Team news: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Liam Coen’s offense, which is loaded with principles from his four seasons with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, was always going to take time to implement with the Jaguars. Before the season, a source with knowledge of the system predicted it would take at least half the year before Trevor Lawrence felt comfortable, and that his trajectory might not truly begin to soar until 2026. Considering Coen’s success in 2024 with quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with the impression he left with two seasons at Kentucky, there was confidence Lawrence’s progress would be worth the wait.

The author pointed out the trend up may carry right through 2026 before we see the final result. It will be worth nothing for fantasy owners who may already be looking ahead to next season's draft rankings. Lawrence is very likely to climb QB ranks heading into drafts next summer. The story pointed out the trade for Jakobi Meyers and the return of TE Brenton Strange has helped everyone in the offense, even Brian Thomas Jr. who has mostly struggled this season. While the Jags are not dominating the run game, the author said the commitment to the run and the balance have helped the offense. Lawrence is also being used as a designed runner.

The NFL’s precedent when it comes to player interaction with fans has been to impose a fine. Sunday’s behavior by Steelers receiver DK Metcalf was largely unprecedented.

And so the league has suspended Metcalf for two games without pay. Per the NFL, the punishment is for “conduct detrimental to the NFL for initiating a physical confrontation with a fan during Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.”

Related players: Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Kenneth Gainwell, Calvin Austin III, Ben Skowronek, Scott Miller, Adam Thielen, Marquez Valdes-Scantling

From the league’s press release: “Metcalf’s actions violate league policy, which specifies that ‘players may not enter the stands or otherwise confront fans at any time on game day and . . . if a player makes unnecessary physical contact with a fan in any way that constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct or presents crowd-control issues and/or risk of injury, he will be held accountable.” If the suspension is upheld, Metcalf will miss the Week 17 game at Cleveland and the regular-season finale against the Ravens. From a fantasy standpoint, without Metcalf, the Steelers would seem more likely to involve their TEs to take those targets, and perhaps especially Gainwell from the running back spot.

The Falcons are listing WR Drake London (knee) as questionable, but coach Raheem Morris told reporters he expects London to return to action on Sunday vs. Arizona.

Related Players: David Sills, Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts

This would be some fantastic timing for fantasy managers who made it out of the first round of the fantasy playoffs without London. If he is cleared by the weekend, he should be locked into fantasy lineups. The player who may see the biggest hit could be Pitts, who is coming off a career game in Week 15. He'd still be very much on the fantasy radar, but his ceiling would be relatively capped.

Falcons coach Raheem Morris told reporters that WR Drake London, who has missed the last several games with a PCL sprain, will practice today. A sign that he could play Sunday.

Related Players: David Sills, Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts

This would be some fantastic timing for fantasy managers who made it out of the first round of the fantasy playoffs without London. If he is cleared by the weekend, he should be locked into fantasy lineups. The player who may see the biggest hit could be Pitts, who is coming off a career game in Week 15. He'd still be very much on the fantasy radar, but his ceiling would be relatively capped.

The Pittsburgh Steelers side-stepped a major loss with a key piece of their offense for their Week 15 primetime matchup against the Miami Dolphins.

Running back Jaylen Warren (illness) will be active, meaning he won't miss his second game of the season.

Related players: Kenneth Gainwell

Warren popped up on the injury report earlier today with an illness, which was kind of late in the game. Warren was taking fluids and is good to go tonight. He'll come with a bit of a risk depending on what he's dealing with, but Gainwell will likely have his usual workload regardless.

The Steelers have added RB Jaylen Warren to the injury report as questionable (illness) for tonight’s game with Miami.

Related players: Kenneth Gainwell

The Steelers are optimistic Warren will be able to play through the illness tonight against the Dolphins, but this is pretty late in the game to get added to the report, so there must be at least some concern on the side of the Steelers. Owners will want to track this right up to gametime if they are counting on Warren this week. Should Warren be out, Gainwell likely gets a bulk of the workload, and may get an uptick even if Warren is active tonight.

From Tampa: Mike Evans good to go tonight. Won’t play every down but will be in on the key ones.

OL Graham Barton said Evans was juiced up all week to make his return

Related Players: Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin

Fowler followed up by saying he was told Evans will "probably not play every snap", as he'll be on a bit of a pitch count. We should take this to mean that Evans will be back on the sideline if Tampa Bay has a comfortable lead, so that could cap his ceiling in fantasy. Consider him more of a WR3, but we could see better upside in the following two contests.

The Falcons ruled out WR Drake London for Thursday night.

Related Players: Darnell Mooney, David Sills, Dylan Drummond, Deven Thompkins

The Falcons WR room is mostly down to guys most of us have never heard of. Mooney has not been able to step up his game in London's absence, so he should be considered down in WR4 territory, while Kyle Pitts should be fired up as a low-end TE1.

Bowles said Mike Evans has shown everything he needed to show in practice to get activated and make his return Thursday vs. Falcons.

Related Players: Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin

Good timing for the Bucs as Egbuka has struggled a bit as of late, so all three of their top options hitting the field is a nice boost for Baker Mayfield. With that said, Auman followed up this tweet by saying, "I'd think they're careful with him, but they need to win the game, so the scoreboard will have a say in it too."

We should take this to mean that Evans will be back on the sideline if Tampa Bay has a comfortable lead, so that could cap his ceiling in fantasy. Consider him more of a WR3, but we could see better upside in the following two contests.

The Buccaneers are leaving the door open for three offensive players to return to action against the Falcons on Thursday night.

Head coach Todd Bowles said at a Monday press conference that wide receiver Mike Evans, left tackle Tristan Wirfs and wide receiver Jalen McMillan are “in play” to be in the lineup in Week 15.

Related players: Baker Mayfield, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka

Evans and McMillan both returned to practice last week and will need to be activated from injured reserve to play in the game. Evans has been out since fracturing his clavicle in Week 7 while McMillan has missed the entire season with a neck injury, the story points out. It will be more weapons for Mayfield heading down the stretch of the season and for the fantasy playoffs. The top three should remain Evans, Godwin and Edbuka but Edbuka hasn't posted more than 45 receiving yards since Week 10.