NFL Player News

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Garoppolo suffered a right shoulder sprain in the second quarter of Sunday's 23-17 wild-card win over the Cowboys, but the quarterback is expected to return to practice Tuesday, Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee reports.

Garoppolo has been playing through a torn ligament on the thumb of his throwing hand the past two weeks, but he looks as though he has a new injury to tend to ahead of the 49ers' divisional-round game in Green Bay this Saturday. Fortunately, based on the way Shanahan described the injury, Garoppolo doesn't look as though he'll be in any danger of sitting out this weekend, even if he happens to be limited in some capacity during practices Tuesday through Thursday. The 49ers were able to prevail in spite of Garoppolo nursing the injury for more than half of Sunday's contest, though he was only asked to throw 25 passes on the day after San Francisco raced out to a 23-7 lead after three quarters.

Allen completed 17 of 34 pass attempts for 149 yards and two touchdowns across six appearances in 2021.

Allen also logged seven carries for minus-1 yards and committed one fumble. The bulk of his NFL action this season came Week 18 at Cleveland, a spot start in which Cincinnati lost 21-16 to close out the regular season. Now scheduled for free agency after the conclusion of the postseason, Allen may have to search for his next backup role elsewhere.

Mahomes completed 30 of 39 pass attempts for 404 yards, five touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 29 yards on three carries in Sunday's 42-21 win over Pittsburgh.

Mahomes had about as flawless of a playoff performance as one could envision as the Chiefs made easy work of the Steelers in the wild-card round. The 26-year-old looked like his 2019 Super Bowl MVP self, slinging dots at all three pass depths en route to a gaudy stat line. The Chiefs will advance to the AFC divisional round to face Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in what is shaping up to be a treat for football fans next week. The Bills boast one of the league's best overall defenses and arguably the best coverage safety duo in the league. That being said, the Steelers also presented a tough matchup on paper for Mahomes, but he was able to slice through their unit like Swiss cheese.

Prescott completed 23 of 43 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown with an interception while rushing the ball four times for 27 yards and a second TD in Sunday's 23-17 loss to the 49ers in the wild-card round.

The Cowboys had a rough first half and found themselves down 23-7 heading into the fourth quarter, but Prescott led his team on two scoring drives to make things close, capping the second one with a five-yard TD run. However, the comeback fell short when he scampered for 17 yards with only 14 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts to try and set up an easier hail mary attempt, only for the clock to hit zeros before Prescott could spike it. It was a disappointing end to a promising season for Dallas, but the QB still set career highs in completion percentage (68.8 percent) and passing touchdowns (37) while compiling 4,449 passing yards over 16 games. Even if the Cowboys lose offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and make some coaching changes in the offseason, Prescott should still be set up for success in 2022.

Garoppolo completed 16 of 25 passes for 172 yards and an interception in Sunday's 23-17 win over the Cowboys in the wild-card round.

The Niners leaned heavily on their ground game, with Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel combining for nearly as many rushing yards as Garoppolo had passing yards, and with two more TDs. That led them to a 16-7 halftime lead, but the quarterback gave the Cowboys a glimpse of hope by tossing a fourth-quarter INT that led to Dallas' final points of the night and a wild finish. Garoppolo indicated after the win his injured thumb hasn't gotten better or worse, per David Lombardi of The Athletic, and indicated he will continue to play through the issue as long as the pain is manageable, but that could be a more difficult task next weekend in a divisional-round clash with the Packers if the weather at Lambeau Field is poor.

Following Sunday's playoff loss to the Buccaneers, Hurts sported a walking boot that he hinted was related to the ankle injury he sustained in Week 12, Mike Kaye of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Hurts also noted that he hopes he doesn't need surgery, but evidently that possibility could potentially be on the table as the Eagles head into their offseason. Either way, the 2020 second-rounder has plenty of time to heal up before Philadelphia re-takes the field. However it remains to be seen what, if any, QB competition is added in the coming months by the franchise, which holds three first-round draft choices in 2022.

Hurts competed 23 of 43 passes for 258 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in Sunday's 31-15 wild-card round loss to Tampa Bay. He added eight rushes for 39 yards.

Hurts and the entire Philadelphia offense struggled mightily for the majority of the game, as he picked up 107 passing yards and his lone touchdown in the final quarter that began with the team down 31-0. Otherwise, Hurts put together an uninspiring performance that was largely dominated by wayward and mistimed throws. He was even stymied on the ground and held below 40 rushing yards for the third time in his last four starts. Though Hurts managed to lead the Eagles into the postseason, his performance in Sunday's loss could call his long-term future as the starting quarterback into question -- particularly given that the team has three first-round picks.

Wilson hasn't demanded a trade from the Seahawks, but sources close to the quarterback indicate that he wants to explore other possible options to see if another team can put him in a better position to win another championship, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Though Wilson said in one of his final press conferences of the season that he hopes to remain with Seattle in 2022, the quarterback sounds as though he's open to the possibility of being dealt if he can go to a team that has a more promising outlook than the Seahawks, who are coming off a 7-10 season. With that in mind, Wilson looks like he'll be following a script similar to last offseason, when he never formally requested a trade yet still had his agent provide the Seahawks' front office with a list of four teams he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for. Mike Garofolo of NFL Network reported last weekend that at this stage, the Seahawks have no plans to trade Wilson, who has two years remaining on his contract.

Allen completed 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions during the Bills' 47-17 win over the Patriots in an AFC wild-card matchup Saturday night. He also rushed six times for 66 yards.

Allen spearheaded an unforgettable offensive performance by the Bills, one in which the team set a new postseason record with seven touchdown drives in its first seven possessions. The fourth-year signal-caller capped off five of them with scoring tosses to Dawson Knox (twice), Emmanuel Sanders, Gabriel Davis and Tommy Doyle, and he became the third player in the Super Bowl era with at least 150 passing yards and 50 rushing yards in a single half of a playoff game. Allen's 84 percent completion rate on the night also qualified as the highest by a quarterback with 25 or more attempts in a playoff game since Aaron Rodgers' 86.1 percent figure in a 2010 divisional-round game. With this momentous, confidence-building performance under his belt, Allen heads into the divisional round with an abundance of momentum as he and his teammates prepare to either visit the Chiefs or host the Bengals next weekend.

Jones completed 24 of 38 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in Saturday's 47-17 loss to Buffalo.

Though New England was overmatched in nearly all aspects of its wild-card matchup, Jones was unable to get the offense moving while the game remained within reach. His play during the first offensive possession was an exception, as he found Hunter Henry for a 30-yard completion and also scrambled for a 16-yard gain. However, he was picked off by Micah Hyde in the end zone to end the rally. After that, positive plays were few and far between, as Jones ended the first half with only 10 completions for 106 yards. He managed to pad his stat line with a pair of touchdown passes to Kendrick Bourne with the Patriots down by at least three scores the entire second half. Despite the loss, Jones showed promise during his rookie season and will be back under center to lead the New England offense for the 2022 campaign.