NFL Player News

Keenum remains in the NFL's concussion protocol as of Wednesday, Les Carpenter of The Washington Post reports.

Keenum doesn't yet appear to have made any tangible progress in his recovery from the head injury he suffered during the Thursday Night Football loss to the Vikings in Week 8. Per Ben Standig of The Athletic, rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins handled first-team reps during Wednesday's practice in Keenum's absence. Haskins thus looks like the top candidate to start in the event Keenum is sidelined Sunday against the Bills.

General manager John Elway said Wednesday that Lock (thumb) is expected to resume practicing with the Broncos in Week 11, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.

Elway noted that while Lock isn't physically ready yet, the rookie signal-caller received medical clearance for his sprained right thumb "about two weeks ago," according to Zac Stevens of TheDNVR.com. Whenever Lock does resume practicing, the Broncos will face a 21-day window to evaluate him for activation to the 53-man roster. With Joe Flacco (neck) facing a 5-to-6-week absence and Brandon Allen currently set to helm Denver's offense, Lock could be in the mix to start when fully healthy.

Darnold (left thumb) will be a full practice participant Wednesday, Brian Costello of the New York Post reports.

Darnold sprained the thumb on his non-throwing hand during Sunday's 29-15 loss to Jacksonville, but he never left the game and isn't expected to miss time going forward. However, coach Adam Gase acknowledged Monday that the injury may bother Darnold for the rest of the season.

Lock's right thumb received medical clearance "about two weeks" ago, Zac Stevens of TheDNVR.com reports.

Since landing on IR with a sprained thumb during the preseason, Lock has been in recovery mode and hasn't gotten clearance to return to practice, the latter of which would open a 21-day evaluation period before his activation to the 53-man roster. With Joe Flacco tending to a potentially season-ending neck injury, the Broncos have turned to Brandon Allen to direct the offense, but Lock eventually may join the mix once he returns to the field. It's unclear if that'll be this week or later on this season, but practice squad member Brett Rypien likely will be called up to back up Allen while Lock gets up to speed.

The Bengals have elevated rookie quarterback Ryan Finley to the starting lineup over Dalton, Geoff Hobson of the team's official site reports.

The Zac Taylor era includes no wins through eight games, so it's no surprise that the rookie coach decided to make a change under center. In the first half of the season, Dalton averaged a whopping 42.3 passes per game to compensate for a dismal rushing attack, but 6.7 yards per attempt and a 9:8 TD:INT later, he's handing the No. 1 job to Finley, a 2019 fourth-round pick.

Dalton is expected to be benched in favor of Ryan Finley after the Bengals' Week 9 bye, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Dalton easily was on pace for his most passes in a single season, averaging 42.3 per game at the midpoint. However, he was averaging just 6.7 yards per attempt and had nine touchdowns versus eight interceptions while going winless in eight starts. Dalton will yield to Finley, a 2019 fourth-round pick, as first-year coach Zac Taylor looks to breath new life into the Bengals offense.

Rudolph completed 20 of 36 passes for 251 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in Monday's 27-14 win over the Dolphins.

Looking rusty after returning from a concussion suffered in Pittsburgh's Week 4 overtime loss to Baltimore, Rudolph's first pass of the game was intercepted by Xavien Howard. Rudolph continued to struggle and had a second interception reversed and ruled incomplete on the next offensive series. Trailing 14-0 after one quarter, Pittsburgh got things going on offense, including a 45-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson and a 26-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Steelers have now earned victories in three of their last four games after starting the season 0-3, but this coming Sunday they'll face a tough Indianapolis team that heads into Week 9 on a three-game winning streak.

The Bears will continue starting Trubisky, though the team expects to see improvement soon, Patrick FInley of the Chicago Sun TImes reports.

Coach Matt Nagy explained that Trubisky has time to turn things around this season, and he noted that his quaterback is still learning the offense, though if the mistakes continue, the staff will be forced to make some tough decisions. Obviously, Trubisky hasn't been a solid fantasy option this year, as he's thrown touchdown passes in just two games while his rushing yardage has mostly evaporated from what he produced in 2018. Should he eventually lose the starting job, Chase Daniel would be a slight upgrade for fantasy owners. For now, Trubisky's downside makes him a risky player to trust in fantasy lineups.

Coach Vic Fangio said Monday that Lock's sprained right thumb has healed, Mike Klis of 9News Denver reports. Fangio wouldn't disclose whether Lock would resume practicing this week.

Among their 10 players on injured reserve, the Broncos are considering multiple candidates for their two "designated-to-return" spots. GM John Elway already has suggested that one of those spots will be reserved for receiver Tim Patrick (hand), so the team may want to evaluate Lock for a little longer before deciding whether to commit the other spot to him. Lock's potential return from IR took on greater import Monday, when Fangio revealed that top quarterback Joe Flacco (neck) was dealing with a disc issue that could require season-ending surgery. Fangio has already named Brandon Allen the starter for Sunday's game against the Browns, so Lock -- if he practices this week -- could be activated right away and slot in as the backup. Practice squad quarterback Brett Rypien is another candidate to be added to the 53-man roster.

Interim coach Bill Callahan said Monday that Keenum remains in the NFL's concussion protocol but noted that the quarterback would start Week 9 in Buffalo if cleared to play, Kyle Stackpole of the Redskins' official site reports.

The Redskins currently are viewing Keenum as day-to-day while he works through the protocol. At this point, he hasn't seemed to have made much tangible progress in his recovery since suffering the head injury last Thursday in the loss to the Vikings, as he wasn't cleared for non-contact work during Monday's practice. Dwayne Haskins handled the first-team reps and presumably will be in line for the Week 9 start in the event Keenum is ruled out.