Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Steelers DL Cameron Heyward left Sunday's loss to the Jets with elbow and ankle injuries. HC Mike Tomlin said after the game he didn't have much info yet. We'll see what Monday reveals about Heyward's injuries.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson (knee) is active for today’s game vs. the Browns. He reportedly had to test that knee in warmups before getting the green light, so it’s safe to assume that Patterson won’t be anywhere close to 100% for this one. See where he sits in the Week 4 RB Rankings.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson (knee) "plans to play" vs. the Browns today but won't know for sure until he tests that knee in pregame warmups, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. We'll get Atlanta's inactives around 11:30 am ET. But it's safe to say that Patterson won't be anywhere close to 100% if he does give it a go.

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick has cleared the league's concussion protocol and will play Sunday against the Jets. CB Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring) is out for the game.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson (knee) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Browns. He only got in a limited practice on Friday. Atlanta has been careful with Patterson’s practice reps since the summer, so it’s tough to know how serious the knee issue really is. We’ll get the Falcons’ inactives around 11:30 am ET on Sunday. If Patterson is out, rookie Tyler Allgeier will likely operate as the lead back.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson missed his 2nd straight practice on Thursday. He's listed on the injury report as "resting player" and "knee," making this a confusing situation. We'll see if Patterson practices on Friday and how he's listed on the final injury report. If he can't play vs. the Browns on Sunday, rookie Tyler Allgeier would likely step in as Atlanta's lead back.

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick returned to full practice Wednesday. He landed in the league concussion protocol when symptoms arose after last Thursday's loss to the Browns, but it appears Fitzpatrick is on track to play this Sunday against the Jets.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that S Minkah Fitzpatrick has entered the concussion protocol. He was diagnosed in the wake of Thursday night's loss to the Browns. We'll see whether Fitzpatrick can make it back for Sunday's game against the Jets, but plan as though you won't have him available for IDP lineups.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 141 yards and a TD on 17 carries in Sunday's win over the Seahawks. He ceded just 7 other rushing attempts to Tyler Allgeier (6) and Avery Williams (1). Patterson again didn't see much receiving work. He garnered 1 target for the 2nd straight game and ran just 2 more routes than the combined total for Allgeier and Williams. We're not sure Patterson is built to regularly log 17+ carries, as he has in 2 of the 1st 3 games. But we'll take the production from a guy whose ADP sat well outside of starter range in fantasy football drafts. A decent Week 4 matchup with Cleveland gives way to tougher defenses from Tampa Bay and San Francisco the following 2 games.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 41 yards on 10 carries in Sunday's loss to the Rams. Atlanta trailed for most of the game, which didn't help. But Patterson also watched rookie RB Tyler Allgeier match his carry total. Patterson added just 1 target among 13 routes. Allgeier, Avery Williams and Caleb Huntley combined to run 11 routes. We'd like to see more separation for Patterson in at least 1 of the 2 areas -- especially the passing game -- vs. the rest of the backfield. There's some sell potential here, with proximity still to his big Week 1 and/or if he has big games in matchups with Seattle and Cleveland the next 2 weeks.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf ended Week 1 with 7 grabs for 36 yards on a team-high 7 targets. Not exactly the type of line you’d expect from Metcalf, right? The burner didn’t see any downfield targets from Geno Smith, but he did show his strong hands with a few catches in tight coverage. Monday also presented a tough matchup with rising star Patrick Surtain Jr. Sunday turns up a road matchup with the 49ers.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt "is still gathering additional opinions" but that his pectoral tear is not currently believed to require surgery. That would mean Watt has a chance to heal up and return before the end of October, according to Pelissero. We'll see about the final word here and then will certainly need to keep an eye on his progress. But this is obviously great news after initial fears that Watt would miss the rest of the year.

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth racked up 10 targets in Sunday's OT win over the Bengals, accounting for 26.3% of QB Mitchell Trubisky's total attempts. Freiermuth caught half of those for 75 yards. That kind of inclusion puts Freiermuth in weekly starter consideration for fantasy football lineups.

Falcons Swiss Army knife Cordarrelle Patterson racked up 22-120-1 on the ground in Sunday's narrow loss to the Saints, adding 3-16 receiving on 5 targets. Damien Williams' rib injury certainly didn't hurt. Rookie Tyler Allgeier was a healthy scratch, and Avery Williams claimed the only 2 other RB carries (beyond the 2 for Damien Williams). Atlanta would probably like to limit Patterson's touches more than that going forward -- especially on the ground. But the team might not have a choice until someone else in the backfield steps up.

The Steelers believe EDGE T.J. Watt tore a pectoral muscle in Sunday's win over the Bengals. Watt will have an MRI Monday to confirm the diagnosis. That injury would almost certainly end Watt's season and dramatically alter the quality of the Pittsburgh defense -- both in real life and fantasy football terms.

The Steelers list RB Jaylen Warren as the #2 RB on their Week 1 depth chart. It's confirmation that the undrafted rookie beat out RB Benny Snell for that job. Warren won't be a fantasy factor as long as RB Najee Harris is healthy. But he'd be the pickup if Harris misses time this year.

Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt left Sunday's preseason finale with a left knee injury. CBS Sports' Evan Washburn reported in the 2nd half that HC Mike Tomlin called the injury minor and said Watt could have returned if it was a regular-season game. We won't worry about this issue unless a further update turns more negative.

The Eagles rested RB Boston Scott -- along with many starters -- in Saturday's preseason finale. RB Kenneth Gainwell played, however -- though he did leave after the team's 1st offensive possession. Brandon Lee Gowton of the Bleeding Green Nation Eagles blog writes that "points to him being RB3, which is a little weird because Gainwell seemed like RB2 for most of camp." Gainwell opened his rookie season as RB2 behind Miles Sanders before falling behind Scott and Jordan Howard in usage after Sanders went down. We'll see exactly how things sort out here. For now, both Gainwell and Scott make sense in the double-digit rounds of fantasy football drafts. Sanders is also going late enough to mitigate some of the risk on his role uncertainty and high injury probability. This could be a frustrating situation for fantasy players to deal with week to week, though.

Steelers RB Benny Snell started Saturday's 2nd preseason game against Jacksonville, working ahead of rookie Jaylen Warren. That's noteworthy because Warren has generated plenty of training-camp buzz. That included at least 1 Steelers writer positing this week that he believed Warren has already earned the #2 job. Saturday's usage, of course, doesn't necessarily mean that Snell remains the backup to Najee Harris. But it does mean we'll need to continue watching before anointing the new guy. Anthony McFarland is also in the mix for roles behind Harris. We'll see whether all 3 backup candidates make the regular-season roster.

DK Pittsburgh Sports' Dale Lolley believes Jaylen Warren has supplanted Benny Snell as the Steelers' #2 RB. Warren, a 5'8, 215-pound undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, has been the surprise of Steelers camp. He also looked good in the preseason opener, posting a 6-34-0 rushing line and 4-30-1 receiving. We'll continue to keep an eye on this depth chart. Of course, neither Warren nor Snell is a fantasy option without an injury to RB Najee Harris.