NFL Player News

Love (shoulder) will not play Saturday against the Jets, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.

This shouldn't be surprising considering coach Matt LaFleur more or less confirmed the 2020 first-round pick would not be active for the preseason contest. With Aaron Rodgers also getting a veteran's night off, Kurt Benkert and Jake Dolegala are the only two active quarterbacks for the Packers on Saturday, with the former expected to take the majority of the work.

Mariota (leg) will play Saturday against the Rams, Alex Leatherwood of The Athletic reports.

Mariota missed the opening preseason tilt, although it seems likely the veteran could have played if necessary given that he warmed up prior to the contest. The Raiders are expected to utilize third-string quarterback Nathan Peterman heavily, with Mariota mixing in minimally along with nominal starter Derek Carr.

Prescott (shoulder) has suffered no setbacks in his rehab and remains on track to start Sept. 9 against the Buccaneers, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

This comes after Adam Schefter suggested in a halftime televised segment Friday that Prescott may not be 100 percent at all this season, and that the team has legitimate concerns about his health for the duration of the season. While the star quarterback missed most of last season following a gruesome ankle injury, a strained shoulder has been the cause of ire throughout training camp with Prescott only throwing on occasion as part of an ultra conservative approach to managing the injury. Coach Mike McCarthy suggested Prescott would be involved significantly more in practice as soon as this week, but it's still unclear if the signal-caller will make an appearance at all in the preseason.

Fields (groin) is expected to see "significant playing time" Saturday against the Bills, Larry Mayer of the Bears' official site reports.

It appears the Bears plan on playing Andy Dalton at least a quarter or even the entire first half, relinquishing most of the second half to the rookie signal caller. Fields missed practice earlier this week with a sore groin, but it never seemed like a serious issue to the point where coach Matt Nagy all but assured reporters the Ohio State product would play Saturday. The rookie was absolutely dynamic in Week 1 of the preseason tallying two touchdowns and 175 total yards against the Dolphins' second-string defense.

Heinicke completed 11 of his 13 passes for 80 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions in Friday's preseason game against Cincinnati. He also added four rushes for 26 yards.

Heinicke relieved Ryan Fitzpatrick on the team's first possession of the second quarter. He led four drives and was very accurate with his throws, though he didn't look to push the ball down the field -- eight of Heinicke's 11 completions went for under 10 yards. One notable exception to his conservative play came on a pair of connections with Antonio Gandy-Golden that went for gains of 16 and 17 yards. Washington has not formally named Fitzpatrick the starting quarterback, though Heinicke faces long odds to overtake him for top spot on the depth chart to open the regular season.

Murray completed one of four passes for two yards and rushed once for eight yards in the Cardinals' 17-10 preseason loss to the Chiefs on Friday night. He also fumbled once, but it was recovered by the offense.

Heading into the contest, conventional wisdom was Murray would be used sparingly, and that's precisely what came to pass. Murray ultimately played on the first two possessions and took two sacks on his final drive, fumbling on a hit by Chris Jones but not turning the ball over. The stilted performance naturally has no bearing on Murray's regular-season prospects, which remain significantly elevated given his arsenal of pass-catching weapons.

Mahomes completed 10 of 18 passes for 78 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in the Chiefs' 17-10 preseason win over the Cardinals on Friday night. He also rushed twice for 10 yards.

There had been talk of Mahomes playing into the second quarter, and that's exactly what came to fruition. The star signal-caller's last pass ended up in the hands of the Cardinals' Byron Murphy with 8:07 remaining in the first half, and the Chiefs ultimately produced just three points while Mahomes was in the game. Nevertheless, the night brought a solid workload for Mahomes, who may well sit out next Friday night's preseason finale versus the Vikings and take his next snap in a Week 1 showdown against the Browns.

Coach Sean Payton said Friday that Winston will start Monday's preseason game against the Jaguars, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports.

After coming off the sideline in relief of Taysom Hill in preseason Week 1, Winston will get the starting nod in the Saints' second exhibition. In last Saturday's game at Baltimore, Winston fared better in the box score and in the scoring column, leading New Orleans to two TDs in five possessions, while Hill managed no points in three drives. With more first stringers (Alvin Kamara, for example) expected to play Monday, Winston may be working with close to the expected Week 1 starting lineup from the first snap.

Garoppolo likely will play "a quarter, a quarter and a half" Sunday at the Chargers, coach Kyle Shanahan told David Lombardi of The Athletic on Friday.

The 49ers and Chargers held a joint practice Friday, after which Shanahan made the declaration. Thus, it appears Garoppolo will get more than the one possession he led in San Francisco's preseason opener last Saturday versus the Chiefs. In that contest, he completed all three of his passes for 26 yards before handing the offense over to Trey Lance. During the aforementioned practice session Friday, Lance got live reps against another first-team defense for the first time as Shanahan continues to introduce the 2021 third overall pick to more and more high-profile snaps.

Smith (concussion) has cleared the league's mandated protocols, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times reports.

Smith suffered a concussion in the Seahawks' preseason opener against the Raiders. However, his quick clearance through the league's protocols will allow him to be available for Saturday's matchup with the Broncos. He currently projects to back up Russell Wilson under center in 2021.