NFL inactives tracker, wild-card weekend: A.J. Brown out, Baker Mayfield questionable for Bucs-Eagles
Everything you need to know injury-wise for Super Wild Card Weekend
The road to Super Bowl LVIII begins this weekend with the six NFL wild-card matchups.
The Philadelphia Eagles are dealing with some mixed injury news ahead of their game Monday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. DeVonta Smith was a full participant at practice throughout the week after missing Week 18 with an ankle injury. Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who dislocated the middle finger, got in a full practice session on Saturday and is expected to play Monday.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown, meanwhile, is out.
The Eagles officially ruled Brown out on Saturday with a knee injury suffered in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants, confirming earlier reports that he would not play Monday.
The Bucs, meanwhile, listed quarterback Baker Mayfield as questionable with ankle and rib injuries. He's reportedly expected to play, but he was limited in practice on Friday and Saturday.
In Detroit, Lions tight end Sam LaPorta made a surprise appearance at practice on Thursday. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, LaPorta said he took reps at practice and was "optimistic" about playing in Sunday night's wild-card game against the Los Angeles Rams.
“I’ll probably play with the knee brace as a precautionary thing, just to make sure that hyperextension doesn’t happen again in the rare case that the cleat gets caught in the turf again and something bad were to happen," LaPorta said. "So I think you would see me with a knee brace out there, but I'm not sure how much it would inhibit me or practically keep it from happening again. That was a fluke thing."
Here is the rest of the NFL wild-card weekend inactives report.
No. 7 Green Bay Packers vs. No. 2 Dallas Cowboys
AT&T Stadium | Sunday, 4:30 p.m. | Fox
GREEN BAY PACKERS
WR Malik Heath
RB AJ Dillon
S Benny Sapp III
T Caleb Jones
DALLAS COWBOYS
QB Trey Lance (emergency third QB)
CB Eric Scott
WR Jalen Brooks
LB Tyrus Wheat
DL Viliami Fehoko Jr.
No. 6 Los Angeles Rams vs. No. 3 Detroit Lions
Ford Field | Sunday, 8:15 p.m. | NBC
DETROIT LIONS
QB Hendon Hooker (emergency QB)
DL Broderic Martin
LB Julien Okwawa
S Tracey Walker
LOS ANGELES RAMS
RB Zach Evans
OLB Ochaun Mathis
LB Troy Reeder
OL Warren McClendon Jr.
No. 7 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. No. 2 Buffalo Bills
Highmark Stadium | Monday, 4:30 p.m. | CBS
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
BUFFALO BILLS
LB Tyrel Dodson (shoulder): questionable
CB Rasul Douglas (knee): questionable
S Taylor Rapp (calf): OUT
WR Gabe Davis (knee): OUT
No. 5 Philadelphia Eagles vs. No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Raymond James Stadium | Monday, 8:15 p.m. | ESPN
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
S Reed Blankenship (groin): questionable
WR A.J. Brown (knee): OUT
S Sydney Brown (knee): OUT
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
CB Josh Hayes (quad/knee): questionable
LB K.J. Britt (calf): questionable
QB Baker Mayfield (ankle/ribs): questionable
DL Mike Green (calf): OUT
