NFL Player News

Allen told teammate Taylor Heinicke that his placement on the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday was the result of a positive test, Sam Fortier of The Washington Post reports. "He said he's fine, so that's positive," Heinicke said of Allen.

Even if he remains asymptomatic, Allen will still need to turn in two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart in order to make himself eligible to play Sunday against the Eagles. If Washington gets the sense that Allen won't be on track to clear the protocols before Saturday, Kyle Shurmur or Jordan Ta'amu would likely be elevated from the practice squad to serve as Heinicke's backup for the Week 15 game.

Trubisky will handle a larger share of reps in practice this week in case teammate Josh Allen -- who suffered a foot injury in Sunday's overtime loss to the Buccaneers and was limited at Wednesday's practice -- can't play this week, Dante Lasting of the Bills' official site reports.

Given his track record of playing through injuries coupled with the fact the Bills are barely hanging onto a playoff spot, Allen will likely suit up this weekend, but if sits out, his understudy could be a sneaky play in Week 15 against a struggling Panthers squad. Trubisky has looked good during his limited preseason and practice work ever since joining the Bills, and while not nearly as accomplished as Allen, he has a decent arm and scrambling ability that should work well in Buffalo's up-tempo offense.

The Packers activated Love (illness) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus reports.

Love tested positive for the virus on Dec. 6, and even though he was vaccinated, he wasn't able to rid himself of symptoms and test negative twice 24 hours apart until more than a week later. He thus yielded backup quarterback duties to Kurt Benkert this past Sunday against the Bears, but the latter reverted to the practice squad Monday, signaling Love's impending return to the active roster. Love will reclaim No. 2 duties behind Aaron Rodgers for the Packers' Week 15 game in Baltimore, and with Rodgers tending to a toe injury, the former will handle the majority of the reps with the first-team offense this week.

Hurts (ankle) was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday's estimated injury report.

Earlier Wednesday, head coach Nick Sirianni told Tim McManus of ESPN.com that Hurts was "trending upwards" as he recovers from a high left ankle sprain, which sidelined him in the Eagles' last game Week 13 against the Jets. Coming out of a Week 14 bye, Hurts is splitting first-team reps with Gardner Minshew, likely as a contingency in the event the former can't go this weekend. In the end, though, the Eagles have optimism Hurts will be able to return for Sunday's game against Washington.

Jones (neck) was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday's estimated practice reports, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports.

The Giants merely held a walk-through session to kick off Week 15, but Jones would have put in a similar rep count to what he managed the previous two weeks while tending to a strained neck. He recently met with a specialist for a second time, but he still appears to be awaiting clearance to take contact. Until he does so, Jones won't be a candidate to play, allowing Mike Glennon to continue to earn spot starts. Glennon started the past two games in place of Jones and completed 40 of 80 attempts (50 percent) for 378 yards (4.7 YPA), two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Rodgers (toe) isn't practicing Wednesday, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.

Rodgers aggravated his fractured toe during Sunday's 45-30 win over the Bears, but he nonetheless put up a big stat line for the third straight week and ultimately opted against a minor surgery that might have threatened his availability for the upcoming game in Baltimore this weekend. Rodgers said he won't practice much the rest of the season but doesn't expect to miss any games.

Darnold (shoulder) is likely still a week or two away from being ready for games, David Newton of ESPN.com reports.

Darnold returned to practice Wednesday after being designated to return from injured reserve, but head coach Matt Rhule said the quarterback "can't really practice yet" since he hasn't been cleared to take contact, according to Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site. That likely means Darnold isn't able to do much throwing either, which leaves the Panthers with Cam Newton and P.J. Walker as the options at quarterback for at least another week or two. Of course, there's no guarantee of Darnold returning to the starting role even if he regains his health before the end of the season.

Heinicke (knee/elbow) was a full practice participant Wednesday and is on track to start Sunday's game in Philadelphia, JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington reports.

That's especially good news for Washington with backup quarterback Kyle Allen having landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday after testing positive for the virus. Allen replaced an injured Heinicke in the second half of Sunday's 27-20 loss to Dallas, but an MRI confirmed Heinicke's initial belief that he avoided serious damage. His elbow injury also appears minor, with head coach Ron Rivera saying the signal-caller "didn't seem to have any issues" at Wednesday's practice. Despite Heinicke's rocky showing against Dallas before departing with the injury, Rivera said earlier this week that the Old Dominion product will remain the Football Team's starter if healthy, according to Matthew Paras of The Washington Times.

Minshew and Jalen Hurts (ankle) are expected to split practice reps this week, with Hurts considered truly questionable for Sunday's game against Washington, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

Head coach Nick Sirianni said Wednesday that Hurts is trending up, but Garafolo suggests that's relative to Week 13, when the Eagles knew all along that the 23-year-old in was unlikely to play in the team's eventual win over the Jets. While Hurts has a better chance to suit up after the team's Week 14 bye, him playing is apparently no sure thing, so Minshew could get the chance to make a second straight start. He completed 20 of 25 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns in the 33-18 win over the Jets, and the upcoming matchup could be similarly favorable with Washington's defense hit hard by COVID-19 absences.

Burrow (finger) won't practice Wednesday, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he doesn't have any concern about Burrow's ability to perform in games, but the quarterback will be held out of Wednesday's session in order to get maintenance for the dislocated pinkie finger on his throwing hand. Per Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' official site, Burrow is expected to follow a similar pattern to last week, when he followed an absence from practice Wednesday with a limited session Thursday and full participation Friday.