NFL Player News

Garoppolo (calf) wasn't on the field for Friday's practice and appears unlikely to play Sunday against the Cardinals, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Though Garoppolo's right calf injury kept him from practicing Wednesday and Thursday, GM John Lynch suggested that Friday's session would be more critical to the quarterback's chances of playing this weekend. With Garoppolo destined to go down as a non-participant on the final injury report, however, he now looks set to miss the Week 5 matchup, paving the way for rookie first-round pick Trey Lance to pick up his first career start. The 49ers will provide an official designation for Garoppolo later Friday, and there's still a possibility he could be listed as questionable or doubtful rather than out if head coach Kyle Shanahan is leaving the door open for the veteran signal-caller to serve as an emergency backup to Lance.

Bridgewater (concussion) is expected to be medically cleared by independent doctors Friday, Mike Klis of 9News Denver reports.

Assuming that's the case, Bridgewater would then be cleared to practice fully Friday. After practice, the quarterback is in line to meet with the Broncos medical staff. Barring a setback in practice, Bridgewater is expected to gain clearance to start Sunday's game against the Steelers.

Wilson will undergo an MRI on Friday after initial X-rays on the sprained right middle finger he suffered in Thursday's 26-17 loss to the Rams returned negative, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

There's concern Wilson is dealing with tendon damage, a condition also known as mallet finger, per Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune. According to Bell, a tendon injury would typically require a splint that "must be worn day and night for 6-to-8 weeks," and could also necessitate surgery. Wilson is set to visit a hand specialist following the MRI, at which point there should be a better idea of his outlook moving forward. For now, the 32-year-old's status for Week 6 and beyond remains questionable at best. Geno Smith is poised to take over at quarterback for Seattle should Wilson be forced to miss any time.

Smith entered the Seahawks' 26-17 loss to the Rams on Thursday night in place of Russell Wilson (finger) with 14:42 remaining and completed 10 of 17 passes for 131 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Smith immediately caught the Rams' attention by leading the Seahawks on a 10-play, 98-yard scoring march that he capped off with a 23-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf to bring Seattle within two points at the time. After Los Angeles countered with a touchdown drive, Smith was able to get his squad into field-goal range and keep matters interesting until he threw an interception on the first play of his third possession, one that seemed to be at least partly the result of intended receiver Tyler Lockett taking some contact from a defensive back as he ran his route. Smith certainly offered what would have to be termed serviceable play at the very minimum, but both fantasy managers and the Seahawks will naturally be clamoring for a quick return to health for Wilson, who's been diagnosed with a bad finger sprain, ahead of a Week 6 road battle against the Steelers a week from Sunday.

Head coach Pete Carroll said Wilson is dealing with a "badly sprained finger" after the quarterback exited Thursday's 26-17 loss to the Rams with the injury, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times reports.

Wilson departed early in the fourth quarter after his right middle finger struck a defensive player's helmet while he was following through on a throw. He briefly played through the injury but ultimately had to be replaced by Geno Smith after being unable to grip the ball properly. Carroll declined to give a timeline on Wilson's potential return, though the Seahawks will at least have a long turnaround for their next game, which is set for Oct. 17 in Pittsburgh.

Wilson (finger) completed 11 of 16 passes for 152 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the Seahawks' 26-17 loss to the Rams on Thursday night. He also rushed twice for 10 yards before exiting the game for good with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter due to what Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune reports is being labeled as a "badly sprained finger."

Wilson was actually in the midst of a reasonably efficient performance against a defense that has bedeviled him in recent encounters before suffering the gruesome-looking injury on the helmet of a pass rusher. The multi-time Pro Bowler spent the fourth quarter on the sidelines trying to grip a football and watching backup Geno Smith put together a couple of productive drives before a late game-sealing interception. Bell relays that head coach Pete Carroll called Wilson "an all-time healer" in his postgame press conference, but the star quarterback may still be challenged to be back to full health in time for the Seahawks' Week 6 road matchup against the Steelers a week from Sunday.

Stafford completed 25 of 37 passes for 365 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the Rams' 26-17 win over the Seahawks on Thursday night. He also rushed once for minus-1 yard.

Stafford worked with a very narrow target pool, hitting Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp for 19 of his completions and 242 of his yards. He also connected with DeSean Jackson on a game-long 68-yard strike, all helping to lead to a season-high passing yardage tally for the veteran gunslinger. Stafford now has a trio of 300-yard efforts in just five games, and Thursday's win marked his first outing this season without multiple touchdown tosses. Stafford and his teammates will now have some extra time to rest up and prepare for a Week 6 cross-country road trip to face the Giants a week from Sunday.

Wilson is questionable to return to Thursday's game against the Rams with a finger injury, Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus reports.

Wilson injured his hand after hitting the helmet of a defensive player following through on a throw in the third quarter. He attempted to play through the issue with his finger wrapped, but he was not able to effectively lead the offense doing so. Geno Smith has taken over as the Seahawks' quarterback.

Jackson practiced fully Thursday and isn't listed on Baltimore's Week 5 injury report, suggesting the back issue he managed last week is no longer much of a concern, Ryan Mink of the Ravens' official site reports. "I'm 101 percent," Jackson said.

The back injury sidelined Jackson for two practices last week and resulted in him taking a questionable designation into Sunday, but he looked plenty healthy in Baltimore's 23-7 win over the previously unbeaten Broncos. Though he took more of a back seat than usual as a runner with seven carries for 28 yards, Jackson completed 22 of 37 attempts while clearing 300 passing yards for the second time in his career. With an extra day to rest up this week with Baltimore hosting Indianapolis on Monday night, Jackson appears to have moved past his bout with back soreness, which could result in him taking back a more prominent role in the run game than he handled in Denver.

Garoppolo (calf) isn't on the field for Thursday's practice, David Lombardi of The Athletic reports.

Though head coach Kyle Shanahan has thus far been unwilling to rule Garoppolo out for Sunday's game against the Cardinals, the quarterback said himself after exiting the Week 4 loss to the Seahawks that he expects to miss a couple of weeks, per Cam Inman of The San Jose Mercury News. Based on Garoppolo's consecutive absences at practice to begin Week 5 prep, any hope of him playing in Arizona seems to be dwindling. Trey Lance will direct the first-team offense for the second day in a row Thursday and is trending toward his first career start this weekend.