NFL Player News

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.

Allen is expected to start for Joe Burrow during Friday's preseason game at Washington, Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Coach Zac Taylor has held out Burrow for both of the Bengals' first two exhibitions, as the second-year signal-caller still is just nine months removed from suffering a torn ACL, torn MCL and other structural damage in his left knee. In preseason Week 1 in Tampa Bay, Allen completed seven of 10 passes for 77 yards and an interception while working the entire first half. He could be in line for a similar allotment of snaps before giving way to Kyle Shurmur after halftime.

Mayfield, who sat out the Browns' preseason opener, isn't expected to play Saturday against the Giants either, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

The report suggests that also applies to some of the team's other key players and adds that there's a good chance coach Kevin Stefanski will hold most of the team's first-stringers out of Cleveland's Aug. 29 preseason finale against the Falcons as well.

Stick will start Sunday's preseason game against the 49ers, Gilbert Manzano of The Orange County Register reports.

The Chargers have only three quarterbacks on their roster, including one (Justin Herbert) who will be held out for the entire preseason despite being healthy. Chase Daniel is the favorite for the backup job and got the start in the first preseason game, completing 15 of 24 passes for 104 yards in the first half of a 13-6 win over the Rams. Stick then completed seven of seven passes for 63 yards in the second half, with the Chargers getting only four drives and 21 plays after the break. He should have more pass attempts Sunday, even if it's a 50/50 split in terms of quarters/halves.

Coach Urban Meyer said he plans for Lawrence to get more work in Monday's preseason game against the Saints, after the rookie completed six of nine passes for 71 yards last week versus Cleveland, John Reid of The Florida Times-Union reports.

Meyer still hasn't committed to Lawrence as the starter Monday night, but offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell acknowledged Thursday that it's likely. While Meyer continues to call it a competition for the starting job between Lawrence and Gardner Minshew, it won't seem like a real contest if the No. 1 overall pick is tabbed to start for a second straight week.

Lance took eight snaps with the first-team offense in Friday's joint practice with the Chargers, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The rookie completed each of his three attempts -- one a shovel pass and the other two also short throws. Per Branch, the other five plays with Lance on the field were two QB runs, two RB runs and a sack. Lance notably took four sacks for 31 yards in his pro debut last week against the Chiefs, though he also had an 80-yard TD pass (one of just five completions on 14 attempts, admittedly). While the 49ers still seem to be preparing Jimmy Garoppolo for the Week 1 start, it's noteworthy that coach Kyle Shanahan is making sure his rookie QB gets reps with the starters. Whether that also happens in Sunday's preseason game against the Chargers remains to be seen.

Prescott (shoulder) is expected to do more in practice next week, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports. "He'll definitely be involved in some form of practice more than this week, but to stand here and tell you he'd be full go and take all the reps, I'm not there yet," coach Mike McCarthy noted Friday of the QB.

McCarthy added that he doesn't believe Prescott will be on a pitch count at practice once the regular season gets going, but for now the the Cowboys are proceeding cautiously with their franchise signal-caller. Per Jon Machota of The Athletic, Prescott won't play in Saturday's preseason game against the Texans, which sets the stage for Garrett Gilbert to start the contest.

Cousins and many starters will play in Saturday's preseason game against Indianapolis, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Head coach Mike Zimmer said he didn't have a set number of plays for Cousins or the starting offense, so he could see more than a series or two of action.