Nicks, Barden misses practice: The New York Giants have been dealing with depth issues at the receiver spot for the past couple of weeks and they don’t figure to get any better with Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden missing Wednesday’s practice. If neither can play this week against the Cleveland Browns, obviously Victor Cruz stands to benefit. However, it could also work in favor of Domenik Hixon, who exploded for 114 yards on six catches versus the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4. The Cleveland Browns are allowing the third-most fantasy points to wideouts this year, which bodes well for Big Blue.

Jets “really not sure” about Keller: A hamstring injury has kept New York Jets tight end Dustin Keller out of action since Week 1 and it doesn’t appear that he’ll be back on the field anytime soon. Jets coach Rex Ryan told reporters he’s “really not sure” about the tight end’s status for Monday night’s game against the Houston Texans. To say Keller’s production has been underwhelming would strip all meaning from the word. He’s caught just one pass for seven yards and scored a lilliputian 0.70 fantasy points. If there’s any silver lining, it’s that you shouldn’t have considered starting him this week against the Texans, anyway.

Starks to see touches: Just when it looked like Cedric Benson was grabbing a hold of the Green Bay Packers starting running back job, head coach Mike McCarthy said the team would like to get James Starks a little work, beginning this week. This week’s game against the Indianapolis Colts provides a favorable matchup for Benson, but it would be nice for him to get a full complement of touches. Benson is averaging 16 carries and 57 rushing yards per game — neither of which are mind-blowing. If he ends up having to share with Starks, it could be noticed. For this week at least, don’t let a potential timeshare wreck your plans. After all, Starks hasn’t carried a football in anger since last season’s playoff loss to the Giants. If anything, he’ll be slowly eased back into the rotation.

– Marcas Grant

Follow Marcas on Twitter @MarcasG

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