NFL Player News

Rodgers (toe) didn't take part in practice Wednesday, Mike Spofford of the Packers' official site reports.

Rodgers made a rare appearance at practice last Friday, mixing in as a limited participant. It was his first notable practice activity since Week 14, but the fractured toe hasn't stopped him from producing on game days, as he's accounted for 1,791 yards, 18 touchdowns and no interceptions with a 71.6 percent completion rate over the last six contests. With the NFC's No. 1 seed already locked up, the Packers may opt to hold Rodgers out or limit his snap count Sunday at Detroit. Speaking to the media Wednesday, head coach Matt LaFleur said "if and when" he removes the starters from the game will be based off "feel," according to Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. As a result, it appears Rodgers will make a Week 18 cameo, at the very least.

Head coach Matt Nagy said Fields (ankle) will return to full practice participation Wednesday and then start Sunday's game in Minnesota, Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune reports.

A couple weeks back, Nagy made it clear he'd be cautious with Fields, saying the rookie would need to be "extremely healthy" to return to game action. That's apparently now the case, after Nick Foles and Andy Dalton led the Bears to wins the past two weeks. Fields was showing improvement before suffering the ankle injury, including in his last appearance, which came Week 15 against the same Vikings team he'll face again in the season finale. The rookie threw for 285 yards and a touchdown in the first matchup, though his lost fumble and struggles on third and fourth downs contributed to an all-around sloppy effort that left the Bears with a 17-9 loss despite out-gaining the Vikings by nearly 200 yards. Both Fields and Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins will return Sunday for what's almost certainly the final duel between Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and Bears head coach Matt Nagy.

Carolina activated Walker (undisclosed) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.

Walker stands to be available for Sunday's regular-season finale against the Buccaneers, but he's unlikely to see action with both Sam Darnold and Cam Newton available. He was a healthy scratch Week 16.

Burrow (knee) said that he doesn't expect to play in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Browns, Marisa Contipelli of the Bengals' official site reports.

Burrow said Wednesday that his knee is "sore, but not bad," after he appeared to sustain the injury late in the Bengals' thrilling 34-31 win over the Chiefs in Week 17. He added that he could play Week 18 if needed, but with Cincinnati unlikely to dramatically improve its playoff positioning in the regular-season finale, the team appears prepared to rest or limit Burrow and several other key contributors with an eye on entering the playoffs in optimal health. Assuming Burrow sits out this Sunday as he predicts, Brandon Allen would be in line to start this weekend. According to Ben Baby of ESPN.com, Burrow is still expected to practice in some fashion this week, which supports the notion that his knee issue isn't a major concern.

Minnesota activated Cousins (illness) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, shortly after head coach Mike Zimmer said the quarterback will start Sunday's game against Chicago, Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Cousins will return to the lineup and boost the Week 18 fantasy prospects of his teammates, namely Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, K.J. Osborn and Tyler Conklin. Per Zimmer, the Vikings won't make any adjustments to playing time for their key players, despite the team having been eliminated from postseason contention.

Cousins (illness) is on track to come off the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of Sunday's game against the Bears, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Per head coach Mike Zimmer, Cousins is back at the Vikings' facility Wednesday, which sets the stage for the quarterback to officially come off the list. With that in mind, Zimmer confirmed that Cousins is slated to start against Chicago this weekend.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski named Keenum the Browns' starting quarterback for Sunday's season finale against the Bengals, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Stefanski revealed Tuesday that Baker Mayfield wouldn't be available for Week 18 while planning to move forward with a procedure to repair a torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder, but the coach didn't immediately appoint a replacement for the signal-caller in the lineup. Keenum, who has served as Mayfield's top understudy all season, was always the top candidate to get the start, and Stefanski made the matter official Wednesday. Meanwhile, Nick Mullens is back from the practice squad COVID-19 list and will be elevated to the 53-man roster later this week to serve as Cleveland's No. 2 quarterback.

Hurts (ankle) was listed as a limited participant in Tuesday's walk-through practice.

Hurts was sidelined for the Eagles' Week 13 win over the Jets with a sprained ankle, but he returned to the lineup following the team's Week 14 bye and has directed the offense to three straight victories. Though Hurts has dialed back his involvement on the ground to some degree over the past three weeks, the Eagles didn't provide any indication he aggravated the ankle injury coming out of Sunday's win over Washington. As such, Hurts is likely just getting some extra maintenance to begin the week as the Eagles face a quick turnaround before the regular-season finale Saturday versus the Cowboys.

Barkley was waived by the Falcons on Tuesday, Tori McElhaney of the team's official website reports.

The quarterback was added last week when Feleipe Franks was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but now has been let go because Franks has returned. Barkley appeared in five games with the Bills last season but likely will not enter a game during the 2021 season as he has yet to do so already and there's one game remaining.

Mullens was restored to the Browns' practice squad from the COVID-19 list Tuesday.

Mullens is likely looking at a promotion to the active roster this week to back up Case Keenum on Sunday against the Steelers. With Baker Mayfield (shoulder) out and the Browns cutting practice squad quarterback Kyle Lauletta on Tuesday, that leaves no competition for Mullens to earn the No. 2 spot on the quarterback positional depth chart.