NFL Player News

Allen will start under center in Saturday's preseason finale versus the Packers.

According to head coach Sean McDermott, the starters' action could range from as little as one play to a little more than a half. It's unclear where Allen falls on that spectrum, but it does mark his first action of the preseason, so it's possible the staff wants him to get a little tune-up in before the regular season.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said Prescott (shoulder) looked great during Wednesday's practice and shouldn't be on a pitch count moving forward, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

After completing 11 of 12 passes in full-team drills Wednesday afternoon, Prescott is well on his way to the Week 1 start. He may be a bit rusty after the season-ending ankle injury last year and the abbreviated training camp this year, but his track record of production suggests Prescott should be started in a majority of fantasy leagues whenever he's healthy enough to play. He'll likely be a full practice participant after the Cowboys wrap up their preseason against the Jaguars on Sunday.

Coach Kliff Kingsburry said Thursday that Murray won't suit up for Saturday's exhibition finale against the Saints, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.

Murray played two possessions during last weekend's preseason game against the Chiefs, but the Cardinals now will opt to preserve the franchise quarterback for Week 1. "[Murray is] ready to go," Kingsbury said. It wouldn't be surprising to see Arizona hold a number of other starters out as well Saturday. With Murray on the bench, Colt McCoy and Chris Streveler are set to helm the offense against New Orleans.

The Texans may need to keep Watson on their 53-man roster even if they don't expect him to play in games, Aaron Reiss of The Athletic reports.

NFL investigators have yet to meet with Watson because they're waiting for criminal investigations to be completed. The league reportedly wants to meet with the quarterback before considering the commissioner's exempt list, which was used in the past to keep players like Michael Vick (2009), Adrian Peterson (2014) and Kareem Hunt (2018) off the field before they were officially suspended. The Texans thus may end up keeping Watson on the roster as a healthy scratch this year, likely waiting for their opportunity to trade him to another team for a haul of draft picks. Injured reserve would be an easy solution to keep Watson on the team but off of the 53-man roster, but he seems to be perfectly healthy at the moment, in part because he's done so little on the practice field this summer, mostly working with third- and fourth-stringers.

Jones took a step back Thursday after his impressive practice Wednesday, working behind Cam Newton in Newton's return to practice, Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com reports.

Newton took the first snap in every period, but Jones ended up getting more reps in full-team drills. It sounds like both were mediocre, following Wednesday reports about Jones having a dominant practice. Newton still is the favorite for the Week 1 start, but he didn't do himself any favors with the three-day absence due to a misunderstanding of COVID-19 protocols. The Patriots likely will give both QBs playing time in Sunday's preseason game against the Giants.

Tagovailoa won't play in Sunday's preseason game against Houston, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.

Coach Brian Flores said the team will rest most of its starters, including the second-year quarterback. Tagovailoa completed 24 of 34 passes for 282 yards (8.3 YPA) this preseason, tossing one TD and one INT in two games. He'll soon start preparing for Week 1 against New England, backed by a revamped supporting cast that now includes fleet-flooted wideouts Jaylen Waddle and Will Fuller, though the latter is suspended for the season opener.

Coach John Harbaugh said Thursday that McSorley (back) may be available by Week 1, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

McSorley resumed throwing Thursday, which is a notable step in the right direction for his recovery. The third-year pro has already been ruled out for the remainder of the preseason, but when healthy he remains the favorite to operate as Lamar Jackson's backup.

Coach Matt LaFleur said Love (shoulder) will play the entire first half and possibly into the third quarter if he's deemed healthy before Saturday's preseason game at Buffalo, Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports.

Kurt Benkert will enter the game after Love, while fourth-string QB Jacob Dolegala wasn't mentioned. Aaron Rodgers, of course, will be held out, finishing up the preseason without making an appearance. Love injured his shoulder in the preseason opener and missed the second contest, but he seems to be on track for Saturday's exhibition after his return to practice on a limited basis at the beginning of the week.

Tannehill is expected to be out for 5-to-10 days after the Titans placed him on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday morning, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

He's one of three Titans going on the list, joined by TE Geoff Swaim and LB Justin March. It should be just a minor annoyance for the team, as Tannehill was comfortable under former OC Arthur Smith and shouldn't have too difficult of an adjustment now that he's working with internal promotion Todd Downing (formerly the Titans TEs coach). Plus, Julio Jones (undisclosed) and A.J. Brown (knee) haven't been practicing much, so it's not like Tannehill is missing out on opportunities to throw to his favorite targets.

Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo split first-team reps at Wednesday's practice, and head coach Kyle Shanahan suggested after the session that the two could be deployed in a manner similar to the quarterback substitutions utilized by the Saints with Drew Brees and Taysom Hill over the last couple years, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Shanahan appears to have decided on a starting quarterback for Week 1, but he won't officially name him, and he's now openly discussing rotating the two signal-callers. Garoppolo is the clear favorite to open the season as the starter given how reps have been split to this point, but Lance could still see some early-season opportunities if Shanahan follows through with the sub packages. However, it's unclear just how much playing time the rookie would receive in that specialized role.