OBJ Is Back in a Uniform, the Bengals’ Stars Are Game-Time Calls, and Chicago Rolls With the Backup Again: Your Sunday Inactives Desk

Sunday morning in the NFL is a waiting game. The coffee’s on, the pregame shows are manufacturing debates out of thin air, and in stadium tunnels across the country, a handful of the league’s best players are about to learn whether their bodies will let them play football today. The official inactives lists drop 90 minutes before kickoff. Until then, this is everything worth knowing.

Cincinnati: the league’s most-watched waiting room

The Bengals’ season has been a clinic in how fast a contender’s margin for error can vanish, and Sunday in Miami is the latest stress test. Ja’Marr Chase spent the week in the concussion protocol — out of practice Wednesday, back in uniform Thursday, a full participant Friday — and carries a questionable tag into the weekend. Tee Higgins has the uglier chart: a groin/neck combination suffered in last week’s loss to Jacksonville, where he torched the Jags for 11 catches and 157 yards before going down, came back for exactly one play, and got shut down for the day.

Here’s the detail that matters more than any designation: the Bengals did not elevate a single receiver from the practice squad. Teams don’t leave themselves short at a position unless they’re confident the questionable guys are playing. Both practiced fully Friday. And if either — or both — goes, they’ll do it against a Miami defense sitting 31st in the league in EPA per pass. That’s a get-right spot if Cincinnati has ever seen one.

Through four games, Higgins has 25 catches on 39 targets for 401 yards and a touchdown. With a Week 6 bye on deck, the Bengals need this one before the break.

New Orleans: OBJ’s back, and the starters are game-time calls

The Vikings’ receiver room is the morning’s best drama. Justin Jefferson (ankle) and Jordan Addison (hamstring) are both officially questionable and will work out pregame to determine whether they can go — and for Jefferson, it’s a Louisiana homecoming he’s said he’ll do whatever he can to play in.

Addison’s absence would be a real blow: he’s played 91.7 percent of Minnesota’s offensive snaps this season, with 11 catches on 22 targets for 163 yards and a touchdown through four games — nine of those catches coming in the last two weeks with Jefferson already banged up.

Which brings us to the plot twist: on Saturday, Minnesota elevated Odell Beckham Jr. from the practice squad. Beckham joined the team midweek, and with both starters uncertain, the 33-year-old could make his Vikings debut Sunday in New Orleans. Jeshaun Jones got the call-up too. If Jefferson and Addison both sit, Minnesota’s passing game becomes the day’s great unknown — a future Hall of Famer five days into the building, and a whole lot of crossed fingers.

Lambeau: no mystery, just Bagent

There will be no quarterback drama in Green Bay. Although Caleb Williams returned to practice in a limited capacity Friday — his first on-field work since the hamstring injury that ended his day in Week 2 against Minnesota — and is officially questionable, the Bears will start Tyson Bagent for the second straight week. Ben Johnson said it plainly on Monday: Williams isn’t there yet, and Bagent “will be the guy.”

The silver lining for Chicago is real. Williams is, in Johnson’s words, “right on track,” with a throwing progression mapped out and Week 6 firmly in view. Through two appearances this season he completed 36 of 55 passes for 407 yards, two touchdowns and a pick, adding 107 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground. He’d started 34 straight games since going first overall in 2024.

Bagent, meanwhile, keeps cashing checks: 25 of 34 for 268 yards in last week’s 23-12 win over the Jets, the undrafted kid out of Shepherd University making his fifth career start. The market has noticed — Chicago is a 1.5-point road favorite at Lambeau, just the third time in 30 years the Bears have been favored there and the first since 2006. The defending NFC North champs have gone from +154 to -170 to make the playoffs since Williams went down.

Chicago will be without running back Kyle Monangai (turf toe, in a walking boot) and linebacker Keyshaun Elliott (quad). D’Andre Swift is good to go. It’s been a heavy week in Chicago, too, after the franchise lost Mike Ditka at 86 — our tribute is here if you missed it.

Pittsburgh: the injury report got worse

The Steelers’ secondary and receiving corps took another hit before Sunday’s home date with the Colts. Cornerback Jamel Dean (ankle) is out after missing the entire practice week. Receiver Michael Pittman Jr. — the former Colt acquired in March who led Pittsburgh with 58 yards in the Week 1 win over Atlanta — reaggravated a foot injury in practice and was placed on injured reserve less than 24 hours before kickoff. Safety DeShon Elliott, back practicing on a designation to return from IR, was held back as a precaution.

On the other sideline, there’s modestly good news for Indianapolis: veteran receiver Keenan Allen (groin) is expected to play, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Allen missed the Week 4 London win over Washington and has 13 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown in three games since signing just before camp. For whatever it’s worth, he owns the Steelers: 33 receptions for 369 yards and a score in five career meetings.

Florham Park: Tim Patrick’s back

Smaller move, real depth: the Jets activated veteran receiver Tim Patrick from injured reserve ahead of Sunday’s home date with the Browns. Patrick’s 21-day practice window opened after a season-opening groin issue kept him out; to make room, New York waived receiver Jamaal Pritchett and elevated linebacker Jaden Keller from the practice squad.

More from the newsroom: this morning’s full Sunday game guide · the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade talks · our Raiders-Patriots preview · The Ticket: today’s card

More from the newsroom: our full Raiders-Patriots preview · the 49ers' injury crisis · Monday's ALCS Game 1 preview