NFL Player News

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged Wednesday that Prescott (shoulder) is unlikely to play in Saturday's preseason game against Houston, Jori Epstein of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Prescott remained limited Wednesday, his third straight practice after missing nearly three weeks. McCarthy already said he won't play his starting quarterback in the final preseason contest, so the Week 1 matchup with Tampa Bay will mark Prescott's first game action since he suffered a season-ending ankle injury last October. He should return to full practice participation long before the Sept. 9 season opener.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Mahomes and other starters will play "a half, somewhere thereabout" in Friday's preseason game against Arizona, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Mahomes played one drive in the preseason opener against San Francisco, completing one of two passes for four yards. He'll see more work in the second exhibition, though it's possible Reid pulls franchise cornerstones like Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill before many of the other starters.

Fields is dealing with groin soreness and won't practice Wednesday, Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago reports.

At the beginning of the week, head coach Matt Nagy said Fields would start to see more reps with wideout Allen Robinson and the Bears' other starters. That may still happen, but Andy Dalton continued to get most of the first-team snaps Tuesday (per Adam Jahns of The Athletic), and Fields will now miss at least one of the Bears' practices leading up to Saturday's preseason game against Buffalo. While Nagy has labeled Dalton as the team's starting quarterback multiple times, Fields showed his potential in the preseason opener, throwing for one touchdown and rushing for another to lead the Bears to a 20-13 win over Miami. Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports that Nagy still expects Fields to play this Saturday, though the Bears will be careful with him in practice this week.

Allen (ankle) said he'll play in Friday's preseason game against Cincinnati, Rhiannon Walker of The Athletic reports.

Allen was held out of Washington's first preseason game after aggravating his surgically repaired ankle during the first week of training camp. Head coach Ron Rivera said Allen might eventually be a candidate to start, but the 25-year-old looks to be Washington's No. 3 quarterback at the moment, behind both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Taylor Heinicke. It's unclear how Rivera will divide time between his QBs in Friday's exhibition.

Jones saw some work with the first-team offense Tuesday and completed 13 of his 14 pass attempts after dominating the backups during Monday's practice, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports.

Jones continues to make his mark on the preseason after posting a solid debut in game action last Thursday, completing 13 of his 19 pass attempts for 87 yards against Washington. He's viewed as the long-term solution for New England under center and is trying to push to make that impact felt sooner than later. Unfortunately for him, Cam Newton also had what was reportedly his best practice in a week Tuesday, so Jones' showing didn't really help him make up a ton of ground.

Coach Mike McCarty said there's "no urgency" to see Prescott (shoulder) play in Saturday's preseason game against Houston, even though the quarterback won't play in the exhibition finale Aug. 29 against Jacksonville, ESPN.com's Todd Archer reports.

If Prescott doesn't play this Saturday, he won't suit up at all this preseason. It sounds like that's just fine with McCarthy, who said his quarterback was, "probably in midseason form from the amount of work he put in over the summer, coming out of the OTAs." It's still reasonable to worry about rust if Week 1 ends up being Prescott's first game since last October, particularly with the Cowboys opening their season against a vicious Tampa defense. In any case, Prescott is back on track to start that contest, having returned to practice Monday on a limited basis.

Watson didn't practice Tuesday and isn't expected to travel with the Texans for Saturday's preseason game in Dallas, ESPN's Sarah Barshop reports.

Coach David Culley attributed Watson's absence from Monday's practice to a schedule change, but the Texans got back to their routine Tuesday and the quarterback still wasn't on the field. Between his trade request and legal situation, Watson may not have a future in Houston and doesn't seem to be part of the plan for Week 1. He's been in and out of practice throughout training camp, doing very little even when he's technically been a participant.

Watson did not participate in Monday's practice, Brooks Kubena of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The daily Watson watch continues. The quarterback, who did not travel with the team for Saturday's preseason opener in Green Bay, received treatment for his ankle and calf while attending team meetings indoors. He had been a presence for all four practices last week after a weeklong absence. "Nothing has changed from last week," Texans coach David Culley said Monday morning. "We're not going to talk about what we do in personnel each day in practice." The Texans are expected to trade Watson, an event many believe hinges upon the pending legal matters facing the quarterback.

Cookus was waived by the Raiders on Monday.

With Nathan Peterman seemingly locked in at No. 3 behind starter Derek Carr and backup Marcus Mariota at quarterback, Cookus was a likely candidate to be cut as the Raiders trimmed their roster down to 85. The journeyman will now look for a new opportunity.

Coach Mike McCarthy said that if Prescott (shoulder) is unable to play Saturday against the Texans, he won't suit up in the preseason, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Prescott is slated to be a limited participant in his return to practice, which will equate to QB drills and not much more as the Cowboys exercise caution with their franchise quarterback. He'll thus be held out of all 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work Monday, just two days removed from getting good news from an MRI. Prescott is healing well from the latissimus strain he picked up in his right throwing shoulder during a July 28 practice, which has overshadowed his completed recovery from last season's gruesome right ankle injury. If Dallas ultimately keeps him on the sideline during the exhibition season, he'll aim to be under center Thursday, Sept. 9 for the opener at Tampa Bay.