NFL Player News

Lock completed 100 of 156 passes for 1,020 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions during his five-game rookie campaign. He added 72 yards on 18 carries.

After spending the bulk of the season on injured reserve with a thumb injury, Lock came out guns blazing with two touchdowns in his first quarter of play and a dominant performance in his road debut against Houston. He fell off in a blizzard game in Kansas City and threw for just two touchdowns combined in season-ending wins against Detroit and Oakland. Though the production declined, Lock seemed to have fewer misses and didn't have some of the over-aggressive turnovers he had in his first few outings. Lock was considered a project coming out of the draft, so the fact that his passer rating topped that of the 2019 draft's three first-round quarterbacks should excite fans and a front office that has struggled to find a franchise passer. He'll be the guy in 2020. Expect the Broncos to, at the very least, add a more viable deep threat opposite Courtland Sutton in the draft and look for reinforcements along a line that was decimated by injuries by season's end.

Rypien dressed as the backup for three games in 2019, but did not appear in any of them.

As the Broncos shuffled quarterbacks in Weeks 9 through 12 while both Joe Flacco and Drew Lock were injured, Rypien was briefly promoted to the active roster to back up Brandon Allen. He was cut and came back to the practice squad once Lock came off of injured reserve and signed back with the team at the end of the season. In three preseason games, he made an impressive touchdown throw to fellow rookie Juwann Winfree in the opener, but looked mostly out of sorts. Rypien earned a six-figure signing bonus out of the draft, so the Broncos brass clearly liked his potential. He figures to battle Allen and maybe another body or two in training camp for the right to back up Lock in 2020.

Allen completed 39 of 84 passes for 515 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions during the 2019 season. He ran for 39 yards on 10 carries.

Allen went from surprise stud to questionable backup very, very quickly during the middle of the season. After posting an impressive 125.6 rating in a win over the Browns, that rating was cut in half to 61.9 in the following game against the Vikings and then was cut almost in half again to 32.4 in a loss to the Bills. Allen deserves at least some benefit of the doubt as the three games were his first regular-season playing experience, but he's been in the league since 2016. Assuming that Denver improves its offensive weaponry in the offseason, Allen could be a solid, inexpensive backup and potential spot-starter behind Drew Lock for the 2020 season, but it'd be a surprise if -- at the very least -- the Broncos don't give 2019 rookie Brett Rypien a shot at unseating him.

Minshew won't enter the 2020 offseason as the Jaguars' starting quarterback, John Reid of The Florida Times-Union reports.

This shouldn't come as a major surprise after Minshew's inconsistencies to end the season. Save for a sterling Week 17 finale in which the rookie quarterback completed close to 70 percent of his passes and threw for almost 300 yards and three touchdowns, a dismal stretch to start December nearly curtailed any sort of positive momentum Minshew built up during his prolonged audition as the Jaguars starter. It's worth noting head coach Doug Marrone also declined to list Nick Foles as the starter, suggesting both players would be capable options next season, although the Jaguars would pay close to $34 million in dead cap space should they opt to cut the veteran signal caller in lieu of Minshew. As a result, this situation feels like one of the very few "real" quarterback competitions to monitor throughout the offseason, as Minshew's cap number ($632,904) and surprise performance from the sixth-round pick throughout most of 2019 all but guarantee him a shot at the starting gig next year.

Jackson (illness) returned to practice Thursday, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

Jackson sat out practice Tuesday, but the QB has moved past a bout with the flu and will resume his preparations for the Ravens' Jan. 11 playoff opener versus an opponent to be determined by the results of this weekend's Wild Card round.

General manager Chris Ballard said "the jury is still out" on Brissett, Stephen Holder of The Athletic reports. "Jacoby did some good things," Ballard said Thursday. "But our passing game has to improve. The jury is still out. That's why we did the short-term deal we did."

Ballard did add a slightly more favorable comment: "Right now, I'll say Jacoby is our starting quarterback." Of course, it could be argued that 'right now' is the crucial part of the quote, with the implication that the Colts will try to find an upgrade. Brissett led the team to a 5-2 start while averaging two touchdown passes per game, but the season began to unravel when he suffered a knee injury Week 9 in Pittsburgh. He only missed one game, but his performance over the final two months was subpar, with the 27-year-old completing 56.4 percent of passes for 6.1 yards per attempt and four touchdowns in seven games (2-5 record). Brissett is signed through 2020 on a one-year extension with a $21.5 million cap hit, including $5.5 million that has already been paid and another $7 million that's guaranteed, per overthecap.com. The Colts have more than enough cap space to bring in veteran competition, and they also have a nice haul of 2020 draft picks in the early rounds (Nos. 13, 34, 44, 75).

Lynch didn't play any snaps while serving as the Steelers' backup quarterback in Sunday's 28-10 loss to the Ravens.

Lynch was promoted from the practice squad Oct. 11 but didn't see the field during his two and a half months on the active roster, even with both Mason Rudolph (shoulder) and Devlin Hodges being demoted from starting roles at points. The 2016 first-round pick hasn't seen any NFL action since his second pro season and is unlikely to be much more than a training-camp body at quarterback if he sticks with Pittsburgh in 2020.

General manager John Elway said Monday that it "is not realistic" for the Broncos to turn to options other than Lock for the Broncos' starting quarterback job in 2020, Mike Klis of 9News Denver reports.

Elway's comments don't come as much of a surprise after Lock guided the Broncos to a 4-1 record in his five starts down the stretch. While his statistics varied from game to game, Lock took care of the ball and occasionally made some flashy plays. Despite being seen as a project when he was selected in the second round of 2019, Lock's numbers stacked up well with the quarterbacks chosen ahead of him. The Broncos might poke around the 2020 draft or in free agency for a cheaper, more reliable backup rather than bringing back one or more of Joe Flacco, Brandon Allen or Brett Rypien, but the team finally seems to have a promising young signal-caller to build around.

Stidham completed two of four pass attempts for 14 yards and an interceptions in three appearances with the Patriots during the 2019 regular season.

The 2019 fourth-round pick spent his entire rookie season as Tom Brady's top backup after the team parted ways with veteran understudy Brian Hoyer in advance of Week 1. Predictably, Stidham's game action was restricted to a trio of garbage-time appearances, with Brady starting the Patriots' entire 16-game slate. Behind the scenes, however, Stidham's throwing ability and all-around work in practice this past season has drawn praise from both his teammates and coaches, per Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal. Once the Patriots' season is over, there will be plenty of focus on Brady's status with the franchise, and until that matter is settled, Stidham's 2020 fantasy outlook can't be accurately assessed.

Rudolph (shoulder) had surgery last week to address a posterior sternoclavicular dislocation, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The injury is considered to be a medical emergency because the displaced clavicle can puncture the aorta or trachea, among other things. Fortunately, Rudolph avoided any of the scarier outcomes while he remained in a trauma unit for three days after he had surgery. He anticipates a two-month recovery period, which could allow for participation at the beginning of Pittsburgh's offseason program. The 24-year-old quarterback played in 10 games in 2019 completing 176 of 283 passes for 1,765 yards with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He likely will enter 2020 vying for a backup role behind Ben Roethlisberger, who had surgery on his right elbow Sept. 23. Coach Mike Tomlin suggested Rudolph will be ahead of Devlin Hodges when the team gets back to work in April, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com.