Team news: Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Page 9

Panthers QB Baker Mayfield not going on IR as of now, leaving open the possibility he could be back within four games.

Related players: Sam Darnold, P.J. Walker

Mayfield received second opinions on his high ankle sprain that confirmed there’s no major damage and no surgery is needed, per sources, the tweet said. With Darnold still out, Walker is expected to get any starts Mayfield will miss. Outside of deep superflex leagues, Walker looks to be someone to stay away from right now in typical redraft leagues.

Not even a full day after losing Baker Mayfield for an indeterminate amount of time, Matt Rhule has been fired.

Related Players: P.J. Walker

Former XFL standout P.J. Walker is the presumed starter as of now for Week 6. Over his NFL career, he is 57-of-128 (57%) for 790 yards, two touchdowns, and eight interceptions, including a 60-0-0 line on six attempts on Sunday, while working in relief of Mayfield.

Bucs ruled out TE Cameron Brate for Sunday’s game against Atlanta due to the concussion he suffered last Sunday night vs. the Chiefs.

Related Players: Cade Otton

Rookie Cade Otton should be in line to receive much of the tight end looks, after running a season-high 29 routes with Brate's departure in Week 4. He is worth a look in DFS main-slate lineups.

Bucs are back at practice. No sign of Cameron Brate (concussion) or Logan Ryan (foot). But Carlton Davis, Chris Godwin, Breshad Perriman are all practicing. Looks like Julio Jones will practice today as well.

Related players: Cade Otton

Good news Godwin seems ready to go after returning last week to the lineup after a hamstring injury shut him down in Week 1. Godwin's role should get back to normal. As for Brate, if he can't go Otton is up next and is a player the team is high on from back in camp. Those in deeper or dynasty leagues who need help, or some longer term potential, should check to see if Otton is on the wire.

Panthers’ QB Sam Darnold is eligible to come off of IR, but he’s still not close to being from the high ankle sprain he suffered in late August. It’s still, in the words of a source, “going to be a while.”

Related Players: Baker Mayfield

Carolina's offense has been moribund through four weeks, with Baker Mayfield looking as bad as he's ever looked. If Darnold were to return to health at any point this season, there would be an immediate —if tedious— quarterback controversy in the works.

Buccaneers WRs Chris Godwin, Julio Jones and Russell Gage are all active tonight against the Chiefs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers inactives

QB Kyle Trask
TE Kyle Rudolph
WR Scotty Miller
WR Breshad Perriman
CB Zyon McCollum
DL Akiem Hicks

Christ Godwin took part in Wednesday’s practice on a limited basis. Godwin has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury and did not practice at all last week.

Wide receiver Julio Jones (knee) was also a limited participant. He was also limited last Friday before landing on the inactive list for Tampa’s 14-12 loss to the Packers.

It's a good sign for both as the Bucs are hopefully starting to get healthier at wide receiver. The Bucs are scheduled to play a Sunday night game but the location may change because of Hurricane Ian. Those counting on Godwin or Jones should probably have another option in place as waiting on either player is risky until we know more, hopefully later this week.

Giants coach Brian Daboll tells reporters that WR Sterling Shepard has a torn ACL. His season is over.

Related players: Wan'Dale Robinson, Kadarius Toney, Richie James, David Sills, Kenny Golladay, Darius Slayton

With Toney and Robinson hurt, and Golladay seemingly in the doghouse, it only leaves James and Sills as the team's top targets. If the G-men don't look elsewhere, the Giants may have to put more trust in Toney and Golladay going forward. Robinson should return from a knee injury soon and he actually started in Week 1 before getting hurt. It's a situation to watch as one of these WRs will likely have to step up into a bigger fantasy role.

New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard suffered what is believed to be a serious left knee injury, multiple sources told ESPN, after Shepard had initial tests following Monday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The noncontact injury happened in the final minutes of New York's 23-16 loss to Dallas. A final diagnosis will come Tuesday morning, when Shepard undergoes more tests, but the fear is that his season is over.

Related players: Wan'Dale Robinson, Kadarius Toney, Richie James, David Sills, Darius Slayton, Kenny Golladay

With Robinson still out and Toney, Slayton and Golladay on the outside looking in, James and Sills look to be the team's top-two targets right now. Robinson is expected to return soon and could very well slide into a key role. He started for the G-men in Week 1. Unless the Giants look somewhere outside the team, it appears they may be forced to increase the roles of Toney, Slayton and/or Golladay.