NFL Player News

Kittle (back) was a full participant at Tuesday's practice, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Kittle missed the 49ers' regular-season finale due to back spasms before San Francisco had a bye in the wild-card round, and the two weeks of recovery time were beneficial. The 30-year-old appears to be on track to take the field in Saturday's matchup with the Packers after tallying 1,020 receiving yards -- most in the league among tight ends -- and six touchdowns on 65 receptions across 16 regular-season games.

Andrews (ankle) was a limited practice participant Tuesday.

Andrews returned to practice Friday and seems to be getting a real chance to show the Ravens he's ready to play this Saturday against Houston. His availability for this weekend remains highly uncertain given that he hasn't played injuring his ankle Nov. 16 and requiring surgery, but the tight end at least seems on track to be ready for the conference championship game or Super Bowl if the Ravens make it that far. Isaiah Likely has filled in admirably since Andrews suffered the major injury, catching five touchdown passes in six games while averaging 3.5 catches for 53.7 yards on 4.7 targets. Even so, a healthy Andrews is much more of a threat than Likely to command targets and defensive attention.

Kolar finished the regular season with seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown on nine targets.

The second-year tight end started to see more playing time after Mark Andrews' leg injury kept him out from Week 11 onward. Kolar is more proficient as a blocker at this stage of his career than his counterpart, Isaiah Likely, who is starting to break out as a pass-catcher. Down the stretch, Kolar averaged 25 snaps per game and caught six of seven targets for 74 yards and a score on 41 routes. With Likely's emergence and Mark Andrews set to return next season (if not sooner), Kolar may be blocked from seeing significant playing time again in 2024. However, if Andrews remains out for the divisional round matchup against the Texans, Kolar could be in line for plenty of snaps.

Andrews (ankle) had a good practice Tuesday according to head coach John Harbaugh but remains uncertain for Saturday's matchup with Houston, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

The Ravens designated Andrews to return from injured reserve last Friday, opening a 21-day window in which he can practice without being activated to the roster. He was then limited to individual drills during Friday's practice, with Hensley noting that the tight end moved around well in warmups. The Ravens will need to activate Andrews this coming Friday to have him available Saturday in the divisional round against the Texans, but even if he's active, he could be restricted to a limited role.

Goedert finished with four receptions (on six targets) for 21 yards and a touchdown in Monday's 32-9 playoff loss to the Buccaneers.

Goedert caught the only touchdown pass Jalen Hurts would throw against the Buccaneers in what turned out to be a dud of a game from the Eagles. The tight end generated some fantasy value for DFS players with his postseason score, putting a nice garnish on an otherwise bland fantasy regular-season campaign (59-592-3). Goedert will look to expand on his new career high of 59 receptions in the final year of his current contract with the Eagles in the upcoming 2024 season.

Otton brought in eight of 11 targets for 89 yards in the Buccaneers' 32-9 wild-card win over the Eagles on Monday night.

Otton was the surprise leader in receptions, receiving yards and targets on the night, and by a wide margin at that, arguably the single-most unexpected individual performance on either side during Tampa Bay's dominant win. His totals were all career highs as well, as he continuously exploited Philadelphia's linebackers and safeties. The second-year pro could be busy again in Sunday's divisional-round battle against the Lions, considering Detroit also had plenty of trouble defending the tight end position this just-completed regular season.

Graham finished the 2023 regular season with six receptions (on seven targets) for 39 yards and four touchdowns in 13 appearances.

Graham was never expected to make much of an impact for the Saints this season after coming out of retirement to sign a one-year, $1.32 million contract in late July. The 37-year-old caught just one pass over the first seven weeks of the campaign while filling an extremely limited role behind tight ends Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau. Graham temporarily fell out of this rotation when he missed four games in a row either with illness or as a healthy scratch. But, he got a chance again when the Saints' wide receiver corps was shorthanded with numerous injuries. Graham went on to catch one touchdown pass in three consecutive games from Week 13 to Week 15 while almost exclusively working as a target in the red zone. Graham then went without a target over the final three contests of the year, and it appears unlikely that he'll be re-signed by New Orleans this coming offseason.

Freiermuth brought in five of eight targets for 76 yards in the Steelers' 31-17 wild-card loss to the Bills on Monday afternoon. He also fumbled once but did not give up possession.

Freiermuth was the surprise leader in receiving yards and also shared the team lead in receptions for the Steelers, with Mason Rudolph frequently turning to the big tight end for quick-hitting passes. Freiermuth also boasted the longest catch of the day for Pittsburgh, a 33-yard first-quarter grab that ended with the third-year pro fumbling the ball and seeing it seemingly recovered by the Bills' Christian Benford (knee), only to have both the on-field and replay officials rule that Benford didn't secure possession inbounds. Freiermuth was significantly less involved as a receiver across his 12 regular-season games in 2023 after recording at least 60 catches in his first two campaigns, posting a 32-308-2 line on 47 targets. However, Freiermuth finished the campaign with a 23-248-0 tally over the final seven regular-season contests, a span that notably began with the first game following offensive coordinator Matt Canada's firing.

Hopkins finished the 2023 regular season with five receptions for 78 yards.

The majority of Hopkins' limited production came when thrust into a more prominent role in Week 18 with Tyler Higbee sitting out with a shoulder injury. Hopkins secured two catches for 47 yards in the contest, but he spent the majority of the year taking just a handful of snaps per game on offense, including zero in the Rams' playoff loss to the Lions. Hopkins is an unrestricted free agent in 2024, and while Higbee is feared to have suffered a torn ACL in the aforementioned playoff game, rookie Davis Allen and Hunter Long (knee) both remain under contract for next season, and Allen in particular flashed plenty of promise in Higbee's and Long's absences. Even if Higbee isn't ready for the start of the 2024 campaign, it's highly uncertain Hopkins returns as the fourth tight end on the roster given his light production in 2023.

Kincaid caught three of six targets for 59 yards and a touchdown in Monday's 31-17 playoff win over the Steelers.

Kincaid and Stefon Diggs (nine targets) were the focal points of the Buffalo passing game, though Kincaid's tight end teammate Dawson Knox did catch a touchdown pass while seeing only two targets. Even with Knox healthy again, Kincaid remains the top receiving tight end in this offense, seeing six or greater targets in each of the past three games while combining for 14 catches for 230 yards during that span.