NFL Player News

Jefferson was estimated as a non-participant on Wednesday's practice report due to a knee injury, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

The Rams merely held a walk-through session to kick off the week of prep, but Jefferson didn't join his teammates on the field. Prior to the workout, head coach Sean McVay didn't express concern about Jefferson's health, per Rodrigue. Nonetheless, Jefferson's status will be monitored to get a sense of his availability for Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the 49ers.

The 49ers signed Johnson to a reserve/future contract Wednesday, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com reports.

Johnson spent the 2021 season on the Eagles' practice squad and was elevated to the active roster for the team's wild-card loss to Tampa Bay. He'll now attempt to secure a role with the 49ers during the offseason. Since the 25-year-old isn't on San Francisco's 53-man roster, he won't be eligible to appear in the NFC Championship Game or the Super Bowl.

Morgan (hamstring) was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice session, Marisa Contipelli of the Bengals' official site reports.

Morgan was also limited during each of Cincinnati's practice sessions last week before being ruled out for the divisional-round matchup against the Titans. If he hopes to suit up in Sunday's AFC Championship Game against Kansas City, he'll likely need to practice in a full capacity at some point this week.

The Buccaneers signed Smith to a reserve/future contract Wednesday, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports.

The 25-year-old was brought in for a workout ahead of the Buccaneers' divisional-round loss to the Rams and appears to have impressed. His most productive season in the NFL was with the Jets in 2019, when he caught 17 of 31 targets for 225 yards. However, he's made just nine appearances and caught one pass since then.

Samuel (knee) isn't listed on Wednesday's injury report ahead of Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Rams, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Samuel took a helmet to his right leg/knee toward the end of Sunday's 13-10 win over the Packers, but he's apparently healthy enough for a full practice just three days later, locking him in for his usual role this weekend. He certainly got the best of L.A. in the regular season, totaling 192 receiving yards (on 11 targets), 81 rushing yards and three total touchdowns to aid the Niners to a pair of crucial wins in the hotly contested NFC West.

Boykin finished the 2021 season with one catch for six yards on one target in eight games.

The Notre Dame product's third season in Baltimore was an all-around disappointment. He opened the season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury before a finger injury sidelined him late in the year. When healthy, Boykin logged a total of 32 offensive snaps and played a career-high 144 special-teams snaps. Meanwhile, Baltimore seemed to find its receiving corps of the future with Marquise Brown, Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay as the primary wideouts. Boykin may have even been surpassed by James Proche, and the team has a vested interest in seeing what it has in 2021 draft pick Tylan Wallace too. Boykin is entering the final year of his rookie deal and carries a $1.1 million cap hit. If he returns to the Ravens in 2022, it will likely be due to his special teams skills.

McKenzie recorded one reception for a three-yard gain and carried three times for 15 yards across his 16 snaps on offense in Sunday's 42-36 overtime loss to the Chiefs in the divisional round.

After busting out for 11 catches and 124 yards from scrimmage in the Bills' Week 16 win over the Patriots while both Gabriel Davis and Cole Beasley were out of the lineup, McKenzie predictably saw his snap counts and targets trend downward in the games that followed. That being said, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll made more of an effort to keep McKenzie involved over the Bills' final two regular-season contests and two playoff games compared to the first half of the campaign, with the 26-year-old garnering no fewer than four touches in any of those contests. Buffalo will likely look to retain McKenzie this offseason, but he could face a difficult path to earning more work on offense unless the Bills choose not to re-sign Emmanuel Sanders while also eschewing any major additions at receiver through the draft or free agency.

Pringle reeled in five of his seven targets for 29 yards and a touchdown Sunday in Kansas City's 42-36 overtime win over the Bills in the divisional round.

Though Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce remain the clear No. 1 and 2 options in the passing game, Pringle has moved ahead of fellow wideouts Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson and any of the Kansas City running backs as the preferred No. 3 target. Dating back to Week 18, Pringle has drawn no fewer than seven targets in any of the last three contests, cobbling together a 15-122-3 receiving line during that stretch.

Hardman gained 31 yards and a touchdown on two carries and hauled in his lone target for 26 yards Sunday in Kansas City's 42-36 overtime win over the Bills in the divisional round.

Hardman's 25-yard scamper for a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining in the first half helped give his team its largest lead of the day, but that advantage would prove short-lived in a game where both offenses were trading punches throughout. Perhaps Hardman's most pivotal play came in overtime, when he found himself wide open in the flat and picked up several yards after the catch before running out of bounds at the Bills' eight-yard line. On the very next play, quarterback Patrick Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce in the end zone to send Kansas City to its fourth consecutive AFC Championship Game.

Wilkerson finished the 2021 regular season with four catches on eight targets for 42 yards and two touchdowns in three games.

All of those catches occurred in Week 17 as Wilkerson -- who spent most of the season on the Patriots' practice squad -- filled in when Nelson Agholor was sidelined by a concussion. The team recently re-signed Wilkerson to a future contract for 2022, which sets the stage for the 25-year-old to compete for a roster spot this coming summer.