Team news | Page 22

RB Tyrone Tracy is in the “early stages” of the concussion protocol, per Brian Daboll. Will do some work on the side with trainers at Wednesday’s practice.

Related Players: Devin Singletary, Eric Gray

Not a good look for Tracy's potential Week 9 availability. If he misses the game, we can consider Singletary a fringe RB2/3 in fantasy once again.

#Raiders HC Antonio Pierce said RB Alexander Mattison remains the starter.

C Andre James (ankle) won't practice today. G Dylan Parham (foot) will.

Related Players: Zamir White

Mattison will hold onto the role for now, but it's not the most lucrative position for fantasy points. Consider him a fringe RB2/3 for Week 9.

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson tells reporters that he "feels good" that RB Travis Etienne Jr., dealing with a hamstring injury, will be back this week.

Related Players: Tank Bigsby, D'Ernest Johnson

Bigsby has been one of the more valuable waiver wire additions this season, but Etienne's return would obviously put a damper on things. Each figure to eat into the other's fantasy value in a tough matchup against the Eagles front in Week 9.

Embattled Lions receiver Jameson Williams has another issue to deal with.

Currently serving a two-game PED suspension, Williams faces a charge for carrying a concealed weapon in a motor vehicle.

Via WXYZ.com, the Detroit Police Department is looking into why Williams wasn’t formally arrested at the time of the incident.

On October 8, Williams was a passenger in a car his brother was driving. The vehicle was pulled over, for speeding. Two guns were in the car; one was registered to Williams’s brother, and one was registered to Williams, the story said. The story added, Williams will be facing both prosecution by authorities and a potential suspension by the league.

According to KPRC 2 Sports’ Aaron Wilson, Nico Collins is trending upward entering Week 9’s matchup against the New York Jets. While he can’t be cleared off the injured reserve until Nov. 4, the expectation is he’ll be good to go when the Detroit Lions arrive in Week 10.

Collins was placed on the injured reserve following Week 5’s win over the Buffalo Bills after tweaking his hamstring in the first quarter. Week 9 will be his fourth game missed. The timing couldn't be better for the Texans, who have now lost Stefon Diggs for the season with a torn ACL.

Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports, though, reports the Panthers have no plans to trade cornerback Jaycee Horn or running back Chuba Hubbard.

Hubbard has played very well at RB and has been a pretty consistent player for his fantasy owners this season. He's averaged over 17 touches per game. However, owners need to remember that Jonathon Brooks is lurking on the IR and should be back sooner than later. It only makes sense for the Panthers to give Brooks work as the season goes on. He'll likely be eased into thing at first, but it seems like it's always been expected Brooks would at the very least split work, if not take on the lead back role for the Panthers.

While the Colts are benching Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco, they’re not planning for this to be permanent.

That’s according to Stephen Holder of ESPN, who noted on Tuesday that a team source explained that Indianapolis wants Richardson to take a step back, take a break from the day-to-day pressures of being the starter, and try to grow.

“We are not quitting on Anthony,” Holder’s source told him. “That will be the story, but that is not the case.”

The story added that Richardson was pretty devastated by the news, so it remains to be seen how he takes things going forward. The Colts feel Flacco gives them the best chance to win at this point as they sit at 4-4 on the season and certainly in the think of the playoff race as things stand now.

Trade: Carolina is sending wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Baltimore Ravens, sources tell ESPN.

Related players: Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman, Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Jonathan Mingo

The Panthers get a 5th round pick. It didn't take the Panthers long after rumors were starting to circulate Johnson was in play. The landing spot in Baltimore is interesting to say the least. The big question is will the Ravens consistently throw the ball enough with Travis Henry and Lamar Jackson for Johnson, Flowers and Andrews to keep their fantasy value. It remains to be seen who takes the biggest hit to their value, but the odds seem to favor Flowers here. Meanwhile in Carolina, Thielen is about to return but it's likely time to see what Legette and Mingo can do for the Panthers and the future of their offense.

Wide receiver Stefon Diggs’s first season with the Texans is reportedly over.

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans announced on Tuesday that Diggs has been diagnosed with a torn ACL. Diggs left Sunday’s win over the Colts with a knee injury and went for further tests over the last couple of days.

Related players: Nico Collins, Tank Dell, John Metchie, Xavier Hutchinson, Robert Woods, Steven Sims, Dalton Schultz

Diggs had been ruled out of Thursday's game with the Jets but the hope was he'd be able to come back after that. As for the Texans offense, the injury comes at a time when Collins is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, so a once-deep Texans receiving corps has been thinned out considerably, the story pointed out. Dell, Metchie, Hutchinson, Woods and Sims are the remaining receivers on the 53-man roster until Collins can make his return. Schultz, the TE, should be move involved at least in the short term. The hope is Collins is back in Week 10 as reports say he's been trending in the right direction.

A QB change for the Colts: Indianapolis is benching former first-round pick Anthony Richardson and turning to veteran Joe Flacco.

Schefter added the Colts coaches met this morning and made the decision. The signs were there after HC Shane Steichen said everything will be evaluated. Reports Monday said the team also met privately with Richardson after he took himself out of the game this past week because of needing a break. It's not really clear if this is a one-week benching or more long term. The Colts are in the thick of things sitting at 4-4 and likely feel that Flacco gives them a better chance to win and remain in the hunt for a playoff spot.