Games kick off in a couple of hours, and that in itself is good news -- no positive COVID tests around the league to possibly delay any of these games until Monday, Tuesday, or some Week 18. Here are some of the key developments being reported by NFL media types.
There are a lot of different reports floating about on Aaron Jones. He traveled with the team to Houston, we know that much. The team is calling him a gametime decision. It's tricky because it's a great matchup against a struggling run defense. A report from a beat writer yesterday said the "plan" is for Jones to be held out. That's what they did with Davante Adams couple of weeks back. So the heavy lean is to not use Jones, and views Jamaal Williams as the lead back and AJ Dillon getting maybe a third of the work. We'll know for sure when the Packers inactives come out.
Tight end Robert Tonyan, also questionable, is expected to play.
Sam Darnold is expected to start at quarterback for the Jets. Last report on Jamison Crowder, though, was that he was doubtful, so don't count on having him available.
Miscellaneous reports on Michael Thomas and Joe Mixon, who have been ruled out for today, have them probably being ruled out for Week 8, too. TreQuan Smith is the No. 1 wideout for New Orleans today, with Emmanuel Sanders also out, and Giovani Bernard should be the Bengals featured running back -- this week, and possibly next week, too.
LeVeon Bell is expected to be active for Kansas City today at Denver. Clyde Edwards-Helaire will still be the main back, but Bell should pick up some snaps as the No. 2. Not a great option, with what might be minimal opportunities, but some desperation appeal. There's some weather in Denver today which could favor running, although I expect Kansas City to run its usual offense (it's not looking so terrible that Patrick Mahomes will have any trouble).
Ian Rapoport has an item out that Gardner Minshew might be benched if he continues to struggle. I don't place a lot of stock in it. Of course he could be benched, lots of quarterbacks could be benched. Jacksonville's backup options (Mike Glennon and Jake Luton) aren't better; it's not like they have a franchise passer to switch to. Minshew wasn't a great option anyway, but I suppose if you believe Rapoport is delivering a real report rather than just idle opinion, you should be even less inclined to use him.
--Andy Richardson