NFL Player News

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.

Winston (knee) underwent successful surgery Friday, Jeff Duncan of The Athletic reports.

Winston tore his ACL and sustained MCL damage at the end of October, and he'll now shift his focus toward his lengthy recovery process. Whether he's available for training camp in 2022 remains to be seen, but Trevor Siemian has taken over as the Saints' starter for now.

Rodgers was activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list and will start Sunday's contest against the Seahawks.

No surprise here as it was reported earlier Saturday the star quarterback would be good to go in the pivotal matchup against the Seahawks. Rodgers curiously did get put on the injury report due to a toe injury despite never taking the field over the last 10 days, but since he doesn't carry any sort of game status designation, it's a comical moot point. Sunday will mark the first time Rodgers has his full assortment of wide receivers available since Week 4 after Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring) returned off injured reserve in Week 9.

Smith will serve as the backup quarterback behind starter Russell Wilson (finger) in Sunday's game against the Packers after the latter was activated from injured reserve Friday, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.

Smith started the last three contests in place of Wilson, who missed the first games of his career after suffering an injury to his right middle finger Oct. 7 that required surgery. At the time he underwent surgery, Wilson was expected to be sidelined for roughly six weeks, but the eight-time Pro Bowler healed quicker than anticipated and performed well enough in practice this week for Seattle to sign off on him playing. Wilson's return should represent a boon to the Seattle offense and all its key skill-position players, though Smith was a capable game manager while the former was sidelined. In his three starts, Smith completed 70.5 percent of his throws for 7.3 yards per attempt and a 4:0 TD:INT.

Rodgers is expected to be activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list and thus will be eligible to play Sunday against the Seahawks, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

The Packers have until 4 p.m. ET to activate Rodgers from the reserve/COVID-19 list, and the star quarterback has evidently remained asymptomatic and has passed protocols to this point and has already returned to the Packers' practice facilities Saturday. The reigning NFL MVP appears to be on pace to play Sunday after a one-game absence, with his impending return expected to result in Jordan Love moving to the bench.

Grier is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Falcons due to a knee injury, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Grier popped up as a limited participant at Friday's practice due to a knee injury. It is unclear when the issue was sustained, but it presumably occurred at some point during the week. His status as the team's No. 3 quarterback will now depend on how he is feeling closer to kickoff.

Wilson (finger) was activated from injured reserve Friday evening, Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

The team didn't bother waiting until Saturday, with coach Pete Carroll having already named Wilson as the starter for Sunday's game in Green Bay. Rookie WR Dee Eskridge (concussion) also is coming off IR for the Week 10 game, while RB Chris Carson (IR/neck) has been ruled out again.