NFL Player News

Jones completed 25 of 41 passes for 256 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in Monday night's 25-23 loss to the Buccaneers. He also rushed three times for 20 yards.

Jones endured another turbulent outing ending in narrow defeat. The quarterback started with a seven-yard touchdown to Dion Lewis, but his play afterward was mostly marred by barely missing or not spotting teammates open on deep balls, as well as continued bad decision-making under pressure. With two more interceptions, Jones now trails only Carson Wentz in turnovers, but to his credit, Jones rallied the Giants with fourth-down heroics and a beautiful, 19-yard touchdown toss on their final drive. That put New York a two-point conversion away from forcing overtime, but Jones' ensuing attempt to Lewis was broken up with under 30 seconds remaining. Overall, it was an unfortunately familiar performance for Jones, who'll now turn his attention to a winnable Week 9 matchup against Washington.

Darnold (shoulder) said on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York that Monday's MRI "turned out really good" and that he feels "a lot better than I thought I would."

The 23-year-old played every snap during Sunday's loss to the Chiefs but aggravated his shoulder injury. It appears he avoided any serious complications, but Darnold's status for Week 9 remains in question, with things potentially coming into focus once the Jets return to practice later this week. The Jets have their bye week following Monday's matchup with the Patriots, so the team could opt to play it safe if there's a decent risk of re-injury.

Dalton hasn't cleared all the steps of the concussion protocol, but there's hope the quarterback will return Sunday against the Steelers, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

After last Sunday's loss at Philadelphia, coach Mike McCarthy told Jon Machota of The Athletic that Dalton was improving, indicating some measure of progress through the protocol. There's an expectation that the veteran QB will complete them in advance of Sunday's game, but recoveries from head injuries are notoriously difficult to predict. He also didn't practice last week prior to being inactive, so getting back on the field Wednesday and beyond will give a sense of whether Dalton may retake the reins of the Cowboys offense in Week 9.

Beathard will be the backup to Nick Mullens for at least the next six weeks, as Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle) will miss at least that long due to a high-ankle sprain, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Mullens will get first crack at filling in for Garoppolo, starting with Thursday's game against Green Bay. Beathard will wait in the wings should Mullens struggle, but considering Beathard has usurped Mullens as Garoppolo's backup as recently as earlier this season, the window is wide open for the Iowa product to get another shot under center if things start to go south for San Francisco's offense.

Garoppolo (ankle) will miss at least the next six weeks and could miss more time if surgery is required, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

If Garoppolo returns on the most optimistic side of his timeline, the Week 14 matchup with Washington comes exactly six weeks after his removal from Sunday's loss to Seattle. Nick Mullens will start under center while Garoppolo recovers for a 49ers offense that could be without star tight end George Kittle (foot) for the rest of the season.

Mullens will be San Francisco's starting quarterback moving forward, beginning with Thursday's game against the Packers, as Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle) will be sidelined indefinitely to allow his high-ankle sprain to heal. Garoppolo is expected to miss at least six weeks, per Schefter.

Mullens was outstanding in relief of Garoppolo in last week's loss to Seattle, throwing for 238 yards and two touchdowns in just a quarter of action. The 25-year-old quarterback has four touchdowns versus three interceptions in four appearances this season, and Mullens won't have the benefit of throwing to George Kittle, as Ian Rapaport of NFL Network reports that the standout tight end will miss extended time due to a fracture in his foot.

Garoppolo has a high-ankle sprain and is out indefinitely, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Garoppolo exited in the third quarter of this past Sunday's loss to the Seahawks and didn't return. This injury has been nagging Garoppolo since Week 2, and the team has decided to shut him down until he can fully recover. There's a good chance that he's placed on IR, which would keep him out until at least Week 12. Nick Mullens is expected to be San Francisco's starting quarterback this Thursday against the Packers, while C.J. Beathard serves as the backup.

Luton will take starter reps in practice this week, paving the way for him to get the nod over Mike Glennon with Gardner Minshew (thumb) ruled out for Sunday's game against Houston, John Oehser of the Jaguars' official site reports.

Starting Luton makes sense for the 1-6 Jaguars, who can see what they have in the rookie sixth-rounder rather than trot out Glennon, who has established himself as a subpar option under center over 22 NFL starts. Minshew has been playing through a fractured thumb, so there's a chance his recovery extends beyond this week and allows Luton to make multiple starts if the rookie proves himself capable. Luton threw for 2,714 yards with a tidy 28:3 TD:INT in 11 games as a senior at Oregon State.

Coach Doug Marrone relayed that Minshew (thumb) won't play Sunday versus the Texans, John Oehser of the Jaguars' official site reports.

It was revealed following the Week 7 loss to the Chargers that Minshew has been dealing with multiple fractures and a sprained ligament in his right thumb since early October. He'll be shut down as a result, and rookie Jake Luton is expected to start against the divisional rival, in which case Mike Glennon would serve as the backup. There's no clear timeline for when Minshew will return. The second-year quarterback produced 1,855 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions while running for 122 yards and a score through the first seven games.

Darnold (shoulder) will be getting an MRI and a second opinion on his shoulder injury Monday, Al Iannazzone of Newsday Sports reports.

Darnold missed two games earlier this season with a shoulder injury, and he may have aggravated it late in Sunday's blowout loss to Kansas City. While coach Adam Gase downplayed the severity of Darnold's injury in the postgame press conference, it's worth noting that Gase also put him back into the game in which he originally hurt his shoulder, even though that injury was significant enough to force the quarterback out of the team's two ensuing contests. A clearer diagnosis regarding the severity of Darnold's injury should surface once his MRI results come in.