NFL Player News

Lance has taken all the reps with the 49ers' first-team offense at practice this week, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

The development is a residual effect of Jimmy Garoppolo's compromised health, which includes a Grade 3 UCL tear in his right thumb. As of Wednesday, he hadn't thrown since last Thursday's loss at Tennessee, and during the open portion of this Thursday's practice he was a spectator during warmups before hitting the weight room. The result has been no reps for Garoppolo, leaving all the high-profile ones for Lance. Considering the 49ers have just one session remaining this week, Lance seems to have a better chance to start Sunday's game against the Texans than Garoppolo does. In five appearances (one start) in his rookie campaign, Lance has 354 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 52 percent passing and 30 carries for 137 yards and one more TD.

Hurts (ankle) is trending toward approaching Sunday's game against Washington minus a Week 17 injury designation after practicing fully Thursday.

With the full session, Hurts is ahead of where he was last week when he logged a limited practice on Thursday. In the Eagles' Week 16 win over the Giants, Hurts rushed just twice for seven yards, but it's plausible that as he distances himself from the ankle sprain he suffered Week 12, the QB could log more attempts this weekend, with Philadelphia's top two backs Miles Sanders (hand, out) and Jordan Howard (stinger) both banged up.

Lock (ankle) was listed as a full participant on Thursday's practice estimate, Aric DiLalla of the Broncos' official site reports.

Meanwhile, fellow signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater (concussion) was listed as a non-participant. At this stage, it seems plausible that come Friday, Bridgewater will be ruled out for Sunday's game against the Chargers. In that case, Lock would be in line to draw his second straight start at QB this weekend.

Fields (ankle) was a limited participant in Thursday's practice.

The limited activity marks no change from Wednesday, making it tough to gauge whether Fields is on track to be available for Sunday's game against the Giants. According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, head coach Matt Nagy said Wednesday that Fields would need to be "extremely healthy" to play this weekend, perhaps suggesting that the rookie will have to put in a full practice by Friday in order to return to the lineup. Andy Dalton, meanwhile, practiced fully for the second day in a row Thursday after sitting out the Bears' Week 16 win over the Seahawks with a groin injury, which may be enough to put him in the driver's seat for the Week 17 start.

Garoppolo (thumb) sat out Thursday's practice, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

According to Branch, Garoppolo was in attendance for the workout, but he wasn't in uniform and was seen speaking with a team doctor before retreating to the weight room. The consecutive absences from practice don't inspire much confidence that Garoppolo will be ready to go for Sunday's game against the Texans while he contends with what head coach Kyle Shanahan classified as a Grade 3 UCL sprain of the quarterback's right thumb. Rookie Trey Lance directed the first-team offense Wednesday and Thursday and looks to have the edge on the Week 17 starting nod, though a final decision likely won't be made until the 49ers have a chance to evaluate Garoppolo on Friday.

Goff (knee) was held out of practice Thursday.

Goff's knee injury was masked by the fact he landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list one day removed from getting hurt. On Wednesday, he revealed that he picked it up in his last appearance Week 15 against the Cardinals, and while he's considered day-to-day he may be trending toward an absence Sunday in Seattle, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Goff has another shot to mix into practice Friday before the Lions potentially decide his fate for Week 17. If Goff is sidelined, Tim Boyle will earn his third start of the season this weekend.

Hurts (ankle) practiced in full Thursday.

Hurts got in his first uncapped session one day earlier than he did last week, paving the way for him to be under center for the Eagles on Sunday at Washington. When he faced the Football Team two weeks ago, he completed 20 of 26 passes for 296 yards, one touchdown and one interception while turning eight carries into 38 yards and two more scores in the team's 27-17 win.

Winston's doctor shared a video Thursday featuring the quarterback throwing a football without any visible limitations for the first time since undergoing surgery last month to repair a torn ACL and a damaged MCL in his left knee, Luke Johnson of The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. "Jameis is looking great [and] progressing extremely well in his recovery following knee surgery," Dr. Kevin Wilk wrote in the caption for the video. "He's ahead of schedule [and] we have to hold him back at times!"

Winston's ability to run at full speed in a straight line and change direction without any discomfort at some point down the road will ultimately provide a better indication that he's 100 percent following surgery, but the fact that he's walking around without the aid of crutches and taking part in some football-related activities is a good early sign for his rehab. The 27-year-old, who will be a free agent at season's end, likely won't be fully healed for the start of OTAs, but he appears as though he's on the right track toward being available for Week 1 of the 2022 season, if not sooner than that.

Rodgers (toe) didn't practice Thursday, Wes Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official site reports.

Rodgers has gutted out a broken toe over the last five games and even aggravated the injury this past Saturday against the Browns. Still, he's been on point during that span, with three 300-yard efforts and 16 touchdowns versus no interceptions. If past weeks are any indication, Rodgers won't have a game-day designation once the Packers post their final Week 17 practice report Friday.

Jackson (ankle) isn't practicing Thursday, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

As Hensley notes, this comes a day after Jackson was limping badly during Wednesday's session. Now that he's off the reserve/COVID-19 list, Tyler Huntley is expected to handle the Ravens' first-team QB reps Thursday. In light of Jackson's absence, what he's able to do Friday will be telling with regard to his status for Sunday's game against the Rams, but now that Huntley is back in the mix, Baltimore's signal-caller situation is less taxed that this past weekend, when Josh Johnson drew a spot start and Kenji Bahar served as his backup.