Browns TE Austin Hooper missed practice on Friday with an illness and has been ruled out for this weekend's game against the Bengals. Hooper doesn't have COVID, but teams aren't taking any chances with sick guys this season. Hooper's absence leaves Cleveland with TEs David Njoku and rookie Harrison Bryant. In their 3 games together this year, Njoku has 7 targets to Bryant's 5 but Bryant has run 34 pass routes to Njoku's 28. Expect these guys to share pass-catching duties this weekend, leaving them both as TE2 fliers.

Update: HC Kevin Stefanski announced that Hooper has appendicitis and is having surgery today. We'll see if he can make it back for Week 8.

The Raiders have agreed to a one-year, $2.75 million deal with TE Austin Hooper, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. The deal has a max value of $3.5 million. That's obviously not enough to guarantee a top role at the position. But Hooper's a better bet for receptions than new teammate TE O.J. Howard. Even so, he has averaged just 2.4 catches per game over the past two years, with two different teams. Neither Hooper nor Howard is likely to make a big fantasy football impact this year.

Titans TE Austin Hooper (neck) did not practice on Wednesday. Hooper has been a non-factor in fantasy so far, but his absence could free up a few targets for Tennessee's WRs.

Titans TE Austin Hooper trailed teammate Geoff Swaim in both snaps (69% vs. 62%) and targets (4-2) in Sunday's loss to the Giants. Swaim turned his 4 looks into a 3-19 receiving line, with Hooper catching just 1 ball for 6 yards. Rookie TE Chig Okonkwo added 1 catch for 11 yards and a carry for minus-4 while playing 15% of snaps. This looks like a committee situation to avoid as much as possible in fantasy football lineups.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes Titans TE Austin Hooper “should see a healthy red-zone [target] share.” Hooper’s never topped 6 TDs in a season. But he joined a Titans squad this summer that lost ~45 red zone targets to trade (A.J. Brown) and free agency. QB Ryan Tannehill has also posted a top-3 TD rate in 2 of the past 3 seasons (2019 and 2020). Ultimately, Hooper enters the year as a TE2.

New Titans TE Austin Hooper has been getting extra reps with QB Ryan Tannehill after practice. "Chemistry is just repetitions over time," he told reporters afterward. Titans TEs have disappointed with their target shares over the past couple of years, and Hooper might face a challenge from buzzy rookie TE Chig Okonkwo. But he also faces nice opportunity in a Tennessee offense that traded away WR A.J. Brown and released WR Julio Jones since last season. Hooper has consistently gone in TE3 range of drafts.