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Dolphins To Activate Darren Waller From IR

November 29th, 2025 at 2:11pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Dolphins are expected to activate Darren Waller from injured reserve for their Week 13 matchup with the Saints, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Waller landed on injured reserve after suffering a pectoral strain in Week 7. He completed his mandatory four-game absence and was designated to return earlier this week. He participated in all three practices and is designated as questionable for Sunday’s game.

Waller’s return will boost a Dolphins tight end room that has struggled to produce this year. Other than Waller, none of Miami’s tight ends have scored a touchdown this year, and the position group as a whole has contributed just 28 receptions for 269 yards. In Waller’s three games before getting injured, he made 10 catches for 117 yards and four touchdowns.

Miami will need to clear a 53-man roster spot to complete Waller’s activation, but it is not clear who will be waived. The Dolphins have three tight ends – Julian Hill, Tanner Conner, and Greg Dulcich – on their active roster, plus fullback Alec Ingold. Head coach Mike McDaniel seems to value Hill, Conner, and Ingold’s blocking prowess, but Dulcich has been a better pass-catcher than all three since Waller went down. He has eight catches for 89 yards in three games for an average of 22.2 yards per game, more than what Hill and Conner’s combined total.

Patriots WR Stefon Diggs Has Played Through Fractured Finger

November 29th, 2025 at 1:46pm CST by Connor Byrne

Wide receiver Stefon Diggs‘ first season in New England has gone swimmingly. The four-time Pro Bowler has emerged as quarterback Drake Maye‘s favorite target during a surprising 10-2 start for the Patriots, winners of nine in a row and currently the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

The Patriots’ decision to sign Diggs to a three-year, $69MM deal last March came after an injury-shortened campaign with the Texans. Playing his lone season in Houston, the former Viking and Bill tore his ACL in Week 8 and didn’t return.

Diggs recovered quickly enough to return for Week 1 this season, and his knee hasn’t hampered him at all during New England’s scorching start. The 32-year-old has appeared in all 12 of the Patriots’ games and piled up 61 catches on 75 targets, 679 yards, and three scores.

While Diggs’ knee hasn’t been a problem this year, that doesn’t mean he’s at full strength. A few days before the Patriots’ win over the Bengals last Sunday, Diggs told reporters that he has been playing through a fractured finger for a couple of weeks (via Mike Reiss of ESPN). That seems like a concerning injury for a pass catcher, but Diggs downplayed the severity.

“Least of my worries,” Diggs said.

Diggs had one of his quietest games of the year in Cincinnati, which held him to two catches for 20 yards on three targets. He and the Patriots’ other main receivers (Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte, and Demario Douglas) largely took a backseat to tight end Hunter Henry, who led the way with seven grabs, 115 yards, and a score.

Looking to put together a 10-game winning streak for the first time since the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era, the Patriots will head into a Week 13 meeting with the Giants on Monday. The Pats have a bye after that, which will give Diggs’ finger extra time to heal as he and the team push for a division title and the top spot in the conference.

Seahawks Eyeing Week 14 Return For Julian Love

November 29th, 2025 at 1:31pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Seahawks are hoping to get injured safety Julian Love back from injured reserve in Week 14, according to The Athletic’s Michael Shawn-Dugar.

Love, 27, has dealt with multiple injuries this season. He played through a groin injury in Week 2 but sat out the following week with a hamstring issue. He return in Week 4 and played a full game, but further issues with his hamstring sidelined him again.

The Seahawks were initially hoping that Love would come back within a few weeks, but he suffered a setback shortly after his return to practice in Week 6. He was eventually placed on injured reserve on November 1 and is now eligible to be activated after missing four games. He has not been designated to return, but that will likely come early next week so he has time to ramp up before Seattle’s Week 14 matchup with the Falcons.

The Seahawks have primarily called on third-year safety Ty Okada to replace Love this season. Despite a 68% snap share, he ranks fifth on the team in tackles and passes defended, and his 73.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks 20th among all NFL safeties with at least 200 snaps.

The Seahawks have been one of the league’s best defenses this year with the third-fewest yards per rush and yards per pass in the league. Love’s return could further boost the unit, though he will have to stay healthy for the rest of the year to do so.

Rams Activate Ahkello Witherspoon From IR

November 29th, 2025 at 1:00pm CST by Connor Byrne

With the Rams off to a 9-2 start, they’ll get back a notable defender as they vie for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Rams activated cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon from IR on Saturday, per a team announcement.

Owners of the NFL’s top-ranked scoring defense, the Rams’ excellence has come despite limited contributions from Witherspoon. The 30-year-old broke his scapula in Week 2 and wound up missing two and a half months.

The Rams opened Witherspoon’s 21-day practice window on Wednesday. He’ll make a quick return to play Sunday against the playoff-contending Panthers.

A former 49er, Seahawk, and Steeler, Witherspoon entered the season on his third straight one-year deal with the Rams. He was a 17-game starter in 2023 who came off the bench in eight of 13 appearances in 2024. Witherspoon worked as a starter this year before going on IR.

After losing Witherspoon, the Rams turned to Emmanuel Forbes, Cobie Durant, and Darious Williams as their top corners. Josh Wallace and Derion Kendrick are around as healthy depth. The Rams claimed Kendrick off waivers from the Seahawks after they placed in-season trade addition Roger McCreary on IR on Wednesday. The former Titan logged just one defensive snap in his first four games with L.A., though, and Witherspoon’s comeback will more than make up for his absence.

Witherspoon’s activation from IR is the first the Rams have used this year, leaving them with seven more. The team opened wide receiver Tutu Atwell‘s practice window on Wednesday, and his activation appears imminent. McCreary, safety Quentin Lake, right tackle Rob Havenstein, and tight end Tyler Higbee are candidates to return later this season.

Saints RB Alvin Kamara Has MCL Sprain, Out For Week 13

November 29th, 2025 at 12:46pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Saints running back Alvin Kamara suffered a sprained MCL in Week 12 and will miss at least one game.

Kamara went down early in last week’s loss to the Falcons. An MRI revealed he avoided a serious injury, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, but he was still ruled out for the Saints’ Week 13 matchup with the Dolphins. The nine-year veteran should still have a chance to return this season.

2025 has been a down year for Kamara. The five-time Pro Bowler is putting up career-lows across the board with 3.6 yards per carry, 5.6 yards per reception, and 59.7 scrimmage yards per game.

Kendre Miller‘s season-ending injury in October will put rookie Devin Neal atop the Saints’ depth chart in Kamara’s absence. The sixth-round pick has only appeared in seven games this season with 29 total touches for 125 yards. In his last three years at Kansas, Neal averaged 6.0 yards per carry and scored 44 total touchdowns.

Kamara’s injury will also get Audric Estime invovled after just one appearance and three offensive snaps this year. The 2024 fifth-rounder recorded 310 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 76 carries as a rookie in Denver.

The Saints’ only other running back is Ian Wheeler, a 2023 UDFA who has yet to appear in an NFL game. He will be elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game and could have a game day role until Kamara’s return. New Orleans may also add a veteran to their inexperience, unproven backfield.

Cowboys Expect To Open Trevon Diggs’ Practice Window On Sunday

November 29th, 2025 at 12:01pm CST by Connor Byrne

Out for over a month with a concussion and right knee issues, Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs is moving toward a return from IR. The team expects to open his practice window on Sunday, head coach Brian Schottenheimer announced (via Todd Archer of ESPN). Once that happens, the Cowboys will have 21 days to activate Diggs.

Now in his sixth NFL season, Diggs played the Cowboys’ first six games of 2025 and started in four before suffering a concussion in an accident at his home. He hasn’t taken the field since Oct. 12.

The Cowboys placed Diggs on IR almost two weeks after his concussion, but the move had more to do with concerns over his knee. Notably, it isn’t the same knee that Diggs injured multiple times in the past. He tore his left ACL in 2023 and required chondral graft surgery on the joint last season.

The Cowboys lost two of their first three games without Diggs to fall to 3-5-1, but the team has since won three in a row, including a Thanksgiving Day victory against the Chiefs. Dallas, whose defense got off to a woeful start this year, has undergone a few notable changes since Diggs last played.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a pair of major acquisitions before the Nov. 4 trade deadline, picking up defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the Jets and linebacker Logan Wilson from the Bengals. The Cowboys have also gotten back a couple of defensive reinforcements, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and rookie cornerback Shavon Revel, from long-term absences.

Those additions have helped the Cowboys surge into the playoff race, and they’ll hope Diggs will also have a positive impact after a rough start to the season. The two-time Pro Bowler didn’t log any interceptions or passes defensed before going on IR. Worse, Diggs allowed a shocking 154.9 passer rating – not far below a perfect mark of 158.3 – when opposing quarterbacks targeted him, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Cowboys expect Diggs’ return to come during an all-important showdown with the 7-5 Lions on Thursday, Jones said (via Jon Machota of The Athletic). Both NFC playoff contenders will enter the game with little room for error. Assuming he plays, Diggs will rejoin a cornerback group that saw Revel, DaRon Bland, and Reddy Steward lead the way in snaps in the Cowboys’ win over the Chiefs. They likely won’t have to deal with Lions No. 1 receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who’s expected to sit out with an ankle injury.

Even if Diggs performs better during the last several weeks of the season, this may go down as his final stretch with the organization that drafted him in 2020. The Cowboys signed Diggs to a five-year, $97MM extension in July 2023, but there’s no guaranteed money on his deal beyond this season, per Over the Cap. Diggs’ ongoing injury troubles and decline in performance may lead the Cowboys to go in another direction. Releasing Diggs could help the Cowboys keep pending free agent wide receiver George Pickens, who will earn a massive raise on either the franchise tag or a long-term pact.

NFL Mailbag: Vikings, Maye, HC Candidates

November 28th, 2025 at 10:25pm CST by Adam La Rose

This week's PFR mailbag explores the Vikings' QB outlook, Drake Maye's MVP case, some of the top 2026 head coaching candidates and more.

Jordan asks:

The Vikings look to have made the wrong bet on J.J. McCarthy. With a few reclamation-project QBs having success in recent years, what options do you think will be there for in-house competition in Minnesota come 2026?

I should probably start this by stating the obvious: it is way too early to fully declare McCarthy a bust this early into his career. He has made just six regular-season starts to date after not seeing the field at all as a rookie.

That will rightfully give McCarthy a bit of leeway overall, but it’s undeniable he hasn’t developed as hoped so far. I had relatively high expectations in his case entering the season based not on his college career but rather head coach Kevin O’Connell’s track record of getting the most out of his quarterbacks. In that sense, there’s plenty of time for things to turn around.

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Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 11/28/25

November 28th, 2025 at 10:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

Pro Football Rumors' Sam Robinson will be holding a live chat at 1pm Central today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!

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Commanders’ Tavita Pritchard Taking HC Job At Stanford

November 28th, 2025 at 10:17pm CST by Ely Allen

The Commanders are experiencing a rare midseason staffing change after quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard was named the new head coach at Stanford University, his alma mater. The move was first announced by ESPN’s Pete Thamel and confirmed shortly after with an official announcement from the school.

Stanford serves as an alma mater for Pritchard in several ways beyond just the traditional sense. Yes, he attended school in Stanford and played quarterback for the Cardinal from 2006-09. While he didn’t win any awards as a player, he once led the Cardinal — as a replacement starter — to an upset win over the top-ranked Trojans when Stanford was a 41-point underdog. After serving as a full-time starter in his junior year, Pritchard took a backseat as a senior behind freshman phenom and future No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck, who currently serves as Stanford’s general manager.

Following his playing career, Pritchard immediately turned to coaching, joining the Cardinal’s staff as a graduate assistant. He served two years after that as a defensive assistant before getting his first position coaching job as running backs coach in 2013. The next year, he moved to coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers mentoring future NFL names like quarterback Kevin Hogan and wide receivers Ty Montgomery, Trenton Irwin, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside over the next four years.

In 2018, he was promoted to offensive coordinator while retaining the title of quarterbacks coach. While the offense under Pritchard — and then-head coach David Shaw — was never blazing, he was a key part of the development of quarterbacks Davis Mills and Tanner McKee. He accepted the quarterbacks coaching position in Washington for then-head coach Ron Rivera‘s final year leading the team, and he was retained when the Commanders transitioned from Rivera to Dan Quinn and from offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to Kliff Kingsbury.

According to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic, Pritchard will coach in the Commanders’ Week 13 game against the Broncos on Sunday night. No plans have been disclosed past that, but the insinuation seems to be that Pritchard will then shift his focus to the NCAA’s early national signing period in early December.

Young quarterback Jayden Daniels won’t lack for mentors, despite Pritchard’s departure. For the remaining five games of the year, Jhabvala predicts assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough could step into full position coaching role, and Kingsbury still stands as a huge influence in his role as coordinator. Blough, who recently retired from his playing career back in 2023, is in his second year on the Washington staff, and the higher-ups like him a lot.

Broncos CB Patrick Surtain Set To Return After Pectoral Tear

November 28th, 2025 at 9:27pm CST by Ely Allen

On Tuesday, we saw Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton confirm that he intended to fulfill expectations of a Week 13 return from injury, and today we saw the same from cornerback Patrick Surtain. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Surtain will go into Sunday night’s contest without an injury designation and should play for the first time this month.

We had known for weeks that the injury Surtain sustained against Dallas back in October was a pectoral injury. Other than that, all we were told was that he was week-to-week and that he may not need a full injured reserve stint before coming back. Well, according to Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette, Surtain informed the media today that he suffered a partial pectoral tear.

The team gambled correctly, too, considering this ended up being a four-week injury. An IR placement requires four games, and with the Broncos just coming off their bye week, Surtain would’ve had to sit out an additional game, had they put him on IR. Though Surtain reportedly feels confident that he’ll be able to play his best this weekend, Mike Klis of 9NEWS tells us that the 25-year-old will wear a harness in this weekend’s game.

When Surtain exited the team’s victory over Dallas with injury, Denver turned to cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine, a fifth-round pick last year out of Mizzou, to finish the game in his place. This decision kept first-round rookie Jahdae Barron in his rotational role in the slot, as opposed to asking the first-year defender to change roles in the middle of a game. Up to that point in the season, though, Abrams-Draine had only played two snaps on defense.

The Broncos did give Barron a chance to start across from Riley Moss the next week against the Texans, but after the rookie struggled a bit in what was only his second career start, Abrams-Draine was asked to take the first-team role back partway through the game, and he started each of the next two weeks, as well. With Surtain set to return this weekend, Abrams-Draine’s likely will no longer be a starter, but after shoring up the position to keep Denver’s eight-game win streak alive, he’ll likely get more defensive opportunities after playing most of the first half of the season as a special teamer.

This serves the Denver secondary well as they emerge from Surtain’s absence a deeper group. On Sunday night, they’ll face off against a Commanders receiving corps that returns Terry McLaurin next to Deebo Samuel after McLaurin endured a four-week absence of his own.