NFL Player News

Head coach Sean Payton, via NOLA.com, said following Sunday's victory over the Buccaneers that he believes Winston is dealing with a "significant" injury.

Payton was asked about Winton's injury in his postgame press conference, and he responded, "I think it's significant. He felt something. He's on crutches right now. I don't want to say until I have a chance to talk to the doctors." Like Payton said, the extent of Winston's injury won't be known until he undergoes more tests, but it certainly did not look good and he could be facing an extended absence. If that turns out to be the case, Taysom Hill would be the favorite to step in, but Hill is recovering from a concussion and Trevor Siemian did do enough Sunday to be part of the conversation.

Jones completed 18 of 35 passes for 218 yards in Sunday's 27-24 win over the Chargers. He also gained 10 yards on four carries.

The rookie wasn't particularly efficient, but Jones avoided making any mistakes and let the Patriots' defense take control of the game in the second half. It was a big step back from his performance last week against the Jets, and Jones will face a tough matchup in Week 9 against a Panthers defense that just held Matt Ryan under 150 yards.

Smith completed 20 of 24 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 31-7 win over the Jaguars. He also rushed twice for eight yards and a score.

In his third consecutive start, Smith notched his first win since the 2017 season when he was playing for the Jets, and he completed 83 percent of his passes with 8.1 yards per attempt in the process. This was easily Smith's best showing of the season, as he totaled 376 passing yards and two touchdowns over his previous two starts. It's still unclear whether Russell Wilson (finger) will return after the bye week for a Week 10 matchup against the Packers.

Herbert completed 18 of 35 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns to go along with two interceptions in Sunday's 27-24 loss to the Patriots. He also carried the ball twice for nine yards.

After a sizzling four-game stretch to begin the season, Herbert and the rest of the Chargers have come back down to earth. Sunday marked the second straight game in which the second-year quarterback completed under 60 percent of his passes. Credit that somewhat to the Patriots' run-heavy approach, which limited Herbert to his fewest passing attempts this season, but even when the Chargers did have the ball, miscommunication with his receivers was an issue. Most notably, Herbert sailed a pass intended for tight end Jared Cook late in the fourth quarter which turned into a game-sealing pick six. While he was able to lead a junk-time touchdown the ensuing drive, the aforementioned interception was a perfect encapsulation of the dreary day. Things should get a little easier next week against an inconsistent Eagles defense.

Siemian completed 16 of 29 passes for 159 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions during Sunday's 36-27 win over Tampa Bay.

After Jameis Winston awkwardly bent his knee while being tackled, Siemian took over and did just enough for the Saints to squeak out the win, which was aided by New Orleans' pick-six of Tom Brady with less than two minutes in regulation. With Taysom Hill (concussion) having yet to practice since going down in Week 7, Siemian could be in line to start against Atlanta in Week 9 as the last man standing. However, that's not a guarantee if Hill is able to clear concussion protocol quickly this week.

Lawrence completed 32 of 54 pass attempts for 238 yards, one touchdown and one interception against Seattle on Sunday. He also carried three times for 11 yards.

The Seahawks defense isn't very talented, but the Jaguars offense is badly bereft of talent and compounds that issue with profound general dysfunction. Not to excuse Lawrence for his mistakes, but pressure and wide receivers drops were both issues. There's still reason to believe Lawrence is a very talented player who will become a star in both real life and in fantasy, but with this collection of players and Urban Meyer at head coach, the outlook is bleak. It's a near certainty that little or nothing will improve for the Jaguars offense as they face Buffalo in Week 9.

Rush will start in place of Dak Prescott (calf) on Sunday in Minnesota, David Moore of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Prescott's availability came down to a pregame warmup as he tends to a right calf strain suffered back in Week 6 at New England. Over the course of the workout, it became increasingly clear that Rush would be the starter, with Rush getting the initial throws and Prescott and Will Grier mixing in behind him, according to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News. With Prescott officially inactive, Rush will earn his first NFL start. How Rush fares remains to be seen because he has just three career passes and two rushes under his belt, but he did throw for at least 3,100 yards and 23 TDs in each of his final three seasons at Central Michigan from 2014 through 2016.

Prescott (calf) is inactive for Sunday's game at Minnesota, David Moore of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Prescott strained his right calf while throwing a game-winning touchdown to CeeDee Lamb back in Week 6 at New England. Even with the benefit of a Week 7 bye, though, Prescott had limitations when the Cowboys returned to the practice field Wednesday. He increased his activity during Thursday's session to test out the calf but emerged with soreness, which was the primary reason the team treated the situation so delicately. Prescott's availability Sunday came down to a pregame workout, after which Dallas' decision makers didn't give the quarterback clearance to suit up. He'll thus yield quarterback duties to backup Cooper Rush for at least one contest.

Winston (knee) won't return to Sunday's game versus the Buccaneers, John Hendrix of SI.com reports.

The announcement comes as no surprise given how Winston's left leg bent awkwardly as he was tackled at the end of a three-yard run. Now that he's ruled out, he'll officially come out of Week 8 with 56 passing yards and one touchdown to go with four carries for 40 yards. In Winston's stead, the Saints will turn to Trevor Siemian under center, as Taysom Hill currently is in the concussion protocol and rookie fourth-rounder Ian Book has been a weekly healthy scratch so far this season.

Garoppolo completed 17 of 28 pass attempts for 322 yards and no passing scores or turnovers, adding four yards and two rushing touchdowns on five carries in Sunday's 33-22 win over Chicago.

It was an unusual stat line from Garoppolo, who now has three rushing touchdowns this year despite only contributing 30 total rushing yards (1.4 yards per carry). The usually turnover-prone quarterback (seven through five games) also did a great job of protecting the ball, faring much better than his rough outing in the rain against the Colts last week. Backup Trey Lance (knee) made his return from injury this week, but he did not enter the game as he had on occasion in past contests because head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to take it easy on his rookie fresh off injury, according to David Lombardi of The Athletic. Perhaps the occasional play will be run for Lance with another week of rest, but it appears that Garoppolo has salvaged the starting job heading into a home matchup against the Cardinals next Sunday.