Who Should I Start? Curtis Samuel or Mack Hollins

Monday, January 5, 7:50 PM

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Monday that there are no plans to open the practice window for any of the players on Injured Reserve this week, including wide receiver Curtis Samuel (elbow), per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News. Samuel was put on IR in late November, and he won't be eligible to be activated to play in the Wild-Card round of the playoffs this Sunday against the hosting Jacksonville Jaguars. Samuel has battled through injuries for most of the year and has appeared in only six games for Buffalo, catching seven passes for 81 yards and one touchdown. He also returned nine kickoffs for 223 yards on special teams. If the Bills advance and Samuel is activated from IR, he will be off the radar in fantasy playoff leagues as WR depth for the Bills.

Saturday, December 27, 6:33 PM

New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins (abdomen) was placed on the injured reserve on Saturday. Hollins was already expected to sit out in Week 17. The 32-year-old is now done for the rest of the regular season and won't play again unless the Pats make a deep playoff run. The loss of Hollins is pretty significant, considering he has seen 17 targets over the last two games. The absence of Hollins should mean larger roles for DeMario Douglas (hamstring) and Kyle Williams in the passing attack. Fantasy managers should view Williams as a possible deep league FLEX option with Hollins unavailable for the Week 17 matchup against the New York Jets. As for Douglas, he is questionable to play on Sunday but should see an increased role with Hollins and Kayshon Boutte (concussion) sidelined if active.