New England Patriots Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Washington RB Antonio Gibson was held out of Thursday's practice with a shin injury. "Initial sense is Gibson sat today for precautionary reasons," The Athletic's Ben Standig tweeted. Check back tomorrow for another update on Gibson's status.

Patriots S Adrian Phillips is active for today's game against the Saints. He missed Thursday and Friday practices for personal reasons but appears good to go for the game. Phillips is a low-level IDP option, though.

Patriots S Adrian Phillips is questionable for Sunday's game against the Saints, but it's listed as "not injury related." The team (of course) has provided no further details, but Phillips missed practice Thursday and Friday for what must be some sort of personal issue. Phillips climbed from 61% playing time in Week 1 to 75% last Sunday. He still opened Week 3 at the bottom of our DB rankings, though.

Buccaneers CB Carlton Davis (hamstring) is active for today’s game against the Falcons. He’ll carry some elevated risk but also upside vs. Calvin Ridley

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson is a healthy scratch for today’s game vs. the Jets. The rookie fumbled and blew a blitz pickup in the opener. RB J.J. Taylor is active in Stevenson’s place, but RB Damien Harris should dominate carries for New England.

Buccaneers CB Carlton Davis is questionable for Sunday's game against the Falcons with a hamstring injury. The team added him to the injury report Friday, when he was limited. So it's a new issue. We'll check Davis' status Sunday morning. The Bucs are already down starting CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (elbow; IR).

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson will be available for Sunday’s opener against the Dolphins, despite dislocating a thumb in practice last week. The rookie figures to be 2nd in line for carries behind RB Damien Harris but isn’t a viable Week 1 fantasy play.

Patriots TE Hunter Henry isn't listed on the Week 1 injury report. He missed all 3 preseason games with a shoulder injury but is ready to go for Sunday's opener vs. the Dolphins. Henry has TE1 potential this season but should be considered a TE2 in his New England debut.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson dislocated a thumb in practice last week, The Athletic's Jeff Howe reports. There's "some optimism" that the rookie will be able to play in Sunday's opener against the Dolphins, but we'll need to keep an eye on him over the next few days. Of course, Stevenson is just a bench stash in fantasy football right now. Damien Harris will operate as New England's lead back this weekend.

Patriots TE Hunter Henry expects to play in Sunday's opener against the Dolphins. The big free-agent acquisition missed about 2 weeks of practice -- and all 3 preseason games -- with a shoulder injury. That makes him tough to trust in Week 1 fantasy lineups. But we'll keep a close eye on his usage in what figures to be a TE-centric offense.

Patriots TE Hunter Henry (shoulder) was on the field for Tuesday's practice. Per NESN's Zack Cox, Henry didn't participate in team drills. So he's still not a full-go but is clearly making progress in his return from that shoulder injury. Henry should be ready for Week 1.

Bills WR Stefon Diggs (knee) returned to practice on Sunday. It was a "light practice," per WGR's Sal Capaccio, but Diggs appeared to be moving well. He had missed the previous week and a half, but we never got the vibe that it was a serious issue. We'll continue to keep an eye on Diggs, but he's safe to draft at this point.

Washington’s RB usage was similar in Week 2 of the preseason to what we saw in the opener. RB Antonio Gibson played 13 of 23 snaps (57%) with the 1st-team offense. But he was pulled for RB J.D. McKissic in obvious passing situations. Per NBC Sports’ John Daigle, Gibson has played just 1 of 9 3rd downs through 2 preseason games; McKissic has played 7. Gibson has racked up 5 targets on 24 preseason snaps, so Washington is clearly scheming him the ball in the passing game. But he’ll need to take over that 3rd-down role in order to hit his ceiling this season.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson stuffed the stat sheet for the 2nd straight game on Thursday night, carrying 15 times for 66 yards and 2 scores vs. the Eagles. But he once again got 0 snaps with the starters, playing behind RBs Damien Harris, Sony Michel and James White. Stevenson also lost a fumble. The rookie still has work to do to be a fantasy factor this year. For now, he's just a late-round flier.

Bills WR Stefon Diggs missed his 5th straight practice with a knee injury on Monday. Per The Athletic' Joe Buscaglia, HC Sean McDermott said he expects Diggs to miss more time but isn't worried about his status for the start of the season "at this point." We're not moving Diggs in the rankings right now but will keep a close eye on his status.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Patriots TE Hunter Henry is expected to miss "a couple of weeks" with his shoulder injury. Schefter adds, though, that it's "not serious." We'll see whether any more info comes out on the injury itself. But it's the Patriots, so don't hold your breath. Henry's absence can only help the opportunity for TE Jonnu Smith.

Patriots TE Hunter Henry suffered a shoulder injury in Sunday's practice, ESPN's Mike Reiss reports. The injury isn't believed to be serious, but more will be known after Henry gets an MRI. "The injury is painful and Henry could miss time in the preseason," Reiss adds. We'll keep you updated on Henry's status.

"Everything," Patriots RBs coach Ivan Fears responded when asked what RB Rhamondre Stevenson needs to improve. "What do I like about him? He’s here. I like that he’s here," Fears continued. "Other than that, everything’s got to improve. That’s what we have to get done. He’s got a lot to learn. He’s talented, we’ll see what he can do in the games, but right now, he’s got a lot to learn — a lot to learn.” Some tough love from a team that tends not to give rookies significant roles out of the gate. Stevenson is looking like a long shot for 2021 fantasy value, although an injury to RB Damien Harris could change that.

Washington HC Ron Rivera said Monday that RB Antonio Gibson has "bounced back" from his turf toe injury. Gibson was still bothered by that 2020 injury this spring but "looks good so far" in camp, according to Rivera. We'll continue to keep an eye on Gibson's health -- but the toe isn't impacting his spot in the RB rankings.

Browns HC Kevin Stefanski says he plans to "grow the role" of TE Austin Hooper this season, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. Hooper went from about 18% target share before his appendectomy last season to 15.3% after. Either of those target shares would have ranked top 9 at the position last season. Only 5 TEs cracked 18% for the year. Hooper is an easy value well into TE2 territory in current ADP.