to Ertz's six in the game.

Ertz went for three grabs for 13 yards and did not score. Celek caught one pass for 10 yards in the game and also didn't socre for the Eagles.

Philadelphia hasn't seen a lot of usage out of tight ends this season, but Ertz clearly made more impact Sunday. The Eagles play against Dallas Week 7.

Every NFL receiver seeks efficiency, but Lions tight end Joseph Fauria took it to a ridiculous extreme on Sunday. He was targeted three times in Cleveland and all of them resulted in touchdowns.

The nephew of former long-time NFL tight end Christian Fauria has now hit paydirt on five of his seven receptions this season.

Fauria kicked off his scoring spree with a 1-yard touchdown that gave Detroit a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. He added two critical fourth-quarter scores, including a 23-yarder that put the Lions ahead to stay at 24-17 and a 10-yarder that clinched the victory.

The absence of Tony Scheffler (concussion) has given Fauria an opportunity to work as the second tight end behind Brandon Pettigrew. He has certainly taken advantage of it and will try to continue his roll next Sunday against Cincinnati.