Team news: New England Patriots | Page 5

Justin Jefferson said his hamstring recovery is going well and that he has reached top speeds during practice. He wasn’t ready to say if he thinks he can play Monday night tho. “If I’m feeling good, I will play,” he said. More to come.

Related Players: Jordan Addison, K.J. Osborn, T.J. Hockenson

Addison and Hockenson should continue to be started in all lineups. As for Jefferson managers, hopefully we can survive long enough to get him back in our fantasy playoff lineups.

Commanders RB Antonio Gibson, a game-time decision and questionable with a toe injury, is active today. A boost for Washington.

Related Players: Brian Robinson, Chris Rodriguez

This limits Robinson's ceiling, particularly in the passing game. He should remain a low-end RB2, as Gibson can be plugged into desperate FLEX positions.

Justin Jefferson is not expected to play on Monday Night Football in Week 12 against the Bears because of his hamstring, per a team source. The Vikings are not going to push their best player to get back on the field despite the fact that they are in the playoff hunt. This all makes sense as it will give the receiver two more weeks of rest from game action, thanks to the Vikings being on their bye in Week 13.

Related Players: Jordan Addison, K.J. Osborn, T.J. Hockenson

Addison and Hockenson should continue to be started in all lineups. As for Jefferson managers, hopefully we can survive long enough to get him back in our fantasy playoff lineups.

Per Nicki; "RB Antonio Gibson (toe) is not out here."

Related Players: Brian Robinson, Chris Rodriguez

It kinda seemed like Robinson was in the Antonio Gibson role last Sunday, as he ran 19 routes to Gibson's 22 as both received six targets. Robinson also took one 51-yards for a touchdown. Rodriguez would assuredly get more run if Gibson misses, but not enough to plug him into a lineup.

WR K.J. Osborn (concussion protocol) practiced again today, meaning he participated in at least a portion of every on-field activity this week. Regardless of his game status for Sunday, it has been great to see him up and about so quickly after such a scary moment in ATL.

Related Players: Jordan Addison, Brandon Powell, Trishton Jackson, T.J. Hockenson

Osborn has been a quiet contributor this season, but still not quite enough to get him into fantasy rosters. For mid-summer best ball drafters, he has popped up for two single-touchdown games and a fantastic 8-99-0 stat line on 10 targets back in Week 8. His return would help solidify a floor for Joshua Dobbs.

Jalen Reagor, rookie Demario Douglas and JuJu Smith-Schuster are now the top three on the depth chart, with 2022 second-round pick Tyquan Thornton (a healthy scratch Sunday) and 2023 sixth-rounder Kayshon Boutte (inactive since the season opener) next in line.

The 5-8, 192-pound Douglas is a quick slot receiver whose playing time has spiked the past two weeks (78 of 113 snaps).

It's not a great WR group, but, as they say, someone needs to catch the ball. The story said Reagor has drawn some praise, but we've all been down that road before. If he's on your wire, Douglas could be someone to stash away at this point, especially with his increased playing time recently. The story went on to say Douglas is often sent in motion before the snap, making him a threat as a runner with the possibility of taking a handoff, and has been targeted 13 times the past two weeks.

Follow-up tests Monday revealed that New England Patriots leading receiver Kendrick Bourne tore his right ACL, according to a source.

Related players: DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte

The injury ends Bourne's seventh season in the NFL, which was on pace to be his best, as he faces a recovery that a source estimates in the six- to eight-month range. Bourne was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter Sunday. It's a big hit to the Pats offense as Bourne had a TD in each of the last two games and before that had a line of 10-89-0 in Week 6.

Patriots WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster and Demario Douglas and OL Riley Reiff and Cole Strange are all out for Sunday's game vs. Las Vegas.

Related Players: DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Tyquan Thornton

The Patriots offense is hardly in a position to be missing any of their players, but it's not as if they're getting much out of Juju anyways (14-86 on 24 targets). Thornton should get some extra run in Week 6, but none of the WRs should be taken seriously in fantasy until we see some sort of rebound.

Vikings officially have placed WR Justin Jefferson on IR.

Related players: Jordan Addison, K.J. Osborn, Jalen Nailor, T.J. Hockenson, Alexander Mattison

The prevailing thought is that Jefferson may have a hard time finding the field again in 2023, particularly if the Vikings show no interest in trading him, which is a distinct possibility. It'll be hard to drop him, so hopefully you have an IR spot in your league.