Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Lions TE T.J. Hockenson (hip) was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the Vikings. We’ve heard nothing to suggest that he’s in danger of missing this one, but you’ll need to check back Sunday to make sure he’s active.

The Vikings have ruled S Harrison Smith (concussion) out for Sunday's game against the Lions. LB Eric Kendricks (toe) is questionable. Kendricks didn't appear on the injury report until Friday, when the issue limited his participation. That's worrisome timing for his Week 3 status. We'll keep an eye on him through Sunday morning.

Vikings S Harrison Smith is in the concussion protocol, HC Kevin O'Connell confirmed Wednesday. We'll see whether he can make it back in time. Josh Metellus and rookie Lewis Cine would be the candidates for the spot should Smith miss further time. Metellus stepped in when Smith left Monday night's loss to the Eagles.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson drew 12 targets in Monday night's loss to the Eagles -- 4 more than his nearest teammate -- but caught just 6 of them for 48 yards. Jefferson had no gain of more than 11 yards, on a night where Eagles CB Darius Slay locked him up. WR Adam Thielen added 4-52 receiving on 7 targets, while WR K.J. Osborn drew just 2 looks.

Packers RB Aaron Jones dominated the Bears in Week 2, rushing 15 times for 132 yards and 1 score. He chipped in with 3 catches for 38 yards and another score. AJ Dillon out-carried Jones by 3, but note that Dillon handled 3 consecutive carries on Green Bay’s final, clock-killing drive…when the Packers led by 17. Per Next Gen Stats, Jones posted 4.91 rushing yards over expected per attempt — best among all Week 2 rushers. It was a much-needed bounce-back after his Week 1 dud. The upcoming schedule (at Bucs, vs. Patriots) isn’t ideal, but you can start Jones with confidence.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson torched the Packers for 184 yards and 2 TDs on 9 catches in HC Kevin O'Connell's debut. Jefferson was clearly the focal point of the offense, garnering a 34% target share and lining up all over the field. Per ESPN, Jefferson took 41 snaps on the outside, 12 in the slot, 1 in the backfield and 1 inline. He racked up 93 yards from the outside and 91 from the slot. He also went in motion on 7 snaps. "I definitely like the motioning and just seeing the whole field," Jefferson said. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it a lot more." Jefferson will be battling for the WR lead in fantasy points all season.

Packers TE Robert Tonyan (knee) is not listed on the final Week 1 injury report. He was limited in practice all week but is evidently set to play vs. the Vikings on Sunday -- 10-and-a-half months after tearing an ACL. Tonyan just returned to practice in mid-August, so it's unclear if he's ready for a full-time role just yet. Despite Green Bay's WR issues, we'd try not to use Tonyan in Week 1 fantasy lineups.

Update: ESPN's Jeremy Fowler says Tonyan "will likely have a limited role" in the opener.

Packers TE Robert Tonyan (knee) was limited in Wednesday's practice. His status for Sunday's opener vs. the Vikings remains uncertain -- but it at least looks like he's close to making it back from last October's torn ACL.

The Bears placed WR N’Keal Harry on IR. Harry will now miss at least 4 games with his ankle injury. Even in deep formats, the former Patriot is well off the fantasy radar.

Packers TE Robert Tonyan returned to 11-on-11 work on Sunday for the 1st time since tearing his ACL last October. But HC Matt LaFleur was non-committal when asked Monday whether Tonyan will be ready for Week 1. "It's a little early to say that right now," LaFleur said. "That was his first action in team periods. We'll see how he responds." Tonyan shouldn't be in your early-season fantasy plans, but he's capable of emerging as an asset later on.

Dolphins WR Trent Sherfield started ahead of WR Cedrick Wilson in Saturday night's preseason finale against the Eagles. Sherfield opened the game opposite Tyreek Hill, with Jaylen Waddle inactive. Wilson didn't enter the game until after Hill left. That points to Sherfield -- who played under HC Mike McDaniel in San Francisco -- leading the race to be #3 WR, despite Wilson getting significant money in free agency. The role gains some importance as Waddle deals with an unspecified injury. We'll see about Waddle's status as Week 1 approaches. Neither Sherfield nor Wilson should factor into most fantasy football drafts. But Sherfield could be a sneaky late addition to best-ball tournament lineups.

Panthers QB Sam Darnold suffered a nasty looking left ankle injury in Friday night's preseason game vs. the Bills. He was quickly ruled out for the game. We'll pass along an update on Darnold when we get one, but this had the look of a long-term injury. Darnold, of course, had already lost the starting job to QB Baker Mayfield.

Update: It's a high-ankle sprain, per multiple reports.

Packers TE Robert Tonyan was activated from the PUP list on Sunday. Coming back from an ACL tear, Tonyan will be limited in the short term to individual work and walkthroughs, per HC Matt LaFleur. We’d temper early-season expectations for the veteran TE.

Bears WR N'Keal Harry will have tightrope surgery today for his recent high-ankle sprain, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. Harry is expected to miss 8 weeks. We'll see what the Chicago WR corps looks like when he returns, but this'll obviously make it tough for him carve out a role.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Bears WR N’Keal Harry sustained an ankle injury in Saturday’s practice that “appears severe.” Recently acquired from New England, Harry had landed in a fine spot to rehab his NFL value. We’ll hope for the best here, but Harry’s certainly off the redraft radar at the moment. Chicago remains paper thin at WR behind Darnell Mooney.

UPDATE: Harry suffered a high-ankle sprain and is expected to miss about 6 weeks, per Ian Rapoport.

Despite some early hope that TE Robert Tonyan's repaired ACL would be ready for the start of training camp, he remains on the PUP through the 1st 9 practices. And according to Packers Wire, the team has provided no update on when Tonyan will actually get back onto the field. He told the Bussin' With the Boys podcast last week that the knee "feels great." We'll see when that next step comes.

Rams HC Sean McVay talked Monday about the fill-in WR plans while Van Jefferson is out for knee surgery. One player he brought up was Brandon Powell. "He's one of those guys, a great competitor, good football player," McVay said, per Rams Wire's Cameron DaSilva. "Seen really positive things from him from the slot." Powell's primary usage so far has come as a return man, across 3 franchises over the past 4 years. He got onto the field for just 3 offensive snaps with the Rams last season, so odds appear to be against him finding a significant role there this year. But we'll see how things go for both Jefferson's knee and those behind him on the depth chart.

The Packers unsurprisingly place TE Robert Tonyan on the training-camp PUP list Friday. Tonyan is working back from a mid-season ACL tear and is not a lock to be ready for Week 1. The team can activate him off the camp PUP at any point. Staying on the list into the regular season, however, would require Tonyan to miss at least 4 games. Tonyan missing camp time should give us a chance to see if there's anything behind the mild spring buzz for TE Tyler Davis.

The Patriots have traded WR N'Keal Harry to the Bears for a conditional 7th-round pick in 2024. This is clearly a signal of New England giving up on the WR rather than Chicago going to get him. Harry gets a fresh start in a WR-needy situation. We still wouldn't bet on fantasy relevance going forward, though.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson said he's "so excited" about new HC Kevin O'Connell's offense. "Our offensive style, it's not a run-first offense anymore," Jefferson said. "Just us being able to put different people in different positions and distribute the ball, really." We actually wouldn't describe last year's Vikings as "run first" considering they ranked 11th in pass attempts. But they finished 18th in situation-neutral pass rate, so there's room for at least a moderate climb in passing volume this season. Jefferson is a locked-in top 3 fantasy WR.