NFL Player News

Allen will not play in Saturday's preseason game against Indianapolis.

Some teams will play their starters in the first week of the preseason, but it's the exception rather than the norm, especially for veteran clubs with a reasonable degree of continuity. The Bills have that even with former OC Brian Daboll departing for New York in the offseason, as new OC Ken Dorsey was an internal promotion and will still be working with Allen, Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, Devin Singletary and Dawson Knox, among others. The big offseason additions were oft-injured slot receiver Jamison Crowder and rookie RB James Cook.

Mond and Sean Mannion are listed as co-backup quarterbacks behind starter Kirk Cousins in Minnesota's first depth chart of the preseason released Wednesday, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Mond and Mannion are in a battle for the backup quarterback role and their play in preseason will likely go a long way toward determining the winner. After struggling with COVID-19 during training camp his rookie year and not impressing in the preseason, Mond fell into ex-head coach Mike Zimmer's doghouse and was often a healthy inactive. Despite the poor start to his career, Mond could still beat out Mannion for the No. 2 role on the back up his draft pedigree and physical tools.

The Browns are planning to have Watson start Friday's preseason opener against the Jaguars, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

The report notes, however, that the Browns' plans could change in the event that NFL designee Peter C. Harvey -- who was appointed by commissioner Roger Goodell to hear the league's appeal of Watson's six-game suspension -- makes his determination before the contest and recommends a year-long suspension for the quarterback. At this stage, though, there isn't a timetable for the decision to be rendered.

Trubisky is trending toward winning the Steelers' starting quarterback job, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Trubisky has had his fair share of struggles early in camp, but he's still spent most of his time with the first-team offense ahead of Pittsburgh's first preseason game Saturday against the Seahawks. While Mason Rudolph has performed better than expected and Kenny Pickett is showing improvement as camp progresses, Rapoport reports that Trubisky will "almost certainly" start under center for the Steelers' regular-season opener against Cincinnati on Sept. 11. The team's quarterback competition remains open, and it's certainly possible that Pickett sees some looks at some point after Pittsburgh selected him in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but Trubisky seems to be gaining the trust of the coaching staff with just over a month left before the start of the regular season.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Browning will operate as the backup to Brandon Allen during Friday's preseason contest against Arizona, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports.

Taylor said that Allen is projected to play the entire first half, while Browning will get the nod in the second. This doesn't come as a surprise, as these two have been operating in these roles throughout the start of training camp with Joe Burrow sidelined following an appendectomy.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Allen will start Friday's preseason contest against the Cardinals and is projected to play the entire first half, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports.

This doesn't come as a surprise with Joe Burrow still sidelined following an appendectomy. Allen has been garnering the majority of first-team reps during training camp, while third-string Jake Browning operates as the backup. Those two will continue with those roles during the preseason opener, with Allen playing the first half and Browning playing the second.

Zappe is likely to see a good share of snaps under center in New England's preseason opener Thursday, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

ESPN's Mike Reiss already noted Tuesday that he'd be surprised, based on how practice unfolded that day, if starting signal-caller Mac Jones played at all Thursday. If Jones does indeed sit out, it would leave Brian Hoyer and Zappe as the Patriots' only two options at quarterback. It's safe to say Coach Bill Belichick knows what he has in Hoyer, who has already spent seven of his 14 seasons in the NFL with the Pats. Zappe's ability, on the other hand, is largely unknown at this point, so it would make sense if Belichick opted early in the game to see what he has to work with in the rookie from Western Kentucky rather than give mostly meaningless snaps to Hoyer.

Burrow (appendix) won't play in Friday's preseason matchup with Arizona, Marisa Contipelli of the Bengals' official site reports.

Burrow never had a shot to play Friday and doesn't seem likely to make more than one brief appearance this preseason, if he plays at all. He threw some short passes during Monday's practice, marking the first time since his July 26 appendectomy that reporters had seen the quarterback do any type of on-field activity. Burrow returned to meetings shortly after his surgery and is expected to be ready for Week 1.

Wilson and the other members of the Jets' first-team offense are expected to play one or two series in Friday's preseason opener against the Eagles, Al Iannazzone of Newsday reports.

Per Andy Vasquez of The Bergen Record, after Wilson gets in his initial preseason game reps, Joe Flacco and Mike White will be next in line to take reps under center.

Jones is unlikely to play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Giants, based on how the quarterback was used in Tuesday's practice, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

The Patriots have yet to formally announce their plans for Thursday's game, but Reiss suggests that if Jones is held out of the contest, rookie Bailey Zappe will likely see plenty of work at quarterback behind Brian Hoyer.