NFL Player News

Keenum completed 17 of 24 passes for 176 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the Browns' 21-16 win over the Bengals on Sunday. He also rushed five times for 15 yards and lost a fumble.

Keenum once again did a serviceable job in Baker Mayfield's (shoulder) stead, connecting with Jarvis Landry and Demetric Felton on touchdown passes of 26 and 10 yards, respectively. The veteran is under contract through next season and therefore figures to remain as a trusted veteran No. 2 option behind Mayfield or a possible offseason addition.

Love completed 10 of 17 pass attempts for 134 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against Detroit on Sunday.

Love played off the bench and mostly with backups after Aaron Rodgers played with most of the starters. Love saw a lot of pressure and arguably was at minimal fault for one of his interceptions, which was tipped at the line and then again by his wide receiver before the defense snagged it, but his box score also benefited from a lot of yards after the catch on a 62-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josiah Deguara. It's disappointing that Love didn't produce any better, even if he was playing with Green Bay's backups, and he needs to get better at identifying pressure pre-snap so that he isn't so constantly caught by surprise after the snap. Love won't turn 24 until November and still has time to develop, but it's safe to say that the Packers wish he was farther along in that development than he appears to be at the moment.

Huntley completed 16 of 31 passes for 141 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the Ravens' 16-13 overtime loss to the Steelers on Sunday. He also rushed 12 times for 72 yards and lost a fumble.

In what turned into a typical late-season AFC North slugfest, Huntley often was overwhelmed by an aggressive Steelers defense that harassed him most of the afternoon. The second-year signal-caller's two interceptions didn't directly lead to any Pittsburgh points, but his early first-quarter fumble did result in a Chris Boswell field goal. Huntley's second pick also came at the Steelers' six-yard line, damaging enough without it having resulted in any subsequent score. Huntley performed adequately as a passer over his five starts, but he ultimately failed to lead the Ravens offense to enough points and posted a poor 3:4 TD:INT. Nevertheless, the Utah product will have a chance to continue his development behind Lamar Jackson (ankle) next season, as he's an exclusive rights free agent.

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.