Saturday updates from around the NFL

Heading into the Saturday night showdown, Jeremy Shockey is inactive, along with John Carney. That means David Thomas will man the TE position, while Garrett Hartley, who's been nursing a sore hip, will be kicking.

Mike Bell is active and Lance Moore, surprisingly, will return to action tonight as well. No telling how many snaps, or targets, he'll get. I doubt many.

Cowboys backup TE Martellus Bennett will miss another game due to a concussion, but DeMarcus Ware will play after a very quick turnaround from his scary sprained neck injury last week. That's good news for the Cowboys DST, but I still don't like their chances against Drew Brees & Co.

The AP is reporting that Justin Forsett and Julius Jones will alternate series in Seattle's game vs. Tampa Bay. For those hoping for big things out of Forsett, this is somewhat encouraging news, since an equal split is better than he's been getting. Against the Bucs, that could be enough to produce decent -- though not spectacular -- numbers.

Steven Jackson is dealing with the flu and a sore back, but I'm guessing he'll still line up and give us his all on Sunday. That said, don't be surprised if he has another sub-par outing. The guy's a warrior, but it appears his body is breaking down with all the wear and tear the Rams have put on him.

Looks like Larry Fitzgerald, Sidney Rice and Calvin Johnson will be fine tomorrow, and Percy Harvin's chances are improving as well. Still some risk associated with the latter, though.

In a fairly interesting development, Reggie Brown will start over Jason Avant for the Eagles while Jeremy Maclin sits. Not sure where that came from, but Brown has been a disappointment for years, and Avant is unstartable as a No. 3 WR.

The East Coast is getting some serious snow today, so it will be interesting to see how the elements affect the various games being played outdoors there. Normally snow is not a huge problem for veteran QBs, and it can actually help WRs because they know where they're going (as opposed to the DBs who often loose their footing trying to keep up). Winds are a bigger issue, so we'll keep an eye on that for you tomorrow a.m. Biggest beneficiaries of inclement weather, of course, are the workhorse RBs.