NFL Player News

Rodgers completed 14 of 18 pass attempts for 138 yards and two touchdowns against Detroit on Sunday. He also rushed once for seven yards.

Rodgers took a surprising amount of pressure in this brief appearance, getting sacked three times; however, this was otherwise little more than a walkthrough for the MVP candidate before Jordan Love took over in the second half. He finishes the year with 366 completions on 531 pass attempts, producing 4,115 yards, 38 touchdowns and four interceptions in 16 games. Guessing the future with Rodgers has been a rocky task in recent years, but a team doesn't willingly part with an MVP-winning quarterback, even if he's less than universally beloved. The previously assumed alternative, the former first-round pick Love, was less than convincing in this game, completing 10 of 17 pass attempts for 134 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Packers will prepare for the playoffs for the time being, and they'll await their opponent following a first-round bye as the top seed in the NFC.

Goff completed 21 of 30 pass attempts for 238 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay on Sunday.

It was a smooth return for Goff following a two-week absence, and he could have had a significantly bigger day if the Lions had called on Goff to throw a trick-play touchdown pass that was instead thrown by backup wideout Tom Kennedy, who hit Kalif Raymond for a 75-yard score. Although his first year with Detroit was difficult at times, the Lions scored 37 points in this game and Goff was never a hindrance to the offense. He finishes the year completing 332 of 494 pass attempts for 3,245 yards (67.2 percent completed, 6.6 yards per attempt), 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Although he'll never be much of a downfield passer and had some ugly moments in 2021, the Lions also struggled to assemble a decent wide receiver rotation until the second half, when rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown broke out and signed Josh Reynolds. There's a chance the Lions could actually build something with this group, and more importantly, Detroit might not be able to acquire an upgrade over Goff before the 2022 season.

Dalton completed 33 of 48 passes for 325 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions and rushed once for seven yards in the Bears' 31-17 Week 18 loss to the Vikings. He ended the season with 1,515 passing yards, eight touchdown passes and nine interceptions over eight games.

On the season, Dalton had six starts, but in only one of those contests did he have more touchdown passes than interceptions. Although he technically has a $5 million contract in 2022, it's a void year, and the Bears would owe him nothing if they choose to part ways with the 11-year veteran. Regardless, he'll likely continue to be a useful backup in the league in his age-34 season, and his fantasy value would be dependent upon whether he's able to draw any starts.

Walker (coach's decision) is inactive Sunday against the Buccaneers. Joe Person of The Athletic reports.

Walker will watch from the sidelines Sunday as Sam Darnold and Cam Newton see any and all of the quarterback work Sunday against the Buccaneers.

Lance will return to a backup role Sunday at the Rams with Jimmy Garoppolo (thumb) active for the contest, Keiana Martin of the 49ers' official site reports.

The 49ers are turning back to Garoppolo after he showed enough in practice this week to be able to play through his sprained right thumb. Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported earlier Sunday that Garoppolo also would start and not yield many, if any, reps to Lance, indicating coach Kyle Shanahan will be relying on the veteran quarterback to deliver a much-needed victory. As a result, Lance seems to be in line for clipboard duty Sunday, as he was from Weeks 7-16.

Garoppolo (thumb) is active for Sunday's game at the Rams, Keiana Martin of the 49ers' official site reports.

After taking a seat Week 17 due to a sprained right thumb, Garoppolo was able to get back on the practice field Wednesday and thereafter demonstrate that he could make the throws necessary to lead the 49ers offense effectively. Coach Kyle Shanahan likely considered the must-win nature of Sunday's contest, too, as San Francisco requires a victory to ensure a playoff berth. On Fox NFL Sunday's broadcast, Jay Glazer reported that Garoppolo was slated to start and not yield any reps to rookie Trey Lance, so it appears the status quo from Weeks 7-16 will return to the fore. During that 10-game stretch, Garoppolo averaged 256.9 yards on 68.7 percent passing, tossed 14 touchdowns versus eight interceptions and tacked on two more scores on the ground.

Fox's Jay Glazer confirmed on their Sunday pregame show that Garoppolo (thumb) is expected to start and not share duties with Trey Lance in Sunday's game against the Rams.

What the Niners plan and what actually happens could be two different things - Garoppolo will have to demonstrate that his ability to throw isn't compromised in order to stay in the game. However, this report confirms the Niners view him as their best chance to prevail in this must-win game to make the playoffs.

Washington head coach Ron Rivera didn't close the door on the possibility of Allen having a role in the game plan behind starter Taylor Heinicke in Sunday's contest against the Giants, Ethan Cadeaux of NBC Sports Washington reports. "We'll start off with Taylor, then we'll go from there," Rivera said.

Prior to Week 17, Rivera suggested that Allen would "probably" play behind Heinicke in both of the final two games of the regular season. That didn't come to fruition in the 20-16 loss to the Eagles last week, as Heinicke played all 61 of Washington's snaps on offense. Rivera could be more open to getting Allen some work in the season finale, but it may first take a poor showing from Heinicke early in the contest for the coach to turn the offense over to the backup quarterback. Allen's only two appearances this season have both come against the Cowboys in Week 14 and 16. On the first occasion, Heinicke missed a few plays with an injury, and on the second, Washington was resting him after the game turned into a blowout.

Goff (knee) is listed as active Sunday against the Packers.

Coming off a two-game absence in which he had a bout with COVID-19 and dealt with a knee injury that he sustained in his last appearance Week 15 versus the Cardinals, Goff logged three consecutive limited practices in advance of the season finale. It was enough to fulfill coach Dan Campbell's assertion that Goff was probable to play. Goff will look to put a cap on a modest first campaign in Detroit, which so far has included 3,007 yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 67 percent passing in 13 appearances.

The Browns will plan to head into the offseason with the intention of retaining Mayfield (shoulder) as their starting quarterback entering 2022, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report.

Mayfield will miss Sunday's season finale against the Bengals while he rests up in advance of his Jan. 19 surgery to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, an injury he had been playing through since Week 2. The 26-year-old also played through a number of other injuries during the campaign, with his poor health perhaps contributing to his underwhelming statistics (60.5 percent completion rate, 7.2 YPA, 17:13 TD:INT) over 14 outings. According to Rapoport and Pelissero, Mayfield and head coach Kevin Stefanski met Friday, and sources say the two are on the same page as the 2018 No. 1 overall pick enters the final year of his contract in 2022, which is worth a fully guaranteed $18.86 million. The report suggests that if Mayfield plays well under the final year of his deal, Cleveland could place its franchise tag on him next offseason or look to work out an extension with him entering 2023.