It's a busy Wednesday in the NFL, with some expected news and some minor surprises here and there. Updates, which will perhaps affect waiver claims for some, as follows.
The Raiders are placing Sincere McCormick on IR with an ankle injury. That's unfortunate, given the fact he'd given the team its best play at running back all season prior to getting hurt, and also that the Raiders have a choice matchup this week the defense-challenged Jaguars. Instead it will be an Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah committee, with most of the carries for Mattison and most of the receiving work for Abdullah. Disappointing, but maybe some in deep leagues will have to take the plunge.
A couple of notes from the upcoming Lions at Bears game that probably were too late to get into the Weekly. For the Bears, Roschon Johnson is practicing fully; he's been out with a concussion. Should be good to go behind D'Andre Swift this week, probably with a goal-line role. That wouldn't ordinarily seem rewarding against a good Lions run defense, but Detroit has been gutted by defensive injuries of late, as shown in their struggles against Buffalo on Sunday.
The other Lions-related note is that David Montgomery is apparently hoping to avoid IR with his knee injury. He's not playing in the regular season, most fantasy teams need not think about this, but he's presumably hoping to return if the team advances in the playoffs. It's a torn MCL, which would seem to be a 4-6 week injury at a minimum, but I guess there's a small chance Montgomery will suit up for a playoff game.
It's been a big year for kicker injuries; kind of weird. Today's news is that Atlanta's Younghoe Koo is headed for IR, so the Falcons will have a new kicker this week (favorable matchup, versus the Giants). They've signed Riley Patterson, who I'm not sure but I believe he's kicked for multiple other teams this season.
Also, the Cardinals have opened up the practice window for Matt Prater (knee). So it's possible he, rather than Chad Ryland, will be kicking this weekend, also i in a very favorable matchup (at Carolina).
--Andy Richardson