NFL Player News

Tagovailoa won't play in Sunday's preseason game against Houston, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.

Coach Brian Flores said the team will rest most of its starters, including the second-year quarterback. Tagovailoa completed 24 of 34 passes for 282 yards (8.3 YPA) this preseason, tossing one TD and one INT in two games. He'll soon start preparing for Week 1 against New England, backed by a revamped supporting cast that now includes fleet-flooted wideouts Jaylen Waddle and Will Fuller, though the latter is suspended for the season opener.

Coach John Harbaugh said Thursday that McSorley (back) may be available by Week 1, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

McSorley resumed throwing Thursday, which is a notable step in the right direction for his recovery. The third-year pro has already been ruled out for the remainder of the preseason, but when healthy he remains the favorite to operate as Lamar Jackson's backup.

Coach Matt LaFleur said Love (shoulder) will play the entire first half and possibly into the third quarter if he's deemed healthy before Saturday's preseason game at Buffalo, Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports.

Kurt Benkert will enter the game after Love, while fourth-string QB Jacob Dolegala wasn't mentioned. Aaron Rodgers, of course, will be held out, finishing up the preseason without making an appearance. Love injured his shoulder in the preseason opener and missed the second contest, but he seems to be on track for Saturday's exhibition after his return to practice on a limited basis at the beginning of the week.

Tannehill is expected to be out for 5-to-10 days after the Titans placed him on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday morning, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

He's one of three Titans going on the list, joined by TE Geoff Swaim and LB Justin March. It should be just a minor annoyance for the team, as Tannehill was comfortable under former OC Arthur Smith and shouldn't have too difficult of an adjustment now that he's working with internal promotion Todd Downing (formerly the Titans TEs coach). Plus, Julio Jones (undisclosed) and A.J. Brown (knee) haven't been practicing much, so it's not like Tannehill is missing out on opportunities to throw to his favorite targets.

Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo split first-team reps at Wednesday's practice, and head coach Kyle Shanahan suggested after the session that the two could be deployed in a manner similar to the quarterback substitutions utilized by the Saints with Drew Brees and Taysom Hill over the last couple years, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Shanahan appears to have decided on a starting quarterback for Week 1, but he won't officially name him, and he's now openly discussing rotating the two signal-callers. Garoppolo is the clear favorite to open the season as the starter given how reps have been split to this point, but Lance could still see some early-season opportunities if Shanahan follows through with the sub packages. However, it's unclear just how much playing time the rookie would receive in that specialized role.

Garoppolo remains the favorite to open the season as San Francisco's starting quarterback, though he and rookie Trey Lance split first-team reps Wednesday, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan continues to avoid naming a starter, though he talked Wednesday of utilizing quarterback substitutions similar to the Saints with Drew Brees and Taysom Hill over the past couple years. Shanahan has seemingly already made up his mind on a starter, and it appears to be Garoppolo based on how reps have been split throughout training camp and the preseason. However, the rookie Lance may still have some opportunities to see the field at the start of the regular season, though it's unclear exactly how Shanahan intends to employ the multi-quarterback strategy.

Head coach Vic Fangio said that in addition to starting the Broncos' Week 1 game against the Giants, Bridgewater will also start Denver's preseason finale Saturday versus the Rams, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.

Bridgewater will get some work in under center Saturday before ceding quarterback duties to Drew Lock at some point. The bigger news of the day is that Bridgewater has claimed the starting quarterback job and will guide Denver's offense Week 1. He'll be at the helm of a passing attack that features a number of breakout candidates on the receiving end, including Courtland Sutton (knee), Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler (illness) and Noah Fant (leg).

Jones submitted his practice showing of training camp during Wednesday's joint session with the Giants, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports.

Per Howe's count, Jones completed 35 of 40 passes against the Giants' starting defense, including a stretch of 18 consecutive completions. With Cam Newton in the NFL's COVID-19 protocols and logging his third absence in a row Wednesday, Jones certainly took advantage of the added practice reps, while simultaneously making a case to be considered as the team's Week 1 starter. Head coach Bill Belichick has maintained that Newton -- who could return to the field as soon as Thursday -- is currently is viewed as the Patriots' starting quarterback, but the combination of his recent absence and Jones' strong efforts of late suggests that the case may not be closed.

Prescott (shoulder) took 18 snaps in 11-on-11 drills at Wednesday's practice and completed 11 of 12 passes, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Earlier reports indicated Prescott would throw in 7-on-7s, but he ended up doing full-team drills instead, apparently looking sharp while throwing passes against defenders for the first time since late July. While the Cowboys aren't likely to rush him back for the final game of the preseason, Prescott is well on his way to receiving the Week 1 start Sept. 9 at Tampa Bay.

Head coach Urban Meyer announced Wednesday that Trevor Lawrence will start Week 1 in Houston, leaving Minshew to handle backup duties, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Meyer took his time in officially naming a starting quarterback, but it ultimately comes as no surprise to see the rookie No. 1 overall pick finishing ahead of Minshew on the depth chart. Minshew will be one of the more competent backups in the NFL, to his credit. Across 23 appearances in the first two seasons of his career, Minshew logged a more than respectable 37:11 TD:INT. The 25-year-old could even still garner interest around the league as a trade candidate, should the Jaguars opt to go that route.