Team news: New England Patriots | Page 8

The Bengals are going through their final walkthrough before heading to New England tonight. Looks like everyone is here except Sam Hubbard. Jay Tufele is back after missing due to illness yesterday. Hayden Hurst is wearing a jersey so that’s another encouraging sign.

Related Players: Mitchell Wilcox

If Hurst is good to go, he should be considered a fringe TE1/2. Whoever gets the nod this week is going to have a positive matchup in New England against a defense that ranks top-10 in schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to every offensive position except tight end, where they rank 24th.

Patriots injury update: RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) has been downgraded to out.

Related players: Damien Harris, Pierre Strong, Kevin Harris

Stevenson tried to return to the game before heading to the locker room and eventually being ruled out. Stevenson's injury is worth monitoring as Damien Harris was inactive for Week 14 leaving Strong and Kevin Harris to handle the workload. Strong outshined Kevin Harris, running five times for 70 yards and a score and adding a two catches for 20 yards. Kevin Harris ran eight times for 26 yards and a score. Kevin Harris is considered more of an early down, bruising back while Strong is more of the change of pace and pass-catching back, but did showoff his speed with a 44-yard run.

No sign of Jakobi Meyers, Trent Brown, Isaiah Wynn, Damien Harris, and Jalen Mills at today’s Patriots practice. Garrett Gilbert also missing from the practice squad.

Related Players: Rhamondre Stevenson

Rhamondre Stevenson has been crushing in fantasy all season long, but even more so when Harris has missed time. Stevenson's passing game prowess makes him a must-start regardless, but he has an overall RB1 ceiling if Harris is out in Week 14.

Per Hobson, Zac (Taylor) says Joe Mixon has chance to clear concussion protocol and says Hayden Hurst (calf) is doubtful this week.

Related Players: Mitchell Wilcox, Devin Asiasi

Just what the tight end position in fantasy needs is one less viable option, but here we are. Hurst has been having a marginal fantasy season on a whole, but was the TE13 on the season heading into Week 13. Mitchell Wilcox was the only other tight to earn a target last week, but Devin Asiasi was selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2020 draft as an athletic passing game weapon. He would be the choice for deep, TE Premium leagues.

Jaguars’ head coach Doug Pederson told reporters that RB Travis Etienne is “good to go” Sunday vs. the Lions.

Related Players: JaMycal Hasty

This, surprisingly, should be a very interesting game with plenty of fantasy implications, so it's nice that we will have an intriguing piece of the Jaguars' offense back as a part of it. Between Weeks 7-9, Etienne was the RB5 with 22.6 half-PPR points per game, and he will look to start a new streak of RB1 performances against this Detroit team that has allowed the most rushing touchdowns and third-most rushing yards to opposing offenses.

Patriots ruled out RB Damien Harris for Thursday night’s game vs. Buffalo.

Related players: Rhamondre Stevenson, Kevin Harris, Pierre Strong Jr.

Stevenson should be in store for a busy Week 13 with Harris out of the lineup, even in a tough matchup against the Bills. Harris and Strong could factor in a bit, but Stevenson projects to be an RB1 on Thursday night.

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson said he “feels good” about RB Travis Etienne’s chances of playing Sunday vs. Lions.

Related players: JaMycal Hasty, Darrell Henderson

Pederson said Etienne will go through walkthrough portions of practice today, but they don’t want to rush him to full go before sure he’s 100%. Etienne was apparently cleared to return last week so his chances seem good for Week 13. Hasty and Henderson would likely fill in if Etienne can't go. Hasty looked good in his time last week after Etienne left the game.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that Patriots RB Damien Harris is not expected to play Thursday night against the Bills.

Related players: Rhamondre Stevenson

There is a possibility Harris could miss more time since he is considered week-to-week, the blurb said. Stevenson will remain the Patriots' lead running back while Harris is sidelined and should be considered an RB1 candidate in this role.

After an 11-game suspension for violations of the NFL's personal conduct policy, Browns  QB Deshaun Watson has complied with all the terms and now is officially back and active.

Related Players: Jacoby Brissett

Coming off a huge win against the Buccaneers, Cleveland will now be playing Watson's former Texans. Brissett was the QB17 in points per game up to this point in the season, so that will operate as Watson's absolute floor.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said RB Travis Etienne was cleared to return to the game yesterday with his foot injury but he decided to hold him out not to risk it. They were planning to do more tests but Etienne said he was fine and team thought so too.

Related Players: JaMycal Hasty, Snoop Conner

It sounds like Etienne would be cleared in Week 13 which would be fantastic ahead of a matchup against the Bears porous defense.