NFL Player News

Allen completed 18 of 25 passes for 244 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in Sunday's 56-26 win over the Dolphins. He also rushed twice for three yards and was replaced by Matt Barkley at halftime to keep Allen healthy for the postseason.

Allen was intercepted on the opening drive but responded with a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes to Isaiah McKenzie and another to John Brown to help the Bills take a 28-6 lead into halftime. With Buffalo feeling comfortable about its chances of securing the No. 2 seed in the AFC, Allen got the rest of the afternoon off. The 2018 first-round pick made a third-year leap in 2020, throwing for 4,564 yards and a 37:10 TD:INT to go with 421 yards and eight touchdowns on 102 rushing attempts to lead Buffalo to a 13-3 record.

Tagovailoa completed 35 of 58 passes for 361 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in Sunday's 56-26 loss to the Bills. He also rushed six times for 28 yards in the season finale.

Tagovailoa was benched for Ryan Fitzpatrick last week but got the call under center with a postseason berth on the line after Fitzpatrick tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. While his final stat line looks respectable, much of Tua's yardage, as well as his 25-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Perry, came after the game was well out of hand due to a combination of effective Buffalo offense and mistakes from Tagovailoa. Fitzpatrick's status for the opening round of the postseason is in doubt, but Miami's hopes of even getting that far now hinge on a Colts loss to the Jaguars in the late window, so it appears the Dolphins will come up just short of a postseason berth. The fifth overall pick out of Alabama finishes his rookie season with 1,814 yards and an 11:5 TD:INT in 10 games (nine starts), and Tagovailoa will likely open his second season as the Dolphins' starter under center.

Murray suffered an ankle injury during Sunday's road game versus the Rams, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports.

Murray emerged from Week 16 with what was termed a lower leg issue, and he now has left the regular-season finale with an injury in that region. He's questionable to return, but if he doesn't rejoin his teammates on the field, Chris Streveler will lead the Cardinals offense.

Murray (undisclosed) went to the locker room during Sunday's road game against the Rams, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.

Murray hobbled off the field, which may indicate he aggravated the lower leg injury that he sustained Week 16 against the 49ers. While Murray's status is unknown, the Cardinals will hand over the keys to the offense to his backup Chris Streveler.

Mahomes is officially inactive for Sunday's game against the Chargers, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports.

Mahomes will sit this one out, with Kansas City having secured a first-round playoff bye. Filling in for him as the team's starting QB on Sunday will be Chad Henne, with Matt Moore set to serve as his backup in Week 17.

Sinnett will serve as the Dolphins' backup quarterback in Sunday's game against the Bills.

Sinnett was promoted from the practice squad Saturday. He'll slot in as the No. 2 quarterback behind Tua Tagovailoa because Jake Rudock is a healthy scratch.

While the Bills plan to suit up Josh Allen for Sunday's finale against the Dolphins, there's a likelihood Barkley sees meaningful snaps in the contest, Michael Giardi of NFL Network reports.

This makes sense, as several starters have already been made inactive in a game that can only determine seeding for the Bills, while Allen needs only some modest totals to set or extend some franchise records. We would not be shocked if the Bills have Allen out of there by halftime or even earlier while Barkley sees action with a number of other backups. Note that Miami needs to win this game and the weather is expected to be far from optimal.

Allen is active for Sunday's game against the Dolphins and will presumably start at quarterback, though he could be rested at some point during the contest, Michael Giardi of NFL Network reports.

Allen's favorite target, Stefon Diggs, is also suiting up, but some of the key inactives such as Tre'Davious White, Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison should provide a clue as to how the Bills are viewing this game, which can only dictate whether they'll be the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the AFC, and even the latter would require a Pittsburgh win. It's impossible to predict how some of these Week 17 games will go, but the best guess would seem to be that Allen and the main active players will stay out there long enough to stay polished for next week's playoff game. Giardi notes that Allen is 40 yards from breaking the Bills' single-season passing record, so head coach Sean McDermott could choose to pull the quarterback in favor of backup Matt Barkley shortly after Allen establishes a new franchise record.

Stafford (ankle/rib/thumb) is active for Sunday's game against the Vikings.

Stafford has been limping through the stretch run of yet another lost season, but despite dealing with a trio of injuries over the past month, he's only 209 yards shy of the eighth 4,000-yard campaign of his career. On the other side, Minnesota boasts the 24th-ranked pass defense (256.9 yards per game) and will be without four starters, so Stafford has a great chance to get there, assuming he makes it through the contest unscathed.

Stafford (ankle/rib/thumb), who is listed as questionable, is expected to play Sunday against the Vikings, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

The 32-year-old was deemed likely to play Friday despite being listed as questionable on the injury report, and his outlook remains unchanged halfway through the weekend. The Lions and Vikings have already been eliminated from the playoff picture, but Stafford still plans to gut it out for the season finale. The veteran has been banged up for much of the 2020 campaign, but he'll have started all 16 games for the ninth time in 10 years if he's cleared to start Sunday.