NFL Player News

The Steelers signed Shepherd to their practice squad Thursday.

Shepherd was cut from the Vikings' practice squad last week, but he'll now serve as organizational depth for Pittsburgh. The 26-year-old hasn't yet appeared in a regular-season game this year.

Evans (hamstring) ran routes and was on the receiving end of passes from practice squad quarterback Ryan Griffin at the Buccaneers' facilities Thursday, indicating the team has activated him from the reserve/COVID-19 list, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The move isn't official, but Evans likely cleared league protocols. Stroud noted that Evans seemed to get fatigued, which could be a residual effect of his time away from the team, or merely due to the hamstring issue that he sustained in his last appearance Week 15 against the Saints. If he's indeed off the COVID-19 list, Evans should show up on Thursday's injury report, perhaps as a limited participant due to his minimal activity.

Campbell (foot) was present for practice Thursday, Zak Keefer of The Athletic reports.

With that, Campbell, who was placed on IR after sustaining a foot injury Week 6, appears to be inching toward a return to action. At this stage, however, it remains to be seen how close he is to suiting up again. For now, Michael Pittman, T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal are the Colts' top available wideouts.

Samuel (hamstring) practiced in a limited capacity Thursday, Sam Fortier of The Washington Post reports.

Such is the status quo for Samuel, who was listed as limited on all three Week 16 practice reports before being tabbed as inactive this past Sunday at Dallas. There's no telling if he'll do enough this week to be able to play Sunday against the Eagles, or alternatively log his 11th absence of the season.

Agholor (concussion) wasn't spotted at practice Thursday, Evan Lazar of the CLNS Media Network reports.

Agholor has one more chance to return to practice ahead of Sunday's game against the Jaguars, but if he ends up sidelined again this weekend, Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne and N'Keal Harry (hip) would be in line to head the Patriots' Week 17 wideout corps.

Toney (shoulder) wasn't present for Thursday's practice and will be listed as a non-participant, Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports.

New York could be without three of its top four receivers in Sunday's game against the Bears, as Sterling Shepard (Achilles) is out for the season, while Darius Slayton is headed to the reserve/COVID-19 list and Toney has now missed consecutive practices with the shoulder injury he sustained in last week's loss to the Eagles. He'll have one more chance to get back on the field Friday before the Giants give him a designation heading into the weekend, but even if Toney is ultimately cleared for the Week 17 matchup, he could struggle to produce with either Mike Glennon or Jake Fromm taking reps at quarterback.

New York placed Slayton on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports.

According to Ryan Morik of SNY.tv, Slayton's placement on the list was the result of a positive test. Slayton will still have an outside chance of clearing the NFL's COVID-19 return-to-play protocols before Sunday's game against the Bears, though he seems unlikely to do so, given how late in the week he tested positive. On a brighter note, the Giants restored John Ross (knee) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, so he could be a candidate to replace Slayton in three-receiver sets alongside Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney (shoulder).

The Colts reinstated Pascal (illness) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday.

After testing positive for the virus last Saturday, Pascal was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list just hours before the Colts' eventual win over the Cardinals. Though he missed the Colts' first official Week 17 practice while in isolation, the wideout should get back on the field Thursday and Friday and put himself on a path to play Sunday against the Raiders. The return of Pascal will likely result in a smaller role for Ashton Dulin, who handled his third-largest offensive snap share (43 percent) of the season Week 16.

Cleveland (undisclosed) was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com reports.

Cleveland joined Denver's practice squad in early December after being waived by the team. He's appeared in six games for the Broncos this season and is now unavailable until he clears the health and safety protocols.

Bowden (hamstring) was activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday and reverted to injured reserve, The Orange County Register reports.

Bowden landed on the COVID list last week but is now back on injured reserve, where he's been since August. The 24-year-old isn't expected to take the field for Miami this season.