NFL Player News

Winston (back/ankle) was listed as a limited participant on Monday's estimated injury report, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports.

Winston was active for Week 6, but he's still not 100 percent and operated as a backup to Andy Dalton (back). Per Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com, Winston won't be thrust into game action until he's back to full strength, so if Dalton is available, expect the veteran quarterback to continue drawing starts for New Orleans.

Dalton (back) was listed as a limited participant on Monday's estimated injury report, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports.

Dalton has started three consecutive contests in place of Jameis Winston (back/ankle), who was active for Week 6 but still isn't 100 percent, but the former appears to have picked up an injury of his own. The extent of Dalton's back issue remains unclear, but injury reports Tuesday and Wednesday should provide further clarity on the situation.

Interim coach Steve Wilks expects Darnold (ankle) to come off injured reserve and practice this week, though he's unsure if Darnold can get up to speed quickly enough to face the Buccaneers on Sunday, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.

Darnold has been on injured reserve since suffering a high-ankle sprain prior to the season. Once cleared for game action, Darnold could be handed the starting role quickly given the injuries to Baker Mayfield (ankle) and P.J. Walker (neck), which has left Jacob Eason as Carolina's only healthy quarterback.

Heinicke will bump up to the top of Washington's quarterback depth chart while Carson Wentz recovers from a fractured ring finger on his throwing hand.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Wentz's recovery is expected to take 4-to-6 weeks, so Heinicke should enjoy a multi-game run atop the depth chart. Heinicke will reclaim Washington's starting quarterback job beginning with Sunday's game against the Packers. He led Washington to a 7-8 record in his 15 starts last season while posting a 20:15 TD:INT and averaging 6.9 yards per attempt.

Winston (back/ankle) still isn't 100 percent, Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com reports.

Despite being active for Week 6, Winston hasn't put his back and ankle issues behind him and isn't expected to see the field until he does. New Orleans returns to action Thursday against Arizona, and while Winston again may be active, expect Andy Dalton to continue operating as the Saints' top signal-caller, while Taysom Hill garners his usual Swiss Army knife role.

Prescott (thumb) threw about 50 passes to receivers before Sunday night's game against the Eagles and didn't appear to have any issues with the velocity of his passes or with taking snaps, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports.

"I thought Dak took the next step," coach Mike McCarthy said. "It was what we're looking for. He had a good day yesterday in the Saturday practice. He threw two sequences, two racks of six in the 7-on-7 third down and red zone. I thought he did well in that. We wanted to push it to 50 throws [Sunday], and I thought the guys did a great job for him. ... We'll get him in there tomorrow, see where we are, and hopefully have a plan for him Thursday." Everything appears to be pointing toward Prescott returning to the lineup Week 7 against the Lions.

Rush completed just 18 of 38 pass attempts for 181 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in Sunday's 26-17 loss to the Eagles.

Rush was harassed from start to finish, resulting in his worst outing since being forced to take over as the Cowboys' starting quarterback in Week 2. The 28-year-old had flourished as a game manager with four touchdowns and no turnovers over his last four starts before getting exposed by Philadelphia's secondary Sunday. Rush's run as starter may come to a close ahead of next Sunday's tilt against the Lions, as Dak Prescott (thumb) was able to get in a throwing session before Sunday's primetime loss. The quarterback situation in Dallas should become clearer as we progress through the upcoming practice week.

Brissett completed 21 of 45 passes for 266 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in Sunday's 31-15 loss to the Patriots.

Brissett struggled against his former team, as he managed only 5.9 yards per attempt and threw multiple interceptions in a game for the first time this season. The performance was disappointing, though he did manage four passes of more than 20 yards -- matching his season high -- to a combination of Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Njoku. Even if he manages a bounceback performance in Week 7 against Baltimore, Brissett has yet to show much upside as a fantasy producer as he has failed to throw for multiple touchdowns in five of six games.

Hurts completed 15 of 25 pass attempts for 155 yards and two touchdowns while adding 27 yards on nine carries in Sunday's 26-17 win over Dallas.

Hurts was bottled up by an elite Dallas defense from a yardage standpoint, resulting in his first game with less than 200 combined passing and rushing yards this season. Even with the low volume, the early MVP frontrunner made plays at crucial points of drives and had his team up by three scores at halftime. Hurts continues to show improved decision-making prowess from the pocket (6:2 TD:INT on a 69 percent completion rate) while offering the ability to break away and turn into a power running back at a moment's notice (77/293/6 on the ground). The 23-year-old's fantasy managers will have to find a replacement quarterback for Week 7, as Philadelphia enters its bye. Hurts and the undefeated Eagles will resume action against the Steelers on Oct. 30.

Smith completed 20 of 31 passes for 197 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in Sunday's 19-9 win over Arizona.

Smith helped the Seahawks to victory, though he was unable to continue his extremely efficient performances. After averaging 10.7 yards per attempt in each of his last two games, Smith managed a mark of just 6.4 yards per attempt against Arizona. He also failed to throw for a touchdown for the second time this season, resulting in a disappointing performance. Smith should be in a positive game environment to rebound in a Week 8 matchup against the Chargers.