NFL Player News

Walker officially will be the Panthers' starting quarterback Sunday at Arizona, Darin Gantt of the team's official site reports.

With Sam Darnold potentially sidelined for the rest of the season due to a fractured right scapula, Walker will be given the first chance to serve as Carolina's No. 1 QB. But it could be a one-and-done situation for Walker after the Panthers brought Cam Newton back into the fold Thursday. While Newton is active Sunday, he likely won't have much more than situational work considering he only was a part of game prep for two days. In seven career appearances, Walker has completed 35 of 71 passes (49.3 percent) for 401 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. He also has seven carries for 10 yards.

Murray (ankle) is listed as inactive Sunday versus the Panthers.

Murray has been hampered by a sprained ankle that he picked up near the end of a Week 8 loss to the Packers. He's already missed one game as a result of the issue, and after he logged just one limited practice during Week 10 prep the Cardinals weren't optimistic about his prospects to play this Sunday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. A pregame workout was the determining factor in the team's decision to sit Murray, which will allow Colt McCoy to get another spot start. McCoy again will be operating with a short-handed cast on offense, as DeAndre Hopkins (hamstring) was deemed inactive and Chase Edmonds is on IR due to the high-ankle sprain he suffered last Sunday at San Francisco.

Trubisky (illness) wasn't activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of Saturday's deadline for Week 10 transactions and won't be available for Sunday's game against the Jets, Chris Brown of the Bills' official site reports.

Davis Webb has been elevated from the practice squad for the second straight week and will once again back up starting quarterback Josh Allen while Trubisky continues to recover from COVID-19. Trubisky tested positive for the virus last weekend.

Wilson (knee) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Bills.

As was expected after head coach Robert Saleh said earlier in the week that Mike White would pick up a third consecutive start at quarterback, Wilson will remain out while he continues to work his way back from a PCL sprain of his right knee. The No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft took a major step forward this week, practicing on a limited basis Wednesday and Thursday before upgrading to full activity Friday. If Wilson can get in at least one or two full practices next week, he should be on track to suit up in the Jets' Nov. 21 game against the Dolphins, but whether he starts or serves as a backup in that contest will likely hinge on how White performs against the Bills.

Grier (knee) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Falcons.

Grier was limited in practice Friday due to a knee injury and he's been ruled out of this contest. However, his fantasy upside is almost non-existent as a third-string signal-caller and his absence won't affect any fantasy rosters.

McCoy appears on track to make a second straight start Sunday against the Panthers with top quarterback Kyler Murray (ankle) listed as questionable but considered unlikely to play, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Just like last week, the Cardinals are viewing Murray as a game-day decision, though the third-year signal-caller appears to be at least slightly healthier for Week 10 after turning in a limited practice Friday. In any case, Murray doesn't seem to have demonstrated enough progress in his recovery from the sprained ankle to leave the Cardinals optimistic that he'll be available to play, so McCoy will be prepared to make another start after he proved to be an efficient game manager (22-for-26 for 249 yards and a touchdown and no turnovers) in the team's Week 9 win over the 49ers. Arizona plans to take a decision on Murray's status up to game time, but assuming Murray is included among the team's inactive list prior to the 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff, McCoy will be backed up by Chris Streveler. As was the case against the 49ers, McCoy could be working with a depleted pool of talent at the skill positions; running back Chase Edmonds (ankle) was placed on injured reserve Saturday, while top wideout DeAndre Hopkins (hamstring) is listed as questionable but considered unlikely to play.

The Panthers are proceeding as though Darnold (shoulder) won't play again this season, even though his rehab from a partial non-displaced fracture of his right scapula entails only a 4-to-6-week recovery timeline, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Even if Darnold's recovery trends toward the longer end of that timeline, he would still have a shot at playing in Weeks 16 through 18, but Carolina appears to be closing the door on him making a late-season return from injured reserve. Even before he was diagnosed with the shoulder injury, Darnold's standing atop the depth chart was shaky, as he completed only 59.5 percent of his passes for 6.5 yards per attempt and a 7:11 TD:INT through nine games. P.J. Walker will pick up the start under center Sunday in Arizona, but the Panthers plan to hand the top job over to the newly signed Cam Newton once he gets up to speed with the offense and gets reconditioned. Schefter notes that if Newton plays well down the stretch, the Panthers could look to re-sign him this offseason and have him enter 2022 as their starter.

Love is set to resume backup duties for the Packers in Sunday's game against the Seahawks after the team reinstated starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers (illness) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday, the Associated Press reports.

After Rodgers' surprise placement on the list last week, Love picked up his first NFL start and generally struggled to move the chains in the Packers' 13-7 loss to the Chiefs, finishing with 19 completions on 34 attempts for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception while adding 23 yards on the ground. Though Love continued to take all the first-team reps in practice this week while Rodgers remained isolated from the team, the reigning MVP took part in virtual meetings and performed conditioning drills on his own to stay prepared to start. Even if Love had fared better in his first extensive NFL action last week, he was always unlikely to pick up another start so long as Rodgers was activated when first eligible.

The Cardinals are pessimistic that Murray (ankle), who is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against Carolina, will be able to play, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. However, Murray plans to take the decision up to the game's 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff.

Though Murray was able to get in a limited practice Friday after failing to take the field in any capacity before sitting out last week's win over the 49ers, Colt McCoy appears on track for a second straight start. Arizona has a third quarterback (Chris Streveler) on the roster, so the team is unlikely to make Murray available as an emergency backup if he's not deemed fit to start. More clarity on Murray's status should come 90 minutes prior to kickoff, when Arizona releases its inactive list.

Rudolph is in line to start Sunday's game against the Lions after Ben Roethlisberger (undisclosed) was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic reports.

Rudolph has yet to take the field in 2021, but he'll draw the start on short notice against Detroit. In his lone start for the Steelers last year, he completed 22 of 39 passes for 315 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Dwayne Haskins will presumably serve as the No. 2 option with Roethlisberger sidelined.