NFL Player News

Head coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that Kolar will go on injured reserve due to a forearm injury he sustained during Sunday's 26-14 loss to the Raiders, Kris Rhim of ESPN.com reports.

Kolar was spotted with his left arm in a sling following Sunday's loss, and the injury is severe enough for him to warrant a stint on IR. As a result, Kolar will be forced to miss at least the next four games, making him ineligible to play until Week 8 against the Rams. David Njoku (knee) is also set to go on IR, leaving Oronde Gadsden as the lone healthy tight end on the Chargers' 53-man roster for the time being.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that Njoku will be placed on injured reserve due to a fibula injury, Kris Rhim of ESPN.com reports.

Charlie Kolar (forearm) is also expected to land on IR after both he and Njoku sustained injuries during Sunday's 26-14 loss to the Raiders, with the latter being carted off the field during the second quarter. Njoku is without an official timeline to return, though he won't be eligible to come off IR any earlier than the Chargers' Week 8 matchup with the Rams on Nov. 1. For the time being, second-year pro Oronde Gadsden, who posted a 49-664-3 line on 69 targets across 15 games in 2025, is the only healthy tight end on the Chargers' 53-man roster.

Bates (undisclosed) has received medical clearance to sign and play with a team this season, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

Bates reached an injury settlement with the Browns in late August after reverting to injured reserve. The third-year pro has been given the green light to return to on-field action and should garner interest from teams looking to add depth to the tight-end position, either on the active roster or practice squad. Bates entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2024 and has appeared in 16 regular-season games across the last two years, serving mostly as a blocker on offense and contributor on special teams.

Goedert (knee) was diagnosed Monday with a sprained MCL and is expected to miss a few weeks, Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter of ESPN report.

Goedert went down in the second quarter of Sunday's 24-20 win over the Titans with the injury and now appears to be headed for a multi-week absence. While Goedert missed the entire second half of the Week 2 win, Johnny Mundt and E.J. Jenkins handled tight-end duties, but neither saw major involvement in the passing game. During Goedert's upcoming absence, wideouts Dontayvion Wicks and Makai Lemon could be the biggest beneficiaries of added targets behind No. 1 receiver DeVonta Smith.

Gesicki wasn't targeted in Sunday's 20-6 win over the Texans.

One week after leading the team in receiving with a 5-78-1 line on seven targets against the Bucs, Gesicki laid an egg against Houston. He played just 21 of 60 offensive snaps, fewer than both Drew Sample (36) and Erick All (25) at tight end for the Bengals. Despite playing fewer snaps than both, Gesicki led the trio with 20 pass routes, seven more than Sample and 15 more than All. Gesicki is essentially a fourth receiver behind Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas. Gesicki would need an injury to Chase or Higgins to have a reliable fantasy role.

Kmet failed to catch his only target in Sunday's 9-3 loss to the Vikings.

While Kmet played 51 of 74 offensive snaps in Week 2, he ran just 13 pass routes and was asked to block 37 times. Kmet plays a bunch in a Chicago offense that likes to use multiple tight ends, but his route participation isn't strong enough to warrant serious fantasy consideration if Colston Loveland is healthy.

Hockenson caught three of four targets for 29 yards in Sunday's 9-3 win over the Bears.

Hockenson played 69.2 percent of the Vikings' offensive snaps and ran 19 routes to Josh Oliver's four on Carson Wentz's 24 dropbacks. While both tight ends are playing significant snaps for Minnesota, it's clear that Hockenson is the receiving tight end while Oliver focuses on blocking as a traditional in-line player. Through two games, Hockenson has seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown on nine targets. He'll be in the low-end TE1 conversation most weeks and gets Kyler Murray (concussion) back under center for next Sunday's game against the Bucs.

Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said that Bowers (knee) will practice this week and is gearing up to play Sunday against the Saints, Levi Edwards of the team's official site reports.

Bowers missed the Raiders' first two games of the season after undergoing a meniscus trim procedure Sept. 8, but he took a major step forward in his recovery by returning to practice last Friday as a limited participant. The star tight end will aim to get in a full slate of practices during the upcoming week, and if he experiences no setbacks with his left knee in those sessions, he could be cleared to make his 2026 debut Sunday. In Bowers' absence over the previous two weeks, Michael Mayer has stepped in as the Raiders' top tight end and has produced a 9-55-0 line on 11 targets.

Andrews caught six of seven targets for 49 yards in Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Saints.

With Zay Flowers (hamstring) and Ja'Kobi Lane (wrist) out for this one, Andrews finished second on the team in targets, two behind Rashod Bateman, who posted 7-88-1 receiving on his nine looks. Andrews ran 28 routes on Lamar Jackson's 38 dropbacks and is seeing a bigger piece of the pie at tight end this season with Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar now off the team. Through two games, Andrews has 10 catches for 98 yards on 13 targets. He'll be a TE1 next Sunday against the Cowboys in Brazil.

Johnson caught all four targets for 66 yards in Sunday's 24-17 win over the Ravens.

Johnson dealt with an illness during the week but played 36 of 68 offensive snaps and ran 23 routes on Tyler Shough's 39 dropbacks. It was a dip in snap rate and route share compared to Week 1 for Johnson, but he still out-targeted Noah Fant four to zero against Baltimore. Through two games, Johnson has seven catches for 120 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. It will be interesting to see if his snaps and routes come back up to Week 1 levels next Sunday against the Raiders.