Fantasy Football News

Former Patriots and Bills RB Damien Harris announced his retirement Monday. Harris signed with Buffalo last offseason but appeared in just six games before suffering a neck injury. Although not deemed season-ending at the time, it wound up sidelining him the rest of the year. We're guessing that injury also factored into his retirement (at age 27), though that hasn't been reported as of this writing. There's no fantasy impact here unless you have Harris on your dynasty roster. (Feel free to release.) The Bills sport only James Cook and Ty Johnson at RB on their current roster (plus Darrynton Evans on a Futures contract). We'd bet on at least one upcoming RB addition -- and quite possibly more.

Bills RB James Cook received 14 carries for 71 yards in Week 6's win vs. the Giants. Surprisingly, the second-year back didn't register a single target or catch in the contest, the first time that's happened in the 2023 season. After Damien Harris left late in the second quarter due to a frightening neck injury, RB Latavius Murray stepped up in spelling Cook and ended Sunday night with 45 rushing yards on 12 carries. It's also worth noting that Murray received 4 red zone carries to Cook's 1 against the Giants. Though the veteran didn't find the end zone, Murray brings some fantasy viability as a decent flex option with TD upside for managers with players on bye weeks. Next week, the Bills will take on the Patriots.

Bills RB Damien Harris was put on a stretcher and taken off the field in an ambulance in the second quarter of Sunday night's game vs. the Giants. He gave a thumbs up prior to loading into the ambulance. We'll update his status when we know more.

Update: Harris has a neck injury but has movement in his arms and legs, per the NBC broadcast. Harris is headed to the hospital for further testing.

Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic says that Bills RB James Cook has "separated himself" from Damien Harris and Latavius Murray in training camp, furthering the notion that Cook is headed for the clear lead role. Buscaglia adds that Murray is pushing Harris for the No. 2 job with a good camp, while Harris has also dealt with injury. Buscaglia also throws in that RB Nyheim Hines was a "borderline favorite" to be the Bills' No. 2 before suffering his ACL tear. That's especially interesting because Hines garnered only six total carries and nine targets across nine games with the Bills last year after arriving from the Colts via trade. The Hines bit plus the Murray praise could signal an iffy outlook for Harris, who signed for less than $2 million on a one-year deal in free agency. Harris has already moved down our RB rankings since the start of training camp.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson got just 8 carries in Sunday's win over the Dolphins, trailing RB Damien Harris by 1 in the latter's return from injury. Stevenson managed 42 yards (a solid 5.3 per carry) and caught 2 of 9 targets for 9 yards. That makes 2 straight games of less than 50 total yards but his 1st time all season with a single-digit touch total in a game he didn't leave early. Stevenson will be tougher to like against the Bills in Week 18, for those playing through the end of the regular season. Harris went 9-32 rushing against the Dolphins, with 3 catches for 18 yards among 3 targets.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) practiced in a limited fashion all week and is officially questionable for Week 17 vs. the Dolphins. Teammate RB Damien Harris (NIR-personal) practiced fully on Friday and carries no injury tag for the contest on Sunday. It's good news that the Patriots will have Harris back in case Stevenson cannot suit up. That said, Stevenson has been playing through this injury since Week 14, and it has yet to cost him time. Stevenson remains a solid fantasy play if he receives the green light to play, although Harris’ return caps the ceiling a bit. Harris is nothing more than a speculative flex consideration in a neutral matchup vs. the Dolphins.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport hears that Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) is "likely" to play vs. the Bengals today, while RB Damien Harris (thigh) is "more of a game-time decision." Both guys are listed as questionable after being limited in practice all week. We're not too worried about Stevenson considering he ripped off 172 rushing yards playing through this injury last week. We'll find out whether Harris is playing around 11:30 am ET, but he'd be a RB3 or flex at best.

Patriots RB Damien Harris (thigh) was listed as a limited participant in practice on Tuesday. Teammate Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) was tagged with the same designation regarding an injury of his own. Should either Patriots back miss Week 16 vs. the Bengals on Saturday, rookies Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong Jr. would be in line to pick up the backfield responsibility. The Bengals rank as the 10th-toughest matchup in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs, however, so the game will be tough sledding for whoever suits up this week.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) missed practice again on Thursday. He's looking unlikely to play vs. the Raiders this weekend. RB Damien Harris (thigh) was limited for the 2nd straight day. We'll get New England's final injury report tomorrow.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Patriots RB Damien Harris isn't expected to play Thursday night against the Bills because of the thigh injury that knocked him out of the Thanksgiving night game. His absence would make Rhamondre Stevenson the clear backfield leader. Rookies Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris are the only other RBs on the active roster, with J.J. Taylor a candidate for elevation from the practice squad.

Patriots RB Damien Harris suffered a thigh injury in Thursday night's game against the Vikings and has been ruled out. We'll see about his outlook heading into Week 13.

Patriots RB Damien Harris (hamstring) is off the final injury report for Monday night's game against the Bears. That should mean he's ready to split the carries with Rhamondre Stevenson once again. New England heads into the game as an 8-point favorite, so there should be plenty of rushing work to support both backs in fantasy football lineups. We'll see if the split gets back to what it was before Harris' injury.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson took advantage of a league-worst Lions run defense and Damien Harris' early hamstring injury to deliver a big rushing line Sunday: 25 carries, 161 yards. He also caught both targets for 14 yards. Stevenson would obviously be set up for another workhorse role in another upside matchup at Cleveland in Week 6, if Harris isn't ready to return. Ty Montgomery is eligible to come off IR, but HC Bill Belichick said he doesn't expect Montgomery to be ready to practice this week.

Patriots RB Damien Harris suffered a hamstring injury in the 1st half of Sunday's game vs. the Lions and is officially questionable to return. Rhamondre Stevenson is the only other available RB for New England. We'll update Harris' status when we know more.

Update: Harris has been ruled out.

"I'm fine," Patriots RB Damien Harris told the media after appearing to injure his left knee late in Sunday's win over the Steelers. Just the fact that he was allowed to speak with the media is a good sign that his injury (if there is one) isn't serious. We'll keep an eye on Harris this coming week, but he should be available for Week 3 vs. Ravens.

The Patriots placed RB Ty Montgomery on IR. No word yet on the specific injury, but he's out for at least the next 4 games. Montgomery finished 2nd among Patriots RBs in snaps (36%) and tied Damien Harris for the RB lead in routes (31%) in Sunday's loss to the Dolphins, finishing with 2 carries and 4 targets. His absence opens up considerable opportunity in the passing game. It's uncertain whether Harris, RB Rhamondre Stevenson or possibly even RB Pierre Strong will capture it.

Patriots RB Ty Montgomery suffered a leg injury in Friday night's preseason game vs. the Raiders. He was carted back to the locker room. We'll update Montgomery's status when we know more, but he's not worth a pick if you're drafting tonight. His absence would open up passing-down snaps for RBs Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson

Patriots RB Damien Harris (hamstring) is active for today’s game vs. the Bills. He was limited in practice all week and carries some risk of re-injury. But, with RB Rhamondre Stevenson (COVID) out, Harris could handle a big workload today.